Representation Without Taxation

by Dennis Green

A curious new strategy has come to dominate Alameda politics — passing parcel taxes to get around Prop. 13 limits on property taxes. And a clever tactic within that strategy is exempting seniors from having to pay the tax, but allowing them to vote on the initiatives that put them in place and that everyone else will have to pay. That’s “representation without taxation,” and is just as onerous in a democracy as its flip side.

This ploy achieves several objectives at once. It gives the impression that the backers of the initiative are sensitive to the fact that it may place an undue burden on some homeowners. “See? We understand your situation. You’re retired. You’re living on a limited income. You’re exempt.”

Never mind all those low income folks under 65 who are also living on a limited income, who can’t afford a jump of $5,000/year in their property taxes. After all, that’s only $416/month. An easy nut to make, especially if it’s for a good cause, like our schools, our students, and excellence in education!

And then, just to make things tricky, you can always make the opt-out process difficult, force the senior homeowners to find an office at City Hall to sign a voucher, make the opt-out period very short and unannounced, unadvertised, just a small notice buried in the classifieds. See if they’re on their toes.

And the beauty part is that you give all those seniors a chance to be generous, to be good citizens, to support the building of a new library, or keep the inefficient hospital open, or the even more wasteful schools — with other people’s money! Genius.

If you think this sounds cynical, you’re right. It is. So cynical it’s been used now by AUSD several times, and is about to be used again.

Now, if you’re facing an uphill battle getting that 2/3 majority on the vote, why not simply exempt everyone over 60 — with that same unadvertised short window of escape — just to increase your margins?

Until now, renters were also made exempt from paying a direct parcel tax, but in June, they will be included in the new AUSD parcel tax initiative. That may be a serious mistake. Yes, it will increase revenues from the new parcel tax, if it passes, but lessen the odds that it will. Only 12% of all Alameda households have children in the public schools, and renters even less than that. So including them is risky.

You would think that “representation without taxation” would be a benefit to democracy, but it’s not. When there is “taxation without representation,” at least people know they’re being cynically used. But if they think they’re getting a free ride, they may not realize they are really being used as the mules — carrying a cargo no one else would bear.

Moreover, if seniors really are exempted from paying taxes, that means the tax burden is falling even more heavily on young people trying to pay off a mortgage, to put their kids through college, to save for their own retirement, many of them also struggling to pay off school loans and credit card debts more common to their age group than to the retired.

So that “free ride,” that “free vote” is costing somebody something, and if you’re the senior taking advantage of that perk, it’s as bad for your children, (and your karma), as all that deficit spending you encourage your government to do. There is, ultimately, no free ride, no free lunch, and no free vote. And the sooner we fess up to that, the more honest all of us will be.

©2010 Dennis Green