When is enough actually enough?

Posted

To the Editor:

This election cycle will serve multiple purposes.

It will allow the citizenry the opportunity to elect their chosen representatives for local governing entities and to vote for/against a taxing proposal, which is being presented as school upgrades/improvements, and the fire protection District of Gerald -Rosebud sustainment.

This proposal of taxing, “We, the People,” seems to be always directed or presented as, “for the children” or “to protect and defend.” Both noble, in pursuit of the Founding Fathers’ desire to procure “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

However, aren’t we entitled, as taxpayers, to see tangible improvements in education, as well as the “feel good because the public has been served” drivel, that comes with new equipment or building upgrades. Most often the narrative is, “it is necessary because we have had “extenuating circumstances,” or we’re operating with “antiquated equipment.’’

To me it sounds as if proper planning has been neglected, or ignored. Too often, we are distracted from the inefficiency, by the perceived need to improve.

And how to improve?

Taxation, of course!

So I ask, not the rhetorical question, but the question you must ask yourself.

When is enough actually enough?

If we start seeing that the standards of education improve, and the results of those improvements are reflected in improved grades for students, then maybe.

Or when ‘new and shiny equipment’ is utilized to save more than just the basement of structures. Shiny and new, in the course of its lifetime becomes used and less shiny, but still functional.

Expansion of services is expected, when population growth demands it.

Population growth is not constant, it has ebbed more so than it has grown, since the last census. These are facts that should not be overlooked. Population growth by births has likewise diminished, and those moving after graduating is greater then new residents replacing them.

So, again the question, begs to be answered.

When is enough actually enough? Vote “NO” on both issues, and vote for representation that understands that the purse is not theirs to spend willy-nilly.

Reflectively overtaxed and know it,

Stephen Grgurich

Gerald