Dunman: "Debate over LIFT isn’t a question of political partisanship, but of class."

Classy.

Debate over LIFT isn’t a question of political partisanship, but of class, by Joe Dunman (Insider Louisville)

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer has launched the new year and his second term in office with a renewed public relations campaign for Local Investments for Transformation (LIFT), also known as the “local option sales tax.”

Why?

... The problem, as the mayor sees it, is a lack of civic funding for needed civic development. His solution is to let citizens vote to tax themselves equally for projects they approve. That sounds practical, fiscally responsible, and democratic.

It also sounds quite fair. But it isn’t.

Devil's in the details.

It’s unfair because of the nature of the tax it wishes to impose. Sales taxes are regressive. A flat rate, even of just .5 percent, impacts those with less money harder than those with more money.

Class? But I thought Fischer was a Democrat?

... the debate over LIFT isn’t a question of political partisanship, but of class. Should we stifle the already limited buying power of the poorest among us to fund needed projects? We already have a system in place to fund civic improvements. It’s the progressive income tax system, and it needs to be reformed and bolstered.

The last line ... something about Occam's razor springs to mind.