 On Point Vincent Carroll, editor of the editorial pages, writes his On Point column most weekdays. He is also an author and freelance writer. Reach Vincent Carroll at carrollv@RockyMountainNews.com. |
Carroll: an echo of sadness
What I remember most about a day eight years ago this week is the deep, enervating sadness that enveloped our community after 13 people were murdered at Columbine High School.
People are massacred by the dozens almost daily in Iraq and elsewhere around the globe. We are horrified, sympathetic, but rarely are we shaken to the bone. We need to be near the crime, the victims and the survivors to fully appreciate what such senseless slaughter means. It’s human nature. We can’t be oppressed with grief for all of human suffering. Our circuits would overload.
Now the people of Blacksburg, Va., must endure a special sadness. Most of us can’t really share in it from our vantage point so far away, but we can remember how we felt when it struck here. And for perspective, we can note that Columbine wasn’t even half as bloody as the horror that just befell Virginia Tech.
Will Dems go it alone?
If Gov. Bill Ritter was hoping for a bipartisan coalition to back his proposal to freeze property tax rates, he can forget about it now that every Republican state senator and every representative save one has signed a letter opposing the idea.
“Let us be clear,” the letter declares. “We stand opposed to your property tax increase ... We have to move beyond 20th century measures like property tax hikes if we wish to address our 21st century needs.”
And what would a 21st century system of school finance look like? The letter is strikingly coy in that regard, no doubt in part because most Republicans have no idea.
In addition, they’re a fairly diverse lot. Some have supported padding state revenues with measures such as Referendum C. Others would rather endure a root canal than transfer another dollar from private hands to the government. But they all recognize political kryptonite when they see it and are more than happy to let Democrats handle it on their own.
Democrats run state government, after all. They have the votes to overcome any Republican opposition to Ritter’s plan. The only question is whether they have the courage to go it alone.
According to polls conducted for the Tax Foundation (the outfit that calculates the Tax Freedom Day each year, when Americans stop working for government and begin working for themselves), the property tax is considered the “least fair” state and local tax. Why that’s so is a bit of a mystery. One expert cited by the foundation claims it’s because the property tax is “highly visible” and because “you can see if you’re getting your money’s worth” in terms of schools, city services and so on.
I tend to think it’s also because homeowners resent how property taxes can sharply escalate without any similar bump in their own incomes. They might not feel any wealthier, yet end up shelling out more in taxes every year based on the rising value of an asset they have no desire to sell.
Coloradans haven’t experienced that helpless feeling of escalating property taxes in quite a while, thanks to a law pushing mill levies down. Freezing rates might sound innocuous — and Ritter is right about the perilous state of the education fund — but a freeze would leave Coloradans vulnerable to a ride on a tax escalator during the next surge in residential property values.
There’s got to be a better way, even if Republicans aren’t able to identify it.
Vincent Carroll is editor of the editorial pages. Reach him at carrollv@RockyMountain
News.com.
"There’s got to be a better way, even if Republicans aren’t able to identify it."
One could say the same thing about Democrats and Iraq with the way Republicans have screwed up there. Of course you won't hear Vince take that angle because to him only Democrats can screw things up.
Posted by on April 17, 2007 09:14 AM"There's got to be a better way ...". Well, for certain, we don't want to go down the path that New Jersey has; with property taxes per residence an average of $ 6,000/year ... and going higher. All to kow tow to the teachers' unions there.
Posted by CC on April 17, 2007 09:55 AMto Vincent Carroll:
tragic situation at Va Tech. but totally avoidable. when was the last time that we heard of 'domestic violence' on a college campus? with a Masters Degree in College Student Personnel - this type of event is studied. and what do you do? you lock down a college campus immediately! that they did not after the report of the first two murders is a crime! of all places the college campus is truly the most open and 'unsecure'. because of the academic freedoms inherent. freedom of thought ,etc is the objective of the typical college campus. after all these are our 'enlightened' who would never choose violence over debate, etc. So when such an act occurs you must act quickly and decisively! that the admin of VT did not is a statement of the un-informed and/or the un-trained staff that run this or any university. this being said who ever expects this to occur? but there have to be standard campus security measures! how many times do you hear of domestic/murder violence on a college campus....especially at a 4 yr school?
Posted by jerry krygier on April 17, 2007 10:56 PMCho Seung-Hui May Be 9th School Shooter Under Influence of Psych drugs
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Posted by cord on April 18, 2007 06:42 PMPosted by Mjasuhyor on October 3, 2007 07:09 AM