Here & There Column 11-11-08

Our Economic Meltdown Should Not Include Tax Increases

We are presently grappling with the worst financial crisis in seven decades and local Sullivan County Municipalities are projecting increases in taxes.
This topic was hotter then the home brewed coffee and fresh baked donuts at our most recent coffee klatsch last week.
Wow......the boys were jumping mad as this topic came up just as the three Democrats, three Republicans and one Independent in our klatsch sat down to review the election of president-elect Barack Obama.....more on this discussion in a later column.
Each of our seven klatsch members unanimously agreed that our economy is in very bad condition.....something along the line of being the worst financial crisis this country has seen in decades and local municipalities proposal to raise taxes does not fit into the equation of helping the locals through this crisis.
It has been reported that government will bring forth a county budget with single digit tax increases and Town of Rockland taxpayers could see a 9 percent tax hike.
Several in the klatsch sympathized with the fact that there had been an increase in fuel costs but because there is now a drastic reduction in fuel and gasoline government could be creating a false image here.
There also was not one negative comment about government employees receiving a raise......folks working in any profession deserve salary increases.
What the klatsch discussed and asked is why local governments are not working harder at consolidation to secure cost savings. One of our members strongly pointed out that consolidation is the mechanism used to achieve economies of scale by reducing numbers of local government units.
Several of the klatsch members pointed out that subsequent to consolidation new governments reduced property taxes by 29% in its first three years and continued to reduce taxes in each of its first nine years.
Our coffee klatsch strongly denounced tax increases during this financial crisis and instead urged our local governments to work harder and more seriously towards merging and consolidation that will achieve reduction of staff and elimination of duplicate services.