Dear County Commissioners,

 I have been thinking about ways we, the citizens, could help our poor county out of its financial state that it seems to have gotten into.  It will take sacrifice on all our parts to put this county back on the path of financial freedom and out from under the ugly debt we are digging into.

We all helped some a short while ago when property taxes were increased, but it seems it wasn’t enough.  In February, the Loudon County voters could have helped more, but for some reason rejected a half cent sales tax increase in the name of education by a two to one margin. This next election we will have another great opportunity to help with the vote on a $50 wheel tax for all citizens of Loudon County, what an opportunity!

I believe we shouldn’t stop there! I propose the Propeller Tax for all boats that belong to Loudon County residents. The details are sketchy at this time, but basically like the wheel tax, if it has a propeller then pay the tax. Now the question has arisen what if a boat has more than one propeller? This is very simple, the tax will be per propeller, for example, 0 propellers=$0 (with some exceptions), 1 propeller=$50, 2=$100 etc.  Some have pointed out that this is unfair to those having a very large boat, such as a yacht or large sailboat, as they can’t help anymore than those with little boats. The solution is any boat above 25 feet will get to help more with the luxury boat tax of $100, and anyone with a boat above 35 feet can really help with the luxury tax of $200! Now don’t worry you will get to pay this every year along with your property taxes and other taxes.

Some are asking how they can help more. I also propose a registration fee of $74 for all adult bicycles that ride our county roads. This matches the automobile fees and gives the riders a chance to help out too.  The police will have the duty to ticket any out of town cyclists using our road without registering and that will generate lots of revenue.  Now the people who have campers feel left out so
how about a registration for campers similar to the boats. Under 20 feet $50, over 21 feet $75 with $25 extra for 5^th wheels.

One last idea, how about the county mayor, county commission, the county school board, and every member of the county government get their act together and put a stop to the wastefulness we see every day? We go along without saying much for awhile but at a certain point it just gets stupid. Yes Mom I said STUPID. I know that is an ugly word, but I just can’t help it. At my house, just like all households, we live very simply like this, when the money is gone, it’s gone. If I can’t live on my income, well tough cuts must be made.  Stop the over spending, stop the whining and fix this. We all are feeling the crunch of gas prices, utilities, groceries, and so forth; don’t hurt your own citizens any worse by putting unfair taxes on them. This illustration was how it could be, how crazy it is, and don’t laugh, it might just be your boat, camper, or bicycle next election.

Vote no on the wheel tax this election.