Latter - City commission candidates support Dickinson sales tax ordinance change

To the Editor:

As we campaign for the two open city commission seats, we also listen to comments, pro and con, related to the upcoming vote to enhance the use our city’s one-half percent sales tax. Because all three of us heartily endorse a “yes” vote on this measure, we feel it’s important to convey to all of you the reasons we do so:

E This small change will only enhance the tremendously positive tool our sales tax has become as various generations of city commissions manage our city for us.

E The tax measure does not increase our tax burden, it only makes the use of the tax proceeds more flexible.

E The sales tax has absolutely reduced our property taxes in recent years! Please keep reading.

Those who speak against this measure have made much of the fact that they feel the amount of property tax reduction from the sales tax proceeds has not been large enough. Consider this: Since the time the sales tax has been implemented, some $6 million in street projects have been constructed. Few of us would disagree those street projects have been very worthy projects for all of us.

Ask yourselves, if these projects were not paid for from sales tax proceeds, where would this money have come from? The answer is from additional property taxes (or special assessments, simply another form of property tax).

We urge all of you to be thoughtful in your consideration of this measure on June 10. All too often, it is easy to be alarmist and perpetuate a negativity that does our community no favors.

The three of us urge you to vote “yes” on the sales tax measure.

Carson Steiner

Gene Jackson

Shirley K. Dukart

Tags: city, commission, candidates, support, dickinson, sales, tax, ordinance, change