Possible tax hike draws protest

[Driven1]

case in point -- from today's T-U: 

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/053108/opi_284573931.shtml

it's starting.

[Driven1]

lol.  yep.  Taxhaters vs. Taxlovers.

[vicupstate]

see the above posts.

  Tax Hater cities, are Charlotte, Palatka, Richmond and Akron Ohio.

Case closed.

Charlotte does NOT belong on that list.

Charlotte has NEVER sold itself as a low-tax city.  Compared to the rest of the Carolinas, it's taxes have always been significantly more.  The city's attitude is that quality costs, and that quality comes first.  Bond issues for roads, schools, water and sewer must be approved by the voters, and they are routinely approved by big margins every two years.  There have probably been 100 such bond approvals in the last two decades or so. I only remember hearing of one defeat out of all of these.

Charlotte's school system has a good reputation, particularly for a large city.  The DT area is clean as whistle for the most part, and parks are such are kept in good repair (kind of the polar opposite of Jax). 

Need more examples - here are two:

Long before the Airport there became a hub, voters approved a major expansion in hopes of luring a carrier that would provide a hub.  That is exactly what happened, and now their airport has exponentially more traffic than comparable cities.  If you don't think airports are critical to economic development, ask someone from Atlanta.     

About 8 or so years ago, voters easily passed a 1 cent sales tax to provide matching funds for the new rail transit system.  In 2007, a small but determined group sought to repeal this same tax just prior to the rail system coming online (and with significant cost overruns).  The anti-tax crowd was resoundingly rebuffed with a 70-30 % loss at the polls.  Today, Charlotte is serving as a national example for a new, yet successful, rail transit system.  Not to mention the rise in gas prices is validating the original decision to invest in mass transit.  The system's biggest proponent, Mayor Pat McCrory, just won the GOP primary to run for Governor.  Obviously supporting a tax increase did not doom his political career.

Charlotte's attitude (and to a significant degree, NC in general) is that in order to attract quality economic development, the city must be an attractive place to live, with a well educated work force.  It tries to set itself apart from the low-tax, low-cost mentality that is common throughout much of the Southern US.  [The Publix vs. Winn Dixie analogy works here]

So that begs the question, are the higher taxes worth it?  Well this is the way I look at it, Charlotte must be doing something right because they obviously can afford to pay the higher taxes.  Their average income is about 20% ABOVE the national average, while cities like Jacksonville, Nashville, and other major southern cities are 10-20 % BELOW the national average.

In short, they invested in themselves and it has paid off. 

[Driven1]

vic,

I think a major difference between Charlotte and Jax is also the quality and integrity of civic leadership.  Matter of fact, I think this plays a much larger role than the actual tax base %.

[vicupstate]

In terms of Jacksonville's situation, in particular, here are my thoughts:

** The new fees should never have been approved, because all it would have taken was a vote of city council to leave things just as they were.  No tax cut, no tax hike, and no new fees.  The Jax legislative delegation worked hard to give Jax that option, and Peyton's lack of intestinual fortitude made that a wasted effort.

** It has been my observation that it is exponentially easier for a public body to raise a fee, than it is to get that same body to raise property taxes.  So, future property tax increases will often be transformed into increases in the fees.

** Peyton will push for the anti-crime property tax increase, and he will catch a lot of flak for it. He should, he ran as a 'read-my-lips, no new taxes' Republican, so he can sleep in the bed he made.  He distorted Matt Carlucci's record on taxes to win in the first place.  I say what goes around comes around.

** His adminstration has contributed to the perception as well as the REALITY of government waste, making the case for even important and justifiable funding increases much more difficult.  It will be more difficult to decide based on the true merits.

** Is there waste in government? Of course there is, and everyone from the mayor to the citizenry at large should seek to eliminate it.  However as long as government is made of humans, there will be waste in it.  The same goes for your personal budget, your church, non-profit or civic group.   To deny funding for anything based on the premise that 100% of waste hasn't been eliminated is foolhardy.    

** Given the huge increases in gas prices, EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE can expect to see tax increases soon.  Think how much gas any government entity buys.  Think about school buses, police cars, fire trucks that make a Hummer look like a hybrid, sanitation trucks.  Those things use gas, LOTS of it, and don't forget building inspectors, health inspectors, etc. have to make their rounds too.  Just to maintain the status quo will require higher taxes.

** While Jacksonville use to be known for getting a NFL team, landing the Super bowl, being an up and coming city in general, it is fast becoming known for it's crime rate.  If that persists, there will be an inevitable impact to economic development.

Bottomline:  Keep an open mind, listen to what the Jax Journey folks have to say, listen to the tax opponents, ask questions about were savings have already been made in the budget, ask for stats on the effectiveness of the prevention programs, ask for examples elsewhere where crime has been reduced from these same recommendations, get all the facts you can.  Then use the sum total of that information to draw a reasoned conclusion.  

This issue has only recently come to the front burner, yet knee-jerk reflex attitudes have already made up some minds.  Don't let yours be one of them.  

[Driven1]

good post vic.  you are level-headed and well-informed.  good advice.

[vicupstate]

vic,

I think a major difference between Charlotte and Jax is also the quality and integrity of civic leadership.  Matter of fact, I think this plays a much larger role than the actual tax base %.

It is my opinion that the quality of civic leadership is the BIGGEST factor in the quality of life of any city or state.  Geographic, economic, and other factors all play a role, but nothing is more critical than civic leadership.  I have no doubt on that. 

That said, even a strong and effective leader has to be followed.  McCrory urged a rail-based mass transit plan but the voters had the final say.  Delaney spearheaded the BJP, but the voters had to approve it.

Peyton has been wrong about a LOT of things, but he MAY be right on this. Or perhaps, a compromise is in order.  If based on the merits, the tax increase is justified, it should be supported PROVIDED those in charge (the city and the sheriff) can be TRUSTED to effectively follow through on what is promised.   

Maybe MetroJax can delve into the guts of the Jax Journey report and do some analysis?