Where the money goes:
A month in the life of the Proctor family

 

	STEVE RINGMAN / THE SEATTLE TIMES
	"The sales tax, I take as a fact of life — I've lived in Washington almost my entire life. I have to admit, when I buy a hot tub or a new car, I think about it a bit more, but I just accept it. But I don't feel totally comfortable that all of the money that's going to government is being used efficiently."
	— Gary Proctor

Gary Proctor
Age: 51

What they do: He recently sold his Everett dentistry practice and retired after 24 years.

Residences: Own home in Mill Creek and rental house in Everett

Family: Married to Joan, 49. Two children — Kristen, 21, and Kyle, 18

Annual income: Declined to disclose

Taxes paid in one month:
Sales tax: $683.14 on $7,715.30 in purchases
Property tax: $606.44 (on both houses)
Gasoline tax: $24.36 on 105.916 gallons of gas ($151.51 worth)
Convention-center tax: $16.49 on a $239 hotel bill (on which they paid sales tax as well)
Other taxes: $4.49 on phone bill
One-month tax tab: $1,334.92
Annualized: $16,019.04

Spending not taxed: $522.52
$393.09 groceries
$78.50 greens fees
$50.93 other

Gary on taxes: "The sales tax, I take as a fact of life — I've lived in Washington almost my entire life. I have to admit, when I buy a hot tub or a new car, I think about it a bit more, but I just accept it. But I don't feel totally comfortable that all of the money that's going to government is being used efficiently."

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