Richmond passed an increase in their Meals Tax Monday night. Of course the tax hike was disguised as just a little fundraiser for schools. Democrats love to do this. They mismanage budgets, spend recklessly and wastefully, then cry about needing an additional revenue stream to make ends meet, before finally putting everything on the schools. This game needs to stop.
For elected Democrats looking to hike taxes for their golden parachute they need kids to be used as an object of shared sympathy. We all want kids to succeed (even the Republicans that state senator Barbara Favola called “evil”). So for a good old fashioned tax hike Democrats shift money already going to schools and then add a new tax while claiming all the funds will go to the schools who are underfunded. Of course they fail to point out that better management and more efficient resource allocation would have avoided this newly manufactured need to catch up on funding for public schools. During this debate, the schools and kids are put into an unnecessary and disingenuous limbo as they wait for the plans to play out. This is entirely unfair to all the teachers, parents, and students.
New taxes for schools are just a gimmick. It’s a political tactic to claim that somehow, after all the taxes are collected, the schools were left out. Oh no! How will they get their money!?! And then comes the- Don’t you care about kids, you monster!?! Which is immediately followed with- Anyone who opposes this opposes schools and hates kids, you monster!!!
This specific Meals Tax increase in Richmond is a mistake because of the harmful effect it will have on locally owned restaurants and bars. The food service industry will be directly impacted and this tax will hurt more women than men as there are more waitresses than waiters. Specific tax increases like this one are the real legislative War on Women, and you can thank the Democrats for that.
Fairfax County voters understood this and rejected a proposed Meals Tax two years ago by voting it down with decisive numbers.
A meals tax for schools, or a gas tax for schools, or a sugary drinks tax for schools are all just more of the same kind of thinking from a false premise that the government does not have enough revenue streams. It does. Proper allocation of resources, cutting waste, audits, transparency, and all-around better elected officials are the way for local governments to send plenty of money to public schools.
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