By Ricky Viverette

May 7, 2008 12:13 PM | Link to this

Jeff I Think We Have Been Taxed To Death, Maybe You Would Like To Keep Giving Your Hard Earned Dollar So The Goverment Can Keep Giving It Away All Over The World If They Keep All These Tax Dollors At Home They Would Have Plenty Of Money To Build New Schools. Besides I Payed And Sent Mine To Private School And Payed County School Taxes With No deduction on My Taxes And Still Pay County School Taxes And Have No Children In School, So Were Does The Taxation Stop There Getting Almost Halp Our Paycheck Now?

By DanTHEman

May 7, 2008 1:18 PM | Link to this

Rather than sarcastically deriding the people that voted against the “penny for every $4”, why not try to promote understanding by explaining their actions from a truly neutral perspective rather than from atop the liberal high horse you appear to be riding?

Most of us are being nickeled and dimed to death with dozens of tiny taxes like this, many of which we are given no choice about (if we are even aware of them since they are often intentionally well hidden). We even get taxed multiple times on the same pool of money in many cases, so it can’t be a big surprise that people tend to vote down anything they actually get a voice about.

By Robert Cressionnie

May 7, 2008 2:09 PM | Link to this

This is hardly a hollow victory. It has never been about the amount of the tax, it’s the principle.

It appears that where the money really needs to be spent is on simple arithmetic classes for adults.

First, the county is not being shorted on the Medicaid deal. The County is coming out with a substantial amount more than they would have had to pay for Medicaid. In fact, they will come out $1.7 million to the good in the first year alone. That’s over half the amount to be collected from the proposed sales tax increase.

Another minor detail is that you can’t pay for $100 million in capital projects with 2.8 million dollars. This means that had the increase passed, the politicians would have used it as a mandate to put us and our children in deep debt for the rest of our lives to fulfill their desire to have their grand buildings.

Let’s look at the facts about growth. The revenue of the county is growing 9% faster than expenses. The student population is projected to decrease over the next 10 years. Overall growth projections for Nash County are flat at best.

I don’t disagree that some facilities are old and in need repair. I don’t disagree that a new $65 million dollar high school would be, for some, beautiful to behold. I don’t even disagree that some of the county facilities may be inadequate. What I do disagree with is the cavalier attitude with which politicians and their supporters approach taking our property and putting us in debt.

I do take great offense at the open threats being made by the politicians and their supporters that they will impose more taxes on us whether we want them or not. Just because this tax increase was defeated doesn’t give the commissioners carte blanche to impose more property tax.

It’s time the politicians, the non-profit organizations, and public private partnerships that live on our tax dollars begin to live within their means. We are not an endless source of revenue and while you can tax an area into poverty, you can never tax an area into prosperity.

Let us all remember these open tax threats being made by office holders’ as terms expire and elections roll around.

By Jeff

May 7, 2008 2:29 PM | Link to this

Dan, I apologize for the sarcasm. It came out of frustration from this issue.

We tried making arguments for the tax before the primary. Here’s a brief recap:

1) The state already has begun taking a half-cent in sales tax for every purchase from every county so counties will no longer have to pay for Medicaid. That’s a great burden to be rid of, but it still affects local funding.

2) Until last August, we were paying an extra quarter-cent on purchases anyway. Did anyone really feel richer when that quarter-cent went away?

3) I know we’re taxed to death, including “liberal high horse” riders. Nash and Edgecombe taxpayers certainly weren’t the only ones who said “no” to the proposed tax increase Tuesday. Voters in 16 other counties shot down the sales tax proposal there, and four other counties voted down land transfer taxes.

Unfortunately, none of those actions do anything to help education. How long has Nash County been talking about building a high school to replace Rocky Mount High School? The longer we wait, the more expensive that undertaking will be.

Both of my kids are in college now. If I think strictly about the wallet of Jeff Herrin, heck, why should I care whether we have better schools?

But if Eastern North Carolina is going to attract better industries, with higher paying jobs and (as a result) a bigger tax base, then we have to commit to those goals. Eventually, that commitment will mean a better quality of life for all of us.

That’s why I get frustrated (and sometimes sarcastic) after votes like yesterday’s.

By ken

May 7, 2008 5:56 PM | Link to this

Same here, Jeff. I don’t have children in the public schools, but don’t mind paying a little extra thru the sales taxes—but no problem.

If and when the school system needs more funding they will look for sources. I’m not surprised at defeat of the sales tax for a few reasons: 1. the number of parents with students in private/church schools would likely not want extra tax to pay for public schools; 2. adults with no children in school might be likely to choose no more taxes for schools as they wouldn’t benefit directly. 3. they may have other valid reasons—the vote went, the system worked.

agree with you, Jeff. Industries and individuals will be looking at quality of schools and education before coming here—some of them at least.

for sure, there are a few people who have an opinion but still don’t register to vote— but the voter turnout looked mighty good for Nash County.

My guess is that the new high school will be built in not too many years—and from one source or another, it will be paid for.

by the way, i think nash county did pretty good at getting the vote out this time.

and Jeff, thanks for putting the ‘opinons’ in the newspaper—at least it gave us opportunity to make informed votes.

By DanTHEman

May 8, 2008 8:42 AM | Link to this

(Continued) No doubt the amount of waste in terms of percentage in how most of our taxes are spent has something to do with a loss of public trust that tax money will go where it is supposed to go, not to mention that taxpayers have been tricked too many times with “temporary” taxes that never go away (food tax).

Using the threat of raising property taxes as a blackmail tactic might not have been appreciated by the voters either since nobody likes to be strong-armed.

If county commissioners raise taxes in the face of property owners that are struggling in the current climate, they’d do well to remember they also vote. Falling property values will probably blunt the intent of such an ill-advised move anyway.

By Holt

May 8, 2008 2:33 PM | Link to this

Robert I read your letter to the editor. You seem to be one of the few people who use data to back up your opinion. I like that.

I think public trust in public officials and knowing specifically and definitely where the money is going is a big reason to question a yes vote.

I fit Kens #2.