Wolftown woman blasts tax timing

Editor:

The semi-annual tax scam is an insult to the intelligence of Madison County taxpayers. If Madison supervisors wanted to split our taxes into two payments, the appropriate way to do that would have been to collect the first half of our 2010 taxes in December 2009, and the second half in June of 2010. But the supervisors said they needed money six months early so that they could collect interest on it.

However, in a Jan. 13 hearing, Supervisors Chairman Eddie Dean stated that in the middle of 2008, “we ran out of money last year and had to cut back until the state money arrived.” The implication of this statement is huge! It suggests that the intent is to spend 2010 revenue in the middle of 2009. It also means that 2009 taxes went up by half. If you normally paid $500 a year, now you will pay $750 this year.

Do we really think the board of supervisors will give us a six-month reprieve down the road? Imagine getting a letter saying, “Gee, you paid your taxes twice in the second half of 2009, so don’t bother paying half of your taxes now.”

Recently, the board raised the tax rate on our vehicle taxes. The chairman explained, the overall value of automobiles in Madison has declined, so we have to raise the tax rate to make up for the deficit. If the board was thinking about the welfare of the citizens of Madison at all, they would have interpreted the drop in automobile values to mean no one in Madison can afford to buy a new car, so how can they afford more taxes?

This is just another example of a total disregard for the people who put them in office and pay their salaries. These are not honest mistakes. They are a few of the stupid ones.

Entrepreneurs and farmers, would you hire these people to run your business? Yes, we elected them. Decisions are made by those who show up. It’s time to tighten the supervisors’ belts by taking back the chairmanship, our county and the coffers.

Leri M. Thomas
Wolftown