Virginia Government Wants More of your Money for ‘Rainy Day’
UPDATE: I noticed that this 2010 post is getting a lot of reads in 2012. We are working on a post to explain the two questions on the ballot for 2012, but the short version is VOTE YES to both. -Editor – 10/16/2012
Virginia voters will be faced with three opportunities to amend the state Constitution on election day Tuesday, November 2, 2010.
At first glance, all three of these amendments sound like a good idea, until you look beyond the emotional aspect. The devil is in the details.
The first two questions involve tax breaks for the elderly, the disabled and veterans. What’s not to like about that, right?
Here are the two proposed amendments:
Question 1:
Shall Section 6 of Article X of the Constitution of Virginia be amended to authorize legislation that will permit localities to establish their own income or financial worth limitations for purposes of granting property tax relief for homeowners not less than 65 years of age or permanently and totally disabled?
Question 2:
Shall the Constitution be amended to require the General Assembly to provide a real property tax exemption for the principal residence of a veteran, or his or her surviving spouse, if the veteran has a 100 percent service-connected, permanent, and total disability?
Well, let’s look beyond the emotional language.
These amendments are simply shifting the approval of these tax breaks from the Virginia Legislature to the local Board of Supervisors in each locality. If these measures shifted powers from federal to state or local level, they would be a good thing.
But all they are actually doing is allowing local Boards to bypass the oversight the Virginia Constitution put in place. Localities can still do these things now if they so decide, but they must seek approval from the state legislators. This is a wise check and balance and should not be changed.
Most agree that taxes should be both fair and equal. If a locality decides that some people deserve inequitable tax treatment, oversight is a good idea. While removing or reducing taxes based on age or ability is a noble thing, it must be balanced with fact that you are simply shifting the tax burden to others.
That said, a Veteran totally disabled in service to the country has already paid a heavy price and most people would agree it is our turn to repay that debt. These amendments change nothing other than removing a sanity check by the legislature.
Both should be declined.
The third proposed amendment reads:
Shall Section 8 of Article X of the Constitution of Virginia be amended to increase the permissible size of the Revenue Stabilization Fund (also known as the “rainy day fund”) from 10 percent to 15 percent of the Commonwealth’s average annual tax revenues derived from income and retail sales taxes for the preceding three fiscal years?
Let’s state this another way:
Shall Section 8 of Article X of the Constitution of Virginia be amended to increase the amount we overtax you and do not give back from 10 percent to 15 percent?
Does that clear this up for you?
Our citizens should be taxed at the minimum level possible to support only the government we require.
While a “rainy day fund” might be a good thing for a family to have, it is a horrible and irresponsible idea for our government. It is over-taxation and allows our government to raid the fund to make up for poor fiscal planning.
If your employer discovered he had over-withheld money from your paycheck and decided to put this excess money a slush fund for the company to use as it sees fit, would this seem fair to you?
And if your employer should decide to increase this “mistake” by 50% more, would you be in favor of such nonsense?
No. You would want the money returned to you.
Those responsible for this boneheaded proposed amendment should hang their heads in shame all the way back to the feeding trough.
Despicable!
If you screw up the budget, man up and come back to the people and confess. Don’t hide your mistakes by overtaxing us.
And in a year that most Virginians in the private sector are being asked to take a pay cut, and happy to do it to keep their jobs, our state government has decided to pay out bonuses to state workers with a smoke and mirrors tax surplus.
It is obvious some in state government simply do not get it.
Remember – every seat in the Virginia House and Senate is up for reelection in 2011. Do you really want to take more money from us for a slush fund? You need to learn to live within our means.
Article written by: Tom White
