Time to vote AGAINST a Sales Tax Increase for Cleveland County!!! County has NO Plans on where to spend the extra revenue!! That means wasting money on “invented” projects!! Or, Something Else Friendly advice and arguendo by Robert A. Williams

Folks, by the time you read this message, early voting in the 2019 General Election has already started with the final day coming on November 5, 2019 These early voting ballots as well as the election day ballots will all contain, in the fine print, a resolution to vote for or against a quarter percent sales tax increase.

The Cleveland County Manager, Brian Epley, says that will raise the out of pocket expense for the “average citizen” only $1.50 a month. He did NOT say that extra $1.50 is on top of the other $40.50 a month you are already paying in sales tax every month. Epley also did not say one word about that “average person” being all county residents, man woman and child, young or old. If that is the basis for Epley’s calculations, then the average worker, drawing a wage, is actually paying $2.50 a month extra on top of $67.50. That is $70 total. A month!!! After Federal and State Income Taxes as well Social Security and Medicare. So, you can double the effect this sales tax increase will actually take out of your pocketbook every time you purchase most anything.