By
Beacon Author
on June 3, 2010 at 01:02 pm
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NDTA Launches Awareness Campaign Locally
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Last September, Mayor John Warford of Bismarck proposed to double the city sales tax. At the time, the North Dakota Taxpayers' Association went on the record as saying this was nothing more than a shell-game to confuse voters.
"To sum up the plan, the Mayor wants to increase the sales tax by a penny to reduce property taxes and fix the roads.
Sounds great, right? Of course.
What's the problem?
The current one-cent city sales tax is already for that purpose.
The City of Bismarck wants to use the existing one-cent sales tax to fund an expansion of the Civic Center.
He know's they can't increase property taxes to do it.
So their plan is create a 2nd cent of sales tax to do what the 1st cent is already doing, then convert the purpose of the 1st cent to expand the Civic Center.
It really is a brilliant shell game - tell people their property taxes will go down, when in reality nothing will change [for the property taxpayer.]"
(Read the whole commentary from September 10th, 2009)
Days later, Mayor Warford announced that the plan would be postponed till the 2011 budget cycle, after the election.
Bismarck Mayor John Warford now wants to delay drafting a second penny sales tax ballot and table its discussion until the 2011 budget sessions next summer.
In a Sept. 15 letter addressed to the Bismarck City Commission, Warford asked that city attorney Charles Whitman hold off on making the sample ballot.
Warford wrote that the timing may be poor for a second penny sales now that the recession has come to Bismarck, referring to the pending closure of the Bismarck Bobcat plant and loss of 475 jobs. "It may be more appropriate to further consider this issue some time in the future," he stated.
That election is next Tuesday.
While the issue has been put off and swept under the rug by many, it is the view of the Taxpayers' Association that this tax increase plan is still the works, just waiting for the election to be over.
As a result, we have launched an awareness campaign in the Bismarck area. Voters in the Bismarck city elections deserve to know what and who they are supporting.
-Dustin Gawrylow, Executive Director
North Dakota Taxpayers' Association
Phone: 701-751-2530
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