Bountiful-Centerville Theater Moves Ahead (RAP Tax)

After pulling who knows how much money together (proponents still have not or will not divulge their contributors and amounts) to get this on the ballot and succeed in forcing everyone to pay for their fun, proponents have finally decided to fund raise.

They are now looking for some initial startup money.

Unfortunately, while it appears, on the surface, that they will ask the community for money, they have, again, turned to government:

Work is moving ahead on funding for the South Davis Regional Theater, with talks to both private donors and the county commission. Centerville officials are also making plans to discuss RDA tax increments and other details that would be involved in the property and monetary donations they intend to make to the theater.

Bountiful and Centerville will also be implementing the tax increase ASAP:

Both Bountiful and Centerville are also planning to officially impose the RAP tax at their next city council meetings, which should go into effect sometime next April.

If you shop in either city, your yearly bills will increase (see the final quote at the bottom) beginning in April.

Obviously, the South Davis Regional Theater will take the bulk of the tax money. Nevertheless the article and the politicians still don’t speak of where or whom the rest of the money will go to.

As always with another special tax, you will need another special board (and another layer of government). Unsurprisingly, guess who will be on the board:

A board consisting of representatives from the Centerville City Council, the Centerville City RDA, and the Bountiful City Council will serve as advisors for the theater, with the SDCAA [South Davis Cultural Arts Association] working as the artistic directors.

Though the group currently consists mostly of representatives from Rodgers Memorial Theater, the artistic board will eventually expand to include representatives from the Bountiful Performing Arts Center and other local arts groups.

This also begs the question: Will board members be paid?

Frequently, these boards are given a stipend and a budget. It would not surprise me if some of the tax money is used for this and/or other board activities.

It is also worth noting that the SDCAA were the Rap Tax proponents and the group formed with the focus of pushing the Rap Tax.  From their mission statement (on the homepage):

Our Mission as members of the newly formed South Davis Cultural Arts Coalition is to serve the greater community of South Davis County by uniting to promote the arts and raise awareness and support for the RAP initiative. Specifically, as members of established Arts groups, we express a unified desire to support and promote the building of a Regional Cultural Arts Center located in Centerville which would serve the South Davis area. We support the RAP initiative which would be necessary to fund this facility and other arts and recreation programs in South Davis County.

Respectfully,
Members of the South Davis Arts Coalition

Rodgers Memorial Theatre, Bountiful Performing Arts Center, Bountiful Davis Arts Center, West Bountiful Arts Council, Joy Foundation

Their faq page is dedicated to the Rap Tax as well.

Finally, another warning for surrounding non-Rap Tax cities:

“After all, they’ll still be paying the RAP tax when they shop in Bountiful or Centerville,” said Russell. “Maybe something can be done in the future.” [emphasis added]

Week’s Iraq News Wrapup

First, it’s worth noting that yes there is still a war in Afghanistan (see The Long War Journal for more).

It’s been a while since I said much on Iraq and a lot of positive things have occurred. I hope most have tried to keep up, despite media inattention on the issue recently. If not, here are links spanning the last week (note: I don’t think they include links on the major decline in coalition and Iraqi casualties and attacks - you’ll have to look that up yourself):

The Good News:

Baghdad by night - juice bars, neon lights, bustling streets (11/18/07)
Qaeda chased from last Baghdad bastion (11/16/07)
Embattled Baghdad shows signs of hope (11/14/07 )
A ‘boots on the ground’ view:
Hot Air Audio: CPT Aaron Kaufman, US Army, on the surge and whether we’re winning (11/14/07)

Not-to-be missed pictures and background on a Christian Mass in Baghdad (church reopened). It includes Yon’s ‘thousand words’ photo/post of Muslims assisting Christians reopen their church (and put up its cross): Come Home

Today, Muslims mostly filled the front pews of St. John’s. Muslims who want their Christian friends and neighbors to come home. The Christians who might see these photos likely will recognize their friends here. The Muslims in this neighborhood worry that other people will take the homes of their Christian neighbors, and that the Christians will never come back. And so they came to St. John’s today in force, and they showed their faces, and they said, “Come back to Iraq. Come home.”

