Taxes vs. Fees

[Wuptdo]

Just Curious where people stand on this issue.

Wuptdo B-)

[SteveG]

Just Curious where people stand on this issue.

Wuptdo B-)
Some services are logistically difficult to cover with fees; others are easy. For example admission to a pool could easily be based on passes for a fee, while access to other park services such as greenways would be very difficult to manage on a fee system. Paying for garbage collection by the weight or volume might be doable, but if the cost of keeping track of the amount of garbage is higher than the benefit in reduced garbage, what's the point?

I think the choice of funding model must consider the logistics of fee collection, and preserve tax-based funding for those important services for which a fee-based scheme would not work efficiently.

[Cathy]

Steve,
This is off subject, but I met someone in Portland OR, at a conference that I attended, who says he knows you well.
John Finley Scott was one of the speakers on the last day of the conference. He wanted me to say "Hello" to you for him.

Cathy

[Wuptdo]

Now here is another brillant idea. Instead of the TOC billing us for Water, Sewer, and Garbage and calling it "Fee or Service," they change the name to Tax. For Instance:

Water 2800 gallons 33.60 Water Tax
Sewer 2800 gallons 17.80 Sewer Tax
Environmental User Tax 3.65 EU Tax
Trash Pickup 7.95 Tax

63.00 Total Service Tax (x12 = $756)

That is an additional $756 I can take as a deduction on my Fed/State taxes. That is what I call "a spoonful of suger helps the medicine go down :grin: .

Standing by for high winds and heavy seas!

Wuptdo B-)