Twenty-six ballot measures on taxation. Thirteen states. Americans get to vote on whether they'd like to keep more of their money or hand it to people who build things nobody asked for.
This is what passes for a rare opportunity now. Filling out a form to express an opinion on tax policy. The bar for civic engagement sits so low you could trip over it in a crawlspace.
Property taxes make perfect ballot fodder because every homeowner thinks they're getting f*cked while every municipality insists they're barely scraping by. Both sides have spreadsheets. Both sides are lying. The spreadsheets contain different lies.
Retail traders will vote yes on every measure that promises lower taxes and then wonder why their street doesn't get plowed. They'll vote no on every measure that funds public services and then complain about potholes on Reddit. Consistency has never been their strong suit. Neither has reading past the first sentence of anything.
The technical analysis here is straightforward. Ballot measures pass or fail based on how the question is worded, not what it actually does. Ask voters if they support "tax relief for hardworking families" and you'll get 70% approval. Ask them if they support "reducing municipal revenue by $40 million annually" and you'll get 30%. Same policy. Different fonts on the mailer.
Thirteen states decided this was the year to let citizens weigh in on tax code instead of just letting legislators do what they were going to do anyway in a closed room with lobbyists. Progress looks a lot like extra homework now.
The midterms will come and go. Some measures will pass. Others will fail. Property taxes will continue to exist because someone has to pay for the things everyone wants but nobody wants to fund. Voters will remain shocked by this arrangement every single election cycle until the sun explodes.
Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash
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