Friday, October 31, 2014

Are taxes too high? What would you cut?

Here is the second question asked by former WLBT News Director Dennis Smith in the Ward 1 forum Tuesday night.  Mr. Smith asked "Do you feel property and personal taxes are too high for residents of Ward 1 and if so, what areas of the budget would you cut in an effort to reduce the taxes?"




Candidates are from left to right: Charles Barbour, Dorsey Carson, Ashby Foote, Richard Sellers, Amile Wilson. 

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Payroll, Payroll, Payroll. To make a logical conclusion, one would have to assess expenses, but on the face, you can start with payroll.

Anonymous said...

From what little I know about Jackson, because I live in Madison, raising Payroll taxes would have very little effect on income If there is a way to tax Govt subsidies, this may be an income producer.

Anonymous said...

Only way to cut property taxes now is to de-annex parts of the City. Short of that not one of the candidates in the forum you are featuring will see another property tax cut in Jackson during the remainder of their physical lifetimes.

Anonymous said...

8:54
Go eat some candy already, it's halloween.
Quit plotting for money. Take a break.
Geez.

And since its halloween, it's really sad that I'm honestly more concerned about what could be in the landfill besides trash.

Anonymous said...

We're off topic here. The question was "what expenses could be cut?" He didn't ask how to cut revenue/taxes. Of course according to congress, the president, and the minions in Washington, we have no inflation, so I see no reason for any tax increases.

Anonymous said...

I don't know. I don't live in jackson and apparently 8:54 doesn't either, therefor we have no idea what taxes you guys face on a daily basis and have no voice in the matter.

@ 8:54
Taxing government subsidies, which not ironically, come from taxes is a ridiculous notion. Tax the taxes ehh? Riiiight. That's crazier than the minions in Washington.

What I do know is that it's kind of hard to cut taxes when you hardly have a tax base. Those car tags ARE RIDICULOUS.
Your house prices are ridiculous. ( no one wants to live there that dam* bad)
Your crime is ridiculous because of blatant corruption.
The anti white sentiment is ridiculous.
The elitist sentiment is ridiculous with in the ward 1 community.
( I hate to tell you guys, but the richest of your rich are like pimples on wallstreet)
Get back to the idea of having a home and relative safety with decent schools and you might be able to revive jackson as a whole. If not, tough smackers.
The whole city needs to be on that same page black or white or rainbow.
Ergo its up to you and you have a whole city council that, in a nutshell, hates you.
Race relations in the suburbs are ten times better.
I wonder why that is? Our schools are better.
Everything is better out here juxtaposed to the issues you face.
We turn on the 5 o'clock news and watch in horror everyday untill we're numb to it all and are scared to even come there. We gladly shop at Walmart/ Kroger while you rave about whole foods.

Overtaxed & Shafted said...

I think the 'payroll suggestion' was a recommendation to cut the number of people on the payroll, thereby cutting expenses.....not RAISE payroll taxes. The city council has no authority to raise payroll taxes. Try to keep up here.

Anonymous said...

Scrap the entire public works department and outsource the whole thing. Every time there is a break in the water main, I always see about 10 people standing around "working" on fixing it. And a lot of times, like what happened with the break on Capitol St, they end up having to outsource the job anyway.

Anonymous said...

8:54am lives in Madison, but her reading comprehension is clearly on par with JPS grads. :)

Anonymous said...

8:54 writes very poorly and incomprehensibly; that is true.

But I think the point he/she was trying to make is that there are too few people earning an income in Jackson ("payroll"), so an alternative is to tax EBT benefits, since that seems to be the bulk of the money coming into Jackson.

A "payroll" tax, on the other hand, is certainly viable despite what several people here have stated. NYC has a city income tax. Baltimore has a 50% surtax on the state income tax for city residents. The Philadelphia "city wage tax" is a tax on income earned in the city regardless of home residence. Residents of NJ who work in Philadelphia get a NJ state income tax credit (not a deduction) on the NJ state income tax for every dollar paid to Philadelphia.

Various cities with crummy tax bases surrounded by booming suburbs have proposed "commuter taxes" to try to tax those who earn their income in a city but live outside it. Of course this just encourages companies to move their operations out of the city, closer to where their employees live.

Calling Bullshit said...

9:52; Please name 'various cities' that have passed 'commuter taxes'.

