Gold Star Idea

Municipalities always seem to complain about not having enough money and that they are forced to rely almost exclusively on things like property tax as a revenue source.

I think I have a solution to this problem that would also be fun and engaging for the entire community.

The idea is for them to stop collecting property tax and instead start holding regular, semi-mandatory fifty-fifty draws. For example, each former tax payer might have to kick in a few hundred bucks to the fifty-fifty pool (in lieu of paying taxes). Of course, they would be welcome to top that up to any level they would like. Also, people who are currently not paying municipal taxes, like renters, would be welcome to participate. Even people from outside the municipality proper would be welcome to participate and as the pot would be seeded, so to speak, the interest from outside gamblers is sure to be huge (a la Powerball). The millions are sure to start rolling in almost overnight.

You may say that reputable organizations don't hold fifty-fifty draws to raise funds. That I would respond by giving you the NHL's Calgary Flames, holders of a regular fifty-fifty draw. It is almost hard to imagine a more reputable organization.

You may wonder if a person's chance to win big can be used for more social or beneficial purposes. It would seem that, at least as far as bank accounts are concerned, there is some evidence of this being possible. Some people, it seems, are more engaged in saving money when such an action results in a chance to win big. Would this trend not hold when it comes to paying municipal taxes? Won't people pay more tax so they have a chance at that sweet prize pool?

All in all it seems that the case for this proposal is pretty strong. Come on Halifax and St. John's, why don't you give this a shot? It has to be better than whatever you have going on right now.

Editor's Note: I should probably credit a recent Freakonomics Podcast episode as being at the core of some of these ideas (though I think I have modified them enough to call them my own - and I wasn't explicitly thinking about it at the idea development phase). Only after coming up with this idea I learn that even they are familiar with the idea of a tax lottery.