If you want Public Services, you need to pay Taxes
I read “Colorado Springs cuts into services considered basic by many” earlier today, and had to take a second to write about it. First and foremost I think the fact that the people in Colorado Springs are so anti-tax that they are willing to turn the city into a third world sty is a bit sad. That said what I am actually getting at is that I have a feeling these people thought there would be no loss of the critical infrastructure they like. My experience has shown that those against taxes talk up waste, but waste is not a huge percentage of the budget. When you cut taxes too low you get things like:
More than a third of the streetlights in Colorado Springs will go dark Monday. The police helicopters are for sale on the Internet. The city is dumping firefighting jobs, a vice team, burglary investigators, beat cops — dozens of police and fire positions will go unfilled.
Water cutbacks mean most parks will be dead, brown turf by July; the flower and fertilizer budget is zero.
City recreation centers, indoor and outdoor pools, and a handful of museums will close for good March 31 unless they find private funding to stay open. Buses no longer run on evenings and weekends. The city won’t pay for any street paving, relying instead on a regional authority that can meet only about 10 percent of the need.
I am sure that these steps will do wonders for the economy. Nothing says “live and do business here” like a rise in crime due to lack of law enforcement and lack of street lights, no public transit, no road repair, no pools, no parks, no libraries, and no tourism.
At least they have low taxes…
I’m interested in seeing how this experiment turns out. Will gated communities pay for their own roads, lights, security, and firefighters? Will the government start charging admission for libraries and parks?
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Currently VERY glad I didn’t take that epi job I was offered there last spring…I’ll take my chances with crappy roads (3 flats since I moved here) and crime (hello house being robbed!) in a city where the taxes DO get paid thank you very much.
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