http://salidacitizen.com/2010/01/city-sales-tax-challenges/ Community news, blogs, info, videos and events for Salida, Colorado. Tue, 22 May 2012 16:53:59 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 http://salidacitizen.com/2010/01/city-sales-tax-challenges/comment-page-1/#comment-2908 Mark Emmer Sat, 06 Feb 2010 06:18:50 +0000 http://salidacitizen.com/?p=6611#comment-2908 Unfortunately, this is part of the general immaturity of citizens that began in earnest with Ronald Reagan -- "I want services but I don't want to pay for them." Or in government parlance -- "Don't tax me, don't tax thee, tax the man behind the tree." We want our roads fixed, our recreation department funded, our parks cleaned, etc., but we don't want to tax ourselves for the services we demand. Our attitudes are childlike, and Salida will regret (as other communities have) trading a sales tax increase for removal of property taxes. Property taxes not only are a stable source of revenue but reflect an adult, responsible view of life that you have to pay for the things you want, and not try to shift it onto the back of tourism, which is highly variable and could crash in a heartbeat. Salida has now coupled its financial future to tourism and distant things like the price of oil over which it has absolutely no control. Unfortunately, this is part of the general immaturity of citizens that began in earnest with Ronald Reagan — “I want services but I don’t want to pay for them.” Or in government parlance — “Don’t tax me, don’t tax thee, tax the man behind the tree.” We want our roads fixed, our recreation department funded, our parks cleaned, etc., but we don’t want to tax ourselves for the services we demand. Our attitudes are childlike, and Salida will regret (as other communities have) trading a sales tax increase for removal of property taxes. Property taxes not only are a stable source of revenue but reflect an adult, responsible view of life that you have to pay for the things you want, and not try to shift it onto the back of tourism, which is highly variable and could crash in a heartbeat. Salida has now coupled its financial future to tourism and distant things like the price of oil over which it has absolutely no control.

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