| Alabama ARISE continues their Untax Grocery Tuesday series (I'm late, as usual) with a request that each of us to send our Legislators (one House member and one Senator) an income fact sheet on our home county. HB 1 -- the "untax groceries" bill -- will give every Alabamian a 4 percent cut on grocery taxes. To pay for this reduction while protecting our school funding, it will end an income tax break that favors the wealthiest taxpayers. Only couples making more than $200,000 and singles making more than $100,000 will see any tax increase. For the very highest earners, income taxes will go up by only about 1 percent of their income. The charts below, based on the most recent Census data available, show how household incomes stack up across each county. Legislators often find it surprising to learn what the families in their districts really make. Keep in mind two points: 1) The smallest county populations are surveyed every ten years, while larger ones get more frequent estimates; and 2) Since the 2007 numbers reflect pre-recession earnings, family incomes are likely lower for 2010 than these charts indicate.
I'm convinced that facts can win any argument, but they won't be heard without our help. Arm your Legislators with the facts about income levels in their home counties -- the vast majority of Alabamians would see a net tax reduction by the elimination of the state's 4% sales tax on food. Let me just channel some pro-grocery-tax lobbyist speak here: Now Senator, you can't go taking the tax off groceries! We'll have to make that up somewhere -- and if you curtail the income tax deduction, a lot of people in your district will suffer. Why you know good and well $100,000 a year is just barely middle class. Hardly anyone can afford to live on that. Cutting the grocery tax will raise taxes on all those poor people in your district who are barely scraping by on $100K a year or more -- you'll be voted our for sure by this huge, majority of $100K plus wage-earners. The truth? Madison County has one of the highest per capita incomes in the state. 77.6% of households in Madison County report a household income of $100,000 or less. So much for the lobbyist talking point. |
