to prepare materials to education the Citizens of Lee County on the need and the purpose of the 1/4 cent sales tax and the upcoming referendum and make said materials available to the public.
For a commission with a tendency to micromanage it was a sweepingly expansion mandate. No discussion on budgetary limitations for the public relations effort--just a mandate to educate the public on the "need". Note, not the pros and cons but the "need." In short, they want it to pass. Use tax dollars to sell it.
And they do want it to pass, albeit for different reasons. Commissioner Linda Shook was the only commissioner to make it clear that her support for the referendum was the expectation that the proceeds would be dedicated--at least in part-to a direct reduction in the property tax rate.
That is more than a shade different than those who use what I call "Washington Math." They see it as a way to use the $1.5 million a year to avoid up to four cents in increases in the property taxes over the coming year. To them, a property tax increase avoided is a "savings". None of them are out just to see our taxes go up--some of them just have a different view of the necessity of programs and far different priorities.
One also wonders why they think this lobbying campaign is even needed. Commissioner Jerry Lemmond had his tabulation that nearly 2/3 of speakers had favored the sales tax increase. The Chamber of Commerce and other local groups have endorsement of other groups were given as reasons to justify the referendum. If they believe what they are hearing, the tax ought to pass in a cake walk without a taxpayer paid "education campaign."
It seems that once the ball got rolling with visions of a new source of revenue the commissioners just couldn't restrain themselves.
One thing is certainly not a savings--tax dollars being spent on a campaign to lobby the public.
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