I asked Ice if the Muslims treat the Christians poorly in Iraq, and he said what other Iraqi Christians and Muslims have also told me: an unequivocal “No.”

The message may be getting out: Better security sees Iraqi refugees flood home

Problems on the Home Front:

Unfortunately, timeline politics is nothing new to Reid/Pelosi nor is it their only dangerous ploy to curry political points with the Code Pink types (nor is it limited to Iraq).

Dems threaten to cut Iraq purse strings (11/13/07)
Reid to Bush: Start withdrawing troops or else (11/13/07)
SecDef Gates cowboys up against the surrendercrat Congress (11/15/007)
GOP Senators: Take the war budget out of pork (11/16/07) - Congress had the will to pass the Defense Appropriations bill (with plenty o’ pork) - suggestion to use that pork to while waiting for Congress to knock-off the timeline politicking.
Pentagon ramps up fight with Congress (11/20/07)

The AP has also recently shifted tactics to hit on desertion rates. This post casts light on the figures and context they are using as well as a historical perspective (effectively showing the desertions stories seem to be an attempt to make a non-issue an issue):
Military Desertion Rates and the Associated Press

Pentagon stupidity: Military demands partial refund of signing bonus from wounded vets. Fortunately, they seem to have received the message loud and clear: Pentagon backpedals furiously on denying bonuses to wounded vets

Looking to the Future - Words of Warning:

Now that things are shaping up on the ground, it is critical that the Iraqi government step up:
U.S. begs Iraqi government to seize the moment before it passes (11/15/07)

Hitchens also chimes in: Something To Give Thanks For (11/19/07)

Finally, with Thanksgiving coming up remember to keep our soldiers, our allies, the Iraqis (and their government) , and Afghans in our thoughts and prayers.

Christmas is also around the corner. Go to America Supports You (linked on blog roll too) for plenty of ways to say thanks. You will also find legitimate organizations focused on helping our military servicemen/women as well as organizations that further enable our troops help others in need (in Iraq, Afghanistan…wherever) .

Bountiful Recycling and RAP Tax

Due to limited time, I’m consolidating two posts into one:

Recycling

I recycle the vast majority of my waste. I do so, without burdening others, by using the centrally located recycling ‘depots’ located in several locations in south Davis County. The depots accept all sorts of different materials (including paper/cardboard), but I also save my paper goods and put them in the Food Pantry recycling bin as it provides the pantry some additional funding.

I have found the depots entirely convenient as they are located along main roads which the vast majority, if not, all of us use at some time during the week. I would find it repugnant to force others to pay for my convenience and my interest. Yet, that is exactly what Mr. Ward desires and the Bountiful City Council is considering.

The proponent(s) seem to believe that charging you, the old lady on a fixed income, and the rest of your neighborhood $50/year extra for their convenience. The fee only further adds to all the recent tax and fee increases, those on fixed/low etc incomes must shoulder. According to Mr. Ward, the current system, which literally takes me about 2 minutes a week to use, is just too tasking.

Finally, while I do recycle, I also don’t delude myself with the thought that I am saving the earth (see this detailed NYT article). While recycling aluminum seems pretty clear cut (and is heavily market driven), the value of recycling the rest of the materials has issues. Paper, likely doesn’t save much forest land as tree farmers typically plant more than they harvest and many recycling processes release and/or use toxic chemicals etc. Further, I’ve been told that the recyclables are the best fuel for the Davis County burn plant. Ultimately, I’m willing to accept that my recycling efforts likely end up in no/negligible positive environmental impact.

One last note, the proponent(s) scored a big coup by getting the city council to put a survey in the Bountiful City newsletter. Obviously such a survey is anything but scientific and proponents will be the most likely to turn it in. With a virtually guaranteed outcome, the city council can claim overwhelming support for the measure and shove another special interest project and monetary burden down citizens throats.

