Dave Callard Tax and Spend King
On occasion, a sales ad will mention that they have "passed the savings on to you." Simply stated, they have reduced production costs and they are lowering their price. Consumers are used to hearing the line from the private as well as the public sector.
In the Orleans County Legislature, there are people who do not think that savings are ever passed on to consumers. They used that as a justification for not lowering or temporarily eliminating the county portion of the gas tax. If you weren't convinced enough, they recruited an Albany County comptroller to come into Orleans County and tell them that a gas tax abatement did not work in his county, the oil companies did not pass on the savings. Depending on which paper you read, you may have seen that he recommended a property tax decrease as a means of relief. Property tax cut? Didn't somebody tell the guy he was in Orleans County?
After the last few months, I would like to nominate Dave Callard to the tax and spend hall of fame. I have never seen a politician work as hard to offer excuses as to why taxes cannot be lowered. According to Callard, the high cost of gas is a problem that has to be solved either nationally or internationally and if the county gave up the tax revenue, they would not be able to pay for the state's unfunded mandates. The translation for those of you who do not speak political double talk, it's not the county's problem.
If Callard's performance arguing against the gas sales tax abatement did not convince you of his worthiness in the tax and spend hall of fame, then consider his willingness to vote for increased fees in the Real Property Tax Department. Remember that "pass the savings on to you," scenario I mentioned earlier. Well the Real Property Tax Department can boast that it saved $50,000, and in the same breath propose fee hikes. I guess that means that they didn't "pass on the savings" to us, but rest assured, Callard voted for a hefty pay increase for the Real Property Tax Director. Now that is some good old-fashioned tax and spending.
For some icing on the cake, let's not forget that Callard mentioned a sales tax increase to pay for the new county jail. That is because for the last two years the legislature has been raking in record amounts of sales tax revenue and yet nobody said, "hey, maybe we should set up a reserve fund for all of this extra money." Instead, they just spent it and Callard, along with a few others, approved every tax and spending increase.
One final note to the legislature, if you are going to invite somebody to speak against the gas tax abatement, how about giving equal time to the other side; it is easy to make a decision when you only have one side of the issue, but not exactly fair.
In the Orleans County Legislature, there are people who do not think that savings are ever passed on to consumers. They used that as a justification for not lowering or temporarily eliminating the county portion of the gas tax. If you weren't convinced enough, they recruited an Albany County comptroller to come into Orleans County and tell them that a gas tax abatement did not work in his county, the oil companies did not pass on the savings. Depending on which paper you read, you may have seen that he recommended a property tax decrease as a means of relief. Property tax cut? Didn't somebody tell the guy he was in Orleans County?
After the last few months, I would like to nominate Dave Callard to the tax and spend hall of fame. I have never seen a politician work as hard to offer excuses as to why taxes cannot be lowered. According to Callard, the high cost of gas is a problem that has to be solved either nationally or internationally and if the county gave up the tax revenue, they would not be able to pay for the state's unfunded mandates. The translation for those of you who do not speak political double talk, it's not the county's problem.
If Callard's performance arguing against the gas sales tax abatement did not convince you of his worthiness in the tax and spend hall of fame, then consider his willingness to vote for increased fees in the Real Property Tax Department. Remember that "pass the savings on to you," scenario I mentioned earlier. Well the Real Property Tax Department can boast that it saved $50,000, and in the same breath propose fee hikes. I guess that means that they didn't "pass on the savings" to us, but rest assured, Callard voted for a hefty pay increase for the Real Property Tax Director. Now that is some good old-fashioned tax and spending.
For some icing on the cake, let's not forget that Callard mentioned a sales tax increase to pay for the new county jail. That is because for the last two years the legislature has been raking in record amounts of sales tax revenue and yet nobody said, "hey, maybe we should set up a reserve fund for all of this extra money." Instead, they just spent it and Callard, along with a few others, approved every tax and spending increase.
One final note to the legislature, if you are going to invite somebody to speak against the gas tax abatement, how about giving equal time to the other side; it is easy to make a decision when you only have one side of the issue, but not exactly fair.
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