Tuesday, April 05, 2005
my little town
I love my little town. My parents grew up here. I grew up here. I returned here to live over twenty years ago. I moved my medical office here. It is a nice, sweet, gentle little town.
There are really high property taxes as there is no significant industry in the little town, and only one main street business district. Owning my home and my office means I get to pay a lot of taxes.
The current administration in town is working hard to improve it. There is a "Main Street USA" project and a "Business Improvement District". There are plans to spruce up the business district and make it classier.
Somehow, when the plans for the Business Improvement District, "the BID", were made, my office, a block off of main street in a residential area, was included. Later, a special tax was levied on businesses in "the BID".
When this became clear to me I made some inquiries as to what plans they actually had to improve my locale. I got no answer. As time went by I wondered if other professionals were included in "the BID" and the special taxation. I asked: I got no answer.
I have been more aggressive at asking the question of all the officials involved. The questions I ask are few and simple:
(1) If I am in the BID, what is in it for me?
(2) If there is nothing special for me, why am I in the BID?
(3) If there is nothing special for me, but there is some nebulous value meant to accrue to all professionals, why tax me and not all?
These questions seem simple. This is a small town. I love this town. Why can't they answer simple questions?
There are really high property taxes as there is no significant industry in the little town, and only one main street business district. Owning my home and my office means I get to pay a lot of taxes.
The current administration in town is working hard to improve it. There is a "Main Street USA" project and a "Business Improvement District". There are plans to spruce up the business district and make it classier.
Somehow, when the plans for the Business Improvement District, "the BID", were made, my office, a block off of main street in a residential area, was included. Later, a special tax was levied on businesses in "the BID".
When this became clear to me I made some inquiries as to what plans they actually had to improve my locale. I got no answer. As time went by I wondered if other professionals were included in "the BID" and the special taxation. I asked: I got no answer.
I have been more aggressive at asking the question of all the officials involved. The questions I ask are few and simple:
(1) If I am in the BID, what is in it for me?
(2) If there is nothing special for me, why am I in the BID?
(3) If there is nothing special for me, but there is some nebulous value meant to accrue to all professionals, why tax me and not all?
These questions seem simple. This is a small town. I love this town. Why can't they answer simple questions?
