Guest Editorial: How can a man’s home be his castle, if a man’s house is a heavy yoke around his neck?

TaxesIn his work, “Democracy in America,” Alexis de Tocqueville notes, “A democratic government is the only one in which those who vote for a tax can escape the obligation to pay it,” and he questions whether a free society can long survive that discovery. Obviously that discovery has been made, for many more are eligible to vote than are required to pay, and many who are required to pay are required to pay more than they can afford. Is this what the founders of this Democracy in America sacrificed their fortunes and lives to secure? I think not!

Now it is true that the descendents of the agents of old King George live on in Washington and Springfield, and they tax much more than tea.

But it is the reincarnations of those more notorious Tax collectors of Biblical fame who reside in our local seats of government. In like manner as those who confiscated in the name of Caesar and Herod, these publicans attach themselves not only to the current fruit of our labor, but they also have the audacity to lay claim to the essential roofs over our heads. Apparently, each June and September, these fellow citizens of ours have nothing better to do than enter our private dwellings and demand the silverware.

We have not yet been compelled to sell our sons and daughters into servitude to meet their annually increasing levies against our family homes. But, like the peasants of old in Palestine, many of us have had to mortgage our houses and lands to pay these taxes, and any of us who cannot pay the last farthing will shortly find our persons and kin thrown out into the street.

And what do they use these forcibly collected monies for? Some for services to the common good, too be sure. But much of it is used to built monuments to themselves; Civic Centers, airports, office buildings, and courthouses. And of course they must always be constructing bigger and better facilities in which to secularize our children, much as the Herods of old used the taxes from the Jewish people to forcibly Hellenize their culture.

The income taxes of the current King George, while not born by all, are at least only a one-time levy on our annual increase. The sales taxes of his vassal Rob are at least a levy on the consumption of all of us, (and on luxuries which are occasionally enjoyed by even the common citizen if he has a little something left over after paying his taxes.)

But the Real Estate Tax is Regressive and Oppressive. It is a tax, not on earnings but on principle. It is a tax not on spending but on savings. It is a tax, not on the peripherals of living but on the essential of family life. It is an ever recurring and increasing levy on false and inflated home values that has to be paid with the real sweat of real brows.

Presidential candidate Clinton has recently called for moratorium on foreclosures. What is needed is the abolition of one of the causes of these personal and family catastrophes – the Real Estate tax on private family homes.

Dennis W Dillard
Hanna City, IL

Comprehensive Plan update

Peoria is in the middle of updating its Comprehensive Plan — a road map document that the City Council and staff will use to make planning and zoning decisions over the next 15-20 years. The city wants your input. They’ve set up a website to provide you with information and a survey for you to complete so they can get information from you.

Here’s an update on the process that I received from the City today:

In less than one week, the www.planpeoria.com web site has received over 1,000 visitors and the online survey has been completed by more than 650 people. The majority of the survey respondents are from the 5th and 2nd Council Districts, and from the 61614 and 61604 zip codes. At this point, Public Safety has ranked the highest in level of importance and in level of satisfaction. The survey will continue to be available until March 21, 2008.

Incidentally, I attended the Zoning Commission meeting last night, and I’m happy to report that the current Comprehensive Plan was followed for all three items I heard (I left before the meeting was over). On the other hand, the votes were all 3-2, so the Plan was followed by a narrow majority.

Higher taxes draw tourists?

That’s what “two downtown hotel executives” (Donald Welch of the Hotel Pere Marquette and Sami Quereshi of the Holiday Inn City Centre) told the Journal Star. They are quoted in the paper as advocating a quarter-percent increase in the overall HRA tax to “draw large conventions and out-of-towners to Peoria.”

A quarter-percent increase in the (HRA) tax could generate $750,000 to $800,000 to the tourism reserve fund, allowing the Peoria Area Convention and Visitors Bureau to market the Civic Center and other venues to larger-scale conventions and events….

“The impact [of the tax increase] on the individual is insignificant,” [Welch] said. “The impact to the community to have a fund to attract conventions, out-of-towners, is huge.”

Well, that certainly defies conventional wisdom, doesn’t it? Ironically, there was an article in the State Journal-Register yesterday that says the exact opposite. Apparently there’s a proposal by a city alderman to raise Springfield’s hotel tax, and hoteliers are speaking out against it:

Michael Fear, general manager of the Hilton Springfield downtown, said the higher tax would raise only a pittance for the city but could rob Springfield of its competitive advantage when it comes to tourism. “It’s a bad idea,” Fear said. “We are able to attract conventions because of our tax rate. For large meeting planners, 1 or 2 percent can be thousands of dollars. It may be the difference between coming here and not coming here.”

In Springfield, the hotel tax is 10%, so the proposed increase would put it up to 11 or 12%. Here in Peoria, the hotel tax is 11.5%, and a quarter-percent increase would raise it to 11.75%. In Springfield, a tax rate that high would “rob Springfield of its competitive advantage when it comes to tourism.” In Peoria, a higher tax rate “could draw large conventions and out-of-towners to Peoria.” If anyone can figure that out, please explain it to me.

I also love the way hoteliers have turned Economic Development Director Craig Hullinger’s original proposal of a voluntary hotel tax into an overall HRA tax increase proposal in a little over a week and a half. That didn’t take long, did it?

This proposal should be blown out of the water immediately. The HRA tax was supposed to be temporary and for a single purpose — to support the establishment of the Civic Center. It was never supposed to be permanent nor a source of revenue for other agencies (although that hasn’t stopped the city from funding agencies like ArtsPartners from the proceeds).

Besides, didn’t the Civic Center just spend $55 million for expanded convention space so that that development would bring in tons of tourists and boost our economy? Didn’t the council just approve extending the HRA tax another 30 years for that effort? What, that wasn’t enough? Now we need to raise the HRA tax even more?

Hey, I have an idea: why don’t we all just set our money on fire instead?