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giambra wants to raise sales tax in erie county


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I think that he should raise it to 50%.  Then we could cover the deficit, bail out the city of Buffalo, and buy all new furniture from his pal.

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That's funny, I thought it was Amherst where many citizens need a bailout because of leaking basements and cracked foundations.

 

As an Erie County resident who does not live in Amherst, I understand that sometimes your neighbors can use or need a hand-out because they have fallen prey to stupid political leadership or unscrupulous folks making a buck. Tax increases strike me as a legit way to share this burden amongat us all>

 

the problem from my point of view is not taxes< the problem is greedy and stupid politicians and profiteers.

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We pay 9.75% sales tax in Tennessee, BUT there is no income tax. I wish the morons here who promote an income tax in the hope for a lower sales tax would look to Buffalo as the model of what will happen. You give politicians a revenue stream and they will push it to the max to buy votes.

 

There is one reality that the young people on this board must come to grips with. As wealth is redistributed globally, there will be less domestic corporate wealth to redistribute domestically. Individual taxes will continue to rise in this country. There is no way to stop this without tough decisions regarding government entitlements. Today's 25-40 year olds can expect to give up 80% of their salary to an aging population. It doesn't matter who wins elections, these are facts driven by economic globalization, domestic demographics, society's need to defend itself and society's desire to take care of our children and the elderly.

 

The best one can do is fight politicians on all fronts to force them to make tough decisions. Stop worrying about silly stevestojan (who went to 'Nam, who likes gays, etc.) when you vote, just but pressure on the person you vote for to make sure they spend your money wisely and to make tough, fair and humane decisions on entitlements. The poster sho said just give them "50%" doesn't realize how sincere his sarcasm is.

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We pay 9.75% sales tax in Tennessee, BUT there is no income tax.  I wish the morons here who promote an income tax in the hope for a lower sales tax would look to Buffalo as the model of what will happen.  You give politicians a revenue stream and they will push it to the max to buy votes. 

 

There is one reality that the young people on this board must come to grips with.  As wealth is redistributed globally, there will be less domestic corporate wealth to redistribute domestically.  Individual taxes will continue to rise in this country.  There is no way to stop this without tough decisions regarding government entitlements. Today's 25-40 year olds can expect to give up 80% of their salary to an aging population. It doesn't matter who wins elections, these are facts driven by economic globalization, domestic demographics, society's need to defend itself and society's desire to take care of our children and the elderly.

 

The best one can do is fight politicians on all fronts to force them to make tough decisions.  Stop worrying about silly stevestojan (who went to 'Nam, who likes gays, etc.) when you vote, just but pressure on the person you vote for to make sure they spend your money wisely and to make tough, fair and humane decisions on entitlements.  The poster sho said just give them "50%" doesn't realize how sincere his sarcasm is.

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Great post.

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in virginia the sales tax is 5.5%.  not a big fan of that.  whats worse is it's double in hampton roads for eating out (11%).  so when you go out to dinner, with tax and tip you're actually paying 25-30% on top of the cost  :)

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Couple of things:

 

-Virginia sales tax is 4.5%, which I've found to be on the lower side in my travels.

 

-There is no set tax rate in "Hampton Roads" for prepared food, it's determined by the city. You live in Va Bch, the city with the highest prepared food tax. Eating in Chesapeake or Norfolk will save you that extra 75 cents per meal.

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Wasn't it a "temporary" measure when they raised it from 7% to 8%? Just like the tolls on the thruway were "temporary" until the bond was paid off?

 

Give a politican revenue, and you'll never get it back. And increasing taxes isn't the solution to fiscal irresponsibility.

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People have been conned into rooting for ratings "sweeps".

 

Now people say words like "How much will that tax cut COST...we can't AFFORD a tax cut"... :)

 

Benjamin Franklin quote: "When the People learn they can vote themselves money, it will herald the end of the Republic.".

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vaht to the tax raise, although i dont care, because despite living here, when you're a broke-ass college student, not much money is spent on taxable things.

 

Also, no sales tax on hippie lettuce :)

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vaht to the tax raise, although i dont care, because despite living here, when you're a broke-ass college student, not much money is spent on taxable things.

 

Also, no sales tax on hippie lettuce  :)

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I know this may be too deep a concept for you right now, but you won't always be a "broke ass college student." There will come a time you will care. Sadly, reversing taxes in a society that is made dependent is not an easy thing to do. The decisions made today will influence your pocket book for the rest of your life. Welcome to the grown up world.

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Raise sales taxes! I say vote his ass out of office. That is why no industry wants to move to Buffalo because of asses like him. He has no clue. I noved to Florida 15 years ago. We pay 6% sales tax here and NO State Income taxes. I cheer my beloved Buffalo Bills and Sabres from here. :):)

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Good idea because I really just don't pay enough in taxes, insurance premiums and utility bills. The water rate was just raised for the 2nd time this year. Cable rate has gone up THREE times in the past year. NY State has the 2nd highest auto insurance premiums in the country. Sales tax is already 8.25%. Yes, there is income tax, state tax, property tax and school tax. Can't forget the Federal tax every April either. Gallon of gas is $2.09. Most of it is tax. Smokes are $5 a pack- mostly taxes. Price of everthing has gone up and my income hasn't. Just keep piling on the taxes please. It's just great.

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I'm not an Erie County resident, but I sympathise with county government. The problem is unfunded state mandates. The state government decides it would be nice to help the poor, the unemployed and underemployed with medicaid and other benefits, but these are county level programs that counties have to pay for. An add running on Buffalo TV lately states that %100 of county property taxes in Erie County goes to fund Medicaid. The county has no choice in the matter. The county raises taxes. Industries and people with jobs leave town and a hiegher percentage of the residents who remain are on the public dole with fewwer people to pay for their benefits. It's a vicious cycle.

 

From an outsider's point of view, it looks to me as if Giamgra is doing the best he can in a losing battle. He has pushed the concept of a regional government, which in theory is more cost efficient because it means fewer bureaucrats. But change has been too slow in coming because lots of those same buereaucrats like running their own little kingdom.

 

Joel Giambra has stated this will be his last term as Erie County Executive. My guess is he saw the handwriting on the wall, and knew this fiscal crisis was coming and knew that the fiscal medicine to try and keep things afloat would be so onerous that he would be unelectable in another term.

 

My choice as villian in all this is New York State, and its perpetual government by impasse. I don't like governor Pataki. I'm not thrilled with the state senate, and I think the state assembly is probably the worst governing body in the country. As far as I know, NYState is the only state government that adds a surccharge to your state income taxes to cover purchases you might have made out of state or ordered from out of state. It doesn't matter if you actually made purchases like that or not. You pay the tax anyway. I will not live in NYS when I retire. As far as I'm concerned, NYS accomplishes less with higher taxes than any other state in the country.

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What did I hear the other day on the radio....something about various departments (can't remember if it is city or county) who get to keep the "leftover" money alloted to their department if/when it isn't used up every year. Hence, they never use all of the money given to them to perform services!

 

I think I heard it on WGR. They said the loophole dates back to the civil war or something. Did anyone else hear this?

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