3. Is it fair that the Millers, with no children, pay property tax to support schools and the Carpenters, who have three children, pay no direct property tax at all? Think about other benefits the Millers and Carpenters might receive. Part of the Millers' income probably comes from Social Security. Perhaps the Carpenters send a preschooler to a federally funded Head Start nursery school. Because of their income level, the Carpenters also qualify for free milk at school. Next, think about what other taxes the Millers and Carpenters might be paying. How does their state's income tax and sales tax affect each? Her 5. Think about all of the "extras" that could be added to the taxes paid in addition to those in the chart on the last page. Write a paragraph that explains why you think the Millers and the Carpenters are being taxed fairly or unfairly.

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1. The property tax is used largely to fund local services such as public education. In this situation, the Millers pay such taxes despite having no children, while the Carpenters, who have three children and whose children directly benefit from local schools, pay little or no direct property tax. One way to look at this is that the Millers subsidize the high‐quality public services from which the Carpenters’ children benefit.

2. However, both families receive benefits from a variety of other government programs. For example, a portion of the Millers’ income may come from Social Security, which is funded by payroll taxes paid by workers in earlier years. Meanwhile, the Carpenters might receive benefits such as free milk in school, and their preschooler might attend a federally funded Head Start program. These programs help offset some of the cost differences between the families.

3. In addition to property taxes, both families are likely to be subject to state income taxes and sales taxes. If the Millers have a higher income from which the income tax is levied, they might end up paying more in income taxes than the Carpenters. Sales taxes tend to apply uniformly; however, if the families have different spending habits, one family might end up shouldering more of the sales tax burden than the other.

4. Overall, even though the Carpenters do not pay a direct property tax, they benefit from a slew of tax-funded public services – the schools their children attend and other social programs. The Millers, paying property tax without a direct benefit for schooling, are contributing to a system that supports public goods benefiting many citizens, including the Carpenters. When considering the full spectrum of taxes (property, income, sales, and payroll), as well as the distribution of benefits from public services, the fairness of taxation depends on one’s perspective regarding how benefits and burdens should be distributed. If fairness is viewed as each family paying taxes proportionate to the benefits they receive and their ability to pay, then many of the differences may seem justified. On the other hand, if one focuses solely on the direct benefit of funding local education, it might feel inequitable that the Millers pay for services that do not directly benefit their household while the Carpenters do not pay direct property taxes despite benefiting from those services.

5. In conclusion, while the Millers and the Carpenters experience different types of tax burdens and receive different direct benefits, the overall tax system includes numerous “extras” or cross-subsidies, such as income tax and sales tax, that help balance the distribution of benefits among citizens. Whether the system is fair can depend on one’s viewpoint about collective responsibility and the role of government. In a system designed to provide broad-based services to all, the combined tax structure – including property, income, and sales taxes – may be seen as fair, even though some families may not see a direct one-to-one correlation between what they pay and what they receive.
The Millers pay property taxes to support schools that benefit the Carpenters' children, while the Carpenters don't pay direct property taxes but receive other government benefits like free school milk and Head Start. Both families also pay income and sales taxes. Overall, the tax system balances contributions and benefits, making the arrangement fair despite the direct differences in property tax payments.

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