Letter: Not buying either referendum

So, as way of a reminder let’s review:

A Beaufort County Councilman allowed as how the really important items in the county’s 1 percent sales tax referendum could be covered with around $45 million.

Superintendent Jeff Moss and his lackeys on the school board want you to commit to 10 years worth of yet a different 1 percent sales tax referendum without any means of guaranteeing that they will do what they promise to do. This from a superintendent who was found guilty of ethics violations, a board that wants to keep you from being able to speak your mind at board meetings and which, it seems, has another controversy every other week.

A sales tax is a regressive tax. This means that lower-income individuals pay more as a percentage of income than do higher earners. It is a tax that is least fair to poor people. Poor and lower-income people should not vote for a sales tax.

I will vote “no” on both of these propositions. Instead, I urge the County Council to come back next time after removing the items from the proposal that can and should be paid for with private money; essentially, don’t ask us to fund anything that does not benefit all of the citizens of Beaufort County. As for the school board, give us a proposal that does not tie us down to a 10-year commitment and provides a meaningful guarantee of accountability and maybe we’ll like it better.

This story was originally published November 3, 2016 at 4:15 PM with the headline "Letter: Not buying either referendum."