To the editor:

Taxation: Whether your net worth is in the billions (the Koch family in Wichita) or in the hundreds (the value of the jalopy you drive), we ALL pay gasoline taxes, sales taxes and property taxes (included in your rent). Net worth and income usually track together fairly closely.

There are roughly 6 percent of the population in the upper income brackets (above $200,000/year). Over the years, about 94 percent of us have been paying for the transportation infrastructure (highways and airports) that facilitate the development and sales of interstate corporations. Property taxes and other taxes (mostly from 94 percent of us) pay for schools and education. Without educated workers, business enterprises could not have flourished.

As cities have grown, taxes, mostly from the 94 percent who are not wealthy, have provided fire and police service, sewer and water systems, libraries, etc. This provides a stable, orderly, desirable environment for corporations.

My point is, most of us — wage earners whose incomes are likely to be in a range of $20,000 to $75,000 a year — pay for the support systems for large corporations (and their attendant services, such as lawyers) enabling owners and officers to realize incomes ranging from $200,000 to $5 million or $10 million a year.

Without taxes at the pump, on airfares, on sales and on property, wealth would not have expanded as it has. The wealthy OUGHT TO PAY MORE. Right now the “upper income” bracket in Kansas starts at $30,000! That’s below the median income range!

Mark Larson,

Lawrence