Viewpoints
No to Sales Tax Increase to
Fund the White Cliff Renovation
By Samuel Bergeron
September 30, 2006
Saturday
When the City & Borough taxes everyone on the clothes they
buy locally, the food they buy locally and the residential rent
they pay, there better be a use the government puts those dollars
to work on that is as important as clothing, feeding and housing
yourself and your families.
What makes this tax so heinous and detrimental to our community
is there are about 1000 people living at or below the poverty
level and an even larger segment of our residents live just above
the poverty level.
This tax inadvertently targets a large segment of our community
who don't have the means to clothe, house or feed themselves
now. To ask this group of people to pay more tax for something
that doesn 't have anything to do with not going hungry or staying
warm and dry is not in their or your best interest to do. Essentially
we are taking money from the poor, to give to the government,
to fund a project that does nothing to alleviate their poverty;
in-fact, it makes them poorer. This fails the "best interest
test" for our whole community. It is in fact a terrible
thing to do.
I don't think one group of people should be asking another group
of our community to give, when they can 't afford to give. I
also disagree with the comment that fixing the sales tax (on
food and rent) isn't our problem.
When we ask someone else to
pay for something in the form of a tax; we should make sure they
don't have to go cold and hungry to do it. When you cast your
vote on the proposed tax increase, please consider those of us
who are struggling and are living in poverty. A no vote on the
proposed sales tax is not the end of the White Cliff project.
It is a reconsideration, from the voters, on how we are to going
to eventually fund it.
Samuel Bergeron
Ketchikan, AK - USA
Received September 29, 2006 - Published September 30, 2006
About: A a concerned citizen and a candidate for Ketchikan City
Council.
On the Web:
Proposition 1 - Sales Tax Increase:
For the full text of Ordinance No. 1403 click here
http://borough.ketchikan.ak.us/clerks/documents/1403.pdf
Proposition 2 - Bonds: For
the full text of Ordinance No. 1404 click here
http://borough.ketchikan.ak.us/clerks/documents/1404.pdf
White Cliff Project
http://www.ketchikanarts.org/whitecliff
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on Viewpoints are the opinions of the writer
and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Sitnews.
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