Spirit of giving in the Valley
It is with sincere gratitude that I am writing this letter. Dennis and Dorothy Smith, Dorwin Smith, Cathy and Berkeley Tilton graciously donated winter clothing and holiday meals to the families of Mat-Su Central School. Through their compassionate effort, many of our students and their families will have a warm coat and a Christmas dinner. Students and parents were able to choose from a wide variety of winter gear made available from these kind-hearted folks. What a gift!
The spirit of giving is alive and well in the Mat-Su.
— John Brown
Principal, Mat-Su Central School
'No one gets a free ride' if Alaska has a sales tax
First, I'd like to thank Gov. Bill Walker for treating the citizens of Alaska like thinking adults (though he may have been wrong in some cases). He presented a logical budget plan, backed it up with numbers and frankly said he'd listen to suggestions for improvement. This is especially refreshing after listening to the legislators who have pooh-pooh'd every plan that opposed their special interests, but offered nothing better.
There will be much furor over whether an income tax is better than a sales tax, mostly because we've always heard the phrase, "Sales taxes are regressive." One's definition of "regressive" may not agree with another's. If the only criteria is that it would take a larger percentage of a middle-class person's pay, yes, it might. But if a poorer person pays $75 for a coat, she might pay three bucks sales tax. If a wealthy person pays $750 for an Eddie Bauer down-filled whatever, she would pay 30 bucks. If one buys a used Ford rather than a new BMW, the same sort of difference would apply. The wealthier will pay in accordance with the luxury they choose to buy, and though the percentage of income they spend will probably be much lower, the tax dollars will be much more. We would get a piece of the tourist dollar also. And I suspect the cost of administering a sales tax will be much smaller than that of setting up a new IRS bureaucracy.
But, to me, the big reason for a sales tax: Everyone will pay a little something — no one gets a free ride. This should make the entire population realize that we never get something for nothing — you may pay a lot, or a little, according to your ability, but government services actually have a cost to you.
My next suggestion: Up the ante on mineral extraction taxes. Mining interests, usually from out of state, have been getting away with murder since the Guggenheims opened up the Copper River country early in the 20th century. We can't squeeze much more out of oil until conditions change, but I think we'd be very surprised at the value of the mineral wealth that has been filtering out of our state through the decades.
— Don Neal
Anchorage
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