Vote No on 3

Proposition 3 increases the CBJ sales tax to 7.5% from April through September. Proponents claim that nonresidents will bear the burden of this tax increase.

Indeed, tourists and itinerant workers stream into our community earlier and leave later each year, and yes, they purchase food and beverages, lodging services, and trinkets. However, they do not buy the big-ticket items like motor vehicles, furniture, and appliances. They do not purchase lumber and hardware, landscaping and gardening supplies. They do not pay for automotive or boat repairs or accessories. They do not buy back-to-school supplies, barbeques, sandbags, water pumps, or generators.

Do the proponents of this tax increase naively imagine that residents will be able to make all of these purchases before April Fool’s Day or after the end of September? Whether Proposition 3 increases or decreases tax revenues from nonresident purchases depends on the nonresident elasticity of demand for taxed goods and services.

That Proposition 3 will increase the tax burden on residents is assured by the simple fact that residents spend more per month on taxed goods and services from April through September than they do from October through March, and residents have limited ability to mitigate the tax increase by purchasing big-ticket items, home upkeep, repair, and improvement materials, etc., from outside the CBJ. Stop the tax on summer; vote No on Proposition 3.

Keith Criddle

Juneau