Editorials

Sigh, ranked 50th again. This time Alabama is dead last when it comes to the tax burden it puts on its residents, according to a new study by the Public Policy Institute.

Even worse are the Alabama politicians quoted by the Associated Press who take a sort of perverse pride in being last when it comes to the amount of state, city and county taxes levied per capita.

Gov. Bob Riley said, “If we can continue to grow the economy in the way we have in the past, we are not only going to be able to satisfy most of the needs of the education community, but also do it at a remarkably low tax rate.”

A longtime Alabama state senator, Democrat Roger Bedford of Russellville, added, “That’s a tribute to the fact the Legislature has been controlled by Democrats for 120 years, and we’ve refused to allow unfair taxes.”

Unfair taxes, huh? How about the sales taxes on essential items? The single mom just getting by pays a much larger percentage of her meager paycheck in sales taxes on food and diapers than the state’s wealthiest CEO.

Try again, senator. Alabama’s tax system is unfair. It punishes the poor and middle-class and rewards those with deep pockets. That’s just as the writers of the 1901 Constitution intended. Their vision was the same old same old: One family wallows in privilege up in the plantation house while the sharecroppers and tenant farmers barely scrape by with poor education, no health care and substandard housing.

The fundamentals haven’t changed all that much in 105 years. Alabama spends woefully little on public schools (45th nationally) and Medicaid (32nd).

Alabama was joined at the tax survey bottom by its Southern neighbors. The exceptions were Florida and North Carolina, which were closer to the middle of the pack.

So, how’s Alabama looking compared to those two Southern states?

One sure sign of a vibrant economy is the number of people moving to your state to find work. According to the 2000 Census, 74 percent of Alabamians were born here. For North Carolina, the figure is 63 percent, and for Florida, it’s 32 percent. Clearly, a larger tax burden isn’t keeping folks away from the Sunshine State or the Tarheel State.

Alabama does no better comparing poverty levels. Here, 12.5 percent live below the poverty line. The figure in North Carolina and Florida is more than 3 percentage points lower.

In North Carolina and Florida, the percentage of residents living in a home valued at less than $50,000 is tiny — 8 percent and 7 percent, respectively. One-fifth of Alabamians fall in that category.

Being a low-taxes, low-services state has not put Alabama on the road to prosperity. In fact, an equitable tax system that was progressive would be good for the economy, attracting businesses to hire our well-trained, highly educated and healthy populace.

Change is possible. But it won’t come unless the state’s politicians act courageously. (Does anyone think that the state would be this passive if its college football teams were consistently ranked so low?)

Taxes are like dues you pay to belong to a club. If the dues levied aren’t sufficient, the club’s property and mission will suffer. Until Alabama changes its dues structure — expecting a little more from those with the means to pay a little more — then our club will continue to be shabby, and its poorest members will suffer.