By Staff
Michigan cell and landline phone users may find themselves with yet another tax, should the Legislature decide to pass House Bill 4952.
The law makers want the $200-million tax to provide money to set up a new public safety fund, to pay for programs the taxpayers already are paying for now, according to the Deputy Sheriff's Association of Michigan.
The organization said money which funds public safety services, such as the 911 system and the LEIN crime fighting database, would be shifted to pay for non-public-safety programs.
Another organization opposed to this bill is the Telecommunications Association of Michigan. This group agrees with the law enforcement organization that money would go toward projects which aren't even related to emergency service calls.
The tax, which would raise the cost of calling to those who rely on their phone to reach help, doctors, friends and family. Many senior citizens are on fixed incomes and are unable to afford any new taxes, as they are already dealing with the increased costs of gasoline and food.
Non-profit agencies would be rendered helpless to secure funds without a phone. Many small businesses also are barely getting by.
Public safety indeed needs to be fully funded, but we agree that it shouldn't be hidden as a tax in Michigan residents' phone bills.
"The public needs to be wary of the tax wolf in sheep's clothing, and let their legislators know that enough is enough," said Scott Stevenson, president of Telecommunications Association of Michigan.
Executive Director of the Deputy Sheriff's Association of Michigan, Larry Orlowski, asks for a real solution to the state's budgeting woes, not "smoke and mirrors."
If money is really needed for public safety, the citizens of Michigan will find it. What they don't want is to be tricked into something which is not what it seems.
We ask the lawmakers in Lansing to be honest with where the money will be spent and why it is needed.
We are not children, but adults who deserve to be treated fairly and honestly.