Help Cabarrus County Commissioners Make Right Decisions
Historically the people of North Carolina have been called “Tar Heels” because of the fact that during the war between the states our troops “stuck to their ranks like they had tar on their heels”. Once again, it is time to draw a line in the sand, firmly plant our heals and stand our ground. In Nov. 2010 We The People of Cabarrus County sent a message to our elected officials at all levels of government. That message was to curb the growth of government. To not only slow the rate of spending but to cut spending and return fiscal responsibility to our budget making processes and live within your means.
We The People NC Inc. worked hard to help several Conservative minded candidates get their messages out to the voters of Cabarrus County and many of those candidates are now serving in their hard earned seats. Part of the message that we heard from them was that they supported fiscal responsibility and that they would work to reduce spending.
With that in mind I reflect upon a recent article in the Independent Tribune entitled “Sales tax referendum set for Tuesday”. We have been told that this is necessary and have been given several reasons why. We have also been told that either we approve this ¼-cent sales tax or face an increase in property taxes. Since this article came out the vote was taken and the sales tax passed with a paltry 3,809 voters out of 108,408 registered voters in the county voting. The actual numbers were 2,269 For and 1,538 Against.
With all due respect to our hard working County Commissioners, it’s time that we stand up to our elected officials and say NO! No more taxes of any kind. No more property tax increases. We The People of Cabarrus County must insure that our county officials understand that we have had enough. The T-E-A in Tea Party stands for “Taxed Enough Already”. This is the message we have been preaching for almost three years now all across America.
Let me be the first to say out loud and in print that our current County Commissioners have a hard job ahead of them. They have had the great misfortune to be in the wrong place at the wrong time because this is the time when they will be called upon to make the hard, unpopular and seemingly impossible decision to cut our county budget. This is a daunting task to say the least and now, under what I am sure is some of the greatest pressure any of them have ever had to experience, the time of reckoning has come.
You and I are forced on an almost daily basis to adjust our spending due to the ever increasing cost of food, fuel and literally everything we need to survive. We are faced with loss of hours if we are lucky, loss of jobs in many cases and even more in other cases. We are forced to live on what we make and with that decreasing considerably over the last several years we have been forced to make the hard decisions.
It’s time to ask why should our governments, city, county, state, and federal not be required to do the same as We The People of America? This is the time when you and I must take our stand, draw that proverbial line in the sand and plant our heals. We must help our County Officials make the hard decisions. It’s time for us to respectfully and with humility contact our County Commissioners and tell them that their previous options of raising taxes are unacceptable.
We are looking for them to do the right thing which would be to cut the current budget back to the 2010 spending level, freeze spending for the next 5 years at all levels and charge every department head with the challenge to reduce their budgets 5-10 percent each year for the next 5 years. This would not increase the burden upon the citizens of Cabarrus County but would, by cutting all areas of the budget allow them to make up the shortfall and keep the budget in line with the revenues which will be coming in. In essence they would be living within their means just like the Citizens of Cabarrus County have to do.
Now having said the above I can hear the cries about cutting the salaries of Teachers, Fire Fighters and Law Enforcement Officers. Please stop for a minute and consider the following. As indicated above we suggested having departments cut spending 5-10 percent. That is not an amount that requires any jobs to be eliminated. That’s like you and I skipping two or three nights eating out during the month or cutting back on our driving by properly planning our outings to do several things. This is talking about common sense and cutting waste while tightening the belt just one notch in order to get through the tough times together.
Teachers, Fire Fighters and Law Enforcement Officers need to understand that we all acknowledge they are highly valued and important parts of our system. If they could only understand that those of us in the Private sector have had to contend with no raises for several years and in many cases cuts to our salaries just to keep our jobs. We have been forced to do this so that we could continue to provide for our families. Like us many of them have also faced these same issues. No one wants to lose their jobs therefore, we have to work together to find ways to cut expenses which will allow all of to stay employed and help to stimulate the counties’ economy in such a way as to bring in new jobs as well.
The weight of rising taxes never compensates for the weight of a collapsing economy. When taxes go down revenue goes up and a lower tax burden equates to greater revenues thereby allowing for the budget to be better balanced. Our elected officials have forced the unwanted consequences of a reduction in revenue from lost sales by raising the sales tax rates in Cabarrus County. As our citizens and those who work or visit our county decide to take their business to other counties with lower sales taxes we will lose more in taxable revenue than the increased tax rate will provide.
In addition to the new ¼ -Cent sales tax which is “Designated to be used for School Debt Reduction” the budget currently under consideration for the next 5 years also projects a “Revenue Neutral” property tax increase from 63 Cents per $100.00 valuation to 70.5 Cents per $100.00 valuation. The reason given for this is because our properties are currently being revalued and the Commissioners are projecting a shortfall of nearly $13,000,000.00 due to the expected loss of value to our properties. Therefore as they say “Some people will not see any changes, but some of us will by necessity see an increase in the amount of taxes we have to pay on our property”. Well as far as that goes if you or I are one of those who “By necessity see an increase” then we are seeing more money go out of our pockets once again. I don’t know about you but this idea of “Revenue Neutral” is great ONLY if you are not one of those who must pay more at the end of the year.
There simply has to be a better job done by the Commissioners while attending to the financial needs of the citizens of Cabarrus County. Prior County Commissioners have made decisions which have put the citizens in debt to the tune of $597 Million Dollars ($597,000,000.00), most of which is for school construction and renovations. That amount translates to $5507.00 for each registered voter in our county right now before we go any farther.
I would respectfully ask that you consider the above and join with We The People NC Inc. in saying NO to any additional taxes and encouraging our elected officials to work on an option which would hold spending at 2010 levels and explore ways to reverse the need for additional taxes over the next 5 years while we work locally as well as nationwide on ways to bring about an economic recovery.
The Commissioners will be having a budget workshop on Tuesday, May 31, 2011 and Wednesday June 1, 2011 at 3:30 PM in the Multipurpose Meeting Room, 2nd floor Cabarrus County Government Center, 65 Church St., SE, Concord, NC 28025.
A public hearing on the proposed budget will be held on, Monday, June 20, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. (or as soon thereafter as persons may be heard) in the Commissioners’ Meeting Room at the Governmental Center, 65 Church Street, SE, Concord. Citizens are invited to attend and present written or oral comments. Adoption of the proposed budget is scheduled for June 20, 2011.
We encourage you to contact our county commissioners and let them know how you feel about cutting the budget, holding our taxes down and reducing spending across the board over the next 5 years.
Tell our Commissioners: NO MORE SPENDING! NO MORE TAXES!
Jay White 704-786-5161 jwhite@cabarruscounty.us
Liz Poole 704-782-4723 efpoole@cabarruscounty.us
Bob Carruth 704-706-9638 rwcarruth@cabarruscounty.us
Larry Burrage 704-792-7744 lmburrage@cabarruscounty.us
Chris Measmer 704-783-5880 cameasmer@cabarruscounty.us
Respectfully Submitted for your consideration,
Ronnie Long – President
We The People NC Inc.
Cabarrus County, NC
E-Mail: wtpncronnie@aol.com
www.wethepeoplenc.org
facebook: We The People NC Inc
http://connect.freedomworks.org/node/75189
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