A tax increase
by another name
The letter the other day complaining about inflated property valuations is the sort I would have expected more of, due to the subject matter.
Last April, my mother and I went to the county offices to appeal the appraisal of her house, all to no avail.
A local professional appraiser had refused to do his own assessment as, according to him, the county people would pay no attention to it.
It is clear that increasing valuations or the tax rate is the way to raise additional revenue and that the valuation is perceived as less a tax increase than raising the rate. When, however, the valuation is far above any reasonable market price, particularly in a downturn, such as now, and the authorities insist on the established valuations, this can only be perceived as gross deception and dishonesty.
I am amazed at the casual attitude of the local population toward such an obvious abuse/misuse of power to generate money from people for many of whom the increased tax is a true financial burden. The people of Rowan County should look up the information on Proposition 13 (1977) in California and consider this for future action.
Property claimed to be taxed at “fair market price” should be assessed at such and not merely marked up by bureaucratic fiat.
ó Richard Nash Creel
Salisbury
They’re not victims
The Feb. 10 La Raza article is not news, rather it is propaganda. La Raza tries to portray American citizens as anti-immigrant. No, we are not anti-immigrant; we are by and large anti-illegal alien. For centuries, Americans have welcomed legal immigrants from around the world, excluding slavery that ended mercifully in 1863. No matter where the immigrants came from, there was a commonality of learning English, improving the lives of the immigrant and the citizens already here. Now, this current crop of illegal aliens tries to present itself as victims. No, they are not victims. These illegal aliens are criminals.
There are places in our county that would make you think you are in a third-world Latin country. English-speaking Americans are not welcome in these establishments. Has anyone gone to the Emergency Room at Rowan Regional lately? You’d think you are in a foreign hospital in a Latin country, with no one speaking English in the waiting room. The law states all have to be medically treated without regard for payment of services rendered. Guess who has to pay the bills of these illegal aliens?
My friends that are here legally from Latin America decry the horrible situation of open borders. The facts are simple. Every illegal alien is a criminal. Criminals should not and cannot receive any benefits of this country if you believe in the Constitution and the rule of law.
If illegal aliens are given a pass, what’s next? Should we give amnesty to to drug dealers, rapists, murderers, drunken drivers, shoplifters and the like? After all, these criminals are just like the illegal aliens, just trying to illegally improve their lives.
ó John Rock
Spencer
Playing with fire
I am writing in response to the recent article about the fire at Captain D’s. It was reported that the likely cause of the fire was a discarded cigarette. Why is it so hard for people to realize that when you do this, you are discarding fire?
People call me paranoid when I react to seeing someone flick a butt out of their car, and it hits my car, but this is further proof of things that can happen when you play with fire.
Look, I am not trying to ban smoking just because I don’t smoke. It’s your lungs, and if that’s what makes you feel better, puff away. My problem is when some smokers feel it’s just a little butt, and we all should deal with it, as opposed to extinguishing it properly. And especially in a time when we are in a drought, you are just asking for a small fire to become a huge one because of how dry everything is. If you look at our roadsides and such, you will see further proof.
All I am asking is some simple consideration for others, but maybe that is asking for too much anymore.
ó Chuck Fiello Jr.
China Grove