Mongoose,
I am not usually one to fuss about "Ask Mongoose" because I agree with most of what you have to say, but! It was the simple fact that most people, apparently including MONGOOSE, do not understand what taxing districts are and how this article can cause confusion. I was reading one of your replies when you wrote “Example, if you feel too much of your taxes go toward, let's say the library, but you'd rather it go towards our parks, “ and it kind of aggravated me. This is the thinking of most people in this county, and probably lots of others. There are several different TAXING DISTRICTS on there that get tax dollars from people like you and I. They include County, School, ambulance etc. There are a total of 7 on your property tax bill and there is one more that is not on there but it is a separate taxing district which is the Water District, which is the only other one that I know of. Oh wait I forgot that Fire Dept. dues are on there now. Fire Dept. dues are not actually taxes but they are on the bill now so most people probably view them as such. This means that each of these taxing districts receive their own tax dollars and that their budgets are not intermixed with the county budget. That being said I guess you can see how I believe this article can confuse people and cause problems for the county government. I think this should be explained and corrected. I think it would give Mongoose a little more credibility with people in the county that do know how taxing districts work and enlighten those that do not understand the system. It may even help out our Fiscal Court if people understand how it all works. Dear Reader, Let me first make it known how refreshing it is to have a knowledgeable reader engaged in what’s happening in his/her community. Secondly, let me apologize if you or anyone feels as if my aim was to mislead John Q Public in any way. On the contrary-- my focus has been, and always will be, to motivate my readers to do their own research and form their own opinion, although I do hope I influence opinion somewhat; the last thing I want is a bunch of little Mongeese running around. However, I'd like to take a moment to defend/justify the highlighted portion of my answer. "if you feel too much of your taxes go toward, let's say the library, but you'd rather it go towards our parks, then talk to your magistrate first, then attend the next meeting. If he doesn’t voice your concerns, vote him out." Had I written the following, “if you feel too much of your federal taxes go towards Social Security, but you’d rather it go towards LGBT, then talk to your Congressman first, then see how he votes, if he doesn’t voice your concerns vote him out”, the advice remains the same. Understand that FICA is not unlike the Library tax in that it is a separate “tax district” also understand that in our representative style of government, the only way to pursue change is to communicate the changes you want to your representatives. Am I proposing raiding the library revenue to fund the park system? No more than I would be raiding social security/Medicare to fund rainbow sidewalks. What I am proposing is for individuals to be informed and involved. If Edmonson County taxpayers want better parks, better libraries, or better anything, WE need to tell our representatives where to spend OUR money.
1 Comment
Pauletta C. Sanders
1/17/2018 12:27:19 pm
Absolutely!!
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