What’s the purpose of government?  Most people will say it is to provide services necessary for a people to survive and flourish.

Governments exist to serve people.  To provide law enforcement and fire services.  To keep streets in good repair.  To build and operate schools.  To insure that our food supply and water supply is safe.

Most people can agree on those principals, although some libertarians might have some problems with government’s role.

Then, the second question must be asked.  What’s the purpose of taxes?

Most people will say the purpose of taxes is to provide those services.

And yet, it appears that our  government is going to replace taxes with user fees.  In other words, require people to pay for services that their taxes should provide.  Some municipalities are going as far as billing people when they use police services and fire services.

It’s almost as though government uses taxes to put into place a floor.   Anything above that floor must be paid for by users of the service.

It’s not that taxes are being replaced by user fees.  It’s that government, having built large bureaucracies through large numbers of employees and new palaces in the guise of government buildings, now finds itself unable to afford the overhead that the taxes pay for.

We should not allow our government to charge taxpayers for services that taxes should provide.  User fees are just another word for the inability of our leaders to live within existing revenue.

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Archive for December, 2010