Reply #1: I would help you but the story is not complete

[bherrera]

I am very good with maths, but I don't live in the USA, and I don't have the complete story. To be able to help you, I need to understand the location, and what is the total tax you pay. For example, is this tax the man discusses one imposed on property valuation? Does the political entity have also a value added tax or a sales tax? Any other income? What is the tax load in comparison to the overall size of the economy of this entity?

These factors are used to estimate how your area ranks. This is called in the business PEER RANKING. If you are within the boundaries of your peers, then there is a bit of space up or down with a particular tax. If you are above the peer group (for example, if you are in the top 20 % of entities regarding the tax take), then raising taxes can be very harmful. On the other hand, if you are BELOW the peer ranking, then raising taxes is an easy solution.

In general, one can say the TOTAL government tax collection from a modern economy should not exceed 40 % of the total society gross income. In your case, you should factor into the estimate the federal taxes. Also, if you have private water services, such costs should be included as a tax, because traditionally water provision was a government obligation.

I would also like to add, government spending does have a tendency to be inefficient. And taxing does have a tendency to create resentment - wasn't this the cause for the American revolution? Therefore if progressive forces in the USA wish to have success, they should focus less on higher taxes, and more on the proper distribution of the taxes they already collect. For example, American society spends a huge sum on military adventurism, and the total military budget is obscene. Another area where too much money is spent is on grandiose engineering projects such as the construction of huge dikes around New Orleans, that is incredible non sense. Another example is the aid USA gives to Israel. Israel is a nation with a per capita GDP equal to that of European Union nations. Why should the USA give aid to a rich nation? It doesn't make sense.