And, are you really serious about using New York, Baltimore and Philly as examples of how to make a city viable through creative financing?

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure what point 9:52 was trying to make. What I do know is that "all" government employees make up a substantial amount of expense for the tax payer, but really add nothing to the economy/bottom line except spending their incomes. A large portion of the tax revenue/wmployment is spent supporting the criminal element, that is law enforcement, jail/prison security, and the like. All of this adds nothing to productivity, but is a necessary evil so to speak. It seems most gubmint agencies are top heavy, i.e., management/administrative, etc. in number of jobs and wages. Many of these people could not hold/qualify for real/competitive jobs. If they aren't qualified and productive, they should be eliminated.

Anonymous said...

9:52 here. 1:14 has a reading comprehension problem I can't fix. I said "proposed" a commuter tax. That is NOT the same thing as saying any entity "passed" such a tax. It's a bad idea and hasn't been passed anywhere that I know of.

Also, Jackson is larger in land mass than NYC. Are the attractions of life in Jackson enough to attract 15,000,000 to live here? How many World Series, Super Bowls, Stanley Cups and NBA championships have gone to Jackson's hometown teams?

9:10 I wasn't talking about "government employees" at all. I'm talking about ANYONE who earns a paycheck and pays income taxes (mainly private sector workers). Welfare, EBT, etc are all expenses paid from those taxes collected from those of us who work. The state capitol (sp?) has the same problems as 49 other state capitols when it comes to non-taxable land, etc.

Tinhanc Retrench said...

The state capitol (sp?) has the same problems as 49 other state capitols when it comes to non-taxable land, etc.

[AND YET] for 2+ years running one of the "supposed" protectors of Jackson's interests -- the always babbling Downtown Jackson Partners led by the mercurial Prophet -- prodded their Senate lackey David Blount to push legislation that would have had the state dramatically overpay for the Landmark building AND taken the building off Jackson's tax rolls.

All in order to force more state workers downtown to prop up the flagging, er, flailing, er failing DJP downtown retail strategy. The Prophet needed warm bodies to stroll up and down his business killing, but two-wayed, Capitol Street and if adding another tax exempt property downtown achieved that latest wet dream well then, by golly, take the Landmark off the rolls and let's pray to GOD that Jackson can break even a decade from now from the sales taxes collected.

No mention, of course, was made by DJP during that time to the inherent incremental costs for infrastructure support that would be incurred by Jackson. DJP, the same outfit, mind you, who only years before sponsored yet another "study" of tax exempt properties downtown in order to give heft to Jackson's cries to the Legislature for in lieu of payments from the state to compensate for same.

Nope, Jackson's problems are not exactly the same as the 49 other Capital Cities. Those other cities don't have our Prophet.

Anonymous said...

10:14 that all sounds good. But the money is in the large populace areas. You won't see a major sporting event in Ms. or other major changes, because there are not enough people interested, and if the capital/money was available they wouldn't invest it here, because there would be no return. Once you leave the major population areas of Ms. like Jackson, the
Coast, and the Memphis area, we are spread to thin, but still have to support these areas, e.g., transportation routes, welfare, etc. The political climate greatly effects us, and that's not going to change without population changes, whether it's democrats or republicans controlling the state. It stinks, but that's life in Ms.



Recent Comments

Search Jackson Jambalaya

Subscribe to JJ's Youtube channel

Archives

Trollfest '09

Trollfest '07 was such a success that Jackson Jambalaya will once again host Trollfest '09. Catch this great event which will leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Othor Cain and his band, The Black Power Structure headline the night while Sonjay Poontang returns for an encore performance. Former Frank Melton bodyguard Marcus Wright makes his premier appearance at Trollfest singing "I'm a Sweet Transvestite" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Kamikaze will sing his new hit, “How I sold out to da Man.” Robbie Bell again performs: “Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Bells” and “Any friend of Ed Peters is a friend of mine”. After the show, Ms. Bell will autograph copies of her mug shot photos. In a salute to “Dancing with the Stars”, Ms. Bell and Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith will dance the Wango Tango.

Wrestling returns, except this time it will be a Battle Royal with Othor Cain, Ben Allen, Kim Wade, Haley Fisackerly, Alan Lange, and “Big Cat” Donna Ladd all in the ring at the same time. The Battle Royal will be in a steel cage, no time limit, no referee, and the losers must leave town. Marshand Crisler will be the honorary referee (as it gives him a title without actually having to do anything).


