Oh Joy! Received my “official” Personal Property Tax Statement today.
After the pleasure of paying sales and other taxes on the items we need to do business, we still must pay yearly for the “right”to own our possessions. Never mind the fact that taxes are being collected on the very property we rent to do business in already, the State of Michigan is one of (INSERT NUMBER HERE) States which still continue to collect personal Property taxes from businesses and business owners yearly.
For some of us, the process is mostly painless financially; A couple of desks, computers, a few inventory racks.. But for quite a few Job creators, it can make a profitable year much less so with equipment that costs hundreds of thousands for manufacturing processes etc..
Again, Michigan needs to re-visit the idea of eliminating these regressive policies which hamstring our ability to be more productive and provide for our OWN families, much less those who feed off of the generosity of Michigan taxpayers through the force of Michigan government. (more to follow on this)
Although I personally object to the collection of property taxes in general, I am aware that collection of such allows for funding of roads and infrastructure, and has also become an irreplaceable tool for school funding. It does however, violate the spirit of the constitution, in that it effectively makes “real property” ownership impossible. How can one “own” anything if he must pay repeatedly for control of it?
Personal Property Taxes assessed on Michigan business owners is an obscene duplication of repressive government that we as citizens appear unwilling to reject.