Marion County IL TEA Party

Bob Wright says:

Several years ago I used to write letters to the Salem paper which resulted in a large following. I do miss that a lot but, I am VERY concerned about Our County and the people within. We have lost so many jobs and the prospect of obtaining any is looking very slim. This raises a VERY HUGE question for me; how does a Person/Family pay for a home to live in if they do not have employment? Please really think about that. Try to put yourself in that person’s shoes. Now, isn’t that a good question? It’s a very tough position to be in isn’t it? How do you buy food, clothes, pay the electricity bill, pay the heating costs or send your kids to school?
Now that you have taken these vital issues into consideration let’s go one step further. How do you pay for Property Taxes? We just took a major hit from our Faithful and Considerate Board Members didn’t we? Not all! There were a few considerate and concerned Members that didn’t vote for these increases and my hat is off to them.
Here is my opinion at what happened; Member/Members of our County Board discussed among their elves how they could raise revenue to cover the County expenses. Heaven forbid that they’d have to do some actual work by putting pencil to paper. They can’t raise Taxes because, thank God, we voted in a Tax cap several years ago. So the County cannot raise any more than 1% but IF real estate were higher then, that 1% becomes more money. Following me? The next step would be to check the guidelines with the State of Illinois to see if there are any loop holes that their share of taxes could be raised. (1% is getting higher) Next step would be to see if EVERYONE is paying their fair share which is a good thing to do. I don’t have a problem with that at all EXCEPT, as you may remember, several years ago this was actually done which did result in some paying more than others. This is how the County handled that. They RAISED the ones that were not paying as much as the others. Why didn’t they LOWER the ones to equal the others? Makes sense to me IF I were concerned about our Tax Payers. How do you see that 1% now? Just my opinion folks.
One might ask how can we fix this? Well, in my humble opinion, why don’t “WE” take control of this by putting on the Ballot that ALL tax increases WILL BE voted on by our Marion County Tax Payers? You can’t do anything (at present) what the State implies but you SURE can at the County Level. Sure there would be drawbacks on this but it gives the County Citizens the power to say yes or no and isn’t that the exact reason why this Country was formed?
I’m curious to hear any and all thoughts on this. I’m just so concerned about the people that are trying so hard to just survive without a job or are just barely getting by. I believe it is time for us to take control.
Just my opinion
Robert A. Wright