| Today's Feature Sidewalks and Storm Water.
The Public Works Committee will
meet this afternoon in City Hall at 5:15 p.m. The
Committee is scheduled to discuss several
projects that have been budgeted for this fiscal
year.
Engineering Department Head Joe
Butler is expected to bring estimates for the
repair and replacement of sidewalks on City
property. The Council budgeted $50,000 to bring
City owned sidewalks up to code. The amount did
not cover all sidewalks within the parks system
however. CW&EP and McCune Brooks Hospital
were expected to budget for sidewalks on their
properties.
The topic of bids for storm
water drainage ditch near Wood and Hazel Avenue
will also be considered. Funding for this project
was also budgeted for this year. Approximately
$30,000 per year is allocated for storm water
drainage and retention out of the one cent
capital improvement sales tax approved in 1996.
The City received revenue for
September of Cigarette Tax, $6,943; Occupation
License, $408; Gas Franchise Tax, $5,449; Dog
License $260; Rummage Sales License, $113.
Baby, Little Miss & Mister,
and Queen.
news release
If you haven't registered yet
for the Maple Leaf Baby Contest or the Little
Miss & Mister Maple Leaf Pageant, you are in
luck! The deadlines for registration has been
extended to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 7 for the
Little Miss & Mister, and the Baby Contest to
3 p.m. on Oct. 15, 1998. Also, please note that
the Little Miss & Mister contest is at 3 p.m.
on Oct. 10. Applications are available at the
Carthage Chamber of Commerce at 107 E. Third.
There will be a meeting for the
Queen candidates on Tuesday, Oct. 6 at 5:15 p.m.
at the Carthage Chamber of Commerce. If you have
not submitted your application yet, bring it to
the Chamber by 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 6 and plan on
attending the meeting that evening. There will
not be any applications accepted after this
deadline.
Persons may call the Carhage
Chamber of Commerce at 358-2373 for more info.
letters to the editor
Dear Editor:
Isn’t is great how our
council members can spend our tax dollars and
then say oh it was a mistake, maybe if they had
to dig up the money out of their own pockets for
their mistakes they would not make as many.
I also noticed that they are
going to charge a fee for recycling starting next
year think it was really slick how they put that
thru because next year it will just show up on
our bill and hopefully we stupid people of
carthage won't even notice it, thanks council
members.
One more and I'll quit, county
planning . I noticed it was defeated twice before
but that never seems to stop the the big wheels
that want it.I have lived under county planning
and am not impressed with the way it works, first
we have a new goverment agency to handle all this
heavy duty work, of course at first the agency
will work for all most nothing but real soon they
will be wanting their $50,000.00 a year because
now it is a full time job and they desever it.
The next thing I always noticed that the guy or
the big company (example Wal-Mart in Joplin) are
always able to get the zoning that they need but
the little guy is just walked over, big money or
the thought of getting it with sales tax are
powerful medicine.
Rudy J Mueller
1009 ash
Carthage Mo. 64836
Dear Editor:
As Chairman of Public Relations
for the Missouri Federated Republican Women, I
feel the Voters in Missouri should be aware of
the State Auditor's race!
If you were for the Hancock
Amendment (which means the State must pay us back
for over taxation) then you want to elect Chuck
Pierce, CPA as your next Auditor! His opponent is
against the Hancock Amendment and has no
experience in Auditing!
This is not a Republican vs.
Democrat issue when it comes to our hard earned
dollars...it's the importance of having an
Auditor who will make sure we are not over taxed
by the State and get by with it!
Please join me November 3rd and
elect Chuck Pierce Auditor!
Jenny Mansfield, Carthage, MO
Chairman Public Relations
Dear Editor:
I saw an article that involved
the Carthage First Church of the Nazarene. In
Dec.1997 I see your reference to the
children’s musical "The Late Great
Potentate" in a letter on line. We at First
Assembly of God Church of Las Cruces are putting
on this production in December. We are not able
to get the soundtrack as Brentwood does not
publish it anymore. Would you be interested in
selling us your soundtrack? Please let us know.
In God’s Grace,
Rene Weinrich
Dear Editor:
Just found you on the Web- nice
to see, and we will check this site often to keep
up on Carthage. We visit your city a couple of
times a year and thoroughly enjoy it and the
interesting sites around the area. Your town
square is very nice. The lights at Christmas time
are just breathtaking. Plan to visit again this
fall. You certainly have a city to be proud of.
The Schaeffer’s from North
Dakota.
Commentary
by Martin "Bubs"
Hohulin
State Representative
District 126
By now most of you have
received your Title X tax refunds more commonly
known as the Hancock refunds. Most politicians
are rushing to take credit for you getting a
check right before the election, but here is, as
Paul Harvey would say, the rest of the story.
These checks were made
necessary by over taxation of your hard earned
money. Thankfully, it is in the Constitution of
Missouri that the State cannot take in more in
taxes than a percentage of the citizens income
based on a formula from 1982. It is spelled out
that if that threshold is exceeded, a refund has
to be made either by a direct refund or by
lowering of taxes. Of these two methods my choice
would be by lowering taxes because of the cost
involved in mailing out checks. It cost almost $1
million to mail out the latest batch of refunds.
Of course, it would be best if taxes never went
over the Hancock limit to start with!
The limit had never been
exceeded until 1993. That was the first year Mel
Carnahan took office as Governor. Since then, the
Hancock limit has been exceeded EVERY year. Each
year the Governor’s office estimates how
much money will come out of your pockets to the
government and bases the following year’s
budget on that. In these estimates is a figure on
how close we will be to the Hancock limit. If
there is ever a marked difference in government
philosophies, it shines through here. There are
quite a few of us in the House that, quite
simply, want to see you keep more of what you
earn. Like you, we are also farmers, businessmen,
hourly workers, and salaried employees. We feel
the same way you do about taxes. Unfortunately,
we are constantly battling the other side that
want to keep taxes as high as possible without
going over the Hancock limit.
I’ve lost track of the
number of times I’ve heard them say on the
House Floor, "We can do this and still be
under the Hancock lid." What they are saying
is, "We want to raise taxes because we
can." Anyway, the Governor’s office has
estimated we would be over the Hancock limit a
total of $121.3 million since 1993 while we have
actually been over a total of $940.3 million.
The person that heads up the
Governor’s Office of Budget and Planning has
now recommended no further tax reductions for
now. After being off by over 700% on his earlier
figures, either this administration is grossly
incompetent or they are truly trying to overtax
you.
Along those lines there is
currently a lawsuit pending which, if successful
would refund more of your money to you. State
Auditor Margaret
Kelly has filed suit seeking to
include additional revenues in the figuring of
the Hancock limit. Naturally, this is being
opposed by the Governor and Attorney General Jay
Nixon. There can’t be a more clear
difference. One side going to court to let you
keep more of what you earn and the other side
going to court to take more of what you earn. In
the meantime, enjoy your check but remember, it
is money that has always belonged to you and
should have never been taken from you in the
first place.
As usual, I can be reached at
House Post Office, State Capitol, Jefferson City,
MO 65101, or 1-800-878-7126, or
mhohulin@services.state.mo.us for your questions,
comments, or advice.
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