DC Council would like to drive wealthier people out in to the suburbs by raising taxes

[Anonymous]

This would be very bad for the city if they did this. What is wrong with these people?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/28/AR2010042805517.html

[jsteele]

More accurately, some Council members want to raise taxes on the wealthy. We will have to wait until the Council votes to know what the Council as a whole wants to do. Graham's proposal to raise taxes .4 percent on incomes over $500,000 doesn't seem like it would cause that many people to pack up and leave.

[Anonymous]

I don't mind. It was getting crowded here anyway.

[Anonymous]

Rich people leave DC? And double Sophie's commute to Sidwell Friends?

After all the money they spent on the perfect feeder preschool, admissions consultants, and hefty donations in addition to the $30K per kid tuition, a tax increase is not even going to be noticed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rich people leave DC? And double Sophie's commute to Sidwell Friends?

After all the money they spent on the perfect feeder preschool, admissions consultants, and hefty donations in addition to the $30K per kid tuition, a tax increase is not even going to be noticed.

I have managed to cry 3/4 of a tear from each eye for these lawyers and doctors. With a bit of luck Maryland and Virginia will also raise taxes on "wealthier people" and then they will return from whence they came--New York, Mass., Calif., and anyplace but here.

[Anonymous]

Thanks to all of you for your kind words. We would be affected by some of the proposed increases, and I'm fine with it. Given the fiscal crisis, I don't see a better solution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rich people leave DC? And double Sophie's commute to Sidwell Friends?

After all the money they spent on the perfect feeder preschool, admissions consultants, and hefty donations in addition to the $30K per kid tuition, a tax increase is not even going to be noticed.

OK, I was being a bit snarky there. But seriously, we just moved to Arlington from DC. It wasn't because of the taxes even though we are in that income category. The current difference in marginal tax rates is 2.75%, not huge, and property tax rates are about the same for us, and an additional increase is not going to be that big a deal.

The economic drivers are real estate prices and schools. Now real estate prices are the rational result of the premium people place on location vs. space, and each family has to decide whether that tradeoff is good for them. But it is a premium.

Schools are another thing altogether. Private school in DC is around $30K a year. Not adjusted for inflation, a family of 3 children is making an educational commitment of $1.2M after-tax income if they are going to send their kids to private K-12. If you move to Virginia, you have the option of very good public schools. Even if you think private school is your goal, the value of the public school option alone is worth a substantial amount. It means that should your income change due to job loss, SAH, or you want to start your own business, you can walk away from that million-plus dollar commitment.

Education is the city's achilles heel for rich and poor alike.

[Anonymous]

Schools are another thing altogether. Private school in DC is around $30K a year. Not adjusted for inflation, a family of 3 children is making an educational commitment of $1.2M after-tax income if they are going to send their kids to private K-12. If you move to Virginia, you have the option of very good public schools. Even if you think private school is your goal, the value of the public school option alone is worth a substantial amount. It means that should your income change due to job loss, SAH, or you want to start your own business, you can walk away from that million-plus dollar commitment.

This all sounds pretty complicated. There sure are a lot of different factors to be calculated when deciding where to live. Why don't you run the numbers, figure it out, then either leave DC or stay in town.

In the meantime, why do we have to be involved? I mean, if the wider point is that this is going to drive the wealthy out of the city, it's laughable. What price can you put on the ability to walk to Eastern Market, the Folger, or the National Zoo? For those who don't value that, move to Franconia. Otherwise, pay up and keep quiet.

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure what you mean. As I said in my post, I already figured it out. I'm not asking for your involvement. I am merely pointing out that the tax increase is small compared to the other financial costs that the wealthy already incur to live in the district.

[Anonymous]

I'd like to see a commuter tax instead. Tax all the folks who work in DC and help destroy the roads but live in the 'burbs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd like to see a commuter tax instead. Tax all the folks who work in DC and help destroy the roads but live in the 'burbs.

Yes, many cities in the US have a commuter tax. It's not exactly Soviet Communism! But we'll never get it thanks to Congress.

[Anonymous]

Just go nuclear with the parking and traffic enforcement. Will have the same effect.

[Anonymous]

As a struggling single mom cuts to social services will have an impact on me and everyone in my community. If raising taxes on folks who don't have to worry about making rent this month or paying enough to Pepco to keep the electricity on, having enough money by the end of the month to feed the family better than ramen noodles, I'm more than all for it. Check out this youtube video. It puts some of this into context. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JClZdYuTZNE

[Anonymous]

It's obvious that most of you on this board have no idea what taxation does to people and how it affects where they choose to live.

Unfortunately for DC, unlike other states, it has no real middle class who normally are able to share in the tax burden. In this city you have the wealthy (who pay almost all of the taxes), and the poor (who pay little to no taxes at all). Let's face it if only 40% of Americans actually pay taxes you know that most of the families here in DC earning $30k with 2 plus kids are living off of social services. Until the city fixes its schools and draws more middle class residents in (while making it unattractive for poorer residents to leach off city resources) there will always be a system of class warfare where the "rich" will be continued to get robbed on April 15th to pay for the lifestyles of the poor. At a point it becomes easier to just move to VA, pay less in taxes (4% less) and still work in DC, still send your kids to DC privates and not be on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars.

Personally as a DC resident Im afraid that if Vincent Gray and Kwame Brown take over they will embark on a plan of social and economic redistribution and bleed wealthier residents dry. Adrian Fenty (who may or may not be an a**hole) is a pretty good mayor who seems to understand that you don't want to drive people away from your city, you want to encourage them to move here, you want businesses to move here, THATS how you really redistribute wealth, through the private sector, the govt cant do it. Im pretty liberal myself and love this city but I feel like most Americans have no idea about simple economics (they hardly teach it in schools) and thus dont understand the impacts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's obvious that most of you on this board have no idea what taxation does to people and how it affects where they choose to live.

Unfortunately for DC, unlike other states, it has no real middle class who normally are able to share in the tax burden. In this city you have the wealthy (who pay almost all of the taxes), and the poor (who pay little to no taxes at all). Let's face it if only 40% of Americans actually pay taxes you know that most of the families here in DC earning $30k with 2 plus kids are living off of social services. Until the city fixes its schools and draws more middle class residents in (while making it unattractive for poorer residents to leach off city resources) there will always be a system of class warfare where the "rich" will be continued to get robbed on April 15th to pay for the lifestyles of the poor. At a point it becomes easier to just move to VA, pay less in taxes (4% less) and still work in DC, still send your kids to DC privates and not be on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars.

Personally as a DC resident Im afraid that if Vincent Gray and Kwame Brown take over they will embark on a plan of social and economic redistribution and bleed wealthier residents dry. Adrian Fenty (who may or may not be an a**hole) is a pretty good mayor who seems to understand that you don't want to drive people away from your city, you want to encourage them to move here, you want businesses to move here, THATS how you really redistribute wealth, through the private sector, the govt cant do it. Im pretty liberal myself and love this city but I feel like most Americans have no idea about simple economics (they hardly teach it in schools) and thus dont understand the impacts.

I think it will take more that a .4% tax increase to drive people out of the city. We are in the income bracket that the council is targeting and I doubt that we would even notice it. Also as others have stated there are lots of factors that go into where one decides to live. Taking our family as an example, I cannot imagine moving to VA (not even NOVA) which would mean that Maryland would be our only option. When you factor in the other things that we care about (cummuting time; access to amenities) we woudl likley choose Bethesda/Chevy Chase which may end of being more expensive given the slightly higher housing cost. Now if DC were to raise taxes, cut services, and the if the few goods school in NW were to start regressing then we may consider a move.