Today's Feature

Discussed Proposed Sales Tax.

The City Council Budget Ways and Means Committee met Monday evening in a regular session and discussed with Chamber of Commerce President and Economic Development Director John Bode a proposed economic development sales tax.

Bode told the committee that from the beginning of his tenure as Economic Development Director he felt the City needed to have land available in an industrial park setting with infrastructure available, so that if an existing business wanted to expand or a new business was looking to locate in Carthage, the space would be ready to be filled. Bode said that several businesses have been in contact since that point looking for regional office space.

The proposal that Bode recommended allows for the purchase of 300 to 400 acres of land currently owned by Americold Logistics and from 50 to 75 acres of land near the new McCune-Brooks Hospital currently owned by Precious Moments. The approximated cost, according to Bode, in addition to soil testing, environmental assessments, cleaning, leveling and engineering design would be $3.5 million.

Bode recommended a half-cent sales tax with a 10-year sunset, to pay a ten-year bond for the total amount, saying that he felt the tax could generate the necessary funding. Bode added that the funding generated by the tax would not be used to put the infrastructure in place on the property, but that Carthage Water and Electric Plant officials had indicated that the Plant could absorb the cost of the infrastructure.

Bode further recommended reactivating the Economic Development Board, a non-profit organization which ceased to be active around 1992, to handle the purchasing of the properties and interaction with businesses interested in locating in the business park. The extent of City involvement would be collecting the tax money and receiving administrative fees.

The committee questioned the benefits of having the non-profit board purchase and own the property.

Bode said that the land that would be purchased by the board is not always sold to businesses, but it is sometimes given away as an incentive to attract the businesses to the region. Bode said that this can sometimes generate a negative public reaction if it is given away by the City. Additionally, the board could make decisions more quickly than the City, have less confidentiality issues and less stipulations according to Bode.

"That’s the way the prospects want to work." Bode added.

In cases where the property is sold to a prospect, the profit would be used to purchase more land. Committee Chair Bill Fortune questioned the scope of that plan.

"You want to put the money back into land?" asked Fortune. "Isn’t that a pretty ambitious project?"

Bode said that the total acreage discussed could hold as few as 6 or 7 businesses.

"One prospect that’s looking could take 80 acres," said Bode.

Committee member Claude Newport asked what time frame the committee was looking at to get the proposed tax on an election ballot. City Administrator Tom Short recommended that the tax be included in the November election. Bode said that if the tax was approved that way, the funding would begin to be available in early 2009, at which point the board could begin looking at purchasing a bond. Under that time frame, the land could be purchased as early as the summer of 2009.

Short added that there were still some constitutional issues that needed to be researched concerning land ownership, a contract for services between the City and the non-profit board and a memorandum of understanding.

Committee member Newport asked Bode what would be the benefit of the tax to the average Carthage citizen.

Bode said that with a sales tax, as opposed to other tax forms, some of the burden would be alleviated from Carthage citizens by tourists and people from out of town who shop in Carthage.

Bode added that new, higher paying jobs would be created by the tax.

"Every time a new job comes in to Carthage, the whole City benefits," said Bode, "as long as it’s a good job. People move to where the jobs are."

City Administrator Short said that the jobs would not necessarily be limited to one industry, which would broaden the economic base.

Committee member Diane Sharits expressed concerns over the limitation of the proposed tax usage. Sharits said that Economic Development encompasses agriculture, tourist, and both small and large businesses.

"A true economic development sales tax would address all issues," said Sharits. "This is more of an industrial sales tax."

Bode said that if broadened, the tax would be less likely to be approved by voters.

"They want to see something neat, clean, precise and limited," said Bode.

Fortune told Bode that he supported the concept in a general way and asked when he would need a decision from Council. Bode said that if the Council could approve an ordinance supporting the tax by the end of August that it could be ready in time for the election.

The committee agreed to continued discussions following the Fiscal year 2009 budget hearings, which are scheduled to begin later this month and continue through May.

Mornin'

If there’s one common theme ya hear about the problems they have in the big cities, it’s the feelin’ that there’s no since of community.

When they talk about the gang problems there always seems to be one theme among the kids involved, they are attracted to the since of belongin’ and bein’ a part of somethin’ bigger than themselves. Again a sense of community.

A lota folks in the metropolitan area will tell ya the thing they dislike about small towns is that ever’one always knows what ever’one else is doin’. But in the next breath they’ll tell ya they’re afraid ta walk their streets or let their kids play at the park down the road. No one cares anymore.

I’d take someone watchin’ my back over someone tryin’ to stab it any day.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Dear Tom and Ray:

I have a 2001 Chrysler Town & Country with a 3.3-liter V-6 engine. I use it to deliver mail for the U.S. Postal Service. One day I refilled my antifreeze, and a week later, it was empty. This past week I put in 2 gallons and now it’s empty again. There’s nothing on my driveway, so the car’s not leaking. So, where is the antifreeze going? Help. - James

Tom: It’s going air mail, James. It’s getting burned in your engine and sent, first class, out the tailpipe.

Ray: There’s a small possibility that it is leaking, even though there’s nothing in your driveway. Sometimes a leaky water pump, for instance, will drip only when the engine is running. In that case, you’ve been leaving a few drops at every mailbox.

Tom: Actually, it’s unlikely that you’d leak out 2 gallons in a week without seeing anything. But check for a puddle in your driveway after the engine’s been idling there for half an hour or so, just to be sure.

Ray: If you don’t see any evidence of an external leak, then the coolant is leaking inside the engine. If you get someone else to drive the car, and you drive behind it, you’ll probably see voluminous clouds of white smoke coming out of the tailpipe. Or, if you check your oil dipstick, you may find it overfilled and frothy. That means coolant’s mixing with your oil.

Tom: In that case, the best-case scenario is that you have a blown head gasket. But if you wait too long, it could get worse. If you run out of or are too low on coolant, you could overheat the engine and end up with a cracked block or a cracked head. My brother has a cracked head.

Ray: Right. This is something you want to get checked out soon, while there’s still hope of saving the engine, James. And if you need a new engine, maybe you can get a deal on having one mailed to you!