This fall, residents of Hillsdale will vote on a new income tax that will affect both residents and non-residents who work in the city. Though supporters of the tax claim revenue is needed to fix Hillsdale’s roads, opponents of the tax consider it wrong.
“It’s grotesquely unjust,” said Paul Rahe, professor of history. “People living in Hillsdale vote to tax those who don’t live in Hillsdale. It may be legal under Michigan law, but it’s simply unjust. It’s taxation without representation.”
The proposed initiative would tax one percent of residents’ income, and non-residents would pay 0.5 percent. It also states that anyone making a taxable income of $3,000 or less would be exempt from the tax.
Ronald Pestritto, professor of politics, lives outside city limits, and thus is not represented in the vote on the income tax.
“It seems to be against the basics of American civics,” he said.
Community leaders, however, argue that some action is necessary.
“Recently, we’ve lost a lot of jobs with the factories going out of business. No one disputes the fact that we need to do something about the roads,” said Councilwoman Mary Wolfram, explaining the need for a new income tax.
But opponents of the tax still hope to bring awareness to its economic faults.
“Those who live in Hillsdale must pay double what those outside the city pay,” Rahe said. “This is an incentive not to live in Hillsdale. It is apt to be counter-productive. Short term, it brings in more revenue. But long term, it will be detrimental to the city.”
Rahe explained that small businesses would drift towards Jonesville because they can keep the same customers but escape the tax, which he described as “suicidal.”
Spearheading the opposition is a group called “Citizens Against Hillsdale Income Tax” led by residents Jaminda Springer and Bethany Miller.
The Citizens Against Hillsdale Income Tax organization mentions several other potential problems as a result of the tax. They claim the tax raises inadequate revenue and unnecessarily burdens residents of Michigan’s second poorest county.
Many citizens oppose the income tax due to the severe consequences it would have and its injustice. By raising a fraction of the money needed, Rahe said, the tax could destroy jobs in the city and become counterproductive to increasing revenue in the long run.
atindall@hillsdale.edu
