Catoosa Vision

Public Safety Fees...

Here's a link to the Catoosa County News article regarding the joint Cities-County meeting on the proposed public safety fee...

Now, I'm not surprised that the cities have already weighed in against the proposal for a public safety fee. It sounds like the main reason, though, has to do with asking lower-income people (or those with lower-level housing) to pay the same fee as higher income residents. Sadly, but not surprisingly, the other reason is that the elected officials fear (a) being tarred and feathered; (b) being hung by an old rope; or (c) all of the above (which is akin to saying, they fear for their jobs more than they fear making an unpopular decision).

First of all, those in the "lower" categories are typically demanding the same, if not more, services than others. Secondly, the higher income residents (with higher level homes) are already contributing significantly more to the budgetary coffers in the form of higher property taxes, higher payroll taxes and higher sales taxes (assuming they're buying more expensive goods, or at least a higher volume of goods).

And, let's not forget that these wealthy individuals represent in many cases the Holy Grail of economic development and success: JOBS! Who's going to employ all of the people to provide the services demanded by the lower income segment?

But here's the quote I loved the most: From staltwart defender of all that is Catoosa, Phyllis Williams said "I think the whole unincorporated area just wants to be left alone."

No roads. No schools. No police protection. No indigent legal defense. No indigent healthcare.

("Indigent," by the way, means lower income and not able to pay for the services demanded.)

If this is the kind of CAVE that some people want, then fine. Just don't crawl out and complain about roads, weeds, ball fields, police, hospitals, schools, or anything else that the other citizens are willing to pay for because they see the value in having them in the community.

Congratulations to Commissioner Ken Marks for having the courage to make the proposal. Whether or not it goes forward, Ken deserves credit for at least being willing to examine some possible, even if unpopular, solutions.

posted by Chris Casey @ 7:29 AM