Sunday, July 26, 2015

Newspaper editorial board: "Floyd County should consider tax increase."

Back in the day, she'd/he'd been all over it. We've been abandoned.

Oddly, this editorial seems to have flown entirely under the radar. It doesn't appear to have been posted at Facebook, and so there are no outraged comments or self-immolation threats.

We're guessing that this one is Chris Morris's baby, as he customarily covers the county beat.

— The News and Tribune editorial board is comprised of Publisher Bill Hanson, Editor Shea Van Hoy, page designer Claire Munn, Assistant Editor Chris Morris and Assistant Editor Jason Thomas. Responses can be sent to shea.vanhoy@newsandtribune.com

Floyd County government recently has become the exclusive domain of Republicans, who possess an austerity fetish that makes German finance ministers look like hereditary Saudi playboy princes -- though it must be acknowledged that in the not so distant past, the Heavrinite strain of "Democrat" contributed much conceptually to the notion that revenue purely is an option.

Meanwhile, city government is controlled by Adam's merry band of DemoDisneyDixiecrats, who have contrived a borrowing-fueled capital projects bonanza designed to produce social media-ready photos of building porn with commensurate campaign finance-tie-ins. It may not be a tax increase strictly as such, but it's surely a huge credit card/TIF bond debt for future generations to service.

This is why a third way is so desperately needed hereabouts.

Not starvation, and not unsustainable extravagance, but spending sensibly on fundamental infrastructure needs that benefit the greatest number of users, and stand to support quality of life and economic development aims rather than work actively against them.

OUR OPINION: Floyd County should consider tax increase

 ... As the council moves forward on the 2016 budget, there needs to be a long-term vision to keep from having to put a Band-Aid on the problem each year. As one county official at a recent meeting said, “We just can’t keep kicking the can down the road.”

The council should consider a tax increase — which could come in the form of a Local Option Income Tax or a wheel tax.
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2 comments:

  1. w&la12:49 PM

    With 11 % of families in the county and 14% of families in the city living under the federal poverty limit (as of 2010), steps need to be taken to increase opportunity in the total county - city and county.

    The duplication of services, the squabbling over which taxing authority will pay for what and when is stupid. The fact is this is a very, very small county - just 148 square miles. There may not be enough tax dollars in either city or county to do anything separately of real benefit. For an area addicted to federal handouts, I'm surprised the city and county haven't merged in order to garner more federal dollars due to higher ranking from merger. Clark County is much larger and has greater revenue it will continue to move ahead. We must change.

    The poverty rates in Floyd County are even more alarming when you look at the statistics concerning children.

    17% of children in Floyd County live under the federal poverty limit. In the city, it's 21%. The stats for the elderly are much, much lower. That indicates to me when the baby boomers die, the poverty rate will get much higher. The county is really no "richer" than the city. It's a myth that has been used in order to make voters complacent.

    Selling adequate, existing schools so friends have to build new ones and expanding a farmer's market or building a four-month a year pool will not attract one new business or job to Floyd County. For instance, claiming the pool has "added jobs" is a shell game.

    We need new jobs offered by new employers. The empty store fronts and buildings throughout the city and county show us the truth. The cost of local government waste is piling up.

    Where are the real plans to raise this area? To really grow opportunities?

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  2. w&la1:36 PM

    And, yes, it's inevitable. Both the county and city will have to raise taxes if they're going to try to get the city and county out of this hole they've dug.

    ReplyDelete