No one likes tax increases: a truism that can not be disputed.
Opelika’s city leaders have proposed raising the city’s sales tax by one cent, a move that may, on its surface, seem anathema to the message of growth and prosperity our city has come to exude.
We would all much rather keep our money, spending it where we wish for whatever we desire.
We know that it could be construed as dangerous to raise the sales tax during a recession, when so many families are hurting economically and many of our citizens on fixed income are struggling to get by.
Times may not be ideal for such an increase, but we believe such an increase is vital, necessary and may represent the only chance Opelika has at raising money it needs to continue to grow.
It may not be the best time to raise taxes, but the cost of not doing so now is far greater.
Oliver Wendell Holmes once wrote, “Taxes are the price we pay for living in a civilized society.”
Holmes was right. Our tax dollars support the standard of living we’ve come to know and appreciate here.
However, the current economic climate and pressing city needs have made it necessary to increase that ever-important sales tax.
As Mayor Gary Fuller and City Council President Eddie Smith said in their meeting with the Observer’s Editorial Board Monday, there are pressing needs for our city that must be met.
We must have a new high school. Not want. Not hope to. We must have it.
The current high school’s main facilities were completed in 1972. The age is starting to show. It was built on the cheap and, today, we’re paying the price.
Classrooms are overcrowded and underfunded.
Carpets are faded and spotted; ceilings have gaping holes. Air conditioning is sporadic, calm and cool in one classroom, blistering hot in the room right next door. Buckets placed on classroom floors on rainy days fill up with water, drip by drip.
What’s sad is our children have come to expect this. They accept their high school is falling apart, as if it’s only occasionally an intrusion on their day.
We have long prided ourselves with having an excellent school system, a system that has continued to produce great minds and excellent citizens.
Our children deserve better than what they now have.
We must have an upgraded, modern high school so our children can compete and thrive in an upgraded, modern world.
Moreover, we must have a new building so that parents will continue to want to send their children to our schools.
We know that a great school system and great facilities can garner more interest in economic development, as companies will want to locate their businesses in a town with a booming, shining educational system.
To support further economic development and greater prosperity, we must also be willing to continue to fund infrastructure and transportation improvements, especially the Frederick Road widening project.
The revenues and jobs brought into this city from Tigertown have been a game-changer for Opelika, and for Tigertown to maintain its place as an economic powerhouse, Frederick Road has to grow, too.
In its current state, Frederick Road cannot adequately support the amount of traffic it receives.
Gridlock and traffic jams will become even more commonplace and we will miss out on money from visitors to our city who would like to buy things but can’t seem to navigate the traffic to get there.
The high school and Frederick Road are just the two most noteworthy items the city needs this tax increase to fund.
We’ll show you more over the coming weeks, providing you the most information we can.
We expect there to be vigorous debate about this tax increase.
There will, no doubt, be a strong and vocal opposition.
We encourage those of you who have strong opinions to make them known, by sending us letters or giving us a call. We want to hear what everyone has to say.
But we, the members of this editorial board, state here and now our unequivocal support for this measure being taken by the city leaders.
We have great needs to continue the vitality of this city, and those needs must be met.
We all want Opelika to be the best city she can be, and the only way we continue our prosperity is by completing the high school, Frederick Road and our other pressing projects.
We have difficulty understanding how anyone who is for Opelika could be against this proposal.
Ask yourselves this question: “What are you doing to make Opelika a better place to live?”
Look at this sales tax increase as one part of paying your civic rent to a town that has given and continues to give so much to all of us.
We are a great community, and we must now come together as a community and do what needs to be done.
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