The Fayette Citizen-Opinion Page
Wednesday, October 28, 1998
5 amendments create more taxes, bureaucracies; just say no to them all

Letters from Our Readers

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This Nov. 3, there will be five amendments to the state constitution on the ballot, yet there has been almost no coverage of these issues.

The first of these five amendments institutes a 100-percent increase in transfer tax on real estate transactions. This money will then be set aside in a fund that will not be part of the annual budget process and, as such, will not be subject to the will of the legislators or the taxpayers.

Proposed amendment 2 sets the lottery money aside solely for education, a good thing, but also directs where the monies should go, not necessarily a good thing.

Proposed amendment 3 uses the specter of the DUI as an excuse to tax another group, albeit smaller, and creates another fund that is not subject to the will of the legislators or taxpayers.

Proposed amendment 4 creates another fund. This one is for roadway beautification and comes from funds associated with tree trimming, apparently from billboards and "other related assessments." More taxes and more programs.

Proposed amendment 5 creates another bureaucracy, this one to set the pay of our elected officials. Apparently, they are tired of taking the heat for giving themselves pay raises, so they want an appointed, unaccountable committee to do it for them.

Regardless of the underlying value of some of these proposals, all seem to create more taxes and remove them from the budget process, thereby removing the programs and our representatives from the accountability owed to the taxpayers of this fine state.

Before you skip over the back of the ballot because it will take too long to read, take the extra time to read these amendments. It is your money. It is your government, and don't think that because the tax is levied against someone else that that tax is not passed on to you, the consumer, in one way or the other.

Gary Rower
Peachtree City


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