To the Editor:
I decided to study the Fairfax County Meals Tax Referendum and was shocked to see how biased the question is worded.
The ballot question begins: "For the purpose of reducing dependence on real estate taxes..." This is bound to cause confusion. Many voters will read that phrase to mean if they vote for the meals tax, real estate taxes will be reduced.
This is a crafty deception by the Board of Supervisors.
The truth is that if the Meals Tax passes, it will lessen the proportion of tax revenue that comes from property taxes because you have more tax revenue coming from somewhere else -- the Meals Tax. That's how it allegedly lessens the "dependence."
If the Board wanted to be transparent, they'd write the question to say: "For the purpose of establishing a new tax on top of all the other taxes you already pay..." Further, they could disclose that they’ve raised property taxes by 26 percent over the last four years, and that the 4 percent Meals Tax would come on top of the state’s 6 percent sales tax for a whopping 10 percent total tax. Don’t fall for the deception. Vote against the Meals Tax this November.
Billy Valentine
Fairfax