Letter: No new taxes until officials show they spend money wisely

Friday, Feb. 20, 1998 | 10:58 a.m.

It was in 1991.

Our county sales tax was 6 percent from March 1, 1987, to July 1, 1991. It was raised to 6.33 percent for an increase in the transportation and road repair share of the tax.

Three months later on Oct. 1, it was increased to 7 percent. This time it was for the "fair share" tax.

I had a small business at that time and thought it was a waste of tax dollars to send out all the materials to businesses to raise the tax to 6.25 percent and, three months later, send out another pile of papers to raise it to 7 percent.

Did any heads roll? Did those responsible apologize or offer to pay for the mistake? I think not. I would prefer five good decisions a year were made rather than 100 poor ones. Saying there isn't enough time to know the specifics of each issue is not an acceptable excuse. Less finger-pointing and more being part of the solution, not part of the problem, would help. Of course, we'd have to go to fantasy land for that.

For the funds to upgrade our water system, shouldn't the people who will benefit from its construction pay for it? We could call it "spend your money to make your money."

I am opposed to any new taxes until my elected officials show me that they are spending my money wisely.

A good example of bad spending is the new drug-testing policy for prisoners. Aren't our prisons secure? If they are, there shouldn't be any need for drug testing. If they're not, wouldn't it make more sense to address the problem of how drugs are getting into the prisons instead of testing at the end of the line?

By the way, how close are we to winning this drug war?

K.S. Dutton