Goverrnor, State of Ohio letter of January 18, 2001

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   Northern Ohio
Amateur Radio Development
P.O. BOX 271, Brunswick, OH 44212-0271
   www.noard.com
Rick Wells - K8SCI     PH: 330 225-7373

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Letter to Governor Bob Taft, State of Ohio, January 18, 2001
Many Small Retailers, in Ohio, are in the same position that I am in, the
difference, is that I am trying to do something about Ohio's unfair taxation,
which is the main reason, they go out of business, by just quitting!
It's the State-of-Ohio that makes them non-competitive, unfairly.

January 18, 2001

TO: Governor, Bob Taft (This letter may not be important to you, it is to me)
         State of Ohio

FM:   Rick Wells, NOARD
PH: 330 225-7373

SUBJECT: Your interview with radio station WMJI in Cleveland, Ohio
   Tuesday, January 17, 2001

After your discussions, concerning the LTV Steel difficulties, serveral
questions were asked of you regarding the recent USE-TAX, being asked
to be submitted to the State of Ohio, from Ohio consumers, who had
obtained tangible personal property, from out of state retailers.

It seemed that you were riding the waves, of a huge movement of Ohio
consumers, who are now up at arms, regarding having to pay a "use-tax"
to the State of Ohio, and that you would sign any bill that would come
before you, that would give the Ohio consumers, an exempted amount,
on out-of-state purchases, that would be "free from any tax requirement".

You stated that Ohio consumers do not use the Catalog/Mail-Order, or
the Internet, to avoid Sales-Tax, that they only like the convenience of it.

I am extremely concerned, that your willing to admit, on the "airways", to the
tens-of-thousands of Ohio consumers listening, that the State of Ohio does
not have anything in place, to enforce, that the consumer, is in fact, reporting accurately their out-of-state purchases, and that the State of Ohio, is simply
going to rely, on the honesty of the consumer, to voluntarily send in money
to the State of Ohio.

As the top elected official, of the State of Ohio, you have slammed shut, any
potential success, of the Use-Tax Consumer Volunteer Program (even though
most Ohio consumers, that I have spoken with, have already said, "ARE THEY
NUTS, I'M NOT GOING TO SEND THEM ONE DIME THAT I DON'T HAVE TO".

It seems that you wanted to make sure that you were on the side of the Ohio
Voter, even though, the Tax Commissioner, is indicating that the Use-Tax
payment "IS A REQUIREMENT". Current State of Ohio Sales and Use-Tax Laws make the Use-Tax payments, by the Ohio resident, to the State of Ohio, LAW, not an option.

How would you treat a Ohio Business, who decided, that the collection of
State Sales-Tax was an option, and was only voluntary, and, if they felt like
it, sent in a voluntary payment to the State of Ohio Taxation Department?
You would probably say, regarding that Ohio business, "ARE THEY NUTS".

THIS IS NOT A JOKE. The Use-Tax was passed into LAW in 1936, with its
main purpose, to protect the Ohio Retailers, from unfair competition from
out-of-state retailers (caused by the State Sales-Tax), and to protect the
revenue lost to the State of Ohio, caused by the Ohio consumers buying
tangible personal property, from an out-of-state firm, not charging the tax.

If you signed a bill, that would give a $5,000 exemption, for out-of-state
purchases, 5,000,000 Ohio consumers would buy out-of-state, for sure,
convenient or not. That relates to: $ 25,000,000,000.00 of sales not going
to Ohio retailers, that was additionally, encouraged, by the State of Ohio!
Twenty-Five Billion Dollars of Purchases relates to $ 1,250,000,000 in lost
Sales/Use-Tax Revenues, for the State of Ohio. That doesn't even count
the monies now lost, to the Counties in Ohio. What about the lost business
to the Ohio retailers? How many of those Ohio businesses died (including
the Ohio residents/families that owned them)?

Are you indicating that the, MASS-EXECUTION, financially, of the small Ohio
retailer is acceptable??? Maybe the State of Ohio can kill 100,000 small
businesses (and families) in a single year. I am willing to bet a whole big
can of coffee (and I like coffee), that the State of Ohio already killed over
a million small retail stores, here in Ohio, from its inability to police and
enforce the Use-Tax, since the year 1965 (that's about the time ATT came
out with the WATS line service and allowed the Ohio Consumers to start
(without incurring any costs out of their own pocket) to shop around
the whole U.S.A. to try and get a better deal. That's when the State of Ohio
should have decided, to either put into place, an absolute way of collecting
the use-tax due, or, eliminate the Ohio Sales-Tax altogether, because, if you
didn't do either of them, your going to kill and destroy, small Ohio retailers
and the families that owned those Ohio stores.

TODAY, CONSUMERS ONLY HAVE ONE DESIRE, THE LOWEST PRICE, THAT'S THE BOTTOM LINE! Almost all consumers feel that they pay way too much in taxes now. The State of Ohio wants them to voluntarily send them more of their money. What do you think they are going to do. Do you think you're going to raise the missing $211,000,000 in use-tax dollars (that had to be a guess) by voluntary consumer contributions (do pigs fly yet?).

