Interesting article in the Chanute Tribune this morning about the repealed Franchise Fee on our utility bills. Over-all I have to say Im not even a little bit impressed with most of the comments made. The wording on the ballot was pretty straight-forward in my opinion, for one. For another the idea that who constitutes a customer being an ambiguous issue is a little hard to swallow. Hey, we collected this money from this person/business/entity, heres your refund. The most unsettling part is all the rhetoric about Oh but we could have used that money to provide all these great services people want...guess theyll have to do without now! The city NEEDS that money to operate, what do we do? Its going to cost a lot of time and money to straighten this out! My take: For starters, shame on you for leveling a new tax without consulting the constituents you were taxing. Call it a fee if you want and hop in line with Big Brother on the Lets call it a fee/penalty/something else instead of a tax to dodge established procedure and sneak it through without as much of a ruckus train. Bad form. If the city needs that money so badly to operate and provide necessary services to the community it serves, maybe they should do what the taxpayers have to do and tighten their belt. Country Clubs and unnecessary internet upgrades, playing real-estate developer...these are fine and well as side-hobbies if theyre self-supporting but if they arent, the government should concern itself with governing. Im an EMT, I dont haul off wrecked cars and I dont put out house-fires and I dont ticket drunk drivers. If funds are in such sore need then the city should be more careful stewards of those funds. Everyones feeling the money-crunch, demanding a raise, or worse yet giving yourself one without asking the boss...thats not the responsible way to deal with it. Raising taxes may be an ugly necessary thing from time to time but it shouldnt be the first resort, and disguising those tax-hikes as fees or penalties or whatever gentle bait-and-switch crops up next is upsetting.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 16:46:03 +0000
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