Terry Stoops and Fergus Hodgson wonder why Montgomery County is seeking a $250,000 sales-tax hike on top of a recent $1 million property-tax increase.
Learn more about their critique here.
After raising property taxes by $1 million and increasing county revenues by $1.7 million between 2009 and 2010, Montgomery County commissioners are asking voters to dip into their pockets again for another $250,000 sales-tax increase. A new John Locke Foundation Regional Brief questions that plan.
Montgomery County voters will decide Nov. 8 whether to allow county commissioners to add 0.25 cents to the local sales-tax rate. Commissioners have promised to use the money for improving school facilities, “updating aging schools,” and making county school classrooms “more conducive to learning.”
“Proponents of this tax increase claim the Montgomery County school system has not received any funding for capital building needs in the last three years, but this is a misleading claim,” said report co-author Dr. Terry Stoops, JLF Director of Education Studies. “This new report corrects the record. It also reminds voters about other important facts they should keep in mind when they cast their ballots.”
Among the facts are numbers linked to county revenue growth. “Even when you adjust for inflation, Montgomery County’s property-tax intake increased by 6.1 percent and total revenue jumped 5 percent between the 2009 and 2010 budget years,” said co-author Fergus Hodgson, Director of Fiscal Policy Studies.
