The New Fiscal Strategic Mandate - Victim Taxes!

As a newly arrived resident in San Francisco, there's plenty to discover. Much of it interesting and great. As to municipal government, well, it's government, and what I'm discovering isn't terribly encouraging. But some of it might get you thinking...

This week brought a true policy aha. Lately there has been a wave of tagging in the neighborhood I live in. You'd think an occasional police beat in the late night and early morning hours would be a decent deterrent, well, no evidence of that so far. Something much more inventive from government instead! It turns out that property owners are required by ordinance to clean up graffiti/tagging within 30 days or PAY A FINE to the City!

Doesn't this just get your creative juices gushing?! Think of the possibilities this portends - governments have at their disposal a virtually untapped new source of funds to confiscate - VICTIM TAXES! Need to report a crime? Why not a large reporting fee? Police come out to your broken-into car to tell you too bad? How about a hefty "annoyance" ticket for displaying a vandalized vehicle? Muni bus or train 30 minutes late? Watch out for the loitering fee! Property down in value? Sure, get it reassessed now - for a large fee! Or, just wait until the housing market comes back around to match your appraisal.

VICTIM TAXES! The road to a balanced budget, the wave of the future. You read it here first.