Tax Warning In Effect

June 04, 2003

Thanks to a tip from our friends at Tennessee Tax Revolt, we placed Shelby, Montgomery, Sumner, and Rutherford Counties under a property tax warning on Memorial Day.   A week later, newspapers reported that Rutherford County, in particular, was, indeed, in the midst of trying to pass a property tax increase.

Almost as ubiquitous as tornado warnings these days, tax warnings are being issued for those counties in the path of reckless spending and mismanagement of resources.   Those under a tax warning should seek the nearest tax shelter until the all-clear has been sounded.

Williamson County has been added to the tax warning list.   Those in charge are arguing not over if a tax increase is necessary but how much.   It is ridiculous that counties like Rutherford and Williamson, that have experienced unbelievable growth over the last few years, would need to increase taxes at all.   In Williamson County, new housing developments continue to spring up everywhere, most with houses starting in the $400,000 range and up.   Rutherford is experiencing similar growth.

It stands to reason that as property values increase, so will the tax base, even if the rate remains the same.   However, like many counties who thought the roaring ‘90s would never end, they spent every dime they got their hands on.   You have to be doing some serious spending to outstrip the prosperity of the last decade, especially in Williamson County.

It’s not just Williamson and the aforementioned counties who face these problems.   The problem is systemic in government on all levels.   The problem can find its root in the practice of spending based on projections rather than actual money in hand.   Those projections are oftentimes rosier than reality and the result is either “cutting” services or raising taxes.   I say “cutting” because that term, spoken in government-ese, simply means the difference between what you wanted and what you got, even when you got more than you did last year.

There’s a third alternative.   This applies to the county, state and federal levels of government.   Freeze spending for just one year.   Or at least hold it to the rate of inflation.   Once you see how much money has actually come into the coffers, then you can make rational decisions based on real money.  

Government accountants have scoffed at my idea but it’s those same government accountants who get us into this pickle year after year.   It’s time to break the cycle of stupidity.   Spend what we have, not what we think we’ll have.

Also, stop with the accounting tricks.   Recently, UT president John Shumaker claimed he was going to have to cut 287 jobs.   As it turns out, only 47 of those “jobs” are presently filled.   So, he’s not cutting 287 jobs.   He’s cutting 47.   The big question is, if we’ve been paying for 287 positions in the UT system and 240 have been vacant, where did that money go?   At a bare minimum, we’re talking about nearly $10 million dollars.   Where is it?   Why isn’t Mr. Shumaker made to account for it?   In the meantime, we found $3 million dollars to upgrade the entrance to UT-Knoxville and $19.3 million to build a new swimming pool complex there.

I don’t know about you but I’m sick and tired of bureaucrats who look at my tax dollars like Monopoly money.   I want people making these spending decisions as if it were their own money.   Perhaps that’s the answer.   We make bureaucrats and politicians personally liable for stupid spending decisions.   Only then will we see responsible spending become the norm.

Until then, the severe tax warning is still in effect.