Raising Taxes
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
I’m mystified, appalled and just plain fed up with new taxes after reading several stories of Kosciusko County Commissioners’ proposal to raise taxes by various means. Mostly due to our last harsh winter resulting in the proposed “wheel tax.”
I am taxed to death by federal, state, Medicare, Social Security and county taxes removed monthly from my paycheck. Plus I pay countless other taxes and fees including but not limited to: a now 7 percent state sales tax, property tax, gasoline tax, automobile license tax, boat tax and a whole host of others.
A lot of the money I earn is just spent in taxes and fees, not for food, housing, clothes, school, savings, etc. Yes, my property tax did decrease after the sales tax increase but just like the TV satellite or cable bill, it’s starting to go up – negating the savings.
Now every time I’ve been engaged with county employees I’ve always been treated in the utmost respectful and helpful way. They are such nice folks and very good. But, when times are tough as they have been in the private industry over the last 10 to 13 years, (which I took a 30 percent pay cut) the private industry decided, in order to survive, to eliminate any excess costs. When that wasn’t enough, the private industry introduced pay cuts to weather the storm. I wonder if the county has proposed that concept for all county employees (including the commissioners) which the private industry has used? Again, nothing against our very good county employees but that is another step that must be taken before any increase or additional tax.
Also, do we really need to have the roads so spic and span after a snow? What if we have four to five harsh winters in a row? Are the commissioners just going to keep adding more taxes? Ease up on the road salt, etc. And, everyone drive slower and more carefully in the winter.
Yes, taxes are necessary to provide for our residents’ basic services, etc., but we county citizens don’t have a bottomless pit of money. I’m tired, as I’m sure many citizens of Kosciusko County, of being nickeled, dimed, $15 here, $25 there, by the federal, state and county governments. Because, after a while, all of those nickels, dimes and dollars add up to a lot of money. It’s got to stop.
Bob Ragland
Leesburg, via email[[In-content Ad]]
I’m mystified, appalled and just plain fed up with new taxes after reading several stories of Kosciusko County Commissioners’ proposal to raise taxes by various means. Mostly due to our last harsh winter resulting in the proposed “wheel tax.”
I am taxed to death by federal, state, Medicare, Social Security and county taxes removed monthly from my paycheck. Plus I pay countless other taxes and fees including but not limited to: a now 7 percent state sales tax, property tax, gasoline tax, automobile license tax, boat tax and a whole host of others.
A lot of the money I earn is just spent in taxes and fees, not for food, housing, clothes, school, savings, etc. Yes, my property tax did decrease after the sales tax increase but just like the TV satellite or cable bill, it’s starting to go up – negating the savings.
Now every time I’ve been engaged with county employees I’ve always been treated in the utmost respectful and helpful way. They are such nice folks and very good. But, when times are tough as they have been in the private industry over the last 10 to 13 years, (which I took a 30 percent pay cut) the private industry decided, in order to survive, to eliminate any excess costs. When that wasn’t enough, the private industry introduced pay cuts to weather the storm. I wonder if the county has proposed that concept for all county employees (including the commissioners) which the private industry has used? Again, nothing against our very good county employees but that is another step that must be taken before any increase or additional tax.
Also, do we really need to have the roads so spic and span after a snow? What if we have four to five harsh winters in a row? Are the commissioners just going to keep adding more taxes? Ease up on the road salt, etc. And, everyone drive slower and more carefully in the winter.
Yes, taxes are necessary to provide for our residents’ basic services, etc., but we county citizens don’t have a bottomless pit of money. I’m tired, as I’m sure many citizens of Kosciusko County, of being nickeled, dimed, $15 here, $25 there, by the federal, state and county governments. Because, after a while, all of those nickels, dimes and dollars add up to a lot of money. It’s got to stop.
Bob Ragland
Leesburg, via email[[In-content Ad]]
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