Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 17:02:11 -0400
From: “connectnc.net”
Subject: My thoughts on county economics
I keep reading the post about the difference between democratic liberals and conservative republicans . I put some thought into this and came up with my thoughts on it so please read on . My daddy ran a fairly successful business for most of his life . He never made it rich but he managed to raise two children , one legally blind and one hard headed boy who liked to tear up cars . He never felt I listened to him but I guess I listened more than either one of us realized . So here is my analogy based on what I learned from my daddy all those years working for him .
The shop made money as long as we had customers . We had customers because we did high quality work and completed it on time and for a fair price .. If daddy needed a new tool we did the work to make extra and saved to purchase it . If it was too expensive like a new delivery van he looked at his budget to see what amount of payment he could afford . Many times he had to let wants go and needs come first . If we wanted a new car for the family it would wait till we had a new van for the shop . The shop fed us so it came first and home was second then wants last on the list . He never went bankrupt and he managed to stay in business with near perfect credit till he died . I somehow got the notion I liked turning a wrench better than reupholstery . I have been in and out of business a number of times . During my last marriage I ran a shop and when someone at home wanted something , a nice new shiny I bought it or put it on credit . I ran into difficulty many times paying for needs like food , bills , and clothing . I always put the kids first but my lack of management skills with money sank me into bankruptcy just before daddy passed .When he passed my mother managed to burn over $190,000 in debt and since she was disabled guess who was left to clean up the mess . If it hadn’t been for what I saw daddy do and the realization that I knew I was doing it wrong I wouldn’t have been able to do what I did to save us . I filed her bankrupt and paid over $650 a month to the bankruptcy court for nearly 4 years . After that was dismissed I was left with $450 a month second mortgage stuck on my house to pay off her credit cards from before the bankruptcy all while cleaning up my own mess . I learned to stretch a dime to a dollar and the difference between a want and a need . It was a painful life lesson but after nearly 20 years of struggling I don’t have much but its paid for I am in the black !
Now lets put County economics into perspective . The county is like a business and we the tax payers are the customers . They provide us with services paid for with our money . There are two ways to run the county , daddy’s conservative way or my mothers liberal spending way . The county can continue to fund infrastructure like helping Siler City with mega-site funding and Pittsboro with water line needs and supporting teachers and keeping the county budget lean so we all get most of what we want and our money is spent wisely . The first rule of a successful business is to never spend more than your current profits can support on anything . Expenses come first and expansions and wants are second and last . The current commissioners are spreading our money as evenly and responsibly as possible to keep us financially in the black so taxes stay down . They are also focusing on what will bring in more customers to add to our treasury ( tax payers from new jobs created ) . When jobs are created more tax revenue is generated so there is money for expansions and wants without increasing property taxes .. The current method conservative commissioners are using will steadily grow tax revenues and control spending to prevent tax increases .
Democrats are trying to buy votes with your money promising more for teachers and parks and all sorts of things the current tax revenue cant afford . They want to send more money to teachers ( who deserve much more ) and spend more on parks and art and many other things that wont generate more tax revenue . With these additional expenditures it will be a short matter of time before the county budget gets tight and when unexpected expenses for needs arise then the budget goes into the red . When the county budget goes into the red cuts are made first so we get even less than what we pay for . When cuts wont cure the budget then other measures have to take place namely increasing property tax , fees on permits and just about any other thing you pay the county for . Just like with my mama when she dug a hole and the debt was dropped in my lap it will really hurt everyone when the county over spends and drops the debt on tax payers . Pay close attention to Wake county’s taxes as they are sky high compared to ours and this came from rapid growth and overspending with leveraging future increases in tax revenue that didn’t come fast enough so property taxes went to the moon . I’m not saying we cant build parks , enhance the arts and help teachers . I’m saying we need to stick within our budget and slowly make progress in those directions . Needs have to come first and we need infrastructure repairs , new jobs so the people of this county can all have a job to make money for their families . When people work they spend more money , more money spent locally helps build our tax revenues and strengthen the local economy so we can afford parks , art and other wants . Teachers are getting some help from the commissioners already and there is no doubt that when extra funds are available they will get more . Chatham County is one of the very few that has found money for its teachers .
Now let me make my point . Think about yourself , your income and your money . New shiny things are nice but if you cant afford them even on credit would you go out of your way to buy something you know you cant afford or keep ? Would you depend on overtime hours that may not come at work ? Would you do without the basics like gas , groceries , heat just to buy a new shiny to sit in your yard ? You certainly would not so why expect our county government to do it . If your going to move forward you have to buy a horse before the cart if your planning on going anywhere . Buy the cart first and you will be sitting around waiting for someone else to pull you along . I’m not a republican nor a democrat , I am an independent thinker . Goodnite Mark 🙂