At the recent meeting of candidates there seemed to be a few misunderstandings of the issues facing voters this August 2. The first is, the effect on the Town. Home Rule will give the Town more possibilities than they have now. They could ask the voters to allow marketing districts, fire districts, etc. This doesn’t mean that the voters would approve, just that you would have the right to choose. Jeff Barker was wrong to say that the State took any power away from the voters. In fact, the Town never had the powers they asked for because Gov. Owens vetoed the bill. And to think Barker was once a trustee that should know better. The Estesparkian almost broke the TV when that came up. Where the Town has more possibilities, the voters will have more rights to choose. You see, power to the people.
As to taxes, there is always the fear that taxes will go up, a long standing belief fostered by the Town over the past several years whenever the Home Rule issue came up. No one has suggested there should be a tax increase, with the exception that some have mentioned that there be a lodging tax, a tax only on visitors who stay here. This is not uncommon in the industry. Lodge owners would probably be in favor of this as they could collect the money they now spend out of net income from lodge guests. Of course it would still be up to voters to decide if they would approve it.
Afraid you’d have to keep voting? Votes probably wouldn’t come up that often, there aren’t that many issues. But really, it’s democracy in action. Embrace it!
