Hillbilly Report
Glendale, Kentucky
Ditch Mitch KY.
Barefoot And
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Page One
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By Steve Atcher
What is wrong with the Field of Dreams? It is just this: It is going to be financed by a tax this city should not have imposed. Not if the state constitution and state law mean anything to our city council, our mayor, or the editorial board of The News-Enterprise.
The things that are wrong with the Restaurant/Food Tax are: 1) A city our size should be classified as a second class city (we are the only city of our size in KY that isn't, except for one that is classified a third class city, and thus can't have this tax either); 2) A second class city can not enact a restaurant tax by state law; 3) Our city leaders have deliberately avoided classifying our city correctly, making the tax "technically" (but not ethically) possible; 4) A local sports complex is not truly a tourism project, because its main use will be to service our local sports programs. A true tourist attraction would mainly attract and service tourists, like Disney World or Sea World, etc; 5) Tourist bureaus were prohibited by state statute from spending more money on local recreation projects than they had in the past long ago.
The passion opponents of the tax have is based on three principles: 1) Keeping the tax load of each Elizabethtown taxpayer as low as possible; 2) preventing our city from a imposing a tax which a city our size should not impose; and 3) Encouraging our city leaders to do the honorable thing by reclassifying our city to the second class city it is; instead of not following the law just because, as Mayor Willmoth put it: "They can't make us."
The golf tournament, the swim meets, and the concert series are all examples of being able to draw in tourists WITHOUT A TAX. They are examples of what the efforts of sports/music purists, private enterprise, corporate sponsorships, and private donations can accomplish; all without additional taxes. Most people, including myself and other opponents of the tax, support recreation. But it seems to this onlooker, and from a poll in the News-Enterprise itself-- that the number of people who oppose the restaurant/food tax is four to five times larger than those who support it. And, there is an alternate increased hotel tax available to a second class city to supplement true tourist promotion; a tax that only true tourists would pay and everyone could support.
Why is it that the News-Enterprise gladly cheer-leads an ill-begotten TAX on the very citizens it needs to subscribe to its paper and read the advertisements that allow it to survive? Taxpaying consumers are drained. For goodness sakes, who in their right mind--with the challenges our citizens now face in filling their gas tanks and feeding their families--truly believes that additional taxes are a good thing?
The News-Enterprise sweeps the illegitimacy of the tax under the rug, and confuses improved recreational facilities--which were on their way without the tax--with good tax policy. The tax is a regressive tax, it takes over two million dollars a year out of the local economy, and the Field of Dreams will in-debt this community to making payments totaling over 32 million dollars over the next 25 years, if bonds are allowed to fund the project.
This is a time for everyone to tighten their belts, including government and government agencies. It is certainly not a time for higher taxes adding to the already overwhelming rise in the cost of living. This reader would like to see the News-Enterprise stand up against higher taxes for a change, and stand up for the taxpayer instead.
Perhaps new city councilmen dedicated to lower taxes--and to respecting the state constitution and state law-- can undo this wrong before it is too late.
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