UNDERSTANDING THE FUSTRATION, BUT RESPECTFULLY DISAGREE

The Polk County Republican Executive Committee, as expected, voted 30-4 last evening to send letters to four of the five county commissioners --- all Republicans --- reprimanding them for tenatively approving property tax increases for road construction and maintainence, libriaries, and parks.

Normally, I would be enjoying the idea of the local GOP taking such a rare move against their own. But in this case, the REC is wrong.

While the size of the tax increase is a bit large --- nearly 30 percent for residents of the county's unincorporated areas, and probably too much of an increase at once --- it represents the first such hike in over a decade. During that time Polk County has fallen seriously behind in building and maintaining the necessary infastructure to handle the amount of growth it has experienced.

This is more than just an issue of money. It's a classic question of what kind of quality of life do Polk Countians want. The improvements and additions to the infastructure which would come about through this increase would not only benefit the vast majority of residents, it will also help attract new business that would also help pay the tab. To quote Microsoft co-founder/Chairman Bill Gates as I did last week:

"It's a positive R and D (research and development) environment and a state where the talent enjoys coming and working there and raising kids in that location."

While politicos love to throw money and tax incentives at businesses to attract companies to an area, Mr. Gates remarks show that a good quality of life --- and that would include good roads, schools, libraries, parks --- shows that an area cares about it's citizens.

Noone likes to pay taxes. But the current situation could have been avoided if the previous commissioners had made the hard decisions in previous years.