Change the ask on Hilton Head referendum, and vote this May | Letters
The Town of Hilton Head Island’s parks/arts tax referendum was delayed for consideration until November 2021. Why incur unnecessary consulting costs?
Let’s appeal for wider support by adding dollars to preserve natural open spaces, including more park land. Stop removing trees for over-development! A striking example is clearing of every last tree for a development off Spanish Wells Road. It’s sad that this narrow acreage was not purchased by our town last year. Maybe if part of the sale could have creatively been a charitable deduction incentive for the seller it could have happened.
For wider appeal, our mayor and Town Council are urged to stand out, stand up, and place this referendum on a May 2020 ballot with these changes:
▪ Increase the referendum to $85 million over 25 to 30 years.
▪ Add $30 million for land acquisition, including park land.
▪ Change parks from $30 million to $25 million.
▪ Change arts organizations from $35 million to $30 million.
It has been reported 50% of the wildlife will be gone in 30 years due to climate change. Our island is an important passage way for bird migrations. We are rapidly losing areas along the coast for their rest and nourishment.
Urge funds also be allocated from each annual budget to incentivize owner tax-deductible donations. Circulate draft wording for family wills, like universities do.
Urge there be a special town meeting soonest to place this initiative on the May ballot. The land we save will stay “as is” for centuries.
Let’s do this!
Dick King
Hilton Head Island
‘MAGA’? We’ve been conned, duped, hoodwinked
Dear readers, I ask you: What does “Make America Great Again” look like? Lower taxes? Booming economy? Equality? If you think we’ve got it, think again. We’ve been conned, duped, gulled, hoodwinked, snookered, suckered, you name it.
Remember, in December 2017, when the Republican Congress and our president rammed through a $1.9 trillion tax-cut bill? They said the cuts would be “one of the great Christmas gifts to middle-income people,” “the rocket fuel for our economy.” (Of course, they forgot to mention that most of the cuts would go to corporations and the very wealthy. But not to worry, the money would “trickle down” to the middle class.)
They told us:
▪ Business investment would jump. But it hasn’t, and lags substantially behind the preceding quarters’ averages.
▪ GDP growth would “skyrocket” to between 4% and 6%. But it hasn’t, averaging only 2.5%, the same as before.
▪ Household incomes would increase between $4,000 to $9,000 a year. But they haven’t. It’s only $550 in the first year.
▪ The tax cuts would pay for themselves, adding nothing to the federal debt or even reducing it. But they haven’t and they won’t. The Congressional Budget Office now projects that the tax cuts will increase the national debt by $1.9 trillion over 11 years.
As an added “benefit,” in 2018, most corporations in the Fortune 500 avoided paying even the new lower corporate tax rate of 21%.
See the new budget, my fellow readers, and answer this: Is that what “great” looks like?
Avrom Gold
Hilton Head Island
The perfect Democratic candidate
So the Democrats want a candidate who has never told a lie, has never had any sexual encounters of any kind, has never uttered a racist comment or had racist thoughts, does not have billions of dollars at his or her disposal, has never had any kind of quid pro quo in his or her life, and has no problem with late-term abortion. Sounds to me like they should nominate either a robot or a goat.
Wally Slate
Okatie
How to submit a letter
Send letters to the editor by email to letters@islandpacket.com or letters@beaufortgazette.com.
Or you may submit a letter online.
Letters to the editor must be 250 words or fewer and include your first and last names, street address and daytime telephone number so we can verify the letter before publication.
You are limited to one letter per 30 days.
Letters may be edited for length, style, grammar, taste and libel. All letters submitted become the property of The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette.