When Hurricane Sandy hit the eastern seaboard of the United States at the end of

Question

When Hurricane Sandy hit the eastern seaboard of the United States at the end of October 2012, the sheer size and force of the storm had already earned it the name “Superstorm Sandy.” Reaching over 1,100 miles in diameter at its peak, the storm claimed 285 lives in seven countries on its journey from the western Caribbean.

On the New Jersey shore, entire towns were wiped out, with houses floating off their foundations into the bay and streets being buried under tons of sand blown in from the beach. It took Brad O’Connell two months to get back to what was left of his house, and another month before it could be repaired enough to be habitable. You can imagine his surprise, then, when he received a letter from his local city council advising him that his property taxes for 2013–2014 would be increasing by 9 percent.

When he called the city finance office to complain that his house was now worth less, not more, he was told that the increase was part of a five-year budget plan that included predetermined tax increases.

Which ethical theories could be applied here?

When Brad took his complaint to the local media, a spokesperson for the city finance office pointed out that the city’s property taxes were paying for the emergency services that were currently working overtime to help everyone impacted by the storm. Is that an ethical argument? Why or why not?

If you were in Brad’s situation, how would you react?

Explanation / Answer

This is absolutely wrong to charge 9% property tax on Brad as he himself is among the ones who suffered from the storm. As per the finance officer, city’s property taxes were paying for the emergency services that were currently working overtime to help everyone impacted by the storm, the emergency services is a deaprtment of government and to run those departments regular taxes were collecte throughout years from people. Brad payed taes already from years and it is the duty of the government to provide safety to the people and also give all medical aid to the one who suffers. Besides this all taxes should be waived off durin such natural calamities. People chose the government on the grounds of trust and not to take advantage. In tough times all agreements, plans, imposed taes etc which were created in normal conditions should be ended on immediate basis as they were void in such cases where food, medicines and shelter becomes a basic need. There is no ethical value in collecting taes in these times. There should not be any increase in taxes. In a society it is very important to have a feeling of trust between people and government. No one is responsible for such natural disasters but funds has been maintained by governments to deal with such a situation and increase in tax is not a solution.

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