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Robert Malt
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EDITOR’S NOTE: Malt is executive director of STOP — Sales Tax Opposition Partnership — and lives in Arden.
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Many of you have been working hard, putting out signs, handing out fliers, making phone calls and supporting our grassroots effort financially.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Because of your efforts, Buncombe County voters are beginning to hear our message....NO COUNTY TAX HIKE .... VOTE NO TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8.
People don’t like tax hikes to begin with ... and the more they hear about this one, the less they like it.
Let’s review the facts about this proposed $130 million sales tax hike:
1) By state law, the money raised from the tax doesn’t go to A-B Tech ... it goes to our county commissars (er... I mean... commissioners), to spend how they please.
2) It is an indefinite (and likely permanent) tax increase. It never
expires! Anyone who says it is temporary is uninformed or lying to you.
3) If passed, this tax will create large unfunded liabilities for
Buncombe County taxpayers to build and maintain these new construction
projects ... which means higher taxes for you in the future.
4) If passed, the money would be wasted on dumb projects such as a
24,000-square-foot gym ... what does that have to do with education!
5) More money will be wasted on much higher interest payments than if Buncombe County passed a simple bond referendum.
6) Jobs will be lost. The John Locke Foundation says that many
jobs will be lost if $7 million dollars a year is taxed out of the
private economy.
7) It’s just plain wrong to vote on a county-wide tax increase in
an off-year election. You can thank shady backroom dealing by (A-B
Tech
President) Hank Dunn and our county commissars (er ... commissioners)
for that one. Unincorporated Buncombe County voters are effectively
being disenfranchised. How can you vote if you don’t know there is an
election! What happened to the concept of fair elections?
The opposition’s campaign of lies and distortions is beginning to
unravel. But we have only 16 days left, so we need to ramp things up.
Here are 10 easy things you can do to help:
#1) Forward this to your Buncombe County friends, family and
co-workers. Many people in unincorporated Buncombe County don’t even
know there is an election this year, so you would be doing them a favor.
#2) Put a “No County Tax Hike” sign in your yard or on the corner of your busiest neighborhood street.
#3) Distribute information fliers to inform voters. A great way
to do this is to walk your neighborhood, and stick them between the
mailbox and mailbox flag (not in the mailbox) for all of your neighbors.
#4) Stick post-it notes (we have them ... preprinted with our
message) on every gas station pump, retail stand, and shop you visit in
the next two weeks. Works well on mailboxes and car windows too!
#5) Call 10 friends and relatives, tell them why the tax is a bad
idea (use the attachment for talking points), and ask them to promise
to vote NO, Tuesday, Nov. 8.
#6) Participate in a rush hour “Sign Rally”! Stay tuned for more details ....
#7) Election Day Polls — We need volunteers to stand (holding
signs) on the sidewalk or intersection at or near key polling locations
to remind people driving by to turn in and vote. You would be amazed at
how many people forget to vote on election day.
#8) Knock on five doors and talk to your neighbors about the tax. Remember to bring an information flier.
#9) Drive someone to the polls on election day.
#10) Recruit one friend or relative to do one or more of the above (it will really help)
Thank you to all of you who have supported, and continue to support, our cause.
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