Windfall for elderly

There are two arguments against targeting senior citizens for property tax exemptions - as is being done in Richmond County for people 65 and older, and in stages over a three-year period for persons 70 and older in Columbia County.

One, tax cuts or exemptions should be for everybody or for nobody. Targeted exemptions favor one category of people over another, which is inherently unfair. Those excluded from the tax break must pay more taxes to make up for what the favored group is not paying.

The second argument against targeting the elderly for special tax breaks is that, as a group, they are least in need of them. If elected officeholders are going to target groups for tax breaks or benefits, then target children and parents who need help raising children.

Five years ago, the National Taxpayers Union spotlighted nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office data comparing the benefits senior citizens collect from the federal government to what children and parents helping children receive. The results are startling.

For fiscal year 2000, Uncle Sam's spending on Americans 65 and older came to $615 billion; aid for parents and children under 18 was $175 billion.

The CBO statisticians at that time projected the comparisons out 10 years to 2010, reports the NTU, and this is what they saw: Senior citizens collecting about $1.05 trillion annually and parents and kids, $269 billion - roughly a 4-1 margin favoring the elderly.

But the imbalance is even worse when looked at on a per-capita basis. For the year 2000, Uncle Sam doled out, on average, $17,688 in entitlements and programs for each senior citizen; for a child and parent, the average was $2,491. Projecting to 2010, the figures were $21,122 for the elderly and $2,986 for kid and parent.

The per-capita spending on the elderly is more than five times greater than on children and parents needing help raising children because there are twice as many kids as people 65 and older.

That lopsided spending margin will be even greater than projected for 2010, because the CBO didn't know about the huge new Medicare prescription benefit for seniors - more than $720 billion over the next decade.

The point of laying out this data is to show that grandmas and grandpas are already getting more than their fair share of benefits from Uncle Sam - not to mention omnipresent special discounts in the private sector.

Yes, many retirees are on fixed incomes, and it's a hardship for them to pay higher property taxes. But it can be even more of a hardship for the many working people, especially those raising children, whose salaries are frozen or even cut during recessions. Why should they pay more property taxes while the wealthy elderly pay none?

Taxes, whether property or income taxes, should not be based on age. They should be based on income.

Those who can afford to pay the taxes, whatever their age, should pay them. Those who cannot afford to pay them should be exempt. The income level at which people can be exempt should be determined by elected leaders with input from the public.

Mindlessly exempting retirees from paying property taxes, regardless of ability to pay, is bad tax policy, unfair and morally wrong.