Grand Rapids Pundit

Tax Attack 2007 - May 8th!

Posted by: GRPundit on Wednesday, 4th Apr, 2007

Grand Rapids residents need to be aware of tax attack 2007! There are three tax increase proposals on the ballot May 8th - did you know that? This is the problem with May elections - who pays attention?

Tax issues include the following:

• Grand Rapids Public Schools - GRPS is asking for a renewal of their 18 mill non-homestead operating millage. Basically what this means is that GRPS depends on an 18 mill tax on properties that are not claimed as primary residences. The 18 mill amount has actually decreased to 17.8258 mills due to Headlee amendment reductions. This is generally a non-controversial issue since homeowners do not pay it, only businesses and rental property owners (thus renters).
• Grand Rapids Community College - This one is a true tax increase. GRCC is asking for a an additional .56 mills, in addition to the current 1.7856 mills they already tax us for. That’s a whopping 31% increase. The increase will bring an additional $11 million to the college each year in revenues. It will cost the average homeowner an additional $28 a year, or about $140 over the next five years.
• Interurban Transit Partnership (The Rapid) - We’re no friends of the Rapid, as our readers should know. They are asking for a .17 mill increase to the .95 mills they already get in tax revenue. That’s an 18% increase. The new tax will raise about $2 million a year for the Rapid. This will cost the average GR homeowner about $8 a year or $40 over five years.

All told, the two homestead tax increases will cost the average homeowner about $37 a year extra, for a total annual cost of $173 a year for both GRCC and The Rapid.

Oh, and Grand Rapids Public Schools board elections are on the ballot too - but does anyone even care any more?

May 8th Transit Tax - Opposition Organizes

Posted by: GRPundit on Saturday, 31st Mar, 2007

Did you know that you should be voting on May 8th? Probably not. And that’s what the folks at the local bus service agency, the Interurban Transit Partnership (also known as The Rapid), are betting on. They are asking for a renewal of their .95 mill property tax, along with an increase of .17 mills.

As you may know, The Rapid’s web site is at www.ridetherapid.org.

It has come to our attention that opposition to the tax increase is organized this year. Check out www.stoptherapid.org (also apparently at www.rapidno.org). Some of the facts surrounding The Rapid mirror what we’ve been saying for years. In short, it’s a horrible deal. From the website:

• “The average transit bus only gets 3.65 miles per gallon
• Transit buses spew 50 times more pollution and 279 times more soot than a passenger car.
• Each RAPID bus costs $9.40 per mile to operate. A typical car costs about $0.22 per mile to operate.
• For each passenger that rides a RAPID bus, the RAPID loses $5.82. Taxpayers (that’s us!) make up that amount to the tune of $30.7 million a year!”

Wow! 3.65 miles to the gallon? We knew it was a bad deal, but just how bad wasn’t this clear to us.

The best part of the site is the “This Pig Stinks!” campaign. We like it so much, we’ve added it to our menu at the right. This pig really does stink! We just hope the word gets out about this web site before the election. The taxpayers of Grand Rapids and the surrounding area need to understand the facts on The Rapid.

Hold on to Your Wallet!

Posted by: GRPundit on Tuesday, 3rd Feb, 2004

The era of big government is just beginning…

The newly-installed Grand Rapids mayor George Heartwell gave his second state of the city speech last week at the Rotary Club downtown. His message? More government is needed to improve the regional economy.

He essentially outlined three initiatives that included more funding for downtown, a bigger regional mass-transit system, and more centralized land-use planning.

First, the mayor wants to continue the improvement of the GR downtown district. Sure, downtown’s been doing well over the last decade, but the best way to continue that improvement is to keep taxes low. The continuation of renaissance zones seems to be the most effective tool to increase investment. In fact, renaissance zones should be expanded to all of downtown - or even all of the city… then we’d see some enormous growth rates in Grand Rapids. However, the mayor prefers to use taxpayer dollars to subsidize new business growth - as the governor proposed at her state of the state address. No one seems to realize that this $500 million in proposed venture capital has to come from somewhere… and when was the last time bureaucrats were successful in conjuring up the best investment avenues for money?

Second, and perhaps most laughably, even the new mayor is stumping for light rail service. Nevermind the fact that light rail in most urban and suburban areas is a colossal waste of money, except for in the most densely-populated cities - we need to go for it! (See Myths of Light Rail Transit) And where is the money for this going to come from? That’s right! Not the people riding the system, but you and I, the faithful taxpayers of the Interurban Transit Partnership (ITP) service area. The current system subsidizes each rider with taxpayer dollars to the tune of $6 per rider - only 13% of revenue is generated by bus fairs.

Finally, the mayor wants further expansion of the Grand Valley Metro Council, the regional super-government wannabe organization. Wyoming has smartly refused to join, and kudos to them for that decision. The mayor wants to strengthen the GVMC’s land-use powers. In other words, they want to be able to tell you where you can and can’t live. As the mayor talks out of one side of his mouth about regional planning, which drives up the cost of housing for everyone, he also talks about affordable housing. One government-caused problem (a housing shortage, which drives up prices), needs to be solved by more government! A perfect circle. Who said politicians don’t do everything they can to make themselves important?

I thought we had learned our collective lesson that increased government spending and revenue is a gigantic drag on the economy - but apparently not. Is it any wonder that Michigan, a high-tax state, has an unemployment rate way above the national average? Maybe it’s time to study a little economics and let the market correct our past public policy mistakes.