When will voters have enough of the self-delusion involved in governmental revenue-sharing?
We pay our taxes to the federal government, then we petition the “feds” to give some of it back. They do this after deducting their bloated costs of administering and monitoring the various grants and subsidies. There are usually strings attached to these programs, and they often contain unfunded mandates.
In this ridiculous process, we compete with other states and grade our senators and congressmen on how well they “bring home the pork” – a corrupting influence and certainly not a statesmanlike way to proceed.
Within our state, we send our tax dollars to Augusta. Then our municipalities and other institutions petition the state to send some back in the form of revenue-sharing, grants and subsidies. Again, only after the state deducts its bureaucratic overhead and attaches a few unfunded mandates.
This shell game often results in cities, towns, and states spending in ways they would never consider if they thought of these funds as their own local money.
How much better it would be if each political subdivision taxed only for its own purposes while reducing its overhead and competing with other similar jurisdictions to see who can deliver the most “bang for the buck.” That’s the way it used to be, and, in that respect, it was a better time.
Porter D. Leighton
Falmouth
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