The views stated here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the editors of this newspaper. We welcome supporting or opposing views on any published item. Received September 1, 2022.
A few weeks after getting married, my wife and I purchased our first home. It cost $119,000. Being our first home, we had to get everything for it, and I mean everything. Furniture, appliances, carpet, lawn equipment. We hired local contractors to install a new roof, new septic, new driveway. I made $14/hr. my wife made $16/hr. Property tax on our house and cars was fairly low.
A few years later, we purchased our second home. $174,900. I made $17/hr. my wife made $19/hr. Somebody waved their magic wand, and our home is now valued well over $400,000. Our property taxes have tripled, the cost of an automobile and the sales tax, property tax, etc… more than double. Heating oil, electricity, home maintenance, triple. There is a tax on just about every aspect of our lives in Connecticut.
Make voting easy for your children. Show them your paycheck and your gross income. Then show them your take-home pay after federal and state taxes. Then show them property tax on your home, property tax on your cars, registration fees, cost of food. Have some fun with it. Try to find as many taxes as you can. Then, show your children how we got here. Show them how taxes are slowly created and raised every year.
Then show them the states that do not have extreme taxes, and explain to them they can live anywhere they choose. Show them why other states are doing so well, and you will eliminate any questions about voting.
J. Haskel, Killingworth
