IDAHO: Well, WA. does pay better

I am happy Nathan Prower (LTE IDAHO: Why it Beats Washington) prefers to live in Idaho. I have lived here 49 years and I do not plan to leave. It is my home and I love the country: north to south, east to west.

But Nathan seems enamored because the cost of government is lower in Idaho than Washington which puzzles me. I believe he is talking about the per capita tax burden when he refers to cost of government although he doesn’t cite a source for the figures he provides. I checked the data published by the Tax Foundation (those folks who every year tell us how far into the year we have to work before we have earned enough to pay our taxes for the year). They say the total tax burden in Idaho in 2009 (the last year available) was $3,276, not $2,675, and the equivalent numbers for Washington were $4,408 not $4,838, making Washington about 35 percent higher not 81 percent as the letter states. Not near so dramatic but significant nonetheless.

But here is the part that puzzles me. Our “average” person paying $1,132 more taxes is making $12,388 more per year in Washington. If I was picking my state to live in based on money I think I would go for the one that would net me $11,256 more per year. That is about 32 percent more take-home pay. Now I think that is dramatic.

Nathan may be fundamentally opposed to taxes like Phil Hart. Perhaps he believes it was a step in the right direction when our legislature granted tax breaks recently. According to newspaper reports someone making $100,000 will get a $71 reduction. The “average” person will get nothing. Very few of those government employees Nathan thinks are overpaid will see any of this tax break. Judging from the tone of Nathan’s letter, I doubt he will either. I wonder Nathan. Does this seem fair to you? Do you think it is good for our educational system, our highways or correctional system? Do you really believe that is good public policy?

I just don’t see how Nathan can say “we are all getting a much better deal.” It looks to me like we are getting the shaft.

JERRY SHRINER

Coeur d’Alene