April is the month when state and local governments expect us to pay for the privilege of being Californians. April 10 is the deadline for paying semi-annual property taxes without penalty, and April 15 is the deadline for filing federal and state income tax returns.
It is, therefore, an appropriate time for weighing whether the taxes we Californians pay — not only those on property and income, but throughout the year on sales and fuel — buy satisfactory levels of service.
The Washington-based Tax Foundation, in a new report, pegs Californians’ state and local tax burden at 13.5% of personal income, or $10,167 a person — fifth highest in the nation. That’s roughly $400 billion in taxes that those we elect to office have to spend each year.
Whether we consider our return on that investment to be adequate is probably as individual as our fingerprints. But WalletHub, a website that researches personal finance issues, recently attempted to calculate it objectively. California gets the nation’s second lowest score, eclipsed only by New Mexico. New Hampshire scored the best, followed by Florida.
WalletHub’s research team calculated tax revenue per adult for each state and compared it to five categories of government services: education, health, public safety, economy and infrastructure combined with pollution.
California’s services were rated as mediocre, 37th overall, with low scores for public safety, economy, infrastructure and pollution. However, the state’s high level of taxation, mirroring the Tax Foundation’s data, sank its return on investment to near the bottom.
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Despite the tax load, the state is dealing with multibillion-dollar budget deficits, due to overspending its revenues, and legislators are being pressed to cover the shortfalls with new corporate taxes.
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High taxes should bring us smooth roads, effective police and fire services, high levels of education, reliable water supplies and other efficient returns on our investment, which residents of New Hampshire and Florida apparently enjoy.
It is, therefore, an appropriate time for weighing whether the taxes we Californians pay — not only those on property and income, but throughout the year on sales and fuel — buy satisfactory levels of service.
The Washington-based Tax Foundation, in a new report, pegs Californians’ state and local tax burden at 13.5% of personal income, or $10,167 a person — fifth highest in the nation. That’s roughly $400 billion in taxes that those we elect to office have to spend each year.
Whether we consider our return on that investment to be adequate is probably as individual as our fingerprints. But WalletHub, a website that researches personal finance issues, recently attempted to calculate it objectively. California gets the nation’s second lowest score, eclipsed only by New Mexico. New Hampshire scored the best, followed by Florida.
WalletHub’s research team calculated tax revenue per adult for each state and compared it to five categories of government services: education, health, public safety, economy and infrastructure combined with pollution.
California’s services were rated as mediocre, 37th overall, with low scores for public safety, economy, infrastructure and pollution. However, the state’s high level of taxation, mirroring the Tax Foundation’s data, sank its return on investment to near the bottom.
<snip>
Despite the tax load, the state is dealing with multibillion-dollar budget deficits, due to overspending its revenues, and legislators are being pressed to cover the shortfalls with new corporate taxes.
<snip>
High taxes should bring us smooth roads, effective police and fire services, high levels of education, reliable water supplies and other efficient returns on our investment, which residents of New Hampshire and Florida apparently enjoy.
CalMatters is not a hate-California, hate-Newsom website; it runs neutral-to-slightly-liberal.
When we returned to CA in 2012 from 16 years living in Florida, I was utterly shocked by how bad the roads had gotten (and still are). Everyone knows about the schools, which were once, long ago, some of the best in the country. There is a severe shortage of medical and veterinary personnel, including pharmacists; since there is no shortage of people willing and able to pay for these services, I can only conclude that people with medical training are moving out of state. Fortunately for us, Kaiser just expanded into Monterey County, and they somehow manage to keep their facilities well-staffed, but even so, we have to go to San Jose for some specialty care.
I love California. I love being able to walk to the ocean. I love being able to have the windows and doors open 10 months of the year, and not deal with any bugs. I love hearing 4 or 5 different languages spoken during the course of a trip to Safeway or an hour at the beach. I love that I can drive 4 hours or less and go through at least 3 different climates - not weather, climates. I don't love having a state government that thinks money magically appears because they commit to spending it.
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