Dear Editor,
The upcoming tax initiative is a Trojan horse with no accountability.
1. It is a general use tax. The explanation from the county commissioners: up to 75% MAY be used for emergency services; 25% for other projects. Since there is no specific amount or percentage of the collected tax, the commissioners can spent as low as 10% on emergency services. The rest of the tax collected is not adequately defined. What will our hard earned money be spent for? Will it be used to increase the county commissioners’ salaries? Or what?
2. The need to fund the ambulance and medical emergency services would cost Sweetwater citizens about 1/2 cent tax, not a 1 cent tax. Will the county commissioners please tell us, the voters, what their specific plans are for the extra tax monies?
3 .Green River residents already pay a mill levy on their property taxes to fund Castle Rock Hospital District. If this initiative passes, we Green River residents will be double taxed for the same service.
4. This current 1 cent tax is an open ended tax. The county commissions can vote the tax in permanently at the end of four years. This tax does not need to be voted on by the people of Sweetwater County to become permanent. We might not have any say about the county commissioners voting keep this tax to fund pet projects in the future.
5. Family budgets are stretched thin due to the increase in food, gasoline, heating, electricity, property taxes, school clothes and supplies. Families and retired people do not have extra money to pay in more taxes that could become permanent.
6. The distribution of the tax revenue will be by which city collects the most sales tax. Green River Residents who shop in Rock Springs will enable Rock Springs to collect the lion’s share of the tax revenue. The outlying towns (i.e. Farson, Granger, Point of Rocks, Wamsutter, and McKinnon) will be locked out of most of the revenues coming from this new sales tax.
7. In the election in November 2022, The County commissioners are planning to ask for another 1 cent tax for roads and bridges. This will be a specific use tax and will be sunsetted. If both taxes pass, we will be paying 7 cent sales tax in our county.
I moved to Sweetwater County in 1975 and voted in favor of the specific use taxes with a sunset clause. I am opposed to this general use tax proposed that is not time limited. Will we be fooled like the people of Troy by this Greek Trojan horse of a tax initiative?
Roseanna March
Green River
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