What kind of a state closes its rest areas? That does not send a very
welcoming message to the tourists from whom the state receives
significant dollars. And where are people to relieve themselves? On the
side of the road?
Closing courts does not resolve legal matters any less expensively; it
just postpones them and denies people the right to speedy trials and
the right to have court cases resolved expeditiously.
Forcing the elderly and the needy to choose between prescription drugs, medical care and/or food and heat is barbaric.
The three-year tax surcharge means someone earning $28,000 a year would
pay $9 more in taxes. Someone earning $74,000 would pay $48 in
additional tax and someone earning $250,000 would pay an extra $300 in
taxes. Those added taxes, even at the highest level of $300 per year,
have a lower financial impact on taxpayers than the five cent per
gallon gas tax which the Legislature rejected last week.
Tax increases amidst a weakened economic climate are never greeted with
open arms. But closing the rest areas in a state that relies on tourism
for a significant portion of its revenues? That's worth the $9 to $48 a
year it will cost the average Vermont household. And so is keeping the
elderly and poor out of the emergency room when they land there for
treatment because they can't take care of themselves. That costs all of
us more than $9 to $48 a year.
A tax increase is not fun. But in this instance it's the least onerous solution.
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