Will the voters fall for the Big Lie again?
“Without Issue 7, the City and County could have to make deep cuts to important services, to pay for legally required upkeep.”
That’s what the Yes vote people put out as truth. It’s as much a lie as all the promises they made in 1990 to pass the original sin tax way back then.
The teams want exotic scoreboards and other electronic and revenue gimmicks that will bring them more revenue. This is where the big money will go. That’s why they haven’t given us a transparent list of what the $290 million over 20 years will go.
If they want this advertising-revenue upsurge via expensive electronic gadgets, they will pay for them if the public via a NO vote tells them, as they should, go to hell. Pay your own bills just as we do.
Last week County data showed that year-to-date revenue in 2014 from the sin tax revenue totaled $4,591,219. That would represent the first quarter of 2014. With four quarters to a year, it would represent some $18 million per year. Now we know collections vary quarter to quarter. But the $18 million figure for 20 years would represent a total of $360 million, more than any of the figures mentioned in any media has said. Maybe the economy is picking up.
By the way, we have paid patronage thus far in this 10-year addition of the sin tax $118,246,294. We paid another $128 million for the arts tax and thus far $222 million for the med mart tax. That’s getting to near the half billion dollar mark.
Money that could be spent elsewhere.
But the politicians and the corporate bosses cooperate to co-opt the money. What will this mean to local communities that need to raise taxes for real needs, like schools, safety, and other needed services in the coming year?
We just gave you hundreds of millions. We’re broke. No to the next school tax. It’s wasted money anyway. Not wasted like a few hundred million for ball games.
It’s way too much money to simply give – no questions asked – to Mr. Haslam, Mr. Gilbert and Mr. Dolan. The three silent cup-in-hand beggars financing the lies to get the tax passed.
Let’s not be suckers, people. Don’t listen to the Pee Dee and its mimickers on Tee Vee.
Make up your own mind whether the teams you built a $157 million arena, a $180 million baseball stadium, spent $41 million to prepare the sites, paid $12 million for the land, financed two money-losing parking garages at $42 million, and paid for a $13 million walkway from Tower City to Gateway now deserves hundreds of more millions from a city that can’t even keep you safe. Hell, can’t even repair the streets.
Don’t be fooled by the couple of million dollars the owners gave the TV stations to broadcast lies.
Don’t waste your money day after day for 20 years to provide comfort to these fakers.
Your kids should be worth more to you.