By Tom McRae
Special to the Daily Union
It is interesting to note the outcry from some on the current Junction City Commission about county residents needing to support the municipal golf course and municipal airport has been taken up by some of the candidates for the commission.
Before I express my opinion on this movement to increase the revenue base for these operations, I believe the readers need to know a little bit about me. I have lived in the Junction City area for all but about 10 of my 68 years.
I am a former Junction City Commissioner, so I do have an idea of the operation of the city. For the last 18 years I have lived outside the city limits of Junction City in rural Geary County.
I firmly believe that the function of government is to provide those necessary and desirable services that cannot or will not be reasonably provided by the private sector. I will tie this next bit of information about me into the theme of this letter in a later paragraph.
I do not rejoice in the big news that Starbucks is coming to Junction City. I am a coffee drinker, but I drink my coffee black. With my weight problem, I do not need the 530 calories in a ''vente'' size Peppermint Mocha Frappucino, even though it would probably taste good. I also choose not to pay the price for one.
Starbucks does serve regular coffee; however, I do not care for either the taste or the price of it. Therefore, I will not be a user of the new Starbucks. I do not say that other people shouldn't be. Going on 30 years ago, when I was first elected to the Junction City Commission, both the municipal golf course and the municipal airport funding were subjects of concern. The ''benefits'' of each were always loudly proclaimed by their supporters. It was always stated that we needed to subsidize their operation because of their ''benefits to the community.''
The golf course was to someday become self supporting. Now some on the commission and some commission hopefuls are looking on those of us who reside outside the municipality of Junction City with their revenue greedy eyes. They think that we should support the Municipal golf course and the Municipal airport.
Government does not exist to collect revenue, only to provide those necessary and desirable services. Revenue is necessary only to provide those services. There is no ''profit'' in government or government operations.
Now, my point — I am not a golfer; I am not a pilot. I do not use the Municipal golf course and I do not use the Municipal airport. I question the benefits to me of either. However, I do not say that others do not benefit from them.
The idea that the many should contribute to the cost of operation of facilities for the benefit of the few is akin to asking me to contribute to the cost of their Frappucino. Not only do the tax payers of rural Geary County need to tell both the City and County Commissions ''No,'' but the taxpayers of Junction City need to say ''enough is enough.''
It is time both the golf course and the airport pay their own way. I am not saying do not have them. I am saying it is time to eliminate the subsidies.
People who want, use and enjoy the golf course need to pay its way. People who want and use the airport need to pay its way. People who want a Frappucino from Starbucks need to pay for their own.
Tom McRae lives in Milford.
Source: http://www.thedailyunion.net
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment