Citizens should know: Fees ARE Taxes
Monday, April 20th, 2009 By Beth Lear
Ohioans should know by now that when a politician promises to increase government without tax hikes, something just doesn’t sound right. The situation is no different when government promises to keep the same level of services in spite of a $7 billion expected deficit during a recession. It can’t be done.
Nevertheless, Representative Sykes (D-44), Chairman of the House Finance Committee told the Gongwer News Service on Friday that, “…the new spending (more than the Governor proposed) would include a mix of money from the federal government and other sources but would not entail a tax increase.” Later he added, “You may see some additional fee enhancements, particularly those that haven’t been adjusted (for a while) and don’t meet related program requirements.”
So, a little lesson is worth our time to learn how Legislators manage to keep or increase big government during a recession without ”tax increases”. They call it “fee increases”. The question you should be asking is: what’s the difference?
The dictionary says the following:
Fee: A fixed sum charged, as by an institution or by law, for a privilege: a license fee; tuition fees.
Tax:
| 1. | a sum of money demanded by a government for its support or for specific facilities or services, levied upon incomes, property, sales, etc. |
| 2. | a burdensome charge, obligation, duty, or demand. |
In both cases the “fee” and the “tax” are a “charge…by law (or) by a government”.
Politicians will claim “fees” are not taxes because they aren’t forced upon the general population. That’s where they are being intentionally deceptive. If hospital ‘fees’ go up, who pays them? Everyone, because our insurance rates go up. If business ‘fees’ go up, who pays for that? We all do, because businesses, especially in this economy, can not afford to absorb additional costs and stay in business. They pass the increased ‘fees’ on to the customer – that’s us.
While “a rose by any other name may smell as sweet”, a tax by any other name still stinks!