RAP Tax

Despite the RAP Tax failing in key revenue generating cities such as West Bountiful and Woods Cross, Bountiful and Centerville will continue with the special interest tax and try to slap together some sort of facility. Take heed Woods Cross and West Bountiful (and North Salt Lake) residents: I would also expect to see the RAP Tax shoved on the ballot in the coming years.

Again, I think it is a shame that people force everyone else to pay for their personal hobbies. Further, government getting into things it doesn’t belong in is a Pandora’s box. One day, a RAP/RAMP etc Tax city will find the Lesbian Theater Company or artist of the ‘Madonna in Dung’ or Hate Hillary Clinton  Dance Company legitimately demanding funding. Then what? Say hello to the ACLU.

I attempted to look at the donors to the Rap Tax campaign and was unable to find a list. In the past, I understand that Jason Burningham with the bonding company of Lewis, Young, Robertson, and Burningham played a part in the promoting the RAP Tax (see here and here for example). The reason that is interesting is this is the same firm that promoted the South Davis Rec Center (and SD Metro Fire) and ended up getting a no bid contract to manage the bonding for the facility. I would love to know how much involvement (including monetarily) the firm had in the RAP tax initiative and if they will get another no bid contract for the bond on the theater complex.

Last, a lingering question remains on the accountability. As noted in a previous post on this matter, there appear to be no other projects for funding, leaving the money firmly in the hands of council members and their friends to fund whatever pet projects they see fit.

Utah Government and Education Salaries

This is an interesting site that the SL Trib has put up. It lists a bunch of public information (including sex offenders) but also lets you take a look at how much government figures (at all levels) make. I found that the Governor makes less than the a School District Superintendent and a city manager (not Salt Lake) and if you want to make money in education, go for an administrator slot. One thing to note, however, is that I don’t think the figures take into account some of the generous perks (car allowance, pay for sitting on boards etc) that some officials make in addition to their stated salaries (in other words, the figures are probably lower than the actual income from the government position).

Here’s the site: Utah’s Right To Know

Here’s the link to the salary page: Utah Public Salaries - you will have to select criteria from the drop down menus. Also, you can use the map on the homepage to go directly to a county’s salary figures.

The sex offender is portion is pretty good too (especially the map feature).

Have at it.

UPDATE: DCW has a post regarding large salaries for non-profits. People seem to have a problem with them (I don’t). What about large government administrator salaries?

Seeding Political Ground (UEA and Vouchers)

This isn’t anything too shocking, it’s typical political maneuvering. Two articles caught my interest because of the contradiction by the UEA. From the first article:

The UEA’s Kuziak said the education community is fearful of repercussions for campaigning against vouchers.

“I had one of our elected legislators tell me specifically that education funding would suffer,” she said, declining to name the lawmaker.

First, I would bet that the ‘unnamed lawmaker’ is a pro-UEA lawmaker (providing their own talking point quotes - possibly Kory Holdaway, based on the second article…).

When I read the above it was clear to me that the UEA is seeding the ground for victim status if their demands aren’t met in the next session (and using the self-appointed victim status as a weapon). Fortunately,  Bramble did a good job exposing the ploy:

Bramble says the anti-voucher side will label any education reform proposed by Republicans retaliation. “I think you will see several reforms introduced. And when they are introduced, those who oppose vouchers will simply come forward and they will try to pigeonhole them as retribution.”

The UEA et al. are also attempting to expand their voucher win to say that ‘the people’ are with them and anything they propose (or oppose), is ultimately the will of the people. Again, that tactic isn’t anything new, but worth looking out for.

So where does the UEA contradict it’s victim status?  Here’s the key from the second article:

The UEA hasn’t decided which legislators it will oppose, said Vik Arnold, political director for the union. It plans to wait until after the upcoming session, giving legislators a chance to make nice with the union.

The anti-voucher coalition, Utahns for Public Schools, also will not disband, and will get involved in party caucus meetings and the 2008 election, Arnold said. 

In other words, the UEA etc are overtly telling legislators to vote their way or else.  They will be stacking caucus meetings to take out those that don’t toe the union line.  At the same time, they are preemptively claiming victim status.

