When
a new Wilmington city council and administratWilmingtonnstalled in
2016 the "no new taxes" mantra of their predecessors was
examined and put to sleep. The city's infrastructure, mainly streets,
had been deteriorating for years and city government had been kicking
the repair can down those streets for several years in fear that the
voters would through them out if they even hinted at the need for
increased revenue. The voters were even denied the opportunity to
speak for themselves on the tax issue.
When
given the chance by the present government the voters spoke and opted
for the necessary revenue needed to fix the streets and provide
essential services.
The
recent federal and state governments could take a lesson from our
fair city. What have they done to fix their infrastructure, revenue
and deficit problems? The state cut revenue under the illusion that
lower taxes would increase commercial activity and actually increase
total tax revenue.
The
tactic known as trickle down or supply side economics failed and the
state budget is the worse for it.
The
deficit and debt burdened federal government is about to walk down a
similar path of cutting revenue to increase revenue. Yes really!
Providing
essential services to the citizens costs money and must be paid for
somehow.
Hey
up there! Take a cue from the shining city of Wimington as you
contemplate our future. A well explained, fair and limited tax
increase will be accepted by the voters. Trust them.
A
couple of examples of supply myth busting
Paul
Hunter
paulhunter45177@gmail.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaganomics
Reagan
was
inaugurated
in
January
1981, so the first
fiscal
year
he budgeted was 1982 and the final year was 1989.
During
Reagan's presidency, the national
debtgrew
from $997 billion to $2.85 trillion. ... Federal revenues averaged
17.5% GDP from 1982–89, versus the 1974–81 average of 17.8% GDP.
Reagan
Deficits and Debt Ceilings
Deficits http://www.beingfactual.com/reagan-vs-obama-deficit-edition/
Reagan
was in Office from Jan, 21 1981 until Jan 20, 1989. The deficit at
the end 1981 was $78 billion dollars. His last budget
deficit was $152 billion dollars. So during his term he had a
net increase of only double, not triple. the deficit under
Reagan reached $207 billion in 1983, two years after Reagan
passed the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 [3] which
reduced taxes, effectively reducing tax revenue. It turned out to be
too much loss of revenue, combined with increased spending, so in
1982 the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of
1982 [4] rescinded some of
those cuts, and a few more laws in following years helped bring in
more revenue, but with increased spending, decreased the budget
deficit back to the $152 billion in 1989. Revenue doubled in Reagan’s
8 years, but so did spending, which in turn caused the doubling of
the deficit. [5
