I still can’t believe that meeting the other night. Ann Schwab called me “nasty.” How exactly would she describe a person who lied to her?
Because, no matter how they lie and deny, the measure that Ann Schwab, Andy Holcombe, Scott Gruendl, and Jim Walker have decided, among their little gang of four, to place on the November ballot, is a tax increase, there are no two ways about it. Anybody who says otherwise is a liar, plain and simple.
Ann knows what it is. That’s why she says it would be “wise” to use the figure of 4.5 percent. Andy Holcombe, who does not have enough money or support to run in November, and therefore has nobody to answer to, suggested the rate be raised to 5.5 percent. But Ann’s up for re-election, and she wants people to think she’s lowering their taxes. If I were Ann Schwab’s mother I wouldn’t show my face in public.
Well, in fact, this initiative, if passed will lower certain peoples’ taxes. Those folks who use AT&T, for example, are currently paying a 5 percent utility tax on that service. As was explained this past Tuesday night, some companies are collecting the tax in anticipation of the passage of initiatives like this all over California. They just aren’t giving it to the cities yet. Because?
Because, if this initiative fails, nobody in the city of Chico will have to pay the phone tax anymore. In other words, those who are currently paying this tax, are being taxed illegally.
And, again, in my Pollyanna mind, I would assume the phone carriers will have to return the money they have been collecting to the customers. Hey, weirder things have happened.
Now, Verizon, for example, does not collect the tax. So, anybody who has Verizon wouild be suffering a tax increase if this initiative is passed. Several people at Tuesday night’s meeting, including councilors Sorensen and Evans, pointed out that the language in the initiative that $200,000+ a year city attorney Lori Barker has drafted is “deceptive,” ridiculously so. District 2 supervisor Larry Wahl pointed out the use of “modernize” as a euphemism for “add a tax to it.” There is no mention that some people are currently being charged, illegally, but some people are not. Eventually, a motion was made that the language needs to be changed to make it clear PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT CURRENTLY BEING TAXED WILL BE TAXED UNDER THIS INITIATVE.
I’m guessing, some folks who already pay the tax will be outraged that ALL of us are not paying the tax. The answer for them is to vote NO. They are currently being taxed illegally. They need to be mad at their carriers and at their local government, not those of us whose carriers are sticking up for our rights.
You must wonder – is AT&T collecting interest on this money they are holding?
Of course Barker would like the initiative to pass, so she’s going to be as deceptive as we allow her. At her current salary, she will retire at over $180,000 a year, plus benefits. She needs to make sure we can pay that before she retires. Apparently she is willing to lie, cheat and steal to secure her retirement.
Please write letters and tell them you see the deception, tell them the initiative needs to make all these points clear, and then tell them you won’t support it anyway. Be sure to write letters to the paper, let’s keep this conversation loud and in the public eye.
The only way they’re going to get this pig to fly is with lies. We can’t let them get away with it. Write letters, write letters, write letters.
Write to the Enterprise Record and ask them if Katy Sweeny forgot the end of the story she wrote.
Tags: AT&T, City of Chico, http://friendsofannschwab.com/, telecommunications tax, Utility Tax, Utility Tax increase, Verizon
Chico Taxpayers Association 