Guest opinion, by George McFarlin
On April 5th Tulsa voters will be asked to INCREASE the city of Tulsa sales tax rate by 6/10th cent. The question remains:
Chesapeake, Samson and Anadarko have announced significant layoffs and Samson has filed for bankruptcy. Others will follow. All this compounded with the state budget projected at a $900 million shortfall for the upcoming year, and higher unemployment the taxpayers are being hit hard.
In this time of economic decline, Tulsans do not need a new sales tax, that coupled with OU President David Boren's proposed 1-cent sales tax for Education, would position Oklahoma as having the #1 State Sales Tax rate in the entire U.S.
The Jenks dam location SHOULD NOT get Corps of Engineer approval, because it destroys the habitat of an endangered species called the Least Tern, and disrupts the habitat of the American Bald Eagle, a protected species.
The low water dam promoters have NOT talked with the State Wildlife Department, or the Federal Fish & Game Department, according to public discussions with representatives from these government entities, during last summer's Arkansas River Dams Tax presentations.
Our low-water dam still works, but has been intentionally ill-maintained. The proposed tax has NO CAP, and no guarantees against chronic cost-overruns on public construction projects.
Do you need to pay higher taxes to give $24.5 million to the Tulsa Public Schools? Don’t we already pay taxes to the public school system?
A portion of this new sales tax will also be going to Union and Jenks Public Schools. Both these schools are already among the highest taxed school districts in the state. So why would Tulsa sales tax dollars go to other school districts?
And $30 million to Tulsa County in what Councilor Blake Ewing called a “bribe”. We don’t need to be double taxed to the same government agency.
$9.4 million for the Air National Guard to buy flight simulators? With an annual budget of $585 BILLION this should fall under the US Department of Defense budget and not the City of Tulsa. Again we don’t need to be double taxed to the same government agency.
IT’S A ZOO OUT THERE
Do you need to pay higher taxes to build a “Pachyderm Palace” as a new home for elephants at the Tulsa Zoo? It’s only $25 million.
THIS NEW TAX PLAN HAS NO CAP AND NO GUARANTEE AGAINST HUGE OVERRUNS.
WHEN IS ENOUGH ENOUGH!!
WHEN IS ENOUGH EVER ENOUGH FOR GOVERNMENT TAX AND SPEND PROGRAMS?
FACTS ABOUT THE VISION FOREVER SALES TAX
STATE ECONOMY TANKING
The state economy is suffering a sharp and sustained decline. Collectively, the Oklahoma oil patch economy and state government are suffering, with $113 BILLION in net worth extinguished from balance sheets of our Oklahoma publicly-held oil & gas production companies in the past 12 months.Chesapeake, Samson and Anadarko have announced significant layoffs and Samson has filed for bankruptcy. Others will follow. All this compounded with the state budget projected at a $900 million shortfall for the upcoming year, and higher unemployment the taxpayers are being hit hard.
TAXING OURSELVES INTO PROSPERITY HAS NEVER WORKED & WON’T IN THIS CASE EITHER.
VOTE “NO” APRIL 5TH. |
POLICE AND FIRE
Do you need to pay higher taxes for police and fire staff that is not needed? Tulsa does not need 160 new police officers and 70 new firefighters as part of a PERMANENT Public Safety Tax. Even with the layoff of 120 police officers in 2010 by Mayor Bartlett major crime rates have actually fallen for over two decades. We also have too many firefighters, with over 75% of “fire” runs for EMS purposes, and not to fight fires. Does EMSA need to hire more staff instead of Tulsa hiring more firefighters?ARKANSAS RIVER DAMS
Do you need to pay higher taxes to rebuild an already working dam? Rebuilding one dam plus adding an additional dam at Jenks will cost an “ESTIMATED” $144 million. These prices are “ESTIMATES” only. For example, the BOK Arena had a 30% cost overrun.The Jenks dam location SHOULD NOT get Corps of Engineer approval, because it destroys the habitat of an endangered species called the Least Tern, and disrupts the habitat of the American Bald Eagle, a protected species.
The low water dam promoters have NOT talked with the State Wildlife Department, or the Federal Fish & Game Department, according to public discussions with representatives from these government entities, during last summer's Arkansas River Dams Tax presentations.
Our low-water dam still works, but has been intentionally ill-maintained. The proposed tax has NO CAP, and no guarantees against chronic cost-overruns on public construction projects.
TAXES ON TAXES
COMING SOON:
OU President David Boren finally wants to make Oklahoma #1 at something...
the HIGHEST STATE sales tax RATE in the nation.
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A portion of this new sales tax will also be going to Union and Jenks Public Schools. Both these schools are already among the highest taxed school districts in the state. So why would Tulsa sales tax dollars go to other school districts?
And $30 million to Tulsa County in what Councilor Blake Ewing called a “bribe”. We don’t need to be double taxed to the same government agency.
$9.4 million for the Air National Guard to buy flight simulators? With an annual budget of $585 BILLION this should fall under the US Department of Defense budget and not the City of Tulsa. Again we don’t need to be double taxed to the same government agency.
Citizens for a Better Vision, LLC
7107 South Yale Avenue, #274
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74136
George McFarlin, Spokesman 918.810.8442 georgemcfarlin@yahoo.com |
THIS NEW TAX PLAN HAS NO CAP AND NO GUARANTEE AGAINST HUGE OVERRUNS.
WHEN IS ENOUGH ENOUGH!!
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