Proposal One: Can You Say Boondoggle?

Proposal One: Can You Say Boondoggle?:

boondoggle  noun   boon?dog?gle   \?b?n-?d?-g?l, -?do?-\  :  an expensive and wasteful project usually paid for with public money On May 5th , you will have an opportunity to go the polls and vote on Proposal 15-1. Here is the language of that proposal: PROPOSAL 15-1      A proposal to amend the State Constitution to increase the sales/use tax from 6% to 7% to replace and supplement reduced revenue to the School Aid Fund and local units of government caused by the elimination of the sales/use tax on gasoline and diesel fuel for vehicles operating on public roads, and to give effect to laws that provide additional money for roads and other transportation purposes by increasing the gas tax and vehicle registration fees. The proposed constitutional amendment would:   Eliminate sales/use taxes on gasoline/diesel fuel for vehicles on public roads. Increase portion of use tax dedicated to School Aid Fund (SAF). Expand use of SAF to community colleges and career/technical education, and prohibit use for 4-year colleges/universities. Give effect to laws, including those that: Increase sales/use tax to 7%, as authorized by constitutional amendment,  Increase gasoline/diesel fuel tax and adjust annually for inflation,  Increase vehicle registration fees, and dedicate revenue for roads and other transportation purposes,  Expand competitive bidding and warranties for road projects,  Increase earned income tax credit. Should this proposal be adopted?   YES [ ] NO [ ] Here is what the passage of this bill means for the hard working taxpayers of the state of Michigan:   It will permanently raise the sales tax rate in the state of Michigan to 7% from the current 6%. This is a 17% increase in the rate and will cost taxpayers nearly $1.5 billion.  It will raise additional revenue from higher fuel taxes ($463 M), higher vehicle registration fees ($10.9M), and commercial truck fees ($50M).  Gasoline taxes will be raised from 19 cents to 41.7 cents per gallon. Diesel taxes will increase from 15 cents to 46.4 cents per gallon.  This will come to $200 per year for every man, woman and child in Michigan. Further, approval of this bill puts 10 additional laws in place that will cost the Michigan taxpayer.  Many of these new laws were added as sweeteners to garner democrat support: $270M increase in the earned income tax credit (EITC) welfare handout $290M increase in the school aid fund.  $115M increase in "revenue sharing" funding to local governments $274M to go to township and village road agencies.  $116M for mass transit projects $20M for the Michigan Conservation and Recreation Legacy Fund.  $1.3B to pay off the debt in the State's Transportation Fund Add that all up and you get nearly $2.4 billion that is being raised on the backs of Michigan taxpayers, not one penny of which will pay for new roads. If you don't think this will be a huge tax increase, consider that in the proposal language  the words "increase" or "expand" are used at least nine times while the word "eliminate" appears only twice! The outcome of this proposal is in the hands of the voters. The legislature has empowered you to decide whether you want this enormous tax increase.  Please vote on May 5th. Send a strong message to the legislature that you will not accept this boondoggle. For further, in-depth analysis of Proposal 1 from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, clickhere.