Proposition 1: How to Swindle the Middle Class

[Sam1]

By Cathy Stripe Lester

On August 5, Michigan taxpayers will be asked to vote on Proposition 1, which is being presented in commercials as a way to “help small businesses and create 15,000 new jobs … without raising taxes!”

If that sounds like a conjuring trick, it is – smoke’n’mirrors, my friends. And if you try to look behind the curtain, it becomes very, very confusing, as if the proponents of Prop 1 don’t want anyone to notice what it actually does.

Firstly it takes control of one segment of local tax bases. Takes it away from local cities and townships, and gives it to the state. Secondly, it is going to be a huge tax break for big companies in the long run, and shift even more tax burden onto working families.

http://www.juancole.com/2014/08/proposition-swindle-middle.html

[Demeter]

1. Sorry, but Proposition 1 is not all that

I had a small business, and before I made dollar one in profit (my salary) I had to pay thousands in business tax on the equipment. Every year.

It made the business a losing proposition from the start, and then 9-11 killed it by destroying my customer base.

I do not think the plan for replacing the income locally will be honestly implemented (look at how the State of Michigan has screwed the school districts), but that doesn't detract from the fact that the personal property tax is a business-killer.