The upcoming April elections contains a plethora of taxes; new taxes, increased taxes, and continuing taxes.
A virtual taxapalooza awaits you in the voting booth. Depending where you live determines how many tax issues you’ll be voting on. Everyone in the (Gasconade)R-II School District will be voting on at least one tax proposal.
Let’s take a walk through the tax obstacle course and break them down for the uninformed shall we?
First up is the deceptively worded “no tax increase” tax increase proposed by the R-II School District. Playing cute with the wording is designed to make you think you’re getting “something for nothing,” that all these shiny new objects they have proposed for the district will not cost a penny. What they fail to tell the voters is that if this proposal fails you’ll actually receive a substantial tax cut of 17.4% off your real and personal property tax assessment.
The tax they propose to keep is the debt service account, the account they used to purchase all the previous new shiny objects that is now nearly paid off. With this proposal they intend to obligate the taxpayers to another 20-year, $15 million bond issue. The district will still have a $3.18 per one hundred dollar of assessed valuation with which to operate the district.
They also fail to mention that as the assessed valuation increases the taxes they collect steadily increases.
Next up the Gerald Rosebud Fire Protection District’s massive new tax proposal. We’ve heard the excuses that they haven’t had an increase in however many years whoever is telling the story comes up with, it varies. Again, as property assessments increase, so does their tax collections.
What they are proposing is a massive 126.53% increase now followed by another increase in five years that will total a whopping 189.70% increase over current collections when fully implemented. I don’t see how a “two tiered” tax increase on a single proposal passes Hancock Amendment muster. I have requested an opinion from the Missouri Attorney General and am awaiting a response.
Why would a “volunteer” fire department be furnishing two vehicles for private transportation? When asked about that at a recent Chamber meeting the only response was that “we need all the vehicles we have”, and that those two vehicles were donated to the fire district.
Is the gasoline, maintenance, tires and insurance etc. also being donated?
Our taxes will more than double and we’ll just have to find a way to adjust our own budgets to meet their increased desires. Where are they cutting costs? Heaven forbid they would actually have to answer to the taxpayers, just pay your taxes and don’t ask questions.
We here in Gerald have hit the tax proposal jackpot, we will be voting on five (5) different proposals. Aren’t we lucky?
Both the City and Franklin County have 3% marijuana sales taxes on the ballot. If passed that will amount to a total of 6% on top of the current 9.475 % sales tax if a dispensary is ever located here in Gerald. It’s true that marijuana taxes won’t affect everyone, but they are being singled out for higher taxes just the same.
Last but not least the city fathers here in Gerald have decided to propose a “use” tax. For those who may not know this use tax allows the city to collect city taxes on items that are purchased online outside the city.
This issue has come up multiple times in the city. In my own time as an alderman I always lobbied against and voted against use taxes. My reasoning was if someone purchases an item elsewhere that cannot be purchased here in town, what right does the city have to tax that item? My view has always been that the city’s taxing authority ended at the city limits.
State use taxes are collected from online sales only if the online retailer has brick and mortar stores within the state. Many of the “big box” and sporting goods retailers collect these state taxes because they have stores within the state.
The bottom line is when is enough ever going to be enough?
Bidenflation is eating away at family budgets straining to keep food on the table and roofs over their heads. Food costs, energy costs, transportation costs are steadily rising but our incomes are not keeping up.
If you read the financial pages you’ll see families struggling to pay car payments and mortgage payments due to rising interest rates. More and more they are having to use credit cards to purchase basic necessities because their incomes aren’t keeping up.
Yet here we are, our local schools, governments, and tax supported entities are calling for more taxes. It’s up to you to figure out how to adjust to keep up, they can just raise taxes to continue their big spending ways.
I don’t know about you but I’m taxed out.
Please join me in voting no more new taxes. It’s time we demand the tax-raisers figure out how to make do.
Respectfully,
Ed Adams
Gerald