Meet KIM Waaaaaade at the Entergy Tent. For five pesos, Kim will sell you a chance to win a deed to a crack house on Ridgeway Street stuffed in the Howard Industries pinata. Don't worry if the pinata is beaten to shreds, as Mr. Wade has Jose, Emmanuel, and Carlos, all illegal immigrants, available as replacements for the it. Upon leaving the Entergy tent, fig leaves will be available in case Entergy literally takes everything you have as part of its Trollfest ticket price adjustment charge.

Donna Ladd of The Jackson Free Press will give several classes on learning how to write. Smearing, writing without factchecking, and reporting only one side of a story will be covered. A donation to pay their taxes will be accepted and she will be signing copies of their former federal tax liens. Ms. Ladd will give a dramatic reading of her two award-winning essays (They received The Jackson Free Press "Best Of" awards.) "Why everything is always about me" and "Why I cover murders better than anyone else in Jackson".

In the spirit of helping those who are less fortunate, Trollfest '09 adopts a cause for which a portion of the proceeds and donations will be donated: Keeping Frank Melton in his home. The “Keep Frank Melton From Being Homeless” booth will sell chances for five dollars to pin the tail on the jackass. John Reeves has graciously volunteered to be the jackass for this honorable excursion into saving Frank's ass. What's an ass between two friends after all? If Mr. Reeves is unable to um, perform, Speaker Billy McCoy has also volunteered as when the word “jackass” was mentioned he immediately ran as fast as he could to sign up.


In order to help clean up the legal profession, Adam Kilgore of the Mississippi Bar will be giving away free, round-trip plane tickets to the North Pole where they keep their bar complaint forms (which are NOT available online). If you don't want to go to the North Pole, you can enjoy Brant Brantley's (of the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance) free guided tours of the quicksand field over by High Street where all complaints against judges disappear. If for some reason you are unable to control yourself, never fear; Judge Houston Patton will operate his jail where no lawyers are needed or allowed as you just sit there for minutes... hours.... months...years until he decides he is tired of you sitting in his jail. Do not think Judge Patton is a bad judge however as he plans to serve free Mad Dog 20/20 to all inmates.

Trollfest '09 is a pet-friendly event as well. Feel free to bring your dog with you and do not worry if your pet gets hungry, as employees of the Jackson Zoo will be on hand to provide some of their animals as food when it gets to be feeding time for your little loved one.

Relax at the Fox News Tent. Since there are only three blonde reporters in Jackson (being blonde is a requirement for working at Fox News), Megan and Kathryn from WAPT and Wendy from WLBT will be on loan to Fox. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both and a torn-up Obama yard sign will entitle you to free drinks served by Megan, Wendy, and Kathryn. Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required. Just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '09 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.


Note: Security provided by INS.

Trollfest '07

Jackson Jambalaya is the home of Trollfest '07. Catch this great event which promises to leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Sonjay Poontang and his band headline the night with a special steel cage, no time limit "loser must leave town" bout between Alan Lange and "Big Cat"Donna Ladd following afterwards. Kamikaze will perform his new song F*** Bush, he's still a _____. Did I mention there was no referee? Dr. Heddy Matthias and Lori Gregory will face off in the undercard dueling with dangling participles and other um, devices. Robbie Bell will perform Her two latest songs: My Best Friends are in the Media and Mama's, Don't Let Your Babies Grow up to be George Bell. Sid Salter of The Clarion-Ledger will host "Pin the Tail on the Trial Lawyer", sponsored by State Farm.

There will be a hugging booth where in exchange for your young son, Frank Melton will give you a loooong hug. Trollfest will have a dunking booth where Muhammed the terrorist will curse you to Allah as you try to hit a target that will drop him into a vat of pig grease. However, in the true spirit of Separate But Equal, Don Imus and someone from NE Jackson will also sit in the dunking booth for an equal amount of time. Tom Head will give a reading for two hours on why he can't figure out who the hell he is. Cliff Cargill will give lessons with his .80 caliber desert eagle, using Frank Melton photos as targets. Tackleberry will be on hand for an autograph session. KIM Waaaaaade will be passing out free titles and deeds to crackhouses formerly owned by The Wood Street Players.

If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.

Note: Security provided by INS
.