Living on the border no longer great

Before going to college, living in Michiana was great. It was great because you could take advantage of two systems. Consider this:

Food: Go to Michigan. They have 0% sales tax.
Clothing and services: Go to Indiana. They have 5% sales tax.
Cigarettes: Go to Indiana. You'll save 10 bucks a carton.
Gas: Again, Indiana. (Their governor might even rescind the gas tax if pushed)
Land: Live in Michigan--lower taxes.
Jobs: Work in Indiana--higher salaries. (Unless you are a teacher then you might get a little more in MI)

From where I was sitting, life was great. That is until now.

Indiana's sales tax is now 6%--same as Michigan's. Now I don't smoke so no savings there. Gas? It's about the same on both sides of the border and is high as hell. I don't own any land so that doesn't mean anything to me. I work in Indiana but I've just walked into income tax hell!

What prompted this post? I got my paycheck a little while back and I was absolutely livid that two dollars was taken out for the St. Joseph County income tax. Two dollars might seem insignificant, but it's the principal of the thing. I don't live in St. Joseph County. I don't use their services. So why am I paying taxes to them?

Our state and local governments can go to hell!

...Alright, I'm done with my rant.

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