It's a standard refrain from government and its various agencies at various levels: Give us more tax funds or we'll face disaster! Of course this message glosses over all kinds of important details, like how current funds are being used, alternative sources of revenue, and the actual necessity of "disaster." On the latter point, though, it's also "the norm" for government agencies to enhance the sense of disaster by making funding cuts first where it hurts the most, to "encourage" (fool) the public into agreeing to more taxation later.
The public transit in my area, Pierce Transit, has apparently learned this lesson well -- and is willing to take it to a new level by simply lying to (or, shall we say to be more generous, "grossly misleading") voters by making a false claim about the impact of a new tax hike they want us to vote on. In Special Election Proposition 1, they want us to agree to adding 0.3% to our sales and use tax. By itself, 0.3% doesn't sound like much -- not enough to warrant discussion, right? And so that's how they presented it on the ballot. But they took it further by making a false claim about the total sales and use tax. Take a look:
Their so-called "total" sure ignores a lot of our current tax cost!
Of course, there's more to this than the dishonesty of claiming that the total tax will be a fraction of a percent when in reality it is basically 10%. Another of those glossed-over points is alternative sources of revenue. Pierce Transit did let slip one interesting fact, that a mere 1% of their revenue comes from advertising. However, they don't explain why advertising is such a tiny portion of their revenue. Is it because they aren't charging enough? Is it because advertisers don't like advertising on transit? Or... Is it because they can't be bothered to try to sell advertising? After all, it's easier to just... yes, you guessed it, Raise Taxes!
I don't pose the "why is ad revenue so low" question lightly. In fact, I researched it. After all, I'm a small business owner, and I might like to have my company advertised on a bus. (Maybe. Depends on costs, etc.) So I went to the Pierce Transit site, as you can do via the link above, and went looking. And looking. And looking. What I found was that they make virtually no effort at all to sell ad space. You have one chance of finding a relevant link on the site — there is just one link to the company they've contracted to handle ads. No prominent "buy an ad on a bus" banners. No section of the site to discuss ad opportunities. Nope, just one obscure link.
The ad-revenue tale doesn't end there. I apologize to your tired eyes and over-busy schedule. The tale continues, on the site of the company that handles ads for Pierce Transit. Guess how easy it is to find out how to buy ads on a bus? Yeah, not very. First, you have to look under a classification for a different geographic area because Pierce Transit is treated as being part of a "market" that, geographically, does not include Pierce County. {sigh} Then, when you finally find the right area on the site, you find out that of the many ad options the company can handle, only three are available for Pierce Transit. And, of the three links to those, two lead to 404 (Not Found) errors.
Is Pierce Transit trying to sell ad space on their vehicles? Apparently not. Apparently it's easier to... Just Raise Taxes! Even if that means lying to (ahem, "misleading") voters. At the voter's expense, of course, since the money for their promotion of their tax-raising scheme doesn't come from thin air.
What should you think when you are told that disaster is looming, and that raising taxes is the only way to fend it off, even though other sources of revenue are not being actively pursued? What should you think when you're told that your total tax burden will be less than one percent when, in fact, it's nearly ten percent? I know what I'm thinking...
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