Even if they started taxing the rich, there wouldn’t be many to tax in the area.
The median household income in Cumberland was $47,235 in 2021, which marked an an increase of 903(1.95%) from $46,332 in 2020. This income is 63.31% of the U.S. median household income of $74,606 (all incomes in 2022 inflation-adjusted dollars).
Top 5%: The mean household income for the wealthiest population (top 5%) is 302,286, which is 173.49% higher compared to the highest quintile, and 3113.14% higher compared to the lowest quintile.
Even so, it’s likely the only reason they live there is low taxes. We’re not talking national taxes here, this is local, and they can be absolutely sure if they tax those wealthier people any more than they are, they’ll move away.
They absolutely should do that, and give a firm middle finger to the back of the wealthy assholes as they move to their new mansion in whatever backwater they’re moving to next, but it doesn’t solve the inherent problem: the tax base is too small and too poor.
This is just a mountain town that has died slowly after the death of industry there post World War II, and frankly there is no good way to save it because there’s no way to convince anybody to take their industries up there.
What they’re doing here is trying to use the new changes in remote work to potentially trigger a revitalization. It may work, but I have my doubts.
We’re talk local here, not national.
Even if they started taxing the rich, there wouldn’t be many to tax in the area.
https://www.neilsberg.com/insights/cumberland-md-median-household-income/#income-by-quintile
Even so, it’s likely the only reason they live there is low taxes. We’re not talking national taxes here, this is local, and they can be absolutely sure if they tax those wealthier people any more than they are, they’ll move away.
They absolutely should do that, and give a firm middle finger to the back of the wealthy assholes as they move to their new mansion in whatever backwater they’re moving to next, but it doesn’t solve the inherent problem: the tax base is too small and too poor.
This is just a mountain town that has died slowly after the death of industry there post World War II, and frankly there is no good way to save it because there’s no way to convince anybody to take their industries up there.
What they’re doing here is trying to use the new changes in remote work to potentially trigger a revitalization. It may work, but I have my doubts.