in a recent article in the Statesman Journal about Lane County officials due to dwelling of federal timber payments is considering asking voters to raise local taxes [again] even though according to the article, voters voted down the last 14 property tax increases.
THEY JUST DON'T GET IT!
As a result, the county plans to make cuts backs in public safety...
[Gosh, like that's never been tried before]
... such as cutting the Sheriff's patrol force from 24 deputies to six, with cuts to the Attorney General's office, eliminating the Medical Examiner's Office, etc.
This seems like a never-ending battle... the city of Eugene and Lane County can't manage their money, they spend money on frivolous feel-good items and forsake the primary goal of local government and which is the protection of its citizens and the maintenance of its infrastructure.
[somehow I think the police fall into that category somewhere]
We all know that the ONLY reason why they do this is because this is what directly hurts the citizens and makes the biggest impact.
Speaking for myself... because jobs are so available in Lane County and they pay so well [not]... that for the first time in my life being a lifelong resident of Lane County, I almost didn't have enough money to pay my property taxes...
... which by the way went up again this year even though the value of my property dropped.
So if you're expecting a boo-hoo moment from me...
FORGET IT!
There's money to be had... all you have to do is to change the philosophy of, "it's budgeted for this and not budgeted for that attitude."
Because in reality the way that we the citizens have to run our budget in our household follows this rule,
"RIGHT POCKET, LEFT POCKET, IT'S ALL THE SAME PAIR OF PANTS."
We all know that the ONLY reason why they do this is because this is what directly hurts the citizens and makes the biggest impact.
Speaking for myself... because jobs are so available in Lane County and they pay so well [not]... that for the first time in my life being a lifelong resident of Lane County, I almost didn't have enough money to pay my property taxes...
... which by the way went up again this year even though the value of my property dropped.
So if you're expecting a boo-hoo moment from me...
FORGET IT!
There's money to be had... all you have to do is to change the philosophy of, "it's budgeted for this and not budgeted for that attitude."
Because in reality the way that we the citizens have to run our budget in our household follows this rule,
"RIGHT POCKET, LEFT POCKET, IT'S ALL THE SAME PAIR OF PANTS."
(budgeting examples made simple)
government -- money for fire and protection [no money in the budget]
-- money to subsidize a bus, add artwork on the streets, new buildings [money budgeted]
end result... a pothole filled street leading to the brand-new piece of art on the sidewalk that nobody can figure out what it is.
Citizenry -- money saved for a trip to Disneyland
-- vacation to Disneyland money used to pay mortgage
end result -- no vacation trip to Disneyland in the near future.
Set your priorities, forget about the EmX expansion, put art aside until the economy gets better, live within your means like the rest of us and show us that you know how to manage your money and maybe will try to scrape a little bit extra for you.
Until then...
WE ARE VOTING NO ON ALL NEW TAXES!
WE ARE VOTING NO ON ALL NEW TAXES!
of course this message is all a waste of space if Congress is a typical example of people in government.
Congressman John Conyers, "why read the bill?"
