The Inquisitive & Enlightened

The Inquisitive & Enlightened; or, Remarks on the Burden of Paying for 911
(Boone County, Kentucky)

James Duvall, M. A.
Big Bone University

 

The Boone County Teaparty meets each week on Monday, beginning at 6 p.m. The location is Substation II, on Dream Street—a place that serves the best onion rings I have ordered anywhere in Northern Kentucky. We are there by invitation of the owner, Mike, and many Teaparty people take advantage of a good meal, as well as a pleasant evening of discussion.

We always like proof that our efforts are having an effect. This week the Judge Executive informed us that the question of the Smoking Ban in Boone County was dropped due to the influence of the Teaparty. There were some other interesting remarks and exchanges on the floor: I love these meetings; it is one of the few places I go where people discuss issues. (Most places it's weather, children, sports, crops, etc.—discussion of issues means thought in action!)

The real test that the Teaparty is reaching full potential as a source of information in political discourse is that our leaders are now being consulted before plans are laid in smoke-filled rooms—they don't want us to protest; they would rather we participate. There is a certain danger in that; but nothing is so dangerous as a few (uninformed) people making decisions for everyone. People are in the Teaparty because they are smart and well-informed—it's the dumb ones stay home—we become better informed by talking to each other, so that if we are, in the end, not as intelligent as we might be, we are still more so than the average congressman. That is why two of our members have been asked to sit on the committee that is to make recommendations concerning the funding of the 911 Emergency Service to the Fiscal Court.

How to levy taxes for a particular object is no easy matter to decide. When the decision to pay for 911 was originally made, the tax was added to your telephone bill. No one thought that “land lines” were going to go away, and be replaced with cell phones. No one could see that far in advance. It is arguable that a tax on telephones was not the best way to pay for the service—that was probably just an assumption made, because the emergency was called in on the telephone. That is like saying that the bill for the pizza you ordered last night should be added to your phone bill, because that's how you ordered it. The telephone is how help is requested in an emergency, not the reason for it.

It was suggested in a Teaparty Brainstorming session, Monday, that $1 be added to the bill of everyone who makes a call to 911. That means your stingy neighbor might watch your house burn down, and not call to save a buck. At least economic principles teach us that if you tax something, you get less of it, that is, unless you levy the tax correctly. That is where the Inquisitive and the Enlightened come in. Alexander Hamilton was shot by Aaron Burr, which may have been a good thing. But Hamilton was smart, and he knew a lot about taxes. Here's what he said in his letter on “Internal Taxation” in the Federalist Papers (no. 34):

Inquisitive and enlightened statesmen are deemed everywhere best qualified to make a judicious selection of the objects proper for revenue; which is a clear indication, as far as the sense of mankind can have a species of knowledge if local circumstances requisite to the purposes of taxation.

In other words, you can't tax in the abstract; you must bear in mind the purpose for which you are taxing, or you will surely get a very different result than you intended; for example, people refusing to call 911 while people lie dying, or houses burn. That is why Emily Shelton and Matt Dedden, two of our Teaparty people, have been chose for the “Committee of the Inquisitive and the Enlightened.” I cannot see how better choices could have been made.

A Possible Solution

It was suggested early that the Fiscal Court should pay for the whole thing. This idea has a certain attraction, and I approve of it in the main—after all, they are paying for part of it now. I also think most of the taxes we pay should show up on one bill. We do not gain “transparency” by spreading the payments around on fifteen different bills. (The charge is about $2.50 per month on your phone bill.) What has brought the crises in the present case is that the shortfall of about $1.5 million a year is made up out of the county's general fund, which pays 75%, and the funds of the City of Florence, which pays 25%. Florence now argues that it is being double-taxed—which is perfectly true—and will soon cease to pay its allotted share. I agree our largest city should not be double-taxed; but it should pay its share. What is its share? And how can this be acquired without double-taxing the good citizens of Florence?

Let us consider what Hamilton says about the “judicious selection of the proper objects of revenue,” and “knowledge of local circumstances requisite to the purposes of taxation.” These phrases may sound like bureaucratic jargon, but they are the key to a sound principle of funding a service that benefits everyone—even those who don't think they need it. Once we agree that the service is either necessary, or at least highly desirable, on which I think that well-informed people would agree, then the question is who should pay—and the answer is the people who use, or potentially use the service.

Who are these people? The humanitarians who dial 911? Not, I think, in most cases. A boat caught on fire on Big Bone Creek a few years ago, but the boaters are not the ones who made the call. When I saw them they were all wet, and had climbed into someone else's pontoon. Several neighbors, including us, called 911. The beneficiaries are the public at large; but we don't know to make the public at large pay, without putting a price on the service, and charging in advance; or at least sending a bill. The only corresponding group we can send the bill to in advance is the taxpayers, and this is considered close enough to the public at large, that the taxpayers have been footing the bill for everything from time immemorial. Here then is the essence of the solution; plus it takes the tax off your telephone bill and puts it back on the tax bill, where everyone can see all of their local taxes at once.

Having said that, it does not follow that everyone should pay equally. Those who use a service the most should pay the most. I suggest that though in principle Florence should not be “double-taxed,” the residents of Florence may well use the service more than residents of Waterloo, Taylorsport, or Berkshire—the tail-end of Boone County. But who can say in advance how much more that might be? A question for the Inquisitive and Enlightened.

A System of Districts

I suggest that at least four districts be set up; these would be the incorporated cities: Florence, Union, and Walton, with the fourth being unincorporated Boone County. Other possible districts I suggest below, but this will show the principle I am suggesting. Every month the volume of calls from each district would be computed, and averaged over the year. Each district would pay according to its percentage. Within that district the amount would be distributed over the tax base according to current formula of taxable value, etc. This would also take care of the possibility of one district growing more quickly that another, in the future, and so possibly use that service more. By the same token, the Fire Districts might pay for fire-related calls. As I conceive it, 911 is a dispatch service, necessary to all such departments.

New districts could be added as needed. Dr. Mc suggested that the Health District might pay for the service. I think 100% is much too much, but suicide threats, overdoses, etc., might well be classified as being in that district, no matter where the call originates. Other districts might be Hebron, which has a more highly concentrated population than most of unincorporated Boone County, and Saddlebrook, which is already a Census Designated Location, and has a quite dense population! This way (using our system of Representative Government) we can preserve the idea that those who use a service most should pay the most. Whether Florence would pay more or less under the system is hard to say at this point; but at least they would not be double-taxed.

Not being an expert on taxation I merely forward this to the Inquisitive and Enlightened for their consideration.

Written 12 Aug 2010.

Big Bone University: A Think Tank, Research Institute, & Public Policy Center
Established 2000 A. D.
Big Bone, Kentucky
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jkduvall@gmail.com

Notes

Several questions were asked soon after this essay was written. I include remarks here, since other people may well ask the same.

The Tax District to which the charge would be attributed should probably be based on addresses served, not the location of the caller. However, it would probably not often be different.

Renters pay for all services in their rent; the landlord does not make one cent until all costs and expenses have been deducted from the rent payment; renters do not get a “free ride” in this system, as such costs are always passed on to them as soon as possible.

Vehicles can probably not be included in this levy; vehicles are taxed by the State, and, as I understand it, a part of this comes back to the County, but it is certain everyone pays enough vehicle tax already.

Burlington is the only unincorporated county seat in the Commonwealth. It would probably have to grow considerable to be worth making into a separate district; but I defer to the Inquisitive and the Enlightened in this case, as well as the others.