By Peter Galuszka
It looks like Jim’s in trouble with Laura. No not that Laura, but Laura Lafayette, chief executive officer of the Richmond Association of Realtors.
In an op-ed piece in this mornings Richmond Times Dispatch, Ms. Lafayette attacked Jim’s suggestion that a resurgence in the Henrico County housing market makes a proposed 4 percent hike in a meals tax, due on the ballot in November, unneeded.
Jim, identified as a “local blogger,” believes that the higher sales prices of 11.8 percent from May2011 to May 2012 should generate $17.8 million in revenue.
Ms. Lafayette, whose group constantly crunches real estate numbers, says the updated number is really 7.7 percent and that it reflects only houses up for sale, not a general increase in property values. That will happen, but is some ways away. In other words, Jim jumped the gun.
Ms. Lafayette is the for the meals tax saying that it is needed to stem Henrico County’s cut-down in jobs and services. Much of that has to deal with cut-back school programs. She writes: “If our children are to compete successfully in a global economy, our schools must work harder and be more effective than ever before.”
Common sense tells you that simply chopping programs will not achieve those ends.
Now, Jim is right that Henrico County’s use of government money to put out advocacy for the meals tax is questionable. The problem with Jim, however, is that he never met a tax he didn’t hate.
If you want good services, you have to pay for them.
