News-Record.com

The Guilford commissioners may yet conclude that a quarter-loaf is better than no loaf at all, even if the bakery that was closed on May 6 is even more likely to be closed on Nov. 4 (“Sales tax plan might appear on ballot in fall,” June 21). Your editorial about Billy Yow’s souped-up sales tax (May 22) contained two true statements:

1. “Commissioners can’t legally guarantee that a new sales tax would be applied as Yow suggests (to offset the property tax). ...”

2. “The real issue is the sales tax itself.”

What sales-tax boosters find so seductive —millions in moolah, but a low profile at the grocery store — is what makes a sales tax, any sales tax, so treacherous. The windfall accelerates spending, and accelerates it painlessly.

But because the new revenue stream is hostage to the vicissitudes of retail activity, the fiscal infusion creates expectations it cannot sustain. Then the only way to make up the difference is to tap the only ever-dependable source of cash: the property tax.

A higher sales tax means a higher property tax. It’s counterintuitive (to borrow a word from Allen Johnson), but true.

Barney Hill
Thomasville