Charles Tuttle, Minot, column: Omdahl errs on ‘every assertion’ about Measure 2
December 3, 2011 at 6:10 pm in Grand Forks Herald
What Omdahl illustrates is a lack of vision. In his eyes, change is bad and never good, and any unanswered question suggests a major pitfall. Continue Reading
There is a reason why the legislative committee does not commission a study to study the economic impact of abolishing property taxes. The very proposal to abolish the property tax is ludicrous on its face. For most anyone that actually understands how taxes work, the impact is already known and repeal of the property tax would be ridiculous, as in absurd, and even asinine.
That lost revenue would have to be made up elsewhere. How is that supposed to happen? The governments most impacted are not allowed to raise any kind of taxes but the property tax. There is already a tax flow problem because of the faulty thinking of the party of NO! and their mindless no tax stance from the national level, on down. This proposal would just make the problem that much worse.
The root of the problem goes back to 2001 after Bush was appointed and shortly after that the flow of money from Washington DC back to the states started to be throttled back, causing the welfare states like ND to raise taxes to keep the state functioning. ND has a surplus because the Republican legislator did not pass the money they did received along to the county and local governments as in they did in the past. It was used at the State level to makeup for shortfalls there. So the county and local governments had to raise taxes – the only tax revenue they were allowed to raise – The property tax, to continue doing their statute mandated functions.
BTY, Beacon Hill has a reputation of cooking numbers to come up with the results they want and they did that here.
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Lloyd Omdahl has a conflict of interest on this subject since he collects a government check and in his mind, taxes can never be high enough.
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I can HARDLY WAIT to vote in favor of eliminating the property tax.
The root of the problem goes back LONG BEFORE Bush-the-dolt in 2001, it goes back to the first local government that had NO RESPECT for the tax money they wasted on worthless projects.
The Grand Forks City Council never met a boondoggle they wouldn’t fund; and much the same can be said for the Grand Forks Park Board and the Grand Forks School Board.
How many flying buttresses and green domes do we need? Why is the City competing with private enterprise with the new “country club fitness center”?
I would HAPPILY allow Grand Forks coffers to suck air; it’s the ONLY way that citizens can get control of the government.
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