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by Chris Littleton, Founder of Tennessee Rising
Murfreesboro City Council members have been telling city residents the decision to raise taxes wasn’t ideological. I speak nervous politician, so I can translate for you: “I’m a good Republican, and I am supposed to oppose higher taxes. But, on raising taxes this time – it was ok.” Looking at you McFarland, Martin and Smotherman (up for re-election in 2020). Voting record shows they are all Republicans.
In some of the most ridiculous double speak we have heard, this “it wasn’t ideological” justification is just pathetic. It requires backflips of logic, so for this statement to stand on its own, let’s explore two potential ideological positions:
1. Opposition to taking more money from people to spend on discretionary projects politicians want.
2. Support for taking more money from people to spend on discretionary projects politicians want.
Because we were told the city had cut spending to the bone by the mayor, nearly every council member and the city manager, it follows that they believe every discretionary project in the budget is justified or it would have been cut.
This proves they do have an ideological position and its #2 – taking more of your money to fund projects of their choice, like the $14.5 million improvements to soccer fields. Clearly an item that couldn’t be cut because soccer is a life necessity and the city has a moral obligation to build and maintain soccer fields (sarcasm intended).
But let’s take this another direction. Maybe what they meant was they don’t have an ideological position of any kind and are simply trying to reflect the will of Murfreesboro residents. I heard this line of thinking a lot when discussing the necessity to preserve 3 golf courses, tennis complexes and expand the parks and greenway system.
If they are just deferring to the will of the residents and hold no ideological position of their own, where is the proof Murfreesboro residents want a tax increase to save all the discretionary projects? We know people don’t want a tax increase (see survey results here), but was there a community survey conducted that showed people want higher taxes to fund more recreational facilities?
I have lived in communities which actually do conduct community surveys prior to large expenditures and long term planning. In Murfreesboro over the last few years, we have seen the politicians take their community advice from self interested parties, like the Chamber of Commerce, which the city funds to the tune of $766k a year. Sounds more like an echo Chamber, don’t you think?
As is the norm in every part of life, the parties that stand to benefit or lose the most engage in a situation to the greatest extent. Developers, the Chamber, city department heads and even city managers have all been driving the conversation. But the bulk of the community was not consulted or surveyed.
BTW – I am not advocating for decision making via mob rule. I am merely pointing out that the feedback loop in decision making has not involved a large part of the community. Also, I willingly admit that I didn’t attend council meetings in the past. I did not proactively engage myself. I didn’t know what a financial mess these politicians had created, because I wasn’t watching closely enough. Do I share part of the blame for this lack of informed accountability? Absolutely.
Back to the primary question, from where does the justification for the tax increase originate – ideology or will of the residents? The residents weren’t surveyed and to what extent they were heard at council meetings, they unequivocally opposed the tax increase. We can objectively answer that the tax increase did not originate from the will of the residents.
We are only left with the ideology of taking more money from people to spend on discretionary projects. If that was not the case, the discretionary projects would have been cut rather than preserved with more of your tax dollars.
Murfreesboro city council – be honest about your intent and your ideology. Stop the deception game and just own up to the fact that you believe it’s ok to take more of people’s hard earned money to fund your pet projects. Justify your decision making. Defend it. Don’t feign innocence or ignorance. It’s transparent and insulting.
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