People should trust their government

Tim Anderson

Spectrum

"It's all about trust." That was the concluding line in this publication's editorial on July 3. That was right after the borough assembly chose not to include a property tax cap on the ballot question asking the voters to approve a 2-percent sales tax this October.

I can't agree with you more. Trust in your government to do the right thing. Many would call that an oxymoron. It doesn't have to be that way. You, the voters, elect your representatives and I am one of them.

My actions will demonstrate my sincere pledge to earn your trust. I will do my best to give you responsible government on my watch, but have no intention of trying to bind future assemblies. That is your job as a voter.

I have written several Spectrums since being elected mayor and I am trying to implement plans to achieve what I hear the people want. The major issues are funding for education — we did that. Fix our roads — we are working on that and it is a never-ending problem. Give us tax relief and diversify the tax base. The sales tax and tax cap are the first methods offered to you, the residents, to achieve tax diversification for you, the taxpayer.

The assembly passed an ordinance early in July to place the sales tax on the ballot but did not include a property tax cap as an additional condition. At the last assembly meeting in July they passed a resolution approving a property tax cap of 11 mills that would be considered in the event the sales tax passes.

So all this got you confused? Well, it should. It seems that past assemblies have always tied these two issues together when presenting a sales tax to the residents. Like you, the voter, need some assurance to vote for an additional tax.

It does not have to be that way. Go back to trust, logic, and experience. Elect people you trust. Logic dictates they will make decisions that are in your best interest. That means they will provide you the best services they can at the least cost to you as a taxpayer.

Experience is simply agreeing we only have one pot of money to pay for the services governments provide. Diversifying the sources going into the pot may change the amounts in the pot but the cost of service stays the same. So what do you do with any extra money?

You lower the mill rate. That is what happened in Wasilla when they passed their sales tax. That is what President Bush is doing with his tax cut. Nothing else makes good sense.

However, implementing a local property tax cap offers a level of security to our residents. Even though it is not binding on future assemblies, it is a political statement that would be difficult to rescind. It is a fact that homeowners are shouldering the majority of the tax burden in our borough.

Diversifying the tax base is one way to correct this. Spreading the burden to all that use the services and facilities this government provides seems a fairer system. You are the taxpayer and you alone must decide what services you want and how you want to be taxed to pay for those services.

I, as one of your elected officials, am happy that the assembly had the wisdom to give you this choice at the October election. That is a statement of trust in you, the voters.

Tim Anderson is the mayor of the Mat-Su Borough.