Taxation is a delicate dance
By Staff
Jason Cannon, Franklin County Times
Monday morning, the Franklin County Commission voted to ask Sen. Roger Bedford and Rep. Johnny Mack Morrow to introduce local legislation that could pave the way for a 1-cent sales tax increase, which would help fund economic development.
There are a handful of things in this world that can spark a blood feud between friends and neighbors and taxes are certainly one of them.
Commissioner Gene Graham, who cast the lone dissenting vote Monday, said he couldn't support the tax increase without the county's volunteer fire departments getting at least part of it.
He said, collectively, they are the most called upon group in Franklin County. These brave men and women rely on nominal local funding and fundraisers that have to hold and coordinate themselves.
He said any kind of tax increase without some consideration for the fire departments would not be right. He's exactly right.
Dr. Wayne Ray, Superintendent of Education for Russellville, was also at the meeting. He asked the commission to consider what the tax increase would do to education.
He said this proposed tax increase would make it hard for the educational system to visit a tax increase in the future, which would help support its expansion.
Without a reliable income stream the school system may have to look at layoffs in the future. He said this proposed tax could cause problems for local education that would be difficult for school system to overcome. He's exactly right, too.
Franklin County Development Authority Executive Director Mitch Mays said without this tax, or some kind of stable funding for the future, recruiting viable industry to Franklin County will be difficult.
Without the money to get projects off the ground, like an industrial park in Vina, a proposed industrial park in Phil Campbell or future construction that could be used to leverage business to the area, our industrial development board is just spinning their wheels.
Mays said the money this tax could provide would be enough to give some of these projects a full head of steam and would make Franklin County very competitive when it comes to attracting new jobs.
He's right, too.
Taxes are not the most popular way to provide revenue. Elected officials hate to bring it up and tax payers hate to see it come up for debate.
The fact that our elected officials see the need enough to support a tax increase is a vote of confidence that one is needed.
However Dr. Ray and Mr. Graham have provided Sen. Bedford and Rep. Morrow with some food for thought.
If Franklin County is going to move forward, we're going to have to pave the way for it. Unfortunately that seems to mean an increase in taxes. I wish the best of luck to Sen. Bedford and Rep. Morrow as they decide what is best for the county going forward. They've been presented with three unmet needs that one more cent on the dollar could go a long way in helping.
While I don't look forward to having to pay the extra cent, I realize that if you're not willing to give up a little, you shouldn't expect many rewards to reap. Think of the extra cent as an investment, because that's exactly what it is. It's an investment in our county's future; regardless of where it goes.
