State taxes hard on poor

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Dear editor,

Alabama is known for its high and unfair taxes on the poor and near-poor. A new example of this fact has recently come to my attention.

In Alabama, a poor family, who owns a 9-year-old pickup that is worth maybe $2,000, pays a tax of $42 for the year. A more affluent family, who owns a 2-year-old Ford Crown Victoria worth about $15,000, pays a tax of $52. The well-off family with their 2-year-old, comfortable air-conditioned car pays only $10 more than the poor family with their 9-year-old pickup.

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Does that sound fair to you?

I feel ashamed that the state of Alabama is so unfair.

Arthur M. Carlton

Marion Junction