To the editor:
Concerned about higher property taxes, staggering fuel prices at the pump and the rising cost of food at the grocery? Worried about the effects the national recession will have on Dickinson? It's time we do something to help solve these problems. One thing we can all do is vote "No" on the half-percent sales tax language change on June 10.
Currently, our half-percent sales tax generates a surplus each year after the bond and any operation/maintenance subsides are paid on the community center. To date, this surplus is $1.7 million. Current ordinance allows this amount to relieve property taxes or to maintain our town's infrastructure like streets and bridges. So, why is the money just sitting there?
Instead of spending this money the way voters intended, our city commission has kept it in the bank while they propose a language change in the half-percent sales tax ordinance allowing it to mainly fund nonessential or recreational projects.
As a former city commissioner, I see essential projects at times, taking third or fourth place in our city instead of getting top priority. There are many streets in town that need total reconstruction. Spend this surplus on the town's needs before we pay for the university's football stadium addition. Otherwise, we'll be raising property taxes in the future!
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Vote "No" on the language change on June 10. Tell our commissioners to spend our money on property tax relief and infrastructure repair instead of on their pet projects. Let the college build its stadium addition; let the city build a new public works building. Spend our tax money on essentials, not on pet projects.
Tim Beaudoin
Dickinson
