Explain the sales tax

To the editor:

Regarding the proposed increase in sales tax to attract new business to the Shoals area, there are a number of things that must be taken into consideration.

First and foremost, one must consider the already immoral, repressive, usury sales tax on food.

An additional percentage of tax on a gallon of milk for a person making more than $50,000 a year is not a big deal.

For that mother of three children, who gets no child support, or the elderly on a fixed income, an additional tax on that gallon of milk could affect the nutritional needs of those children, or force an elderly person to make the decision between food and

medicine.

And for what? To wine and dine people who can afford to wine and dine themselves? Will that poor mother get one of those paltry 1,500 jobs? Will she make more than minimum wage?

With the built-in amenities already existing in the Shoals area there is no need to offer an additional bribe to industry to locate here. If they need a bribe, perhaps we don’t want or need that particular company.

Have the people who want to institute this wine-and-dine tax even taken a look at other areas that have been considered “boom towns” in the past few years?

Perhaps they should investigate what Motorola did to a small city in the Upper Mid-West. Their big wine-and-dine program turned into whine and crime in less than a decade.

It has not been explained exactly where this wine-and-dine tax would be spent. So far, it looks as though taxpayer money is just going to be sent down another black hole. Those that directly benefit, i.e. the existing businesses in the community, should be the ones to support the wine-and-dine program.

Until the explicit purpose of the tax is explained to the taxpayers’ satisfaction, it can be suggested if there is an extra half cent on every dollar spent to throw around, our communities would be far better served to throw that money towards the area’s under funded programs, such as the volunteer fire departments.

John Gross

Russellville