Quote:
Originally Posted by _Q_
I just think that people that get butt-hurt over a 5% or 10% increase in taxes need to step back, take a deep breath, have a look at how much extra they are actually paying, realize that it's not THAT much money and move on with life.
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The "it's not THAT much money" argument is often used, but seldom right.
A 5% or 10% increase in taxes is a lot of money, particularly if one's income is not increasing by a corresponding amount.
A 5% or 10% increase in taxes is a lot of money, particularly if coupled with a similar increase in previous years.
A 5% or 10% increase in taxes is a lot of money, particularly if the increase is just the start of future increases, and the increase simply now sets a new "floor" on what future tax rates will be.
A 5% or 10% increase in taxes is a lot of money, particularly when the tax monies are used to provide a service that will be funded not only by taxes but by user fees as well (so if you want to actually use the service that your increased taxes paid for in the first place, you have to pony up even more money).
But, hey, maybe you are correct and those who don't like paying an additional 5% or 10% in taxes should just "move on with life." Perhaps they should just "move on" in general to somewhere else.
Of course, if they do that, and no one comes in to replace them here, Calgary will likely need to increase the taxes even more on the remaining population to provide the existing level of services, which may cause even more to leave, which would increase the tax levels even more. I'm sure that is a sustainable way to fund a city.
In fact, I think Detroit went down that path.