Idea 16of 23Builds onNo tax belongs to one government
Taxes join in one revenue
Does one tax pay for one thing, like one park?
Today you'll discover
- where a tax goes first
- who decides how revenue is spent
Think firstDoes a family's tax buy one park?
Ana's family pays property tax. Does their money go straight to the park near their home?
Decide first, then press Next. Look for any line that skips the middle.
The Maple Town drawing with a dashed curve arching from the families' box straight to the fire service box, marked straight there? Then the curve is gone: the arrows go into the town, where $30 million + $20 million = $50 million of revenue, and out again to six services. Then the same for Ontario. The last step shows the federal government with the dashed curve.
See the whole ideathe big idea and the key word, in one place
The big idea
Taxes are joined into one revenue, and the revenue pays for many services.
Easy to get wrongNo tax goes straight to one service. Even property tax is mixed into the town's revenue before any of it is spent.
Where it goes nextThe council's plan for spending the revenue is its budget. The next cards read one.
Key word
- council
- the group a town elects, with its mayor, to decide how the town's revenue is spent
Ready to use it?
- Explain why one tax does not pay for one thing.
- Fix a sentence that wires a tax to one service.