Local option tax will raise our tax rate

Sandpoint voters will be asked in November whether or not they want a 1% local option sales tax to be implemented.

The discussion on this topic reminded me of when Idaho raised its sales tax from 5% to 6%, when a lot of people said "Oh, it's just 1%" or "It's just a penny."

This is true, of course, for people with a poor understanding of math. A raise in the tax rate from 5% to 6% is a 20% increase. Likewise, a raise from 6% to 7% constitutes a 16.67% in the effective sales tax. Ask yourself if you want to raise the tax rate on everything you purchase from cars to clothes to groceries by 16.67% for the next 25 years.

JOHN SCOTT

Priest River