Viewpoints
RE: An alternative tax
by M.L. Dahl
June 14, 2004
Monday
I really like Patrick Jerschele's suggestion for a vehicle tax
or annual fee of $200 on all cars, excluding none. He makes an
excellent case for his logic that it is fair to make single drivers
(myself included) contribute to the cost of mass transit. It
is also a good idea if it gets some of the unsafe junkers off
of the road. In fact, each point Patrick made is reason enough
for a good bus system. I also agree with Hunter Davis that the
borough bus run should be from one end of the borough to the
other....to and from both ends of the road. Not doing so is not
only a joke, but also displays a shortsighted attitude about
public transit in general.
I have been a borough bus champion for a long time. My husband
and I spoke before the borough assembly several years ago, to
petition for the bus in the first place. Our main point was that
a good bus system is critically important to have in any town/city
where you are trying to stimulate economic health. We also made
the point that infrastructure, such as mass transit, should be
one of the core services in any basket of municipal services
provided by tax dollars. Great communities all have good public
transportation systems. It makes a community attractive, keeps
private vehicle traffic to a minimum, reduces the noise and emissions
pollution, frees up parking places, reduces wear and tear on
the roads and creates an incentive to use the bus instead of
driving. Ketchikan Gateway Borough needs to keep Patrick's points,
Hunter's points and my own points in mind continuously.
Having only half of a borough bus system as we do now, or cutting
the system back in the future, is short term thinking, bad planning
and bad economic policy. Raise the vehicle tax as suggested and
fund this system fully. In addition, raise the sales tax on jewelry
to the full purchase amount and fund other important community
needs as well.
Finally, Hunter made the best point of all in his conclusion
and I want to reiterate and emphasize it here. A democratic system
needs your input. I don't care if you agree with me or not, but
I do care if you do say and do nothing because you don't care
anymore. People who don't bother to vote, never offer any input
and never voice an opinion forfeit the right to complain. Sitnews
allows all of us to offer our opinions, to which I say a big
THANKS!
M.L. Dahl
Ketchikan, AK - USA
Related Viewpoints:
RE: An alternative tax by Hunter Davis - Ketchikan, AK -
USA
An alternative tax worth looking at... by Patrick Jirschele - Ketchikan,
AK - USA
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