As some of you know, East Lansing is home to Michigan State University and more than 50,000 students. East Lansing has a total of 48,000 citizens that does not include students so it is easy to see the influence and impact that the university has on the city. Recently, East Lansing announced that their Financial Health Review Team is looking into a city wide income tax to pay for unfunded liabilities. New city wide income taxes should be opposed and here are 3 reasons why.
- This can come to a city near you. Often times we do not care what happens in other cities as long as our hometown is not affected, but this time it should be different. Not only is East Lansing in trouble, but hundreds of other cities throughout the state have budget shortfalls and unfunded liabilities and payments. As cities keep losing money and having new, unexpected costs, such as cleaning their water supply, expect more of them to possibly enact a citywide income tax.
- This tax will hurt students more than anyone else. 18,000 students work on campus for the university and this doesn’t take into account how many other students may work throughout East Lansing. Students cannot afford another tax. They are already paying for tuition, housing, and countless other expenses. A new income tax will only delay the student’s ability to succeed in life.
. - East Lansing should be held responsible for their unfunded liabilities. It is past time for cities to take responsibility for their financial problems instead of blaming you the taxpayer. One look at the budget for East Lansing and you can see that it has a spending problem. For example, police brought in $272,580 in revenue while spending $10,064,760 in 2015, a huge loss of $9,792,180 for the year, and that is only one example. Instead of taking money from its citizens and the students who attend Michigan State University, they should learn to not spend more money than they take in.
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