The Rapidly Increasing Cost of Government

LIBERTY COUNTY, February 1, 2006 - Like many procrastinators I went to the Liberty County Tax Office on Monday of this week to pay my property taxes for 2005 only two days before I would incur a penalty.

I looked at my tax bill and compared it to previous years. This year my property taxes increased at a rate of nearly 13 percent. That’s been about typical for several years. I began to wonder why?

The rate of inflation currently stands a 3.42 percent annually and in recent years has been less. The inflation rate represents the increase in the cost of goods and services that you and I and government pay when we purchase things.

But why is the cost we pay for government going up at double-digit rates when the rate of inflation is only just over 3 percent annually?

This has been a trend in Liberty County for years largely due to neglect and poor management. No one is watching the store. As stated in a previous editorial, 27% of the workforce in Liberty County is employed in the government sector and government payrolls continue to increase.

Our property taxes in Liberty County are considerably higher than in neighboring counties due to policies and practices of the government officials we have had over the years controlling our taxing entities and their actions have yielded devastating economic results for our county.

First, our higher taxes put us at a competitive disadvantage for any sort of business development compared to our neighbors, who continue to experience growth and prosperity.

Secondly, it puts our existing businesses at a competitive disadvantage compared to their competitors in adjacent counties.

Both of these things spell economic doom for our county if something isn’t done about it.  Prosperity and growth would make things better for everyone and lower our taxes, but that isn’t possible due to the competitive disadvantage our government officials have put us in.

The only way out of this dilemma is for government to manage its affairs more efficiently, increase the productivity of the government workforce and lower property taxes. The neglect has gone on for far too long. If this doesn’t happen Liberty County will be no place anyone would want to live.

With several local, long time business that failed in 2004 and 2005 due to bankruptcy, all owing property taxes, government has begun to “eat it’s seed corn.” As any farmer knows, if you eat your seed corn, there will be nothing to plant next year in order to reap a harvest.

Putting an end to this downward spiral will bring growth and prosperity spreading out the tax burden so that’s easier to bare.

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