FEEDBACK

2/17: State's tax system needs to be revised

To the editor:

I think that Andy's examination of the problems caused by ongoing tax relief even in hard times points to just the tip of the iceberg: our state's entire tax system needs to be reconsidered and revised.

Our present tax system in South Carolina is a joke, literally. Working as I do in a hotel where retirees from up North stay while in the process of relocating here I hear them laugh at us for it quite often. They are moving here in great numbers, bringing with them considerable capital derived from the sale of residences purchased long ago and made valuable by years of inflation. They invest that money in new homes here, laugh at the low tax rates and chuckle at all the extra considerations given merely because of their "senior" and newly-acquired "resident" status. At the same time, they drive the cost of housing up beyond that which those of us working in the local resort communities can afford. Then, of course, they demand police and fire protection, emergency medical services and roads on a level with what they left in their high-tax former homes. Consequently, regressive taxes like our amazingly inclusive sales tax, our dreaded personal property tax on motor vehicles, and our state income tax, which impact unfairly on lower-income working citizens, are continued and even increased.

I certainly believe that some tax relief is due to those who have worked all their lives and would otherwise find it a struggle to retain their homes in their senior years. But it seems ludicrous to continue to extend this relief to those with investment incomes and pensions often surpassing the incomes of ordinary working South Carolinians merely because of their age. No tax is ever entirely fair, but letting those who are moving here with the means to purchase the expensive new houses pay their fair share would only seem a just move.

-- Jon R. Heckerman, Garden City Beach