WHAT DO YOU THINK?
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The Daily Herald will publish comments on Aug. 26.
"UTOPIA, after all, was supposed to be the intractable hungry beast behind the bulk of the proposed tax increase. But if raising taxes (as opposed to reallocating existing dollars) was essential -- and we mean truly essential -- the council would have had no choice but to stick with its original numbers.
Necessary and essential are hard words. They leave little room to wiggle. And yet Orem residents witnessed $1.8 million of wiggling at Tuesday's truth in taxation hearing.
All this may provide interesting insight into government's process of deciding what is actually necessary vs. what is wanted by elected officials. When something is necessary or essential, it's not subject to negotiation.
Yet the proposed tax increase in Orem was cut in half, raising an obvious question: Was the proposed hike really necessary to begin with? Or was it merely a way to avoid difficult management decisions?
Given the difficult economic straits of our time, managing strictly for needs is the only ethical course.
But now, suddenly, they're willing to raise taxes by a fraction of what they said was absolutely essential. It appears there are other ways to get the money.
Perhaps there should be a truth in politics law. But truth in taxation will have to do. Public hearings to justify tax increases and receive public input can have real teeth. Note, for example, the Provo School District tax increase in 2000, after which all five board members were replaced.
In Davis County, a 138 percent tax hike was proposed in 2002 for county services. It took two election cycles for voters to replace the three-member county commission.
Orem would do well to take a lesson.
As for huge tax increases to cover UTOPIA debt service and other city services, residents of Orem should be commended. They took action and their representatives listened."
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