The New Mexico State Legislature has adjourned after approving the final part of a budget-balancing plan that will provide more than $230 million from tax increases. The House and Senate agreed Thursday on a proposal increasing the cigarette tax by 75 cents a pack for four years. It will raise $33 million next year. A third of the money is earmarked for pre-kindergarten and other early childhood programs for one year. The special session lasted four days. Lawmakers have approved a $5.6 billion budget and tax increases to help pay for government operations next year. Included is an eighth-cent increase in the gross receipts tax on goods and services. A tax on food, averaging about 2 percent statewide, will be reinstated starting in July. Much of this money will go towards education. With that said, do you think that increasing taxes in our state is beneficial and needed during these times? Please answer in a short paragraph.
-Noriega
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The increase that they want to do in taxes does look beneficial for the government and schools, but does not look or seem like a good idea for most of the citizens of New Mexico. Although this tax increase could help solve some government financial problems within the state and country, people just don’t have that kind of money these days. It is also wrong to be increasing the tax on food, which everyone absolutely has to have to survive. Why not tax other items that are not necessary for people to buy, that way they could raise some money but in a different way. Nearly every citizen of New Mexico is going through a hard financial time, so most people are watching their pennies. Why not tax the wealthy and corporations that are very successful? What impact could a tax like this have on them? But what makes the situation seem even worse is that the people who vote for this are very successful and obviously don’t realize the impact this might have on those who are struggling financially.
ReplyDeleteFor some things, these taxes might help the economy for the government, but businesses, and people more than likely will not benefit from it. The cigarette taxes are pretty much ok, but the food taxes are really bad. The government shouldn't tax the food. That is one of the biggest things that people need to survive, and many people count on not having taxes on food. Even the "wealthy" do have financial problems, and taxing them more because they make more money and because they work differently than other people is not right. Their job might be more important, but maybe not, and for more people, raising taxes on them could majorly hurt them. Most people that make a lot of money are not just given the money, they work hard to get where they are.
ReplyDeleteTaxing citzens may help a little bit, but at the top (the legislature) they need to manage their money more wisely. The NM legislature could of given the school districts money instead of making the Big-I pretty. Until the legislature manages their money more wisely, they shouldn't just tax people to get more money.
Yeah, I think that taxes in this way are beneficial and necessary. They probably will do more good than harm. For one thing, it's such tiny amounts that most people wouldn't notice much--2% is, after all, only 2%. Also, taxes on cigarettes don't even affect people who don't buy them--and, if 75 cents per pack is too expensive, the tax might even convince some smokers to quit. Taxes will nearly always be seen as a negative thing to some people, but if it's the only way our lawmakers can think of to get more money for education--heck, I'm all for it.
ReplyDeleteFor a few things the takes is good to increaes because there are schools and other places that could use the money. It does not seem like a good idea for most of the people living in New Mexico. They shouldnt increase the tax on food because people need that in order to survive and now in days people just dont have that much money. They should be taxting the people that are wealthy and successful because they have the money to pay the extra taxes. The people who probably who voted for this are probably wealthy people and they dont realize that alot of people are struggling to pay there bills for there house and the new taxes is just making it worse.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think that placing taxes on somethings will be beneficial to the state. Such as the tax on cigarettes, this is because smoking is not a good thing for people to be doing because it is hurting their bodies and can eventually kill them as the get older. Placing taxes on food may be harder for people who are stuggling to make ends meet already, although foods that are not good for people such as food with a lot of sugar, or candy is not giving people the nutrients they need so a tax on mainly those would be more beneficial. Although the tax on food is only 2%, it will still make getting food for some people harder unfortunately. But overall I think the new taxes put in place will help the state with some of its budget shortfalls.
ReplyDeleteThough I believe that the idea is trying to be beneficial to New Mexico, it really fails to do so in the end. The two percent increase on taxes may not seem much to some people but it seems a lot for the average middle class citizens. The tax is supposed to help the people in New Mexico. It may just end up hindering them instead by citizens spending more and more money on the necessities such as food. During these times, it is harder for middle class families to make ends meet. Considering this tax, it looks like a majority of middle class families will be affected and suffer from it.For high class people, it won't be much of a difference. For lower class citizens, it may be bad but most have the benefit of food stamps to fall back on. Instead of taxing people who need the money, we should tax the wealthy and other successful businesses. The tax would seem like nothing to them and they probably wouldn’t notice it. We are going through a recession and need every cent in order to keep ourselves on our feet. This tax is going to be issued at the wrong time and will not help New Mexicans like its supposed to.
ReplyDeleteI think that they are trying to be helpful and beneficial with the tax increases and there is a possibility that they might actually work. They also might not and I don't think they are the best way to approach the situation. More taxes are only going to anger more people and people don't have as much money anyway. At this time, tax increases aren't the best choice because many people are already struggling to get by and tax increases are only going to push those people further away from their goals.
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