We are Juneau seniors, and we emphatically disagree with the call to eliminate all sales tax for seniors.
Basically, reduction or elimination of sales tax for anyone or any entity should be based on smart policy and genuine need, not status, including age or any other squishy social criteria.
Seniors benefit from CBJ services. Whether it’s swimming pools, libraries, parks, trails or emergency medical care, we seniors use our community’s public services. If we can afford to chip in to pay for the myriad public services we use, why shouldn’t we?
The call for seniors to get a universal pass on paying anything for the services we use is wrong and reflects a peculiar sense of entitlement that is inconsistent with the best tradition of Alaska. In the Alaska we want to inhabit, everyone should carry their share of the load if they can.
The so-called “silver tsunami” is upon us; the proportion of seniors in our small city’s population is growing rapidly. Just because there are a bunch of us living here doesn’t mean we should use our political leverage to cut our taxes. It is irresponsible and self-serving for us to avoid pitching in to maintain the services we depend on if we have the means to help pay for the services we use.
We know the declines in oil prices and state oil tax revenue have serious repercussions on the health of the Juneau economy. Historic sources of state revenue the city has relied on in the past are diminished and likely to be cut further. Because of these concerns and based on the increasing senior demographic, the Juneau Assembly recognized that a complete sales tax exemption for seniors was unsustainable. As a result, the CBJ Assembly voted 7-2 in 2015 to revise the complete sales tax exemptions for senior citizens so that only “essential items” are covered. As a result, items such as food, electricity and heating fuel, are tax exempt for seniors. The measure was responsible. The Chamber of Commerce endorsed the changes to the senior sales tax exemptions prior to the Assembly’s approval.
Seniors in Juneau are a rapidly growing portion of our population. Seniors in our community often are relatively wealthy. Getting a pass on paying for toys for grandkids or a new car isn’t justified.
Let’s face it, many seniors can afford to pay the sales tax. Is it right to give a relatively wealthy senior a total break on sales tax compared to the hard-working mom with two little kids waiting behind us at the supermarket checkout while we fill out our exemption form?
Yes, there are seniors on very limited income for whom the tax is a burden. But the current sales tax exemption allows for a rebate of tax dollars to Juneau seniors that are below a certain income level.
We seniors living in this beautiful place we call home need to keep in mind our goody bag of perks is quite full. We receive special benefits from Federal, State, and local governments. We get an extra deduction on our income tax, we get discounted health care prices through Medicare, we get free hunting and fishing licenses, we get a $150,000 exemption on our home property tax value, we get free vehicle registration, we get the essential items sales tax exemption, we get free bus passes and discounts at the swimming pool. Heck, we even get discounted passes to Eaglecrest; there is a lot of grey hair up there under the helmets on a week-day snow day. If you can find any place in America where government does more to financially subsidize senior citizens, let us know where it is.
In an effort to influence the 2017 Juneau municipal election a group of seniors is advocating a return to the “good old days”, when senior citizens were exempt from all sales tax. They claim that the reduction of the exemption hasn’t made the city as much money as city staff projected; a contention that is not obviously correct.
The tax emption advocates are threatening to campaign against the sales tax for deferred maintenance projects that include wastewater and city water infrastructure and maintenance, airport matching funds for Federally Funded projects and Augustus Brown Pool maintenance. These kinds of petulant activities are the kind of juvenile threats one would expect from a spoiled child, not a mature individual.
Ironically, the Assembly and CBJ Aquatics Board were flooded with correspondence from seniors supporting Augustus Brown pool. Seniors are a major user group of the pools.
The rump group of disgruntled seniors seeking a total elimination on sales tax for all seniors are also encouraging seniors not to buy locally, which is a terrible way to treat the merchants and stores of Juneau. Trying to hold our local merchants hostage to obtain a little break on sales tax is dumb economics and politically silly.
The city’s budget is not balanced on the backs of seniors. Instead, our budget obtains revenue from a variety of sources, primarily from individuals and families who work hard and pay full sales tax, full property tax, full bus fare and get no senior discounts.
In essence, those under age 65 carry most of the load and are subsidizing those who are exempted. As the senior population continues to grow disproportionately faster than other age groups, so does the revenue disparity. Seniors need to recognize their responsibility, pitch in and make our city work for all of us.
• Tom Rutecki is a resident of Juneau. Also contributing to this column is Alex Wertheimer, Joe Geldhof, Maryellen Arvold, Jan Beauchamp, David Haas, Mark Kelley, Roy Martin, Frank Thrower and Peggy Wertheimer.
