No one was surprised when
the commissioners chose to side with the Mental Health Board and place
their financial needs over the financial well-being of the property
owners. I guess the enormous tax increases the property owners had to
endure this year weren't a good enough reason to sway them from
endorsing the levy. Doubtlessly, there are a lot of people who wonder
what it would take to win the commissioners' support to get a
well-deserved respite from the annual onslaught of levies and income
taxes.And then just when you thought it couldn't get worse for the
voters, the West Muskingum School District stepped up and said not so
fast. This fall, instead of proposing a levy that just targets
property owner they are proposing a tax that targets the earned income
of all the people (including renters) who live in their school
district. With so many families already struggling to make ends meet,
it's hard to believe that a majority of them will readily volunteer to
hand over .75 percent of their income for the next five years. What
about after the five years is up? Will they then ask for more money?
You bet they will.
The school's officials said their decision to exclude the income of
the voters on a fixed income was a gesture to give them a respite from
paying the tax. While others might view their decision as an attempt
to pit one category of voter against the other (neighbor against
neighbor or friend against friend) or a way purposely designed to
discourage others from going to the polls and voting against the tax?
Folks, it's so simple. We can't do anything about death and high
gas prices but we don't have to accept the new taxes that'll be on the
ballot this fall. If we defeat the levies our property taxes won't
increase and if we defeat the school's income tax we'll stop them from
taking any of our money from our paychecks. Don't let these folks
destroy our financial dreams one levy or income tax at a time.