So Much For Openness and Transparency...
Regardless of how you voted on the Pension Sales Tax issue last Tuesday, it will be added to the cost of purchases made in the city of Springfield starting in April making the sales tax rate 7.6%.
The SN-L said that sales tax rates for Springfield could be found at
springfield4business.com but I couldn't find that information. I then went to the city's website, again, I couldn't find the sales tax rate for Springfield.
I searched on the city's site under the words "sales tax rate"....I found a lot of reasons to vote for the pension sales tax but nowhere did I find what the sales tax rate was in Springfield. Maybe I wasn't looking at the right place.
But I did read this in this morning's paper:
Retail businesses in Springfield no longer have to worry about a pair of city councilmen's proposals that sought to require stores to post sales tax signs.
Councilmen Doug Burlison and Nick Ibarra confirmed Thursday that they have scuttled their plans, in essence siding with the concerns of local commercial real estate developers.
A group of developers that included Jeff Childs and Mark Davis voiced opposition at a recent town hall meeting and argued against the city imposing another regulation.
The developers also said that retail businesses seeking to enter the market here could have misgivings about the requirement, arguing it would place them in a competitive disadvantage against neighboring communities.
Instead of looking at this suggestion as another regulation, I look at it as openness and transparency in government.
I would welcome the opportunity to know at what rate my purchases are taxed. Why it would be only fair to know that information.
My grandson wants to know if the sales tax rate is 7.6%, and you buy a dollar fries at McDonald's, how do you pay 7.6 cents? Wouldn't you really be paying 8 cents, he asked?
I didn't realize that the sales tax rate at the new Sam's on South Campbell was 8.6%
The third largest city in Missouri is governed by volunteers.
3 comments:
I was surprised to find out that sales tax is regressive because before, I thought that sales tax is proportional tax. I assumed that sales tax is proportional since it has a fixed rate and the consumers pay the same amount of tax when they purchase goods. Little did I know that in spite of the low salary of the low income group, they pay a higher sales tax than the high income group. This is because the poor people have lower incomes so they tend to spend most of their income in consuming goods. With this, they have less savings or none at all since usually their incomes breakeven with their expenditure. Knowing that the rich people have higher incomes, they tend to save more since only a small percentage of their income is used for their consumption of goods. It is not fair that the poor are paying more than the rich. It is ironic that the poor have to pay more than the rich, when the one of the main purposes of tax is to redistribute the income and to help the poor. Regressive tax and sales tax could just worsen income inequality.
The United States fought every war as a Nation on the Premise that it was for Freedom and Democracy. The City of Springfield just made a mockory of that. A PARTIAL LIST OF What the World will know: The people were not allowed the freedom to speak and in some cases were told by City Officials to vote yes or the...y would be laid off or fired. Telling City and Airport people does not pass YOU loose your job is not acceptable conduct by governmental officials. in·tim·i·date 1. To make timid; fill with fear. 2. To coerce or inhibit by or as if by threats. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/intimidation Pulling down no tax signs and taking them to City Hall. Signs are always allowed in these places and were approved. Pulling home owner approved yard signs. Taking down our signs VOTE NO SALES TAX on national and other places. The City and or police and fire people took down over 30 signs and we have the list of home owners and business people who approved them. One man on national said that he was upset they took his sign three times. The City took down they admit signs in front of lincoln mercury 3 to 4 times and gas station yet Mayor Jim O’neal signs were at lincoln mercury for a month same place in April election he won. the gas station always has election sign there Bennett and Glenstone yet they pulled three times and the employees saw the city truck and employees pull in and take them. 3. Not allowing opposing signs at polling places. Carl Herd put up two signs at Grand fire station since they had. They took down and w he went back a few hours later and they took them down and he filled complaint with News-Leader that was there doing a story. The fire fighter signs were up in the right away until after the polls closed. 4. Stacks of City campaign literature on every city desk at city building and City Hall. Pointed out to media who laughed. POSSIBLE RE-ELECTION----Citizens are asked to respond: Do you want to get 1,500 signatures to repeal this tax. If we get the signatures the ISSUE WOULD GO BACK ON THE BALLOT so we can have a fair and free election.Please e-mail Steven Reed stevenlloydreed@hotmaill.com or call 417-882-2942 to let us know what the people want to do! Yes in a candidate race these things may happen---but when the Government uses illegal tactics what next tell people if they do not vote a certain way they will be marched off a cliff? Lets let the world community decide…i.e. the world wide web.
Oh, no. Reed is off his meds again.
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