new taxes... express your opinion

As you probably know, after initially voting to keep taxes level on June 20, Mayor Bill Lusk reversed himself and voted for a tax increase at the Monday morning June 27 "agenda" meeting. He said he did this because he heard from more people supporting a tax increase than those opposing. Obviously, since he had previously voted to oppose the increase and noone knew he was going to change his vote it seems clear that he only heard from those who were encouraged by Susan Robertson to contact him to support her. She aggressively has been pushing for this tax increase (after initially proposing a "wheel tax" then a "garbage tax") after stating during her campaign last fall that she hoped there wouldn't be any need for a tax increase for 3-4 years!  

Since we are currently spending an extra several hundred thousands of dollars per year over and above the minimum payment required for the high school bond, I have long advocated using that extra money to avoid a tax increase. We have already shaved at least 6 years off the life of the loan and are currently paying around 1% interest on the bond, thus with inflation this is essentially a no interest loan. Mayor Lusk in the paper today made the rather odd statement that part of the reason he voted for a tax increase, after initially voting against it, was because he expected he would have to raise taxes again next year! Ironically, one or two years ago, when increases in the property assessment values allowed us to lower the overall tax rate, we decreased the amount going to the bond from $.35 to $.30 to shift revenues from bond payments to the general fund and avoid a tax increase, so there is nothing sacrosanct about this amount. Apparently the only difference then was that it was an election year.  
 Obviously, we are talking about two legitimate positions... keep taxes the same and continue to pay off the loan "only" 6 years early or raise taxes to pay off the school loan even earlier. My real issue is the hypocrisy of Ms. Robertson running on a "no new taxes" pledge then immediately and aggressively pushing for multiple tax increases, coupled with Bill Lusk voting one way at the public budget meeting then, without any previous indication of his change of heart, changing his vote during a special Monday morning meeting when very few people can attend. These meetings were originally proposed by Mr. Lusk as work sessions to discuss issues and decide when topics were ready to be put on the agenda for our regular more public meetings on Monday nights, not as a way to hide from the public when making controversial flip-flops. Unfortunately, it has frequently been used for just that purpose. I can't tell you how many times Robertson, Lusk or Allen stated during one of these meetings "we have to keep this secret, the citizens won't like it or understand it", including meetings with developers to sell town recreational property to those developers, economic development plans like Ms. Robertson's suggestion to get a convenience store built on Shackleford Ridge Road near the High School, traffic cameras and many discussions about individuals they deemed unacceptable for town boards. I rebelled at this cynicism and arrogance which was a big reason for the differences in style between myself and the other council members. This issue deserves a clear public airing.  

The final vote on the budget (and the tax increase) will be this Monday, July 11 at 6:30pm at the Town Hall. Councilmembers Dick Gee and Bill Wallace have voted to oppose this increase and I suspect will continue to show their strength of character by remaining consistent and opposing this increase. If you have an opinion, I would urge you to attend this meeting and express that opinion. If you can't go, you can email the council at: 

blusk@signalmountaintn.gov 
srobertson@signalmountaintn.gov 
aallen@signalmountaintn.gov 
bwallace@signalmountaintn.gov 
dgee@signalmountaintn.gov 

I would also encourage you to consider sending a "letter to the editor" to the Times Free Press at:  

letters@timesfreepress.com  

or Chattanoogan.com at  

news@chattanoogan.com.  

Thank you for listening to me! I hope you also come to see "Beauty and the Beast" this weekend or any of the next four weekends in July at the Signal Mountain Playhouse: www.smph.org.