To the editor:
I would like to make one observation about the Georgia and Michigan comparison in the Left-Right commentary about the proposal to eliminate local property taxes and replace them with state sales and income taxes that was published in the Enterprise recently. Although they have relatively equal populations, Georgia and Michigan are not the same size in terms of square miles. Georgia is 59,425 square miles and Michigan is 96,714 square miles, which means that Georgia is more population dense than Michigan. Less dense areas of a state often have higher per capita costs for providing the same level of local plus state services as areas that are more dense. Transferring revenue obligations of local services to the state also means that people lose local control over many services. If a majority of voters in a county or township want additional services or school districts want higher levels of services than what is mandated by state law, it seems they will have no way to make this happen if AXEMITAX is implemented. In addition to being a measure of wealth, local property taxes were implemented early in our country’s history as a means of providing many services at the local level and not at the behest of a central state government.
Rebecca Hendrick Solon Township
