Traditionally, local elections where tax increases such as school bonds, library funding and the like are on the ballot have very low turnout.  In those elections, a few hundred votes can make all the difference, and sometimes even a handful of votes will make a decision that affects the entire population of a town or city.

What We Should Do

People, including people who work and volunteer for nonprofits, do not have well-formed (or well-informed) opinions about taxes.  In all our organizations, we must introduce talking about taxes as the first step to “doing something” about tax policy.   Those who believe there should be “less government” tend to think that, with lower taxes, people will give away more money, balancing the lack of government funding with private donations. They should debate those people who believe that taxes should pay for social services.  Those who believe that the government should pay for as little as possible nevertheless often support a strong military, which uses the lion’s share of tax dollars. When issues of public policy such as gun control, reproductive rights, charter schools, prisons, or environmental protection are discussed, the political lines will cross and re-cross a number of times.

Many of us object to paying taxes because we don’t agree with how most of our federal dollars are spent. I, like many, am absolutely opposed to our bloody and pointless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our military capacity is greater than the next nine most-militarized nations put together, so the defense budget could be massively slashed without loss of might and power. Yet, I pay my taxes because taxes are currently the primary mechanism for keeping a democracy functioning, redistributing wealth, and exercising some social responsibility.

One simple way to “do something about taxes,” then, is to include in our board meetings, committee meetings, speeches we give about our work, coalition gatherings, and conferences—in fact, everywhere we gather—a discussion about the role of government. Let’s start raising these questions: “What are taxes for? What is fair taxation?” Doing so, we send to those working on tax policy at the state and national levels a buzz of conversation from the grassroots.