Stop taxing, start streamlining

Donald Canton, Las Vegas

Friday, Dec. 13, 2013 | 2 a.m.

I read with interest the article about how voters may support a proposed 2 percent business margins tax next November (“Why voters may eagerly support a business tax next year”). There’s also a good reason why voters may not approve the tax.

Voters have come to realize that after a point, they get very little bang for the buck from more taxes.

The relationship between more taxes and the benefit derived is not proportional, not linear. In fact, the relationship is logarithmic. That is, it takes a lot of increase to derive a small amount of benefit.

To give a simple example using round numbers: A $10 increase would yield $1 worth of benefit, a $100 increase yields $2 of benefit, a $1,000 increase yields $3 of benefit, and so on. The numbers may change, but the relationship is clear. This is invariably due to bureaucracy and its inherent inefficiencies.

That’s why instead of asking for additional taxes, maybe more emphasis should be placed on streamlining bureaucracy so that tax money can be used more effectively.

When voters see evidence that tax money is used effectively, they may be more inclined to approve additional taxes.