Las Vegas Sun

April 26, 2024

Letter: User fee increases are backdoor taxes

I found the article in the May 22 Sun "No free ride on fees, despite Gibbons' pledge " to be interesting and informative.

There is one small problem with the concept of the service users paying their own way when it comes to state services. I think it's safe to say that perhaps 75 percent of the people reading the article know that this is just another back door tax increase, like the fees charged by the federal government for entrance into national parks, etc. We never did see our tax burden go down just because users were now paying for their own use.

I know that more people means more costs, but it seems like a 10 percent increase in population causes more like a 20 percent increase in administrative costs. Could it be that they are not interested in governmental efficiency as much as they are in empire building? (Or perhaps budget building?)

Harvey Talbert, Las Vegas

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