{"id":279,"date":"2011-02-21T15:22:00","date_gmt":"2011-02-21T15:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.arkansasfreedom.net\/?p=279"},"modified":"2011-02-21T15:22:00","modified_gmt":"2011-02-21T15:22:00","slug":"voodoo-economics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/?p=279","title":{"rendered":"Voodoo Economics?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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To the Fort Smith Mayor & City Directors:                                                                             February 20, 2011<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all do the Convention Center math; including all that was left out.                                      <\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Jim Kolettis, Convention Center Commission, said the proposed 1% food tax is projected to bring in $960,000 in EXCESS<\/span> of the shortfall, which is $1.1 million. Using the $1.1 million needed to keep the C.C. afloat, the sum of the two would equal $2,060,000 in new revenue.   City figures state that the Convention Center creates revenues of $750,000 per year, which amounts to revenues of $2,760,000 PER YEAR<\/span>, of that sum $1,710,000 is NEW<\/span> revenue, over and beyond the $1.1 million needed yearly.<\/span><\/p>\n

A \u00c2\u00bd % tax would generate approximately $1 million per year and added to the $750,000 the C.C. generates produces a surplus of $650,000<\/span> per year. <\/span><\/p>\n

Mayor Sanders said \u00e2\u20ac\u0153some of the money above the operational cost of the facility will be spent on purchasing a ticketing system (a one-time expense) as well as a plan to expand parking\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. He goes on to say \u00e2\u20ac\u0153that will cost at least several hundreds of thousands of dollars\u00e2\u20ac\u009d No!  City officials stated in March, 2010 that the cost of expanding the parking lot would be $250,000 (a one-time expense).  <\/span><\/p>\n

Question of the day: Other than the one time expenditures of expanded parking and a ticketing system, what happens to the $1,710,000 YEARLY SURPLUS  <\/span>thereafter?<\/span><\/p>\n

Claude Legris, speaking as a self-serving bureaucrat, said that the \u00c2\u00bd % tax would be \u00e2\u20ac\u0153nickel-and-diming it like it has been\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.  (See above)  Legris, how many private sector jobs have you ever created?  You know, the ones forced to pay for your bills?<\/span><\/p>\n

The only thing the C.C. has to brag about is The Jehovah Witness\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one week encampment. Director Steve Tyler said the Board is committed to keeping the C.C. open.  What about the wishes of the people who are paying for it Dir. Tyler?<\/span><\/p>\n

City Manager Gosack said (this is a laugher)\u00e2\u20ac\u009dthe Board could scale it (the 1% tax) back or repeal it quickly on its own if it decides that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s necessary because the money is being spent well or for some other reason\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.  Ray, that dog won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t hunt.<\/span><\/p>\n

Legris, knowing that the 1% tax would create a huge surplus began salivating and spending it before the tax could be enacted.  He came forth with another \u00e2\u20ac\u0153vision\u00e2\u20ac\u009d called the OPPORTUNITY FUND<\/span>\u00e2\u20ac\u201danother \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Quality of Place\u00e2\u20ac\u009d scheme.  Encased in the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153vision\u00e2\u20ac\u009d are festivals, Marshal\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Museum (private funding you say?), more money to the Bass Reeves monument (also private funding?), funding for the Arts Community, etc.\u00e2\u20ac\u201dexpansion in a depression.  These folks haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t comprehended the word CUT<\/span>\u00e2\u20ac\u201dyet.<\/span><\/p>\n

For you Directors and city government employees, I have a Vision\u00e2\u20ac\u201dfill up the quarry at 5th<\/sup> & Garrison.  Back to the food tax, members of the Board and the Mayor must understand this is a contentious issue.  You apparently don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand our republic is bankrupt and expanding the city government is not in our vocabulary and many of our citizens are laboring mightily to stay afloat economically. The bottom line in this exercise in silliness is that you along with the Chamber of Commerce do not want to be recognized as the first C.C. in the state to be boarded, when in reality you would be doing the thing that many others should do. <\/span><\/p>\n

The citizens own that building, you are elected to serve the wishes of the majority, so DC your heavy handedness and bring it to a vote.  You will be applauded if you do–win, lose or draw.<\/span><\/p>\n

Joe McCutchen<\/span><\/p>\n

P.S.  Still no explanation regarding the purpose of the 47 police work stations at the old armory.<\/span><\/p>\n

THE EASIEST JOB IN THE WHOLE WORLD IS SPENDING SOMEONE ELSE\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S MONEY.<\/span><\/p>\n

arkansasfreedom.net<\/a>   <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To the Fort Smith Mayor & City Directors:                                                                             February 20, 2011 Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all do the Convention Center math; including all that was left out.                                      Mr. Jim Kolettis, Convention Center Commission, said the proposed 1% food tax is projected to bring in $960,000 in EXCESS of the shortfall, which is $1.1 million. Using the $1.1 million … Continue reading Voodoo Economics?<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-city-politics"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}