Residents of Bridgewater get to pay their income and real estate taxes one way or another. If you work, it’s through income tax withholding and, if you are retired or in business, it’s via a check to Uncle Sam every quarter for estimated tax payments.
As for real estate taxes. . . Well, if you own a home in Bridgewater you don’t need me to remind you about that! Even if you rent, though, you still have to ante up. The tab for real estate taxes is hidden from sight, buried in the cost of your monthly rental payment.
Everything being equal, we should be happy to pay our fair share of taxes. But everything is far from being equal, because the tax system is broken (‘broke’ as they like to say in the business world). Taxes are way too high, and expenses are out of control, especially at the state level and within New Jersey’s school districts.
At church services this weekend, the topic of the homily was about lying. Lying, the priest explained, is a distortion of the truth. Yet, it’s an offense that everyone commits regularly. There are varying degrees of lying, of course. For example, a boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar at home hasn’t erred to the same degree as the Wall Street investment advisor caught with his hand in his clients’ multi-million $ cookie jars. Umm. . . I wonder if Bernie Madoff liked cookies as a kid.
This priest has a sense of humor. “Do you know,” he asked, “how you get a person to pay his taxes?” Easy, he explained. “You just appoint him to a White House Cabinet post.”
I like that.
No comments:
Post a Comment