Don’t tax city residents twice

I’ve heard mixed comments regarding county commissioners using county taxes to help fund the renovation at McMinnville Civic Center. Thinking back, I guess the comments have been about 50/50. For the most part, people’s decisions are based on their use of the facility.

Some people want the county to pitch in and help so they can stop paying more for their kids to go there. Having two children and not being city residents, I tend to agree.

I understand the city’s stance that the taxes paid by non-city residents are not being used to fund the Civic Center. The taxes which fund the Civic Center are taken directly from the taxes paid by city residents. In order to even it up somewhat, non-city residents pay more to get in.

I’ve heard the argument that non-city residents fund the Civic Center when they pay their fee to attend. This would be great if the center was self-funding through fees alone, but it is not. The majority of the funds to keep it up and running come from city taxes.

The other 50 percent of the comments argue they don’t have children and don’t want their taxes to go toward funding it. In their opinion, those who use the Civic Center should pay for it and any upgrades it may need.

Even though I understand where they are coming from, I want the opposite. To those people I gave the same advice: If that is what you want, you need to call and tell your commissioners. If this is how you feel, they need to hear it.

I did receive one call from a person who thinks the county already funds the Civic Center. Quite frankly, she was tired of reading county government doesn’t in the articles I’ve written.

Because I appreciate all the calls I get, even those that disagree with me, we spend several minutes discussing it. In the end, she still believed the county does pay, and I was unable to change her mind. I did encourage her to contact the county and if she found out differently, give me a call back and I would definitely put that in future articles.

She did make one valid point that I could not argue with: If state grants are used on any project done by the city, the money came from her as well as everybody else. Point made. However, the matching funds required for the state grant come solely from city residents and everything above that.

For example: The Civic Center renovation project will probably be around $7 million. The grant is $500,000, with a $500,000 match. Everything over $500,000 will be paid for by city taxes.

Despite what side of the fence you might be on, the dual fees at McMinnville Civic Center will continue ‘ probably forever. For me, there is no surprise in that. If my taxes don’t go to pay for it, I should continue to pay more.

Along this train of thought, I am puzzled at the way city residents pay county taxes and don’t get use of county-funded facilities like the Warren County Animal Control. If my taxes are used to pay for it, I would demand equal use.

I have a close friend who lives inside the city and he pays city and county taxes. However, he is not allowed to use the county’s facility. According to him, it is because the city wouldn’t help fund the facility. Until they do, city residents can’t use it.

I pointed out that if the city were to pay half the cost of the facility, that would mean he would be paying twice what non-city residents pay in order to use the same facility. Why should city residents pay twice?

As I said, I’m not in the city. I’ll continue to pay the larger amount in order for my children to use city facilities not funded by my taxes. However, I’ll never understand why city residents don’t stand up and demand the use of a facility their taxes built, as well as fund annually.

Lisa Hobbs is a reporter for the Standard. She can be reached at 473-2191.