Cabarrus Cheap Seats

For a time, I’ve been trying to consider the other side of the coin. Could it be that Coy, Harold, and others are right and I’m dead wrong? I’m willing to consider it (and have). However, I think the problem is not so much a difference of philosophy; but one of one group of people [...]

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“I have no problem whatsoever letting the future pay for schools” - Coy Privette 
Oh, yes, you heard that right: Coy is interested in mortgaging the future. In all honesty, I thought of using the term “Cabarrus Youth Tax” as an illustration of how the debt that Coy Privette, Richard Suggs, and Robert Freeman arranged when [...]

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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. [...]

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For the third and final Point/Counter-Point, I’m going to discuss the change in tone of the leadership of the Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners. The fact that there was a two-page editorial explaining why the taxes were going up authored by one of the Commissioners in leadership speaks to the change in style - the [...]

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This is probably one of the most subtle, yet important differences in the two articles. What happens with money outside of the budget. If you noticed, the FY 2006 budget is balanced to the penny. This never happens in reality. Actually, municipal governments are sometimes left with a little more than they anticipated. This happened [...]

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Over the next couple of days, I’m going to take the directly opposing statements made by both Commissioners Carruth and Privette and compare them against widely available facts. Today, I’m going to cover claims and counter-claims made regarding the amount of money brought in by property taxes:

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In an attempt to be fair and balanced, I’m posting the editorial that ran in today’s and Sunday’s Independent Tribune from Robert Freeman and Coy Privette. If you read through both of these, you will have been exposed to just about the entire content of the campaign rhetoric for the 2006 Cabarrus County Commissioner’s race. [...]

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Following the vote setting the tax rate to $0.63 per $100, Bob Carruth wrote an editorial covering the reasons behind that decision and the parameters surronding it. The Independent Tribune didn’t post this on their website. In spite of that, they provided this community with a great service for handling an article of this length, [...]

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