Taxation-plank

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* I'll always be sure that taxes are legal.
: Mayor Murphy proposed illegal taxes in the city's budget. Murphy, often with the support of Pittsburgh's City Council, tried to intentionally break laws concerning taxes. 
:: * Drink pouring tax was not legal.
* Pittsburgh can not tax cut its way to prosperity. Nor can Pittsburgh tax itself into prosperity. The on-going crisis with finances and taxes makes the next moves critical. Errors, now, could lead to fatal results for the city's viablility.
=== The city's public treasury is in no position to refund money to taxpayers. ===
* Tax breaks for corporations, such as TIFs, must end.
* Tax collections on all fronts must occur. The city needs to get what is due in taxes and fees.
* When taxes can decline, they must occur in ways that are going to help everyday citizens, not the rich. 
===Battles among City, Schools, County and State===
* I will always be mindful of taxes on a global basis, looking at the overall impact upon the taxpayers.
* I will not seek to shift taxes from one body to another, just to cause confusion.
** The City of Pittsburgh can not wage a war with Pittsburgh Public Schools over money from the state, nor with out of control taxes that create a hardship city-wide.
::In the past, the city cut taxes only to see them rise from the school district. Hence the gain was gone to the taxpayers.
::In the past, the city's bailout forced the school district to give away $4-million per year from the RAD tax. That caused a shortfall within the school district budget.
::In the past, the city stopped paying the crossing guards. Then the school district needed to pick up that expense, causing a budget problem there. 
==Taxation problems are huge and display the visionless leadership in Pittsburgh's recent past.==
=== The "mix:" ===
Pittsburgh's taxation problems are summed up by a concept of "the mix." Mayor Murphy said that his budget had "suicidal" elements. The mix of taxes in Pittsburgh is a bad cocktail that the past politicians served to the citizens. 
Selfish tax schemes aim to get taxpayer money, pass along some money to bureaucrats, and spend as desired. 
The current leadership and machine politicians only bat at the leaves of the tree of suffering.
===Heartbreaking ills: ===
# the lack of vision as to what to do, and 
# the lack of understanding of what has really transpired.
===Machine politicians and have opted for taking bigger pieces of a shrinking pie.===
Pittsburgh's economy is shrinking. So, public sector workers have been gobbling out of fear and for the sake of survival. Their mindset has been to play defense, to keep hold, to protect, to tighten ranks. 
Past Pittsburgh leaders decided that they can't or won't lift the economy with policies of growth. 
Market foces can help Pittsburgh grow.
===Serious medicine, so as to Think Again===
Going to the roots of the problems takes times, work, shared knowledge, peer review and all of these new perspectives are under consideration within this Platform.For-Pgh.Org. The roots of the problems in Pittsburgh's taxation mess needs understanding and the next steps of putting forth a solid vision. 
==Links==
* Taxation
* Income tax, Income tax-plank
category: Platform_Planks_from_Mark_Rauterkus