Would they lie?
Opposition to the sales tax referendum have created a “hit piece” that is claiming to tell the truth about the proposal. But are they giving out facts, or fictions?
Let’s take a look.
If all of this is true, it makes the sales tax seem pretty bad. Let’s go through each of the truth claims.
This is probably the best part of the whole propaganda piece in terms of effective emotion.
Terms like “economic hardship”, “regressive”, “low income families”. These all evoke emotion and coupled with the image of a frustrated father and children it creates the perfect beginning to a propaganda piece that is meant to scare you from whatever is being proposed.
The reality is that the idea that it’s a “recipe for economic hardship” is an empty statement that has no basis in facts. They offer no tangible proof of this claim.
And while a sales tax can sometimes be regressive, this proposed sales tax is not, and you will see that when you look at what is covered by the sales tax, which is the next point.
How this tax hurts you.
Just that language alone is a sign that perhaps, just maybe, the group behind the flyer is actually trying to fool you while warning you against being fooled. Accusations are sometimes admissions!
There is a full list of items that are taxable under this proposal, but let’s talk about some of these.
Gasoline is the biggest one in terms of hot button items. If the current average price of a gallon of gas is $3 that means an additional 2 cents per gallon. At 15 gallons per week for 52 weeks that’s an additional $16 PER YEAR to help guarantee that public safety is adequately funded in Kane County. If this sales tax doesn’t go through, the County Board will likely have to max out the Motor Fuel Tax, adding an additional 8 cents per gallon.
But take a look at the rest of the items on that list, they are not items that are purchased every week, or even every month. Even with clothing for growing children, there are discount stores like Ross, TJ Maxx, and also thrift stores like Goodwill where families of all economic backgrounds can find affordable clothing. If you spend $1,000 on clothes in a year, you will only pay an additional $7.50 for the WHOLE YEAR.
Prepared food? If a family is going out to eat regularly in restaurants, are they the victims of a regressive tax? Absolutely not. If a family decides to spend $200 a month eating at restaurants, they are only going to be spending an additional $18 PER YEAR to help fund public safety. That’s less than the tip for just one of those monthly meals.
This one is a great example of “lying with statistics”. And this number comes from none other than former County Board Chairman and current County Treasurer, Chris Lauzen. Chris seems to make a habit of sparring with elected officials and department heads in very public ways, and his current and ongoing feud with the County’s Executive Director of Finance is no exception.
Everyone knows that a budget is just a guide and a metric to measure against performance, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. By focusing on just one singular aspect of the entire Kane County budget, Lauzen has constructed an argument that appeals directly to the emotions and makes it seem like the Kane County Board is on a reckless spending spree— nothing could be further from the truth!
In fact, under Lauzen’s tenure as board chair, the County Board learned how to cut many expenses and live well within its means, but it wasn’t keeping up with the rate of inflation or the rising costs of doing business. The property tax was kept frozen each year, but that meant a plan for the future was sacrificed. Lauzen left behind no plan to guide the board through the impending fiscal cliff that was discussed for years under his watch. And then the pandemic hit…
The truth is,