Costs have soared so how can taxes stay the same?
TO THE EDITOR:
This is an open letter to our dad and husband, James Clark, regarding tightening our belts during hard economic times.
Dad, we’ve already tightened our belts for the past five years. You tell us you can’t make any more money than you did five years ago, and we’ve adjusted. We have now reached the point where we can adjust no more! Therefore, here is our list of demands you must satisfy:
1. We demand to eat at least the same amount of food we ate five years ago, adjusted for our age difference and our heartier appetites. (I hope you don’t have teenagers now, James, because they will eat you out of house and home. Anyway, there goes the food budget out the window this year because EVERYTHING costs more.)
2. We demand our home be cooled and heated to at least the same temperatures it was five years ago. (There goes the budget for electricity and gas because it all costs more than five years ago.)
3. We demand that we still be allowed to play soccer, football, baseball or any sport we want and we demand that you and mom accompany us to every practice and game. (Well, there goes the budget for gas for the cars since gas is up four or five times what it was five years ago and certainly double what it was last year.)
4. We demand that we be allowed to visit grandma and grandpa’s at least once per month, instead of every six months now. (We love grandma and grandpa very much and we miss them. James, you can’t say no to this even though the gas budget is through the roof.)
5. We demand the right to take a shower every day. We just can’t go to school smelling like our dog, Rosco. (There goes the budget for water!)
6. James, I demand that I be allowed to buy new school clothes for the kids, a new dress or jeans for myself, and even a new shirt for you once in a while. ( Uh, oh, James, there goes the budget for clothes.)
7. James, my car is 10 years old and is falling apart. We’re paying the mechanic more to keep it running than a new car payment would be. ( Oh, no! A new car payment.)
Dad/husband, we demand that you go see Ms. Zechman and ask for a substantial raise, since you haven’t had one in five years so your family can have the services we demand. The only other alternative is for you to get a second job so you can bring more money into the household.
James, this is essentially what you’re saying must be done by county government. The citizens demand a certain level of service and the county has to respond. Right?
One other question. Since there hasn’t been a property tax increase in five years, does that mean the citizens of the county were being overcharged five years ago and every year since then? What happened to that money?
Rod McClellan
Harvest Farm Lake Road
Morrison