Posted by: thepinetree on 01/05/2009 07:12 AM
Updated by: thepinetree on 01/05/2009 07:12 AM
Expires: 01/01/2014 12:00 AM
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Happy new year everybody, but where to now! ~By Darryl Rusk
Valley Springs, CA...‘New’ can be exciting: ideas, opportunities, even a clean slate. Sometimes ‘new’ means we face a loss of some things we liked about the past. With the ‘new year’ comes resolutions that we will make for a better, or at least different future: diet, exercise, finally get that colossal castle we’ve been drooling over. (Okay, the diet is iffy)...
On Tuesday we welcome the newest member of the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors, Gary Tofanelli, very cool! Gary is the supervisor from my district and I hope that he can bring something new to the board...a unifying spirit and a can do attitude.
The board has some very tough challenges ahead. Probably the most significant is filling the budget shortfalls. Unless I missed a day during post graduate economics courses, there are only two ways for that to happen – either reduce revenue outflow, increase revenue inflow, or some combination of the two!
The Board has already addressed most of the painful cost cutting that this County can handle but it hasn’t been enough. Now it is important to increase income. Obviously, every department should be locating money from State, federal, and Corporate sources – grants, loans, matching fund opportunities, and any other chance that arises. Also, they have already begun sorting out potential tax and fee schedule increases to meet operational needs.
What’s left? If taxes and fees are critical, how can we improve what they’re based on? Taxes include sales tax, transient occupancy taxes (TOT), property taxes, business license and other business taxes, certain court costs, etc.... Fees include building, water, sewer, and a variety of other sources.
Okay, how can we, should we or do we increase revenues from these targets? I think most of us taxpayers would say that we can't afford any more taxes or increases on the ones we already have. So, we need to encourage opening businesses, building things, (or creating jobs), that generate funds! I can already hear from some of you saying, Yes but it must be done in a smart way under the guidance of a new general plan. I couldn't agree more...that's why we need to work together and end the stalemates of the past.
Back to my hopes for the new year and the newest member of the Board of Supervisors. I think I can speak for all Calaveras County citizens when I say that I hope the board can let the past be the past. Let's put the intra-board political turmoil of 2008 on a shelf. No more political maneuvering and back room deals. Hopefully 2009 will be a year of fresh ideas, people on opposite sides of the issues working together and leadership from the county that is visionary and transparent.
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