The people have spoken — some of them at least — and Lyon County will have a new 1 percent sales tax starting Oct. 1.
Although the tax question passed, it was clear from the vote that a hefty portion of the people who did vote didn’t want the sales tax. And the turnout was not that big to begin with. Only 4,282 of the county’s 18,611 registered voters cast ballots — 23 percent.
If the comments on The Gazette’s Web site over the past few weeks are any indication, the people who voted against the sales tax were not choosing higher property taxes over a sales tax — the choice the county commission gave the public. They were questioning the fiscal competence of county and city governments to spend the tax money they already have and were unwilling to give them more.
That is a harsh judgment, but not surprising. Somewhere, there is an honest dictionary that defines “county commissioner” and “city commissioner” as “a job anybody can perform better than the incumbent.”
With the passage of the sales tax, county and city leaders have gotten what they want. But they have also accepted a responsibility to spend the new revenue — and all of the other tax revenues — wisely.
The voters of Lyon County were asked for their trust, and they gave it.
Now, they’ll be watching to make sure that trust is deserved.
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Posted by dhcc66 (anonymous) on August 8, 2008 at 8:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
i've said it before, and i want to say it again.
if they would stick to the basics and start out by funding only the things necessary to keep the city open....ie..
1. fund the facilities, and only those necessary for function. make them functional and safe for those who work there.
2. fund the employees that keep the city running safely. pay them reasonably market value or they will leave, take their knowledge and experience, and find a better job.
3. fund the equipment those employees use and stop buying "low bid" only. it doesn't make sense to have to fix or replace things in a couple of years when we could have spent a little more and gotten something worth the money.
4. pay bills the city owes
5. open our minds to making city materials purchases outside of the city, if it makes financial sense. my example would be the vehicles. in other words, if longbine offers a work truck for 20,000 and a kansas city chevy dealer offers the same truck for 17,000....why are we opposed to saving 3,000 per vehicle so that a local business person can make more money?
anything after that is open for discussion, but doesn't seem "necessary" to me. giving certain entities such as the regional development people hundreds of thousands of dollars doesn't make sense to me. who works there and why do they need so much money?
funding emporia main street....why don't the businesses fund that, along with grant money?
and please....NO MORE PET PROJECTS...we are all sick of them.
lastly, if things make money, keep them. the golf course makes money, keep it. the pool continually loses money. find a way to at least come close to breaking even, or close it until you can.
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