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The Mecklenburg County Commission is meeting next Tuesday at 3pm to discuss adding a 1/2 cent sales tax to help overcome their budget deficits.
Tuesday, April 28th at 3:00pm to discuss the sales tax hike.
Where: The Government Building, 600 E 4th St, either Room 264
This is from the same county commission which recently spent $57 per meal, per person, per day, during a two day retreat. Let's tell our commissioners that they need to be more careful with the taxpayer's money!
Anyone not working and is interested in expresses their displeasure over this tax hike issue should attend this County Commission Meeting. I can see a rise in property taxes right around the corner.
City and County Budget Crisis: When in a hole, first stop digging! LINK
Quick facts:
This report documents the change in locally generated revenues of 98 North Carolina counties* and the 30 largest N.C. cities between 2002 and 2007.
Locally generated revenues increased faster than population and inflation in 96 of 98 counties and 24 of 30 cities. In Union County, revenue increased 48 percent faster than population and inflation over five years.
For that reason, many counties and cities are having financial difficulties because they have spent taxpayer revenues on unnecessary or low-priority projects.
In addition, the public has recognized that counties must live with in their means. Since 2007, voters have rejected tax increases 66 of the 74 times that county commissioners asked for a tax increase. That is almost 90 percent of the time.
Furthermore, this report provides information that is an essential starting point for citizens to hold their elected and unelected officials accountable for their spending decisions.
County and city officials must do more to put budget and revenue information on the Internet in easily accessible formats.
For even more information on Charlotte and Mecklenburg County: LINK
Ani, don't forget those people bring in an increase in revenue. That's why they try so hard to recruit companies to move here.
I know that is true in theory. However, when one offsets how expensive it has been to accommodate this tremendous growth, then I believe I could state a case that would show that the property taxes in Meck wh/ have been gained by thru/ new purchases does not offset the cost it has taken to do such things as build and expand schools (and pay teachers, etc). Then you add all the other things - increased use of roads, increased need for law enforcement, etc . . . and yes, I am sure I could show a gain over time. However, a gain over time doesn't address the immediacy of so many of the needs we have had to deal with b/c our population literally jumped astronomically w/in only a few years.
...For that reason, many counties and cities are having financial difficulties because they have spent taxpayer revenues on unnecessary or low-priority projects...
That's not a fair assumption to throw at the situation. Let me be the first to say that there is and always will be fat to be trimmed from a government's budget, BUT (there's always a big but), I will also say the general public is very quick to jump down the government's throat when things don't run perfectly smoothly...or more often, as they think it should/want it to by their own personal agenda. I'm certainly not saying the public shouldn't be involved in how government spends their money, but sometimes folks get a little too passionate about it and throw out statements like this one.
I know for a fact that most municipalities have rather meticulous and thorough methods for selecting which projects to do and in which order to do them. Very rarely is it willy-nilly at some overpaid director's random pleasure. And in the cases where it may be a politician's pet project, as much as it sucks to see them make a project level jump sometimes, they are the chosen ones...we put them in office.
So I suppose if I support the tax hike my fellow CDmates don't want me there. LOL! I love my city of Charlotte and there is so much that needs to be improved in this area. Many of these improvements will cost money. Anthing that will help my city I support. However, I do agree with fiscal responsibility.
It would depend on what the hike supports as to how agreeable I would be to it. And I would need to examine the budget line item by line item to know if there are projects that need to be eliminated or trimmed. However, that is what we have managers for - they are supposed to have already made fiscally sound decisions b/f we get to the point of tax hikes. So . . . either we have good administrators and responsible city leaders or we don't.
We, the people can see when something is a plain boondoggle but unless we can have access to the info that would allow us to understand the entire operational budget for this county/city . . . it comes down to a matter of trust that our officials are relaying accurate info to us.
I just have not seen/heard enuff to make me doubt the need for a tax hike. As I stated earlier, common sense tells any of us that w/ the explosive growth we have had, we need more revenue.
Now, discussing how Raleigh allocates the tax revenue we raise and have to return to the state . . . that is an entirely different discussion - and a worthy one, too.
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