You can’t have cake and lower taxes, too
People hate taxes, but people want the things they pay for.
That paradox, coming soon to the Congress and our state Capitol, was dramatically illustrated last week in quiet Londonderry Twp. After 14 years with no municipal tax increase, township supervisors voted to hike taxes next year by 180 percent.
That was not a typo. Municipal taxes for Londonderry residents will nearly triple.
The town got hit with a double whammy, as the economy caused revenue to drop just when infrastructure and equipment — on life support after 14 years — demanded to be replaced.
No one wanted a tax increase, but residents want their roads plowed in a snowstorm.
The mantra of lower taxes, lower spending and less government has been emblazoned on the body politic this year from — well, not quite from coast to coast, there’s always California — but our representatives certainly got the message…
From Londonderry Twp. to Harrisburg to Washington, it’s easy to say “no new taxes” and put off the reckoning for another day.
It takes courage to tell voters, “You can have lower taxes or you can have these services, but you can’t have both.”…