Cabarrus Cheap Seats

Harold Smith reacts to an idea considered by Bob Carruth regarding using user fees to avoid future tax cuts. The Independent Tribune came out against such fees. Here’s Harold’s Response:

July 10, 2005: No User Fees
I agree with the editorial in today’s (7-10-05) Independent Tribune. User fees are a bad idea. Robert Freeman’s quote is correct. The idea of user fees show how Cabarrus County Commissioners Carpenter, Carruth and Juba are out of touch with the working families and seniors of Cabarrus County.
Cabarrus County government does not have a revenue and fee problem. The County has a spending problem. Harold Smith (A Fighting Taxpayer and Voter)

For all you folks who are related to people that work and/or are over the age of 55 (think about it - “working families and seniors” is another way of saying “everyone”), a few points to consider.

1. I remember reading these comments in the paper, but cannot find the article on-line that covers this. So, I can’t link to this article, and back up my thoughts like I like to do for the readers of this humble blog. From what I remember, this didn’t go down like Harold Smith would like you to believe. The user fee idea (not proposal, not resolution, but just an idea) was Bob Carruth’s alone. Commissioners Juba and Carpenter reacted lukewarmly and Commissioners Privette and Freeman openly opposed this idea. There was no strong coalition supporting this idea among Juba, Carruth, and Carpenter.
2. Why does Harold Smith get so bent of shape about fees to use the library; but doesn’t “fight the establishment” when it comes to the steep increase over the past five year in educational fees for public school students? I have a number of friends that have moved from out-of-state who are astonished at how much they have to pay to send their kids to school in Cabarrus County. My response to them, “Don’t complain - the people that are keeping the funding away from the county schools keep your taxes low”. I guess “working families” who have to pay more every year to send their kids to the free, public schools guaranteed to them by the State Constitution don’t factor into Harold Smith’s call for more “No User Fees”
3. Whatever happened to Coy Privette’s claim that “if you are a contributing cause of a problem, you should help to pay to alleviate it”? Following that logic, every service should have a toll or a fee associated with it; because the people not using a service aren’t contributing to the demand.
4. There’s no such thing as a “free service”. I serve on the Cabarrus County Parks & Recreation Commission. I know for a fact that we are served by a dedicated and talented Parks and Recreation staff. I’m also pretty sure that they cash their paychecks. That money comes from somewhere - and that somewhere is taxes or fees.
5. When Harold Smith calls for “No User Fees”, does he really mean “No User Fees”? Think about that for a second. Does this mean that when someone applies for a marriage license at the Register of Deeds, the County should pick up the tab? Should I be able to drive down Irish Potato Road and dump whatever I want into the landfill there at no charge? Also, abolishing user fees would take away about $15 million in revenue - where would the County come up with the funds to replace that?

It wasn’t the best political move to mention raising user fees after a revaluation and a property tax increase. That being said, people shouldn’t be attacked for considering alternative solutions to challenges. Also, took a bit of guile on the part of Coy Privette and Robert Freeman to be the ones doing the attacking. It was under their leadership that the County incurred massive amounts of non-voter approved debt that created the large expense which the county needs to pay for the next couple of decades.

Finally, addressing this “spending problem” non-sense, I think it’s put up or shut up time on this alleged government waste issue. There are those whose entire platform is that the County and various city governments are bloated and inefficient. The press and the voters should require that those candidates fully enumerate and quantify the cuts or alternative methods those candidates would employ to rectify the situation. Coy Privette and Robert Freeman had the chance during the last budget cycle, but chose to criticize the majority. When they were in the majority (with the once and future candidate Richard Suggs) during the few budget cycles, the county debt increased and expenditures increased across the entire budget - why didn’t they strike while the iron was hot then?

As opposed to the rest of my ranting, this is not just a mere”view from the cheap seats”. I, Justin Thibault, presented a realistic idea at the budget hearing (albeit vague and incomplete) of how the county can save money by installing wireless networks in the yet-to-be constructed schools. Now if some young, impetuous, wide-eyed idealist such as I can come up with one good idea and respectfully present it to the Cabarrus BOC, why hasn’t former CFO and self-appointed expert Harold Smith managed to do the same?