HOW IMPORTANT IS THE OHIO SMALL RETAIL STORE?
Ohio Retailers provide the following Government Revenues within this state:
1. Sales-Tax Collection (no payroll cost to the State of Ohio, a freebie provided by     the retail store owner for the privilege of risking everything).
2. Personal Property Tax Revenues (paid to the County, caused by some
    State of Ohio Law) - a tax, to penalize, a local retailer for stocking inventory, to     make it available, for a local consumer. The tax is still due, even if the State of     Ohio or County, through other taxation methods, makes the local retailer
    non-ompetitive, and, it must be paid every year, even though, it was already
    paid the previous year, and the year before, and the year before (I think you
    get the message).
3. Income for Landlords, who pay Real-Property Taxes and Income Taxes.
4. Income for the local utility companies.
5. Business Income Tax Revenues, for the State of Ohio, as well as the City in     which the business is located.
6. Individual Income Tax Revenues, for the State of Ohio, as well as the City, in     which the business is located, as well as the cities where the employees live.
7. Many expenses paid to other local companies, such as advertisers, insurance     companies, and countless others, who all pay their taxes too.

HOW IMPORTANT IS THE OUT-OF-STATE RETAILER?
Compared to the Ohio small retail store, the following Tax Revenues
are generated for the State of Ohio, and governments within:
        NONE, NONE, NONE, NONE, NONE, NONE AND NONE

How is the State, Counties and Cities going to do, without the Ohio Retailer?

THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE, WITH THE ATTITUDE OF THE OHIO CONSUMER, WHO DESIRES ONLY THE LOWEST PRICE (BOTTOM LINE COST), WHEN COMPARED TO THE CUSTOMERS WHO PURCHASE STEEL. LTV STEEL LOST MANY USERS OF ITS PRODUCTS, FROM COMPETITION, WHO HAD THE LOWEST PRICE (BOTTOM LINE). IT DOES NOT MATTER IF THE SUPPLIER, PAID TAXES, PAID DECENT WAGES, PROVIDED BENEFITS TO THEIR WORKERS, MADE IT IN A DIFFERENT COUNTRY.... ONLY THING THAT MATTERS IS THE CUSTOMERS BOTTOM LINE COST. CONSUMERS ARE EXACTLY THAT WAY AS WELL. THEIR BOTTOM LINE COST DOES NOT MATTER IF NO TAXES WERE PAID, WHETHER IT CAME FROM A DIFFERENT STATE (OR COUNTRY), WHETHER THE GOVERNMENT EVEN CONSIDERS IT A LEGAL ITEM (IF THEY WANT IT, THEY WILL FIND A WAY TO GET IT), THEY DON'T EVEN CARE IF THEY CAN GET THE ITEM CHEAPER FROM A GUY SELLING IT IN A FLEA-MARKET (OR SHOW) WHO IS ILLEGALLY SELLING IT WITHOUT A VENDORS LICENSE (OR DECIDES TO SELL IT BELOW COST AND KEEP THE SALES-TAX COLLECTED AS THEIR PROFIT!

WHEN YOU MAKE THE STATEMENT THAT PEOPLE DON'T USE THE INTERNET OR MAIL-ORDER TO AVOID THE SALES-TAX - YOU ARE ABSOLUTLY WRONG! CONSUMERS HAVE BEEN DOING THAT FOR MANY YEARS, AND, GUESS WHAT, THEY FEEL GOOD ABOUT IT.

Now that I got some things off my chest, what are you going to do to protect, or at least make competitive (through fair taxation) the Ohio Small Retailers.

DO YOU HAVE THE GUTS TO SAY, WELL, SINCE I DON'T THINK THAT IT MEANS MUCH FOR THE OHIO CONSUMER TO PAY THE USE-TAX, MAYBE THE OHIO CONSUMER WOULD EVEN LIKE IT BETTER IF THERE WASN'T ANY SALES/USE TAXES AT ALL! I BET EVERYONE WOULD LIKE THAT ONE.

I don't mean to ramble on, but I am not asking for help, I'm only asking that I could possibly compete on a fair basis with my local customers. The only three things that really hurt me are: Sales-Tax, Property Tax on Inventory, and Interest Rates that are increased to slow down the economy (any slower I would fall over dead). You must support any actions to eliminate all sales-taxes in Ohio.

THE CONSUMERS, WHO ARE REFUSING TO PAY SALES-TAX, WILL ALSO, REFUSE TO VOLUNTEER, ANY USE-TAX. THEY DON'T WANT TO PAY ANY TAX AT ALL.

If you respond to this letter, I will be surprised. If you respond with immediate
action, to provide emergency relief to small Ohio retails stores, there might be some hope left.

Deeply Concerned

Rick Wells

LETTER TO ALL OHIO CONSUMERS - - TAXATION, OHIO

January 12, 2001 Letter Sent: The-Truth
January 17, 2001 Letter Sent: Use-Tax-Exemptions

   Sales-Tax   -  Are States doing what they should do in
                            protecting their own retailers, or they just
                           putting the blame on Washington D.C. ?

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