Recent Comment to an old posting of June, 06, "City Taxes for Tangent - Yes or No?
Although I have not posted to this Blog for some time, an anonymous comment was made to a June, 06 posting on the question of taxes. I will re-post the original posting followed by the comment in quotes.
June 19, 2006
At recent Planning Commission Meetings and Council Meetings, discussion about city taxes has been one of the topics. It has been a topic for a long time. Of concern are the increasing costs of running the city, repair and maintenance of streets and parks, a larger City Hall, and other suggestions for improvements. It has been suggested that a tax proposal be put on the November 06 Ballot. Some citizens have said that one of the reasons they moved here was there was no city tax and they don't think the city needs one yet. Others have said that repair, maintenance, and improvements of infrastructure are dependent on this revenue source. Some citizens are very concerned about knowing where their money is going. Should we have a tax base? How much. What should it pay for? Or should Tangent remain as one of the few cities in Oregon without a tax base? What are your thoughts?
The anonymous comment:
June 20, 2008
"Also you all need to realize is maybe we need to look at our so called city officals who really don't know how to do the job they are in,considering the facts that no matter what the city is in all catorgories in the whole! it seems that either someone is pocketing money or lots of bad choices are being made!as well as the same city officals picking on certain residents who are land owners and good people but consistenly being harrased and lied about by the city officals and the city can't show proof of the lies they spread because it's based on hear say! so maybe before trying to add more population around here we should all start looking&reading between the lines as they say and look into finding someone who actually has all the qualifications of administrator and other positions instead of having someone in those poistions that doesn't meet qualifications,or really care about the citizens and their opions but what they want and think would help line their pocket!so I say No! on city taxes until maybe we rid ourselves of our entire city officals and bring in new then maybe look at new changes and maybe things can actually get accomplished the first time and properly so not the loss and problems that consistently keep happening around this town!"
posted by Seaton McLennan @ 12:07 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Anonymus, it sounds like you have strong feelings but it is not clear to me if you are basing your comments on hearsay or direct knowledge. I do hear you say that we need to change all the staff, and, as I note below, most of the citizen volunteers.
Suggesting someone is lining their pockets is pretty heavy stuff but not backed up by any evidence that you present. Possibly you are referring to the person that had a land use decision going while keeping his position as City Counselor. But, you need to give more specific information.
The City is run by a lot of (unpaid) volunteers and each of those volunteers has a lot of professional expertice behind them. If you want to see an example of extreemly competent and highly professional work done by a Council member, look at the TMDL Report done by Tammy Casper.
I agree that in the past there have been some bad choices made. In most cases there have been some well meaning but costly screwups. For example, one Counselor changed the accounting system and then it cost the City almost $20,000 to get it audited and straightend out again. But this kind of thing is rare. And I surely wouldn't accuse that person of pocket lining.
The City is run by many volunteers. City volunteers spend many hours outside of their appointed meetings learning and studying about the topics they are preparing to deal with. They do this because we, the City, do not have the money to hire the kind of staff large cities have and that have a tax base.
Tangent has a reputation for being formost among communities in citizen involvement. Those of us volunteering intend to keep it that way even with a tax base. I appeciate your comments because that also is one form of citizen envolvement.
You said someone is being lied about. What are the lies? Are the lies made in meetings? If so, lets look at the record and correct them. Will you help us do that?
You say people are being harrased. I don't know if you are talking about some of the people that do not comply with laws and codes. Often these people feel harrased. Or are you talking about harrasing people for their opinions? Unless you can be more specific what you write sounds like unfounded opinion. Can you be more specific? It would lend more weight to your argument.
Thank you for taking the time and effort to comment on taxes.
I debated long and hard about responding to this anonymous posting.
I find the idea of money being pocket abhorrent and I would blow the whistle on anyone, including my very best friend, who is doing that. I, and the rest of the City Council, watch over the City's meager finances very carefully. I think that one of us would have caught anything happing. We have so little that anything would stand out.
"Skimming funds" is a crime. It is called embezzlement. If the poster has direct knowledge of such an act, it is that poster's responsibility to go to legal authorities (County Sheriff); in fact, if there is such knowledge and it is not reported, that person CAN become an "accessory after the fact" and that is also a crime.
On the other hand, if it is just someone's hunch, or here-say, it becomes libel. And that, good friend, is ALSO a crime.
The simple fact is that our sources of non-tax funding is shrinking while costs increase. The city has relied on excise taxes on utilities that operate in Tangent, but we are not allowed to collect these on some newer utilities that are replacing older ones. State money that we relied upon in the early years of the city is also no longer available.
If you can show us how to continue to function as a city without money, then please come forward and enlighten us!
Jim Wagner
City Council Member
Tangent
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