Tax college students?

[Aaryanna]

[FONT="Tahoma"][COLOR="DarkGreen"]I don't even know where to begin with this. The idea is that [I]apparently[/I], key word here, students just make use of a cities facilities and don't help pay for them. The full article can be found here: [URL="http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/309020/57/"]Tax college students?[/URL] So they think it would be a bright idea to charge students a fee every semester to the tune of $150.00 Now I hope you'll pardon me will I call bull**** on their reasoning.

Students pay rent and utilities to their landlord who [I]*gasp*[/I] pay those fees and taxes for the services that they are complaining that the students are using for free. How are they not paying their share when they are paying rent? Purchasing food and paying taxes, or holding down a job where money is taken by the state from their paychecks? Or what about those of us who[I] live [/I]here?

Honestly, WTF? Why should students pay property taxes if they don't own any property? Why should they pay utility fees when most landlords include that as part of their rent? It's just the stupidest thing I've ever heard of. To claim that students don't carry their own weight is a gross understatement when they pay for their living expenses.

I guess it just bugs the hell out of me since I'll be going to college in a year and a half. If they try to charge me a fee, when I LIVE HERE. I'm gonna be pissed. My mom already pays taxes on the home she owns and unless something changes, I'll be staying with her while I go to college. :animesigh[/COLOR][/FONT]

[Haku877]

I fully agree with that, we actually had that discussion on that the other day in class, on how college student might have been added an extra tax to them for "Expenses" that they already pay (Some in rent as mentioned). But For people who live there? That's just unjust.

Also you mentioned being taxed for something like, "Using the cities facilities and not paying for them" or something along the lines.? Well don't you just pay up front for something anyways like a local gym and hangouts? they're saying If you use the city you should be taxed pretty much, so if college student are being taxed for that, why not the whole city? It just all seems unjust.

[John]

If fairness were part of the equation, this idea would've been brought up when cities weren't in financial crisis. I hope nobody lets this happen anywhere.

[James]

[font=franklin gothic medium]I can't see the logic in further taxing people who are already generally fairly tight on money as it is. Doesn't make much sense to me.

In Australia most goods and services attract a flat 10% tax (other than fresh food and certain specific things, which are tax free). As a result, whenever you purchase almost anything you are paying sales tax.

College students still have to buy food and books and all sorts of other things - they still pay into the economy in one form or another. Adding an arbitrary tax doesn't seem logical, especially if you're paying a tax for a property that you are renting (i.e. you shouldn't be paying land rates or whatever if you aren't the owner - those sorts of charges are generally built into the rent in some way).

Even students who receive some sort of welfare aid are still inherently putting much of that back into Government coffers whenever they spend the money.

So on the surface of it, this definitely seems like a weird idea.[/font]

[Gavin]

[QUOTE][SIZE="1"]It's easy to imagine city officials salivating over the prospect of raking in millions from students [B]who take advantage of city services but don't pay their way[/B].[/SIZE][/QUOTE]
[SIZE="1"]
Yeah because as a college student I sure as hell don't venture into the main part of the city on a weekly basis to buy groceries, clothing, or other requirements on a city bus and spend the remaining part of what limited income I have after rent like any other resident. As James said we already pay enough in revenue from VAT, sales taxes and the income the locality gathers from property taxes on our landlords.

Honestly this reeks of greed from city officials using the economic downturn as a way of justifying pushing through legislation like this.

On a side note hearing Aaryanna curse made me go O_o [/SIZE]

[Rachmaninoff]

[quote name='Gavin][SIZE="1"']On a side note hearing Aaryanna curse made me go O_o [/SIZE][/quote]That's what I was just thinking. o_O

Anyway, I agree with her, it's utter nonsense. I've been living on my own in an apartment for just over five years now while I go to college. To say I don't pay my own way is a complete and total lie. I don't pay property taxes because I don't own anything, but I'm quite sure that my landlord uses the rent money I, and other people pay them, to do just that.

Also, we take advantage of city services and municipalities? If you work, you pay taxes, if you buy food, you pay taxes. You pay taxes on the very books and supplies you buy for school. And no landlord has [I]ever[/I] paid for my utilities such as power, electricity, cable, Internet, phone, etc.

If something this stupid comes up on the ballot, you can bet that all of us who live here, will be voting against such an absurd attempt to tax people who [I]do[/I] pay their way. Between rent, food and other expenses, I literally pour thousands of dollars back into the community every year.

Someone needs to take the jackass that thought of this 'student tax' and put them in a straight jacket. Then they need to stuff them back into the insane asylum that they obviously came from.

