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$25 garage sale
Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 4:00 am
by Gob
City Council members propose $25 fee for garage sales in Dallas
12:24 PM Wed, Sep 01, 2010
Steve Thompson/Reporter
Two Dallas City Council members have proposed charging a $25 fee next year to anyone who wants to have a garage sale in city limits.
City managers have floated the idea of charging $5, as a way to help balance next year's tough budget.
Council members Delia Jasso and Dwaine Caraway upped the ante today in a memo to City Manager Mary Suhm.
"We recommend the fee should be $25," the memo said.
Jasso and Caraway estimate the fee could bring in $500,000 next year, and they recommend the money go toward senior dental services, cultural affairs programs, graffiti removal and animal services.
I'm not sure how they estimated the $500,000, but I think one relevant question is: will the number of garage sales go down significantly if a $25 fee is attached? Will that decrease the revenue estimate?
What do you think?
http://cityhallblog.dallasnews.com/arch ... st-11.html
What do I think? I think its the dumbest revenue raising idea I have ever heard.
Re: $25 garage sale
Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 4:24 am
by Scooter
Of all the boneheaded...
Aside from the sheer cheek of the "let's tax this because we can" element of this, they are shooting themselves in the foot. Do they have any clue how much of what would otherwise become garbage is diverted in garage sales? Have they considered how much it will cost them to handle all the extra trash they will be dealing with when people decide it won't be worth their while to try selling it?
Re: $25 garage sale
Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 8:06 am
by Reality Bytes
Exactly how are they going to enforce it? Just how much money will they waste in collecting the fees and chasing up non payers? Bloody jobsworths.
Re: $25 garage sale
Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 12:10 pm
by Miles
If they do enact such a program it would most likely be like a building permit which would require the seller to display same in a prominant place during the sale. Any law enforcement officer on a regular patrol route could act upon the absence of such a permit. I would think that if they try to tax garage sales the outcome would likely be that the flea markets would get a bit busier.
Re: $25 garage sale
Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 10:03 pm
by rubato
Anytime you want to spend $500 collecting a $25 fee just go to Texas.
Another How stupid are they? for the "conservatives are stupider than dirt" file.
yrs,
rubato
Re: $25 garage sale
Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 10:57 pm
by Gob
Miles wrote:I would think that if they try to tax garage sales the outcome would likely be that the flea markets would get a bit busier.
So then they'd slap a big tax fee on flea markets!