In sixth grade, my arithmetic class included fractions and percentages. Hated them, then; hated them, now. Never thought Id need them. Didnt, for a long time, not until I took a hard look at my electric power bill.
Sales tax on electricity is 6 percent. Okay, I understand that. Georgia Power is selling me a product. I pay sales tax on it.
But when I multiply the cost of electricity by 6 percent, I dont get the same cost for sales tax that is on the bill.
Only when I add the environmental compliance cost, nuclear power charge, and the franchise fee to the cost of electricity, and then multiply by 6 percent, do I come up with the amount that Im paying in sales tax.
Not only am I being forced by the government to lend Georgia Power money to build a nuclear power plant (maybe, someday) but also Im being charged sales tax on the money Im lending Georgia Power.
Not only is the city of Peachtree City charging me a franchise fee so that I can have electricity in my home, Im paying a tax on that franchise fee.
Since franchise fee is simply another name for tax, Im being charged tax on tax.
Im not overlooking the environmental compliance cost. Thats part of Georgia Powers cost of generating electricity. The only reason Georgia Power calls it out on the bill is to make me think the government is the bad guy in all this.
Maybe theyre right. Any government cowardly enough to call a tax a franchise fee, to charge taxes on taxes, and to use an essential service like electricity as a vehicle for collecting taxes deserves to be called a bad guy.
We must take back our government.
Paul Lentz
Peachtree City, Ga.
