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Opinion: Paul Tiger: Food Fee

Feeding yourself is taxable. Public services and real estate are paid for with taxes. The buying power of fresh food taxes is small compared to any other type of retail sources. Food acquired with tax proceeds are not taxable by law.
Typewriter opinion
Photo by Alexa Mazzarello on Unsplash

This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

Feeding yourself is taxable. Public services and real estate are paid for with taxes. The buying power of fresh food taxes is small compared to any other type of retail sources. Food acquired with tax proceeds are not taxable by law. Food purchased with federal or state vouchers are exempt from taxation. These freeloaders don’t pay for parks and roads when they feed themselves. They do with every other retail purchase. There are many retail items not classified as food in your grocery cart. All consumers pay these retail taxes. Dog food is not tax exempt no matter who buys it. Feeding your dog is taxable. Dog ownership is taxed.

Our honored pals in congress appear to have a plan to end federal food supplemental programs. If it were to become law, all of the exemptions for food taxation will vanish.

In a wise and bold move, the city of Longmont is advancing a grocery tax stipend program targeting the same consumers that were given aide by federal exemptions. The city isn’t paying the bill, and the new program is not a tax exemption either. Consumers who qualify are granted a small stipend to pay for food taxes. It is not a rebate or discount program. All consumers will pay all taxes. If spent properly, we get better everything. The few that apply and qualify for less than a hundred dollars a year, will barely affect the millions collected on food.

Terminating federal exemptions on food is helpful to the city. With the new income stream from the economically challenged, the city will extend some relief, or replace the federal programs and feed the people out of the general fund.

Tax us, and then feed us with the taxes. It’s clearly better to let the city choose who is taxed or fed. Feed the wise and powerful with taxes and reap the benefits. Government will do the best job with millions than we will with better or more food with the extra not paid in taxes. Someone might benefit from those taxes, like a government run charity. More likely our food tax donation builds city infrastructure. Wise use of millions.

Many Colorado communities have responded to TABOR issues by moving taxes to be fees. Adjusting a tax, generally an increase, can only be done by voters in an election. A fee can be changed by a small governmental body by a few votes. The majority with our city council is four votes. Four people can raise or lower a fee for everyone. Democracy in action with a representative government, it’s what we have.

Like many other towns, ours is full of fees. Some activities require permits that have a fee, which is fairly easy to change if government finds the immediate need. It may also attend to the need for fee relief.

The looming doom of the farm bill repealing federal food programs has our city on track to replace it, starting with a food stipend. The city may also consider moving the food tax to a fee. Currently, food is treated as retail and taxed at the same rate as everything else. A fee on food would be infinitely adjustable by four people at any time. This is the simpler and better way.