Big Thread of the Week: Property Taxes

It's Friday October 9, and this week's Big Thread is property taxes. I talked about them at a Council meeting, the paper twisted what I said for a few days, and my Facebook page was (and still is) lit up with commenters talking about investing in Fayetteville.

It's a conversation that needs to happen, and I think it's kind of ridiculous that anyone would think it's a conversation not worth having.

I talked quite a bit about it at the Fayetteville Flyer, our town's own online source for all things Faytown. Here's an excerpt from what I published there:

I have to give at least some credit to the papers. A lot of people have been pushed to a freakout by economic conditions, and (some) local media are only riding the wave. After their headline, one resident emailed me and the rest of the Council, urging us to vote against ANY tax increase and asking me to explain myself.

This is a portion of my response to them.

In the meantime, if you can think of anything that the City should invest in, please tell us. Personally, I’m looking for low-cost, one-time payments that will bring an *economic* boost. I’m looking for things that we can expect to turn 2011 into a solid rebound, because I expect 2010 to be mostly flat. I’m looking for strategic “chess move” investments that will set 2011 to propel Fayetteville into the 21st century.

And I mean that in all seriousness. I don’t want to let a year go by where we miss a smart investment. There is a wishlist a mile long at City Hall, and what constitutes a “smart” investment is affected by the economic conditions. Fayetteville is fortunate, because we can continue to make some of those investments without using property taxes; we have lots of ways to invest.

No one has proposed raising property taxes yet. All I want to do is talk about it to make an informed decision. That’s what I was elected to do.

And here is a featured comment from my Facebook pages from Shawn Smith:

With any determination for progress, tax is the dirty word that will force a hinge between those who know what needs to be done and those who just want to keep a penny to figure out how to waste. The difficulty will always lie in showing, outlining, and proving the benefits. Most of us agree change is necessary and inevitable, although many will still fear and avoid it, especially when it comes at their expense.

It may not be time to raise taxes, but it's definitely time to have the conversation.