As I noted yesterday, the left is really twisting themselves in knots trying to find something, anything, to even remotely call a tax hike by Gov. Sandoval in an effort to completely undercut his efforts to balance Nevada’s budget without raising taxes. The latest is this nonsense that eliminating the Senior Citizens’ Property Assistance welfare program a tax hike.
“Effectively, they’re (senior citizens) going to be paying more property taxes,” Assemblyman David Bobzien, D-Reno, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
First, again as we noted yesterday, only 37% of recipients of program are home-owners. Years ago the Legislature extended it to renters who, because they rent, don’t pay property taxes. And no, the fact that their rent goes to pay the mortgage of the actual home owner doesn’t count.
But more importantly, even those home-owners who get the benefit aren’t having their taxes raised. Their property taxes will remain EXACTLY where they are today. Gov. Sandoval is NOT raising the amount of their property tax. What he’s doing is eliminating a welfare payment. It’s like cutting off someone’s food stamps. The fact that those folks would suddenly have to pay for their own food like everyone else is NOT a tax hike.
Now, we can debate whether or not elimination of this program is a good idea or not, but what’s not arguable is whether or not this is a tax hike. It’s not. Period.
