Big Biz types urge tax hike to support jobs - ? -

Tea Party says 'Revenue is not the problem; spending is out of control.'

Waco – In a half-hour of public comment, McLennan County Commissioners heard from Chamber of Commerce types who urged no cut to the Economic Development Commission.

Commissioner Ben Perry had recommended last week a one-year moratorium on the County's annual $1.25 million contribution to the commission's $6.5 million fund.

Tea Party advocates pointed to an “out of control” property appraisal process and runaway spending that outstrips the population growth as the factors that drive a need for a public hearing on a tax increase.

No one mentioned that a dollar is worth today a fraction of its worth a decade in the past.

Similarly, no one mentioned "the elephant in the room," the nearly $200,000 per month expense of maintaining a sorry investment of taxpayer dollars on a $50 million jail operated on a corporate welfare basis by CEC, Inc., the Jack Harwell Detention Center. 

A condensed audio file will give a listener a picture of the diametric opposition between the two points of view.

On the one hand, departing Chamber of Commerce chief Jim Vaughn told the Court that in 40-plus years, he's learned that businesses can leverage private funds with public money and grow much faster.

Hmm.

On the other hand, Toby Marie Walker and Becky Kodrin of the Waco Tea Party pointed out that a growth in spending outstrips the growth in revenue stream because it far outpaces the rise in population.

Ms. Walker stressed how “Every member of this Court has told me you are fiscal conservatives...That's what you have told me.” She bluntly stated that the Tea Party will be holding members of the Commissioners Court accountable.

One need only click here for an audio report.