Frankly, I’m not disturbed that the UEA wants its revenge, but gimme a break on the victim crap.  Nevertheless, I will give them credit on the tactic given the fact that the media will be a willing accomplice in promoting the victim status.  Reading the articles, it is clear on which side the media stands on this issue as they gleefully push the line of “comeuppance” and “reckoning”.

Finally, remember the legislature set up a ‘do no harm fund’ when they passed the voucher bill.  So where will the money in this fund go?

Plenty of interest groups will be gunning for the money, but I would like to remind legislators that that money wasn’t diverted from eduction or transportation, it was diverted from taxpayers.  I would expect that the money be returned to its rightful owners.

Illegal Immigrant Document Fraud At Airport

Well not only do we have to contend with identity theft/fraud (or click here) by illegal immigrants, but we also have to contend with airport security badge misuse at one of our biggest airports (Chicago O’Hare).  I would expect that the DOJ will drop the hammer on the company (Ideal Staffing Solutions Inc.) for this breach of security in a very sensitive area but we’ll see.

The original story and links are available at Hot Air as well as information on illegal immigrant voting.

Dream Act (S 774, S 2205) Shocker

I had to read this over a few times before I could bring myself to believe it. The Bush Admin has typically been supportive of amnesty measures but not this time.  This is actually a pretty tough statement (they even bring up document fraud) that reflects a lot of the concerns for those who opposed the amnesty bill in June.

Background: A few weeks ago, Senator Durbin (D-IL) tried to run the Dream Act through. Fortunately, people were keeping an eye out and quick reaction resulted in the bill failing (again). The Dream Act was also attempted in September as well as during the immigration bill debacle earlier this year. Even though the Dream Act has been up for four votes thus far, it is worth keeping watch for another attempt to try to sneak it in despite what appears to be strong public opposition (if you trust polls…).

Enough background. Here is text from the pdf document available at the White House’s SAP Page or the pdf is available by clicking here.

The Administration continues to believe that the Nation’s broken immigration system requires comprehensive reform. This reform should include strong border and interior enforcement, a temporary worker program, a program to bring the millions of undocumented aliens out of the shadows without amnesty and without animosity, and assistance that helps newcomers assimilate into American society. Unless it provides additional authorities in all of these areas, Congress will do little more than perpetuate the unfortunate status quo.

The Administration is sympathetic to the position of young people who were brought here illegally as children and have come to know the United States as home. Any resolution of their status, however, must be careful not to provide incentives for recurrence of the illegal conduct that has brought the Nation to this point. By creating a special path to citizenship that is unavailable to other prospective immigrants—including young people whose parents respected the Nation’s immigration laws—S. 2205 falls short. The Administration therefore opposes the bill.

The primary change wrought by S. 2205 would be to establish a preferential path to citizenship for a special class of illegal aliens. Specifically, S. 2205 awards permanent status to any illegal alien who is under 30, has been in the United States for five years after arriving as a child, and has completed two years of college or in the uniformed services. This path to citizenship is unavailable to any other alien, no matter how much promise he or she may have, no matter how much he or she may contribute to American society. Moreover, the path that S. 2205 creates would allow illegal aliens to obtain a green card before many individuals who are currently lawfully waiting in line.

Sponsors of S. 2205 argue that the bill is necessary in order to give children who are illegal aliens incentives to obtain an education. But it is difficult to reconcile that professed aim with the bill’s retroactivity provisions: even those who attended college years earlier will be eligible for a green card.

The legal status that the bill grants its beneficiaries means that they can petition almost instantly to bring family members into the country. It also places them on the fast track to citizenship because they can immediately begin accruing the residence time in the United States that is necessary for naturalization. Finally, this legal status entitles the bill’s beneficiaries to certain welfare benefits within five years.

The bill is also indiscriminate in whom it would make eligible for the program. For example, S. 2205 includes loopholes that would authorize permanent status for certain aliens convicted of multiple misdemeanors and even felonies. The open-ended nature of S. 2205 is objectionable and will inevitably lead to large-scale document fraud. The path to citizenship remains open for decades, thus creating a strong temptation for future illegal aliens to purchase fraudulent documents on a burgeoning black market. Moreover, the bill’s confidentiality provisions are drawn straight from the 1986 amnesty law and will provide the same haven for fraud and criminality as that law did.

