Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Moorhead Monday: I Could Be Wrong

Yes, I know it's Tuesday. To be honest, I hesitate to write this piece because I'm not 100% convinced of my position. That's where you come in. Provide your feedback if you think I'm all wet.

We extended a 4 year property tax abatement to a new day care business last night. As you might imagine, I'm all for lower taxes - no taxes, eventually. I am also pleased that the entire council recognizes that lower taxes are important for economic growth. So where's the rub? Here are the arguments I've presented regarding "targeted tax cuts".

1) We establish a tilted playing field in favor of a single business (and potentially for that industry). My preference is for no property taxes, but if we tax, it should be the same among similar properties.

2) As the city grows, so does demand for services. I'd be happy if we could reduce those services to public safety and infrastructure, but even then additional developed properties consume additional services. If a property is exempted from paying for them, what is the result? Either the remaining payers get less service for the same tax, or they pay more tax for the same service.

My solution to half the problem was to offer an amendment to reduce city spending by the amount of the tax abatement. That motion died for lack of a second, so I didn't bother offering the second amendment: to extend the abatement to all day care businesses.

Some advocates of liberty say "support all tax cuts, no matter what". And I'm inclined to agree, but my desire for equal application of the law gets in the way. Alas, no abatement would be necessary if there were no property tax to begin with! More on that to come this summer...

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Moorhead Monday: Unintended Consequences

At Monday's committee of the whole meeting, we discussed three well-intentioned (I think) city programs: rental registration, vacant building designation and code enforcement. All three clearly violate private property rights and I attempted to demonstrate that these "solutions" create larger problems.

Rental registration injects politics into otherwise voluntary transactions between landlords and tenants. As with many such regulations, the arrogant nanny state believes consumers aren't smart enough to find an appropriate place to live and that landlords are out to scam renters. The burden of such actions falls disproportionately on the poor who are willing to live with chipped paint, since landlords must adhere to the regulation and increased property costs or face fines and loss of rental "privileges".

Vacant building designation attempts to force people into actively using their improved property or put it up for sale. While few people think "progress" when they see a vacant building, the city should not be in a position to demand I do anything with my property unless I'm causing physical harm to my neighbor or his property.

Code enforcement has become a method by which the majority attempts to coerce a minority into "looking like" everyone else. Your grass must be this long, your fence must be this high, your walk must be shoveled, gardening equipment may not be in the front yard, etc. I don't have a problem with individual neighborhood associations enacting goofy restrictions with unanimous consent... but it is a poor policy for an entire city to pursue: we're essentially telling people we don't want them because of how they look.

It's easy to fall into the trap of believing that I should control the actions of other peaceful adults. I've seen paint colors that make me wrinkle up my nose, apartment carpet that I wouldn't walk on, and empty buildings that seem to be decaying. But when I attempt to use government bullies to enforce MY will on another - I've violated the human rights of those owners. And I won't have any part of it.

Monday, April 18, 2011

It's a Start

Reason.tv explores outsourcing local services. But, while Sandy Springs, GA has an improved model, it doesn't quite get to my property tax-free model (stay tuned for details).

Monday, April 11, 2011

Moorhead Monday: City Council Loves Liberty!

Well, maybe not quite yet. Here's my statement regarding an ordinance to repeal a part of the city code relating to tattoos, body art and body piercing.

I have to admit I got really excited when I saw this item on the agenda. Of course, I was quickly disappointed once I realized that even in repealing this ordinance, freedom was not advanced. We were simply relinquishing control to the State of Minnesota. Unfortunately, since we don't have the qualified staff to administer an amended ordinance that meets the state standard, I will grudgingly support this. My hope is that in repealing our ordinance, the state will do the same one day soon allowing these customers and merchants to freely conduct transactions without government interference.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Trade Deficit = Bad, I Thought

I have always been lead to believe that a US trade deficit is bad. Economist Don Boudreaux says, "No way!". While I'm not yet convinced, he makes a compelling case.

Friday, April 1, 2011

Job Beats Jobs

Economist Don Boudreaux poses a fascinating question... all else being equal, is it better to produce a higher standard of living with little human effort? Or with much human effort?