How can struggling people pay any more in taxes?
By
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To the editor:
Questions have arisen about the current tax campaigns being waged in Highland County on behalf of Cooperative Extension and the Soil and Water Conservation District. Who is paying for all those yard signs?
Have they been bought with funds from within their existing budget? In
other words, has taxpayer money been used for this purpose? Have they been paid for by voluntary contributions from their supporters? Are the signs free?
Voters need to know, and I hope those who have the answers will make this information publicly available before the May 4 election. If agencies have found funds to pay for this campaign, voters might reasonably ask why the money was not just used to fund the program instead of being used to seek more tax money.
If outside contributions from supporters were used for the election campaign, why could not voluntary donations be used for the program purposes instead of being used to seek taxes from us all? If these agencies got their campaign materials free, please let us all know where, so everyone else can get free items, too.
As we approach this election, I beg those of you inclined to support new taxes to think long and hard about the consequences of your action.
When we already have so many Highland County residents unemployed, when we have record number of foreclosures, when we have people thronging to free food giveaways, when we have people relying on the free meals served at local churches, how can these struggling people find money to pay more taxes?
Remember, your vote in favor of these new taxes would force all residents to pay these taxes for years to come, no matter how dire the financial situation.
We are often told that each proposed tax is "only" a small sum. Well, if we only had one small sum to pay, it might not be so much. But, our citizens already have a heavy burden of existing taxes before any new taxes are added. For our county, our state, and our nation to thrive and prosper, we must cut existing taxes, not take on an ever heavier burden.
We simply don't have the money. We are taxed too much already.
Sincerely,
Louise J. Hapner
Lynchburg[[In-content Ad]]
Questions have arisen about the current tax campaigns being waged in Highland County on behalf of Cooperative Extension and the Soil and Water Conservation District. Who is paying for all those yard signs?
Have they been bought with funds from within their existing budget? In
other words, has taxpayer money been used for this purpose? Have they been paid for by voluntary contributions from their supporters? Are the signs free?
Voters need to know, and I hope those who have the answers will make this information publicly available before the May 4 election. If agencies have found funds to pay for this campaign, voters might reasonably ask why the money was not just used to fund the program instead of being used to seek more tax money.
If outside contributions from supporters were used for the election campaign, why could not voluntary donations be used for the program purposes instead of being used to seek taxes from us all? If these agencies got their campaign materials free, please let us all know where, so everyone else can get free items, too.
As we approach this election, I beg those of you inclined to support new taxes to think long and hard about the consequences of your action.
When we already have so many Highland County residents unemployed, when we have record number of foreclosures, when we have people thronging to free food giveaways, when we have people relying on the free meals served at local churches, how can these struggling people find money to pay more taxes?
Remember, your vote in favor of these new taxes would force all residents to pay these taxes for years to come, no matter how dire the financial situation.
We are often told that each proposed tax is "only" a small sum. Well, if we only had one small sum to pay, it might not be so much. But, our citizens already have a heavy burden of existing taxes before any new taxes are added. For our county, our state, and our nation to thrive and prosper, we must cut existing taxes, not take on an ever heavier burden.
We simply don't have the money. We are taxed too much already.
Sincerely,
Louise J. Hapner
Lynchburg[[In-content Ad]]