Immigration is one of the top concerns of the American people—and of this Administration—but it needs to be addressed in a comprehensive and balanced way that avoids creating incentives for problems in the future.

Aftermath (2007) (Pork Update)

I was planning on getting this done this morning, but as usual the law you can never escape (Murphy’s Law) came knocking on the door. So now I’m posting this late in the afternoon simply because I followed several issues in this election.

First, I’m sure we all know the election results. If you do not, click here for election results by county or here for statewide election results.

Obviously, vouchers were slapped down. Someone mentioned Lonsberry on this blog - I guess he would say Goliath won. I see it as a big missed opportunity (especially for parents with children struggling in public schools with no alternative) and will set us on a tax collision course to fund the upcoming influx of 150,000 students (DCW addresses that). It will also leave us with the ongoing problems of about 45% of students flunking out (20% drop out and 25% fail the UBSCT - Utah Basic Skills Competencey Test) not to mention some of the alarming drop out rates in certain school districts.

Going from the bad news to the mediocre news, the RAP Tax was a mixed bag. Woods Cross soundly rejected it and West Bountiful did so as well, however, they still have some provisional ballots that may change the results (we won’t know until the 13th). Bountiful only passed it by about 200 votes and Centerville went for it, big time. The interesting bit is Woods Cross and West Bountiful represent a massive amount of the commercial tax base for the tax, without these two they will not get much money.

Bountiful and Centerville city councils can move to adopt the tax even though it will not bring in enough to build the theater. If they do adopt it, they have carte-blanche to spend it on whatever pet projects they see fit. Even if RAP passed everywhere, they still would’ve been able to blow the money on their pork projects after the theater were build as I indicated and the Standard Examiner noted. Now would be a good time to contact the councils and ask them not to adopt the tax. We’ll see if the tax hunger continues.

Also, Bountiful dumped Higginson and put Beth Holbrook on the council. That’s an additional tax and spend proponent with the added benefit of her desire to force everyone to pay for her pet project (recycling). It doesn’t look like the intaxication will stop anytime soon.

Ending on the positive, it looks like CitizenForTaxFairness.org had a sound effect on the transportation tax. That was defeated. Rocky will soon be gone and while I’ll constantly disagree with Becker, he will make for a much more reasonable mayor and, from all I’ve heard, is a stand up guy.

Take away message #1: contact and keep close watch on the city councils (be vigilant on their RAP tax pork). I’m betting we haven’t seen the end of RAP and transportation tax grabs.

Take away message #2: Watch congress, they continue their pork binge in earnest.

Pork UPDATE: It just keeps rolling in, Congress just can’t get enough.

RAP Tax, Transportation (Question 1), more

Despite the title, I’ll keep this brief. If you’re interested in vouchers, please refer to the consolodated post which includes some more updates.

RAP Tax

I’ve addressed it several times and would refer you to this link for my opinions/information (scroll past the first post) on it. Additionally, the “arguments against” section of the RAP Tax voter information pamphlet (PDF) is in line with how I feel as well. Finally, as shocking as this may sound, the Standard Examiner Editorial Board is also opposed to the tax and urging a ‘no’ vote. See also: Citizens For Tax Fairness page on the issue.

Transportation Tax

I’ll refer this to the Transportation Tax Voter Information Pamphlet (pdf). I am aligned with the arguments against on this one as well. Enough is enough. See also: Citizens For Tax Fairness page on the issue.

Misc. Local Stuff

North Salt Lake City Council Election - Candidate Scott Briggs has signed the Citizens for Tax Fairness Tax pledge (more at the link) and the city council rejected the RAP tax.

Bountiful City Council Election - Good luck. All candidates support higher taxes, however one (Beth Holbrook), additionally, supports raising your fees for recycling. Chalk that up to voting for the least tax hungry candidates.