BCT Editorial – 3/1/06

This page was last updated on March 1, 2006.

Ohio envy; Editorial; Beaver County Times; March 1, 2006.

This is another editorial in a series trying to convince Pennsylvania taxpayers that our taxation level is OK.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“Perhaps because Ohio residents vote on raising school property taxes, people in western Pennsylvania have come to see that state as a low-tax haven.”

[RWC] I can only speak for myself, but I never considered Ohio to be a “low-tax haven.”

“It is anything but that - for businesses and individuals.

“The Tax Foundation ranked Ohio as having the 47th worst business climate in the United States.”

[RWC] I don’t know about anyone else, but I judge PA taxes on their own merits. I don’t care if Ohio or any other state is higher or lower. Remember, “grading on the curve” is what allows poor students to get A’s on their report cards.

“The same holds for the Tax Foundation’s calculation of local and state tax burdens for 2005. Ohio had the seventh heaviest burden while Pennsylvania’s was 35th lightest.”

[RWC] The author tried a little slight of word. “35^th lightest” is the same as 16^th “heaviest burden,” but the author apparently believes we’re too stupid to figure this out.

“It’s time to put the lower-taxes-in-Ohio myth behind us and move on. Pennsylvania residents don’t know how good they have it in comparison to their neighbors to the west.”

[RWC] Translation: Even if we have high taxes, we should be thankful they aren’t as high as Ohio. What a crock of BS!