Thursday, June 20, 2024

Obits And Police Blotters

What do these things have in common? These are the two items in a newspaper that are generally published without a byline. The content is often sourced, in whole or part, from outside the news organization and while these are both legitimately news and informative they are not really products of the paper, though they may be edited for length and clarity. Or they may not. 

This weeks Blue Bag Rag came with an interesting front page "news article." What makes it interesting? Not the content as it is politico boiler plate whenever the city commits the sin of omission by neglecting to  change to a roll-back millage rate. They continually harp on "we didn't raise the property tax rate" while standing idly by as the actual taxes go up. Nothing to see here.

To be fair, that is the actual fact. They didn't use the roll back rate, but they didn't increase it either, perhaps because they're at the legal limit. And if you look at their planning you will notice something of interest.

No Intention Of Reining In Costs

What residents, what voters, what taxpayers should be focusing on is not [just] the annual mandatory tax hike, but the profligate, ever increasing spending at city hall, staffed by bureaucrats who are completely out of control. Perhaps it is time to elect folks with the stomach, and the spine, to make the changes necessary to meet the original promise of financial responsibility.