It's Apparent What Our Tax Problems Are

It can be argued government is over spending however here's the real problem. Not enough are paying in. Last year (2019) sixty of the largest companies paid no taxes at all in the United States. Countless of so-called nonprofits raked in billion of dollars paying no taxes either. There's a whole alphabet of government programs offering tax free incentives to developers. Then there's IRS rules allowing for all kinds of breaks mostly available to only the wealthy.

Anyone taking a look around here in the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania can easily see this for themselves. The Allentown School district is going down the toilet because approximately 30% of the properties are not taxed for one reason or another. Seniors are hit the hardest. Many paid taxes on their properties for decades long after their kids (in some cases grandkids) graduated. Even though there may be only two of them, based on their home's value, are billed the same as a one that houses apartments in which a half a dozen kids or more attend school.

Currently the 128 acre NIZ zone contributes nothing to help pay for the Allentown School District. Neither do those in the KOZ zone for 10 years. In 2011 there were over 560 of these parcels in the Lehigh Valley. Toss in the CRIZ, KIZ LERTA, TIF and RACP programs and it's no wonder the school district and the city finds itself in dire straits.

There's not a damn thing us peons can do about it. I am convinced there will come a time, not in the too distant future, all of this will hit the fan. A time when there's no more money to be squeezed from so few forced to pay others share of the tax burden of those who get to circumvent the financial needs of our society even though it's legal....

CNN October 10, 2016

Face it, taxes are for us suckers.
Not rich people