Sigh.
What’s the point? The Uptown paper of record reports:
The Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners is split over a proposal that would delay new property appraisals scheduled to start in January. Resetting home values often leads to bigger tax bills.
Republican commissioners want to push back the process one year, saying they don’t want homeowners paying higher taxes during an economic downturn.
The logical corollary must be that homeowners paying higher taxes during an economic upswing is A-OK. We are all well and truly Keynesians now. Line forms over there, behind John Kerry, who cannot wait for a New Deal II.
An actual fiscal conservative would say that the important thing is that government tax rates remain as low as possible, raising only enough money to fund the legitimate functions of a limited government. Faced with an expected 20 percent increase in government revenue through a property revaluation process, an actual fiscal conservative would demand a 20 reduction in the property tax rate lest taxpayers be hit with a massive increase in taxes no matter the economic climate.
Worse, to focus on the taxpayers’ ability to pay absolves government of any need to demonstrate an actual need for the added revenue, the key test of lean and effective government.
As the redistributionist tide rolls on, remember its enablers.
