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It may already be too late Meetings today and next Thursday will give Wilkes County taxpayers their last chance to say something about tax increases proposed by the Wilkes County Board of Education and the Wilkes County Board of Commissioners - for all the good it will do. The county's increase is relatively minimal (around 5 percent) and is due, according to the county, to a decrease in the tax digest brought about by adjustments to properties and various exemptions. The actual tax revenue for the county will stay the same, pretty much, but the non-exempt taxpayers will have to pay a little bit more. The school system has been handed the usual mandatory teacher pay raises and such by the state which must be funded locally. And there are undoubtedly other new expenses creeping in that are resulting in a proposed school tax increase of a ludicrous 14 percent. The absurdity is that little, if anything, can or will be done to prevent that increase. The hearings are required by law and will take place. Questions will be asked and answers given but, in the end, the powerless taxpayers will leave knowing that their tax bills this year are going to hurt a lot more than they did last year. Do the math - if taxes were to increase at these rates (combined, just over 11%) each year, it would take only seven years for tax bills to double. Realistically, that's not going to happen, but neither are taxes going to go back down. Economically, if a merchant raises the price of his goods too much, his customers abandon him and go somewhere else. If a person demands too much pay for services rendered, the consumer finds an affordable service elsewhere. If a person wants to be paid more than he is worth, he is either fired or he learns to live within his means. But government doesn't work that way - what they say, we pay. (See the letter from Scott Lewis on page 5 of this issue.) Taxpayers can fuss, complain, show up in numbers, threaten, scream, and otherwise pitch fitsand if we're lucky, maybe elected officials will think about it before proposing another tax hike of such proportions. For this year, it is doubtful anything can be done. Still, it's worth a try. If you don't want to pay higher taxes, show up at a hearing and let 'em have it. Hearings are to be held in the County Commissioners board room in the courthouse today at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. and next Thursday, November 1, at 1:30 p.m. Hearings will be held at the Board of Education building on N. Alexander Avenue today at 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. and next Thursday at 9 a.m.
The Board of Education will officially set the millage rate next Thursday in a called meeting at 10 a.m. and the Wilkes County Board of Commissioners will finalize the county tax rate at a called meeting beginning at 2 p.m. the same day, November 1.
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