GOV, Westchester utility tax increase postponed [W]
Tuesday (yesterday) the board deferred the decision to implement a utility tax increase (3% to 5%) until next board meeting. See Westchester Public Affairs (Rick Fox).
Doesn't it seem like taxing utilities is more regressive than even property taxes?
Of course, since the assessment process is so generous to commercial properties, landlords do mostly duck property tax increases. So a utility tax does sorta catch renters and landlords that pay less than their share of property taxes.
Doesn't it seem like taxing utilities is more regressive than even property taxes?
Of course, since the assessment process is so generous to commercial properties, landlords do mostly duck property tax increases. So a utility tax does sorta catch renters and landlords that pay less than their share of property taxes.
posted by Carl Nyberg at
1:27 PM
1 Comments:
Unfortnately, utility taxes are totally regressive and mostly hidden from the people who pay them. Who looks at all the parts of their phone, gas and electric bills. Basically Maywood receives, my estimate without looking it up, 1.5 million a year in utility taxes and they go up every year (without a percentage increase)because utility bill actual charges go up!! And you tell me how more regressive you can get if a typical moderate income of 5 doesn't use as much or more of a upper middle income family because they use as much or MORE of that utility. Maywood has not increased any of the percentages for at least two decades BUt, sadly, without a real industrial property tax base and very little sales tax (also regressive) we rely on the utilitiy taxes as one major source of non-property tax revenue. For Westchester to want to go to 5% in one swoop, is a 67% increase and I bet that is at least a $100 a year increase when you add in the three utilities.
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Anonymous, at 9:52 PM, May 11, 2006
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