FAQ

We are not a labor union. We are union of people with common interests who have joined together to restore financial stability in government. In some cases, saving the City's, County's or States where we live.

No. We are non-partisan. Financial Stability is important for any government - it's not a Democrat or Republican thing. A government cannot serve its people very well if its bankrupt.

This is a grassroots effort. There are no billionaires with an agenda behind the scenes. It's just real people like you. People who work - both blue and white collar - who have a family, some who own a house, a condo, a co-op. Ranging across the political spectrum from liberal to conservative. People of every race and religion. People who are tired of typical politicians of all party's who say whatever they think a voter wants to hear. People who love their community and want financial stability. 

The Union is a division of Liberty Tree of America, a non-partisan, non-profit organization that was established recently because there is a void in leadership on, and discussion of, these critically important matters.

No. Taxes are necessary in a modern economy. Our view is simply that taxpayers should have a voice in government spending. It goes back to America's founding principle - "no taxation without representation."  Sadly, taxpayers in some jurisdictions have no real voice in governance. Interestingly, the governments where taxpayers have no voice tend to be the least financially stable.  

All people should want taxpayers to have a real voice because politicians' have no financial discipline. As far as they are concerned - the budget is "other people money". Taxpayers should have a voice because they treat the money being spent as their money - because it is.

Most people who pay taxes are not rich. And, taxpayers are not opposed to paying taxes. What taxpayers want is a voice in the budget and taxing process. Every reasonable person agrees that is a fair request. You would not want someone taking money out of your wallet with no accountability - that's not fair, right?

Also, there is a limit to how much you can tax people without them moving out to avoid the tax

Remember, we fought a revolutionary war for liberation from the tyranny of government taking our money by imposing taxes while giving taxpayers no voice. "No taxation without representation." Thousands of our ancestors died to uphold this founding principle of the American Republic. It is certainly not too much to ask that we live up to it.

The only real change comes when people unite - in a grass roots effort. And the change that is needed is a change in the governance structure that establishes a Taxpayer Oversight Board (TOB). Change the Government Charter. Every jurisdiction allows citizens to petition the government to change the governing Charter. For example, NYC law requires 30,000 signatures on a petition to make such a change. 

Go to the page of our NYC Chapter - Click NYC Chapter

Everybody complains about taxes and government spending. Join us and you can make a real difference. And tell your friends to stop complaining and join us too. If their not willing to do something about it - they have no right to complain.

Just voting in another politician who is married to the status quo will not create real change. Politician give lip service to taxpayers but the reality is different. Politicians have 100's of different issues that they care about for dozens of interest groups. So taxpayers are not a major concern of most politicians.

Financial Stability is important to everyone. If a government goes bankrupt, there is no money for social services. The money does not magically appear. Only the federal government can print money. So, if you care about social issues - and want them funded - you must care also about financial stability.

This effort cannot work if everyone sits on the sidelines. We need to ACT.

What would have happened if the colonists sat idle during the Revolution? We would still be under the thumb of the British. Sometimes the situation is so dire that citizens need to take action. This is one of those times.

Unless we have a large number of union members, AND SOON, the government officials and career politicians will not take us seriously. No only do we need members - we need volunteers to collect 1,000s of signatures on petitions- and we need union dues / contributions to fund the effort. If we fail - all taxpayers lose. And the losses are substantial and tangible in terms of lower property values, higher taxes, layoffs, basic service cuts and worse - which together can cost you tens of thousands of dollars.

Plus, we offer members benefits such as low cost tax services, such as tax preparation. So we do not just advocate for taxpayers - we help them navigate the tax code. Who better to do that than a taxpayer rights advocate? So membership does come with extra advantages. Click on ... Benefits

If we succeed - you directly benefit by tens of thousands. It's in your self-interest to ensure that we succeed. And think how good it will feel to tell your friends that you were one of those who made a difference. Yeah, bragging rights are pretty cool.

Join Us. Click on ... Join

First you should know that there is precedent for a non-legislative body that has a veto over fiscal matters. When NYC nearly went bankrupt in the 1970s a Financial Control Board (FCB) was established to restore financial stability. It worked and NYC was saved. But the FCB was controlled by politicians in the state capital - about 150 miles away. FCB Board members most lived outside NYC and paid no taxes to NYC.

A Taxpayer Oversight Board (TOB) is essentially the same concept as the FCB - but with members that live in, and pay taxes in, the jurisdiction where the TOB operates. The embers of the board are chosen the same way we choose jurors - a process called sortition. However, the sortition process will be more methodical so that it reflects taxpayers to a 99 % confidence level. Why do we choose the process of sortition ? Because it removes politics from the process. Politicians over-promise voters and then over-spend to try to deliver their promises. If politicians on are the TOB - then nothing will change. It would be like putting the fox in charge of the hen house. The TOB members would be chosen ever 2 or 3 years and the TOB may be structured to have staggered terms so that experienced members can share their knowledge with new members.

A bit more about sortition. The process of sortition was used by the first democracy, Athens in Greece, to select a citizen assembly. It is still used today to select jurors. It is based on fairness and eliminates influence of politics and special interest groups. It is mathematically sound and in the modern era we now have the technology to apply this process to governance of large populations. It involves using a computer to select a number of people out of the total pool of taxpayers. A statistically sound mathematical model - used by nobel-prize winning scientists is used to determine the exact number of people needed to represent all taxpayers to a 99% confidence level. For more information, click Sortition.