To the Editor,
Though there are a number of specific issues fueling the current debate among the good people of the Town of Petersburgh, there seems to be one general problem underlying the entire situation. People are looking to the town government as a conduit through which to get their program of choice funded. The problem is government – whether federal, state, or local – is merely a sponge. Having no money of its own, it simply soaks up money from taxpayers, wrings itself out through spending, then soaks up more money from taxpayers. Furthermore, it usually overspends (often on programs it has no business funding in the first place), then raises taxes to cover its overspending while continuing to overspend.
Certainly a town government ought to levy and collect taxes to finance the needs that affect the entire town population (town offices, emergency vehicles, road maintenance, etc.), but it has no business financing community programs that are only used by a small percentage of the town citizenry (community centers, youth programs, etc.). Those programs should be financed through willing donations rather than compulsory taxes. The people who organize and use those programs can finance them through personal contributions, fundraisers, etc. – all of which the town people would be more able to contribute to if their tax burdens were eased. This alone would end the majority of fighting over government funds.
Then, once a town government is only financing what it ought to be financing, it needs to stop overspending. In light of the fact that all financial systems – whether personal, corporate, or government – operate on income and expenses, consider the following scenario. A small business owner decides to build an addition on his building for more office space and a company cafeteria, then cuts the wages of his employees to pay for it. Is that acceptable? Most would say no. Well, that is what the government does when it overspends. It decides to increase funds to a certain program, then “cuts the wages” of its citizens to pay for it by raising their taxes. The truth of the matter is, at least the small business owner has the right to do it since it is his money.
The government has no right at all to do it since that money belongs to the hardworking taxpayers who earned it. Honestly, it would be wise for the small business owner to wait until he makes enough profit, but it is imperative that the government wait until new sources of revenue move into town. Until that happens we must simply do what most Americans are tragically no longer accustomed to doing – go without. Just a thought!
Sincerely,
Scott A. DeGiorgio