Woot woot! We hit the big time! Thank you, Dylan Lewis! Rifle citizens face difficult decision regarding rec center The citizens of Rifle are tasked with making a difficult decision this election season: Either fund the construction of a recreation center with a .75 percent sales tax increase or not fund a center. This is a difficult and emotional issue on both sides and highly important to all members of Rifle’s community. We know that the initial proposal shows a construction cost of around $23 million and that the total cost after interest will exceed $40 million. We also know that the city of Rifle’s reserve fund has dropped by 40 percent since 2009 and that the rec center will add a minimum of $200K of operating expenses that will not be covered by the proposed increase in sales tax. The supporters of the rec center contend that .75 of a penny is not a big deal and that the benefit to the citizens of Rifle and surrounding communities outweighs the cost. They say that the health of everyone in town would improve from its existence. They say that tourists and other highway travelers would exit in Rifle just to go to our magnificent rec center. The truth, however is much less dramatic. Based on usage rates of other local rec centers, the Rifle Rec Center could expect about 15 percent of the citizens of Rifle to use the facility on a regular basis. The tourist attendance figures in other rec centers in the area are tiny, like almost non-existent. I think that the only I-70 traffic it would attract would be from a random cross-country trucker looking for a shower. In these times of economic recession and small business hardship, we cannot afford a mandatory donation of our income to a government-operated business. The business environment in Rifle is stagnant, and the gas industry has all but pulled the anchor. We do not have any extra money to give to the local government for a business that will operate at a loss every year and place a $40 million debt on our citizens. We should be thinking of ways to help people make money, not of ways to take it away from them. The more money the city of Rifle has, the less money we have in our pockets. The rec center supporters would like to spend the people of Rifle’s money to fund a government-operated business. When the people are taxed, it takes away their freedom to choose how they spend their money. The money taken is money that could be spent in a Rifle business. In other words, this tax takes $40 million out of the local economy and gives it to the city and the financing institution. The sales tax and the fees charged will take revenue from private businesses because the people’s money is being spent to fund a government-operated business instead of being spent on a good or service from a local merchant. Not only will this rec center take money from the pockets of local shoppers and businesses (that may or may not benefit from the rec center) and compete with private businesses, it will also charge rec center patrons an additional fee to use the facility. And then there is still an additional $200K that will have to come from the pockets of Rifle’s taxpayers. The citizens and city of Rifle should neither be in the business of competing with private business, nor should they impose a tax that benefits a small minority. If this tax is passed, the city of Rifle will essentially be stealing from 85 percent of taxpayers who will never use the rec center. If you are against stealing from the majority of Rifle’s taxpayers, you will vote “No” on ballot question D. DYLAN LEWIS Silt gjsentinel/opinion/articles/email-letters-august-13-20131
Posted on: Wed, 14 Aug 2013 21:57:37 +0000
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