Letter to the editor: Penny tax projected revenue should be divided by area

I am continually astonished how the county's chairman and the city's mayor sleep at night while a large number of Sumter citizens are struggling to survive and obtain basic living. The questions for elected and individuals seeking our vote should be: What have you done or will do to improve Sumter? Let us take a look at the Capital Penny Sales Tax, also called the Penny for Progress Initiative.

When I was going to further my educational studies I was going to draft my doctoral dissertation on "Only the Poor Citizens of America Pay Taxes." I wrote a letter to the editor on my concerns of a regressive tax, which refers to a tax that is applied uniformly regardless of income. Regressive taxes take a larger percentage of income from low-income earners than from middle- and high-income earners. As such, the tax burden decreases with regressive taxes as income rises. It is contrasted with a progressive tax, which takes a larger percentage from high-income earners. Common forms of regressive include sales tax, excise tax and payroll tax.

Currently we pay a 7% sales tax on some products and services. We pay about 7% per gallon for a gasoline sales tax (to pave roads). Sumter County has a 2% hospitality fee on the purchase of prepared food and beverages. When you pay your gas bill for your heat, a franchise fee 5% is paid to the City Of Sumter. Sumter gets a 2% franchise fee when you pay your electric bill. Sumter city and county get a 5% franchise fee when you pay your TV cable bill. We also pay property and water and sewage taxes. So we should ask the mayor and county chair to explain how much taxes we currently pay, account for the tax fund before adding a 1% additional tax.

I have looked at Orangeburg and Richland Penny sales tax, and Sumter can get some great ideas. I believe we should divide the projected revenue so each county district and city ward gets $10 million and the remaining goes to supplement teachers' pay and county roads, water and sewage.

#A United Sumter, God Bless the USA

REGINALD EVANS

Sumter