☆ Kalm: California’s survival depends on cutting taxes
CoCo Tax VP Denise Kalm joins an Opportunity Now exclusive series looking at the bigger issues behind this November’s election. She warns of how persistent tax hikes move the state further away from affordability, and the devastating costs of wasteful government:
The biggest issue in California is affordability. This includes the price of homes, gas, groceries, medical care and necessities, but it also includes the impact of taxes. We work hard all year long only to give so much to the government. Most people know they could use their own money more wisely.
The demand to raise sales tax is of immediate concern, especially as the state has managed to exceed its own constitutional limits of no more than 2% over the state rate of 7.25%. In so many cases, the demands are driven by government unions, greedy to get more money. This is true as well of RTM, known as the BART tax. For many, BART is already too expensive and they blew through so much money while cutting services during Covid.
If we could keep our own money, more could afford to buy a home. Young people prefer apps to fixed transit. They are also showing up unprepared for college failing in both math and English while we are paying heavily to “educate them.” Our state government is a too big, too unwieldy mono-party which feels no need to economize or even audit themselves. Time to cut government, taxes and regulations; only then will California survive let alone become the Golden State again.
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