Hold on ot your wallets. LA is considering raising taxes and hiding it as a fee increase. They are looking at "everything dealing with revenue" and considering how to fill the deficit by increasing revenue rather than decreasing expenses. Oh, sure, they will close a few libraries and narrow the hours on parks, but the bureaucracy downtown, fuggetaboutit…
It like a T rex, raising its head over a treeline. Slowly looking around, hungrily searching for its next meal. Its beady eyes checking out everything, every possible revenue source. The populace lies in the weeds, hoping against hope that they won’t be the next tidbit picked up by the monster.
In LA, the 10% parking tax is being eyed. Hell, why not raise it to 15%, or 20% or like in Pittsburgh, 50% or 100%. The local associations are getting their lobbyists in line, and calls are being made to city hall.
I have a better idea, why not collect the taxes you now impose. A T-Rex doesn’t just eat a bit of the meal it finds, it collects the entire feast. However in LA, and San Francisco, and most other major cities, the parking tax is one of the most imposed and least collected of any tax. Why? Because the city has no clue as to how much money is flowing through the garages. They leave it up to the operators or owners to report the amount.
The number of uncollected taxes in Baghdad by the Bay was set at upwards of $50 million a year. They have been trying to fix that for a decade and as of last report, failing miserably. The rumored estimates for LA are that much or more. What is the city doing about it? Virtually nothing.
My comment is that they city powers go rent Jurassic Park and see how a T Rex handles taking its pound of flesh. It is consistent, leaves no one untouched, and takes its fair share. Of course it ravages and pillages, but we expect that from our government.
If the cities in our country would simply collect all the tax that is due, rather than constantly raising taxes to cover shortfalls, a number of things would happen. First, revenues would pour into the city coffers. Second, legitimate business (read that legitimate parking operators) could play on a level field and the lower tier would not be able to underbid then because they simply don’t add in the tax.
You know, enforce the rules that exist, rather than piling on more and more. We need a few more T-Rexes and a few less political whusses.
JVH
