Cabarrus Cheap Seats

“The greatest of faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none.” - Thomas Carlyle

According to Harold Smith and Coy Privette - I’ve been undertaxed. Or, they were simply mistaken. Or, they were exploiting perception to score some votes in the May Primary.

I’m going to serve up a big helping of the benefit of the doubt and just say that they were mistaken. This assumes innocence on all parts.

In April, Harold Smith stated that my county tax bill would be 20% higher than last year. Here’s what he said on his site.

Citizens, Do you realize that you have not seen the big property tax increase yet. Wait to you see your property tax bill in July. It will be 20% higher than last year! 

In spite of this, my 2006 County tax bill was $1.57 lower than the one that I got in 2005. Of course, Harold wasn’t alone in spreading this false information around. Here’s what Coy said just this April:

When I came on the board, our tax rate was 70 cents per hundred. Due to the growth in revenues, our tax rate dropped to 53 cents. 

However, this year taxpayers will get hit with the largest property tax increase of any county in the state.

He repeated those statements at the most recent Board of Commissioners meeting.

The Difference Between Them and Me

I wish that I could say that the difference was that I never made a mistake with this blog. While I spend ample time researching, reading, and soliciting information from a variety of sources - I’ve gotten things wrong. Usually, it’s a typo or broken link; and I fix it quietly. On a rare occasion - it’s a glaring error. And then I get to own up to it.

In 2005, during a post-election article I stated that two of the candidates were first time voters. This had been stated by the Independent Tribune; and, the State Board of Elections site was down when I was writing the article, so - I figured the folks at the Tribune had done their homework and I stated this (with a link to the Tribune article).

I was wrong.

I got some e-mails shortly thereafter stating that they had voted before. I checked back on the State Board of Elections site and I noticed that they had. What did I do? Well, I crossed out the mistake and put in a note AND I posted an article pointing out my mistake, how it was made, and the truth. I didn’t try to wiggle out of the statement or qualify it. I posted something that was wrong and I respected them and my readers enough to acknowledge my mistake.

I was wrong, I did what I could to own up to my mistake and correct it, and I apologized to the affected parties.

So, given a similar situation what does Harold do? Cover it up.

There He Goes Again

Just like the situation where he missed Grace Mynatt becoming a Republican by more than half a century (He said 2006 when it was really 1953)

Now the cover-up machine is in full swing. Harold Smith sent out an e-mail that asked if you got your tax bill and focused on the fact that the rate wasn’t $0.53 per $100 valuation. Of course, he didn’t credit Carolyn Carpenter on the work that she did to offer the fractional tax cut.

The Truth About Your Taxes

You’ll hear more blathering about how the rate could be lower; but what Harold Smith won’t tell you is when the Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners was under the control on the Cabarrus Taxpayers Association they did not truly cut your taxes - they only deferred them. Their budgets were textbook examples of fiscal irresponsibility: spending that was greater than revenue, spending growth that outpaced population growth and inflation, and capital plans which were based on short-sighted wishful thinking and not reality.

Regular readers of this blog are probably tired of hearing this; but it needs to be said every time they propagate fairy tale.

Were are paying the first installment of the Cabarrus Youth Tax: READ MORE ABOUT IT HERE

The one and only part of the budget which has consistently outpaced revenue is Debt Service; and most of that debt was incurred when Coy and his friends controlled the Cabarrus County Commissioners. Therefore, the only reason you’re paying higher taxes today is because of decisions made in the earlier part of this decade.

It is only now that growth is being brought under control, capital projects are based on reality, and budget expenditures are not outpacing revenue.

Do The Means Justify The Ends?

Dissent is the highest form of patriotism, and a healthy democracy can only exist with a skeptical press and the threat of exposure of misdeeds by the government. However, those who publish information and exercising their First Amendment right should keep in mind with those rights come responsibility. A responsibility to the truth and to the facts. Character is not only being right as much as possible; but owning up to the truth when you’re wrong. In these parts, character appears to be in short supply.

I guess I grew up on tales of folks like Lincoln, Kennedy, and Reagan - leaders who could acknowledge mistakes and still inspire the angels of our better nature. Instead, most of those involved in public debate just make a lot of noise.

We’ve seen the depth of Harold Smith’s character (or lack thereof) in this latest episode with his claim in April of a 20% tax hike from 2005 and then trying to cover it up. As for his buddy Coy - The next time he gets in front of the cameras - will he demonstrate to his friend how to behave when they make a misstatement or will we get more of the same?