Editor:
I think it was Mark Twain who humorously said, “It is easier to fool a person than to convince them that they have been fooled,” or something of that sort.
I know my task here is difficult, since I am here to say that we have been fooled. We are easily deceived because we want to do the right thing and are not critical enough to decipher the facts and challenge the perpetrator(s) of the cause of which we are being manipulated.
It’s time for voters to pay attention to another plot by politicians to get voter approval for a tax hike disguised as something that will not raise your taxes: Measure 22-171, Ballot title, “Linn County Law Enforcement Levy Four Year Continuation.”
If approved by a majority of those that vote, this levy will cost property owners and renters in Linn county $111 million in the next four years. I believe it is a plot because it seems to be surrounded by a cloak of deception. Your property tax will rise by $283 per $100,000 of assessed property value; that is an additional $707 levy (Tax) on a $250,000 home. A $1 million apartment building with 10 rentals will be charged an additional $2,830.
Within the argument in favor, you will read, “Passage of this levy will not increase property tax rate.” What that means is that we will pay the same high amount that we supposedly volunteered to pay in the last four-year levy which will end June 30, 2018.
The subliminal message is, “This will cost you nothing.” What you are not told is that failure of this levy to pass will cause a reduction of property taxes to the tune of $283 per $100,000 of property assessed value, because we have already paid off the last levy. Levies are supposed to be temporary.
I, for one, have been looking forward to my taxes going down. My taxes have been outrageously high, increasing 400 percent in only 17 years.
I say no to levies and bonds. I am not being fooled into higher taxes. They say it is for one thing, but I believe they want to free up money for things I might not approve of.
The roof will not fall. Law enforcement will still be funded in the normal manner with the taxes we already pay for it. You may be able to afford this tax levy, but many people in our county are in poverty, trying desperately to hang on to the security of their homes. You can donate directly to the county if you so choose but please do not volunteer others to do so.
As with other bonds and levies, I have noticed that a minority of people most likely believe that they will financially benefit by the additional taxes are informed and vote, along with family and anyone they can convince; those people are the base that the writers of the levy count on.
Most of us are uninformed and some of us will spontaneously vote “yes” when they read, “Passage of this levy will not increase property taxes rate,” believing they have done no harm.
It is the harm done that conflicts with the implied intent that bewilders me. How can the writers claim that this is needed? Our beautiful county is also called a poverty county, which to me means that poverty prevails economically.
Even with some sort of good intentions I can’t understand how the writers of this levy can be so blind to the poverty it will impose since the last four years have been so difficult for so many. Many people are down and out.
Families struggle too much already. And kids are brought up seeing this, their attitudes align with the oppression and they miss out on their potential, affecting education success, and life planning. Drugs are an alternative path versus a viable path to a rewarding life which they do not see.
I wonder if the roles have been switched; who is serving who? Anybody remember the term, “Public servant”?
I bought my land, I built my home but the local government demands to have authority over my home. I must pay the government tax or they will take my home and tell me I own nothing. Do I pay for this service?
You are in the same predicament; it’s not much different here and now than it was in England 250 years ago. We are treated like peasants living on the king’s land – the nicer we make our home, the more the taxman demands.
We cannot do anything on our land without permission, as if we are all criminals looking for the chance to commit crimes. And crimes are not far from desires, since everything that would benefit us is a crime. You can’t build homes for your children on your land, you can’t have two kitchens in one house. You can’t add a room without permission and you must pay for someone else to rule over you in the process.
I cannot think of one good reason to allow further government liens and what feels like extortion against our homes. They use fear tactics and put the children in front and say this is who will be hurt if you do not abide. They imply crime will escalate if we do not pay. It is a system to keep us ignorant, weak, and oppressed. Stop, enough, we have the power to say no.
Drug addiction is not the only addiction. The addiction of power and money is also degrading, but rather than a violation upon oneself, it is a violation upon the society that is being abused. Please consider the probability that we have been fooled. Let’s see what happens if we vote no on this unneeded levy. The roof won’t fall.
Beware, Oregon; double majority ended in 2008. This levy can pass with a small number of votes. If you care for the well being and financial security of your fellow citizens, as well as your own, vote no on this levy which would put an additional lien against our properties, defunding our own lives.
Gary Sullivan
Sweet Home