By Ed Randazzo
On Saturday, December 11, 2010 I attended “Coffee and Conversation,” an
event sponsored by SD Senator Stan Adelstein (District 32). This event was designed to obtain input from citizens on the issues important to them.
Several citizens expressed their concerns over a wide range of issues from rough railroad crossings in Rapid City to a bill planned by Senator Adelstein to increase sales taxes.
In a handout distributed at the event, Senator Adelstein wrote “to make up the shortfall in the state budget we must have a temporary (three year) increase of one cent sales tax for only three months each year.” He alleges that “this would generate a little over $50,000,000 per year, or $150,000,000 to make up the shortfall.” He further offered that “26% of this is paid by tourists.”
My input on this proposed new tax was that it is unacceptable to me to consider increasing taxes which further enables the growth of government and unfunded spending by simply taxing the citizens to cover the largesse of their state government. Through good years and bad the size of government and the state budget has increased every year. We have delayed and procrastinated from addressing the issue of structural deficits in the state budget. Each year the “balanced budget” gets larger and the government gets larger.
Every department and every program must be value-tested and cost reductions and efficiencies must be identified and implemented. We must stop the addiction to spending. We must cease the dependence on the “trainload of money” from Washington to balance the budget.
What do you think?