We don't need more taxes that don't even apply to solve the financial crisis, we need them to cut back on wasteful spending. Like one of the cities here looking into changing the city name and logo so they stand out more. So they'll waste millions of dollars on a perceived image and gleefully tax students while they're at it. :rolleyes:

[Raiha]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]If you ever get desperately bored, go look at the breakdown of your tuition. You may notice that there are little charges for little things in there that you've never heard of or never used. Look out for long acronyms that can't be easily figured out.

My own state college is charging me fees and little taxes for things I have never used. In fact the only charge on my tuition I approve of is for Health Care as it's the only thing I can actually use myself. Paying for my 'student' government, which has been as useless as a paper bag boat is such a waste of money. So no, I don't think I need more little tiny costs in my life.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[eleanor]

[font=trebuchet ms] Surprisingly my college doesn't make me pay for random ******** charges. I mean I do pay a $132 rec/athletic fee, but I use the gym a lot so I don't really care. However this doesn't matter because my tuition alone is enough to make someone have a heart attack.

Anyways, no need to talk about how dumb this property tax for students is. I pay taxes for my work study and that alone sort of annoys me.[/font]

[Aaryanna]

[COLOR="DarkGreen"][FONT="Tahoma"][quote name='Gavin][SIZE="1"']On a side note hearing Aaryanna curse made me go O_o [/SIZE][/quote]I know, I shouldn't do that. >_< I just find the whole thing extremely irritating. Like Darren just pointed out, some of the cities around here are willing to waste millions of dollars on things that are, in my opinion, frivolous.

My mom is on disability, so there is NO money for college. I'll have to apply for government grants since we're considered below poverty level. So adding on arbitrary taxes because they're too lazy to cut back on wasteful spending... :animesigh

They're targeting a group that either is like me, still too young to vote, or from out of state and still unable to vote. And they honestly think there is nothing wrong with it. That's the part I don't get at all, the idea that it's better to tax people who can't afford an unfair tax, when they can simply trim excess spending out of the budget.

[SIZE="1"][I]*headdesks* [/I][/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR]

[Sabrina]

[FONT="Tahoma"]Well I'm old enough to vote so if they do attempt to pass this, I'll be 100% against it. If you want to get fair, you have to start taxing everyone who doesn't own a home. There are quite a few people living here who rent so under the logic they are presenting, they don't pay their way either.

Also, like Sir Darren said, part of our city is looking to waste millions of dollars just to change their name and logo, so if they're really so short on money, why are they doing things like that which serve no real purpose?

The whole thing is just a shallow attempt to tax a section of the population that contributes quite a bit to the community. Students get loans and grants and work in order to pay tuition, which in turns funds those who work at the schools.

They pay rent, buy food, pay utilities, the list of what they do that goes into the community to support it, is pretty long. Plus, my family owns and operates a business here in the city. I'm currently working at one of our locations.

So to think that because I'm also going to school means I don't pay my way, is a complete and total lie. Even when I'm only attending school, I still pay for stuff that ends up being taxed at some point if not immediately. [/FONT]

[Rachmaninoff]

[quote name='Raiha][COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]If you ever get desperately bored, go look at the breakdown of your tuition. You may notice that there are little charges for little things in there that you've never heard of or never used. [/FONT'][/COLOR][/quote]Don't I know it. Like the one where they charge you an additional $68 per credit hour for any upper division class, making a three hour class cost $204 more than if it wasn't upper division. That doesn't even include the standard set of fees that tends to run to the tune of about $350 a semester.

The way we get bashed over the head with fees left and right is absoutely and totally absurd. I'm quite sure Allamorph knows what I'm talking about. I'm glad I only have about a year and a half left. I'm sick of finding new fees and expenses every single year. It gets old.

[Nathan]

[FONT="Arial"]I may be done with college, but I'd definitely vote against any attempt to pass a tax like that. Those guys need to stop looking for ways to charge people, who don't need to be charged in the first place, and quit spending recklessly instead. [/FONT]

[Horendithas]

[FONT="Arial"][COLOR="Indigo"][quote name='John']If fairness were part of the equation, this idea would've been brought up when cities weren't in financial crisis.[/quote]Exactly. I know I'll fight against this kind of thing being enacted. There's nothing fair about it. [/COLOR][/FONT]

[SunfallE]

[COLOR="RoyalBlue"][FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"]Oh right, I recall reading about this. Honestly, who do they think they are fooling? Like Darren said, they want to waste millions of dollars on a new name and logo for one of the cities in his area and yet they see nothing wrong with that?

The tax is anything but fair and they need to learn how to stop wasting money instead of looking for [I]new[/I] things to tax. I see that on any ballot here and I will most definitely vote against it, I just hope we have a choice in the matter.

I may not be a student anymore, but that's completely and totally absurd. [/FONT][/COLOR]