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Tax
me out to the ball game
From the
Bluegrass Institute, an independent
research and educational institution offering free-market solutions
to Kentucky's most pressing problems.
For the first time in 33 years, professional baseball is coming to Washington
D.C.
We hope that every taxpayer in D.C. is looking forward to the games because
every one of them soon will be paying for them.
Major League Baseball announced the relocation of the former Montreal Expos
franchise to Washington after a competition among several cities. Northern
Virginia had offered the land for a new stadium and a benefits package that
included no new taxes. D.C. offered to reinstate a tax on business receipts that
previously helped build the MCI Center.
Why did D.C. get the pick? Businesses will surely pass these tax increases along
to their customers in higher prices. Sports fans or not, customers are about to
get the bill for their new team.
It’s hard to blame franchises for taking the offer with lower rent and better
benefits, but the people of Washington aren’t sure they want the team. Community
activists are publicly questioning the cost of new taxes versus the benefit to
the city.
According to the Washington Post, angry phone calls, faxes and e-mails poured
into the offices of council members. Some came from businesses upset by the
return of the gross-receipts tax.
The upcoming D.C. Council vote on the benefits package was once considered a
formality. It now faces stiff opposition. "You will not get this stadium when
people are sleeping on the streets and schools are crumbling," said Damu Smith
of Black Voices for Peace. "You are not going to have an easy way to get this
stadium through."
This should be a warning to policymakers in Kentucky who tax existing businesses
and give breaks to new ones. Voters in D.C. are opposing tax breaks for the
American pastime. What makes them think Kentuckians will support breaks for
politically favored companies?
Sources:
D.C. officials lead off with stadium legislation in The Washington Post
Field of Schemes weblog By Joanna Cagan and Neil deMaus
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