Cooking the 'books' Jerry's way

Cooking the 'books' Jerry's way

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Louisville residents must wonder what happened to their "Mayor-For-Life" Jerry Abramson, as he is affectionately - not democratically - referred to by some.

Last October, Abramson stood in front of the television cameras and declared his support for expanding and improving Louisville's libraries without raising taxes.

Now, he supports a proposal that raises occupational taxes, extracting an additional $40 million annually from hardworking Louisville taxpayers.

Abramson opposed a tax increase before he supported it. He flipped and flopped - literally - because the increase needlessly drives up taxes for Louisvillians.

The tax hits up workers earning salaries of $38,000 for an additional $76 a year just in taxes. Those making $50,000 annually would pay an extra $100.

Flip-flops rarely benefit taxpayers. But they often allow politicians to shift with the tides of self-interest.

Abramson shifts with the best of 'em.

The mayor apparently opposed raising taxes to expand and improve the city's library system until he realized the money raised from the tax would give him an additional $16.5 million to spend on pet political projects each year. That's the amount Louisville's Metro Council currently budgets for its libraries.

Councilman Hal Heiner offered a plan to pay for the city's $200 million Library Master Plan without raising taxes. It centers on using money that comes available when the city pays off bond issues for big-ticket capital projects, including Slugger Field.

Aside from new taxes, the proposed tax takes the city down another pothole-filled road: It creates a board appointed by Abramson that does not answer to the Louisville Metro council.

Allowing a nonelected board to control this tax largesse while operating separately from local government diametrically opposes the goals and spirit of the recent voter-approved merger of city and county governments. It also bucks the longstanding belief that "taxation without representation" stinks.

Considering stated goals of the plan's supporters can be achieved without another hit on already tax-abused residents, this whole deal becomes - in library parlance - a real bad read.

Contact the Bluegrass Institute, Kentucky's free-market think tank, at (270) 782-2140.Read past Shine the Light articles at www.bipps.org.