City Staff and the 1/8 cent Tax Scam

I am adamantly opposed to the 1/8 cent tax increase to fund proposed city projects. I resent the efforts of city staff to “bundle” these projects, falsely represent them as necessary, and, by omission, deceive voters as to the true costs of these efforts. While at the work shop on January 21st, no one could tell me where the tax budget shortfall was for these projects, and there was no clearly demonstrable need.

The “need” for the animal facility was implied; it’s falling apart (the fact that it was “built in the 1960’s” doesn’t mean anything). Even then there were no facts as to the daily censes at the current shelter and why space for 134 dogs is the magic number. Is it under capacity? Is it unsafe? Why, specifically, do we need a new one and what’s the budget for it? I support building a new animal facility, though $4 million seems a bit much for an industrial use facility.

I am opposed to the plan to build the Multipurpose Athletic Center (MAC). The city staff planners are relying on public sentiment measured in more prosperous times (1997 and 2006) when spending millions of tax dollars for a gym was perhaps less ludicrous than it is now. Not answered at the work shop is how cleaning, maintenance, and staff will be paid for from existing tax coffers. Nowhere in my research have these facilities anywhere become self-sustaining. Instead they have become continual drains on the public money requiring substantial maintenance, insurance, and eventually, large scale repair. Why would the city want this for us? From my view, there was zero effort on the part of the city to create a private industry partnership to develop and run a multi-use facility; there was only a city staff sponsored effort to raise taxes to partially cover the development of this limited use building. City management staff assumed the city should provide indoor recreation. I believe the city should encourage those who do this for a living should do so with city support; with proper incentives, an athletic conglomerate would make use of existing vacant space in the city to provide indoor recreation. The City should not be in the gym business. I, like many of my neighbors, are elderly and disabled in some manner and have no use for a basketball court, indoor soccer, or elevated running track. I can’t even get my street plowed when it snows; I certainly see no need for a multimillion dollar gym.

The third project is the worst. At the workshop, City representatives spoke of “beautification” and “following the character of each business district” incorporating positive outcomes from cities with vastly different demographics. Yet these schemes failed to assess the following:

- Commercial property in Carson City has the highest vacancy rate in history. In every “corridor” there are vacancy signs on almost every commercial building. Yet the plan is to use tax dollars to “beautify” these areas with no apparent effort to determine why business won’t come here (those of us who’ve tried to start a business here, we know why: Carson City is not conducive to startup business.) and certainly no zoning effort to bring some modicum of uniformity to the facades along these streets. Until the city does something about the run down stay-by-the-week hotels, decaying casino facades, congregations of drug users, second-hand smoke on every corner, and public alcohol consumption, this project is nothing more than a select few of our business community attempting to use tax payer’s coffers to realize their personal agendas. As a tax payer, I resent it; as a voter, I will not tolerate it.

- There was no mention at the work shop on, if constructed. how the maintenance for the corridors will be paid. Every plan that I saw had “green belts” and trees which would further deplete our already rationed water resources. I expect our city planners to be at least aware of ecological concerns if not advocates for conservancy. In the past year I’ve seen my water rates rise for “storm water management” and water improvement projects. I don’t need another increase to incorporate ill-designed city beautification plans.

As a tax payer and voter in Carson City, I want city staff to STOP!. Stop looking for ways to spend our money on projects only a select few want and none of us truly need. The city staff should be reprimanded for wasting our precious tax money and certainly for the waste of man-hours at the “workshops” which I found to be nothing more than a sham pitch effort. Any plan that includes the words “may,” “should,” “hope” and “possibly” is flawed at conception. The simple fact that these projects have no clear mission statement is indicative of the wasteful and ill-conceived scheme it represents.

There is no doubt we need a new animal control facility; the old one is decrepit. However, there are certainly more cost effective was of meeting the city’s needs than a 4 million dollar state-of-the-art facility. To our city managers, you are the stewards of our hard earned tax money. Act in our best interests and not for those with personal agendas of their own version of Carson City. You are responsible to us (the voters), be so now and vote “NO” on the 1/8 tax increase.