Writer: use new tax revenue wisely

To the Editor:

I offer these observations as an open letter to our locally elected officials and their teams. Recently, Van Wert County performed their legally obligated revaluation of real estate in the county. Many of us had heard on the news the increases in values would be substantial, which frankly isn’t surprising given recent real estate markets.

In my instance, my property valuation increased approximately 31.5%, meaning that our local governments will be receiving nearly a third more money from my wife and I than they have in the past. We all know costs have gone up, and certainly costs associated with county, township, schools, municipalities and other governments have also increased.

However, I seriously doubt the costs of operating these government entities has risen 31.5 percent since the last reappraisal.

Here’s my question for our government officials: What are you going to do with all that additional money?

I write to encourage our officials to strongly resist the temptation to increase their spending, to add new equipment, programs and services, to add employees.

Rather, I encourage you to pay down debt, thereby relieving taxpayers of tax levies early. For example, a newly passed five-year levy to fund an improvement can now be paid off in under four years! I encourage you to save these new found funds for future needs. And, lastly, I encourage you to listen to your taxpayers particularly before you add to your expenditures. Let’s make sure the new found money doesn’t burn a hole in our pockets.

Sincerely,
D. J. Muse, CPA (inactive)