Taxpayers Are Shocked to Discover That When They Vote for Government Services, They Have to Pay for Them

Taxpayers in Austin, Texas, are upset that their property tax bills are rising.  This article reports that taxpayer Gretchen Gardner is “at the breaking point” because of her increasing property taxes.

Gardner says, “I have voted for every park, every library, all the school improvements, for light rail, for anything that will make this city better. But now I can’t afford to live here anymore.”  It appears that Gardner strongly supports more government spending, as long as someone else pays the cost.

She is going to protest her tax assessment.

She goes on to say, “Someone needs to step in and address the big picture.”  As I see it, the big picture is that our country has too many voters like Gardner who keep asking for more government spending without thinking that somebody has to pay for it.

Randall G. Holcombe is Research Fellow at the Independent Institute and DeVoe Moore Professor of Economics at Florida State University. His Independent books include Housing America: Building Out of a Crisis (edited with Benjamin Powell); and Writing Off Ideas: Taxation, Foundations, and Philanthropy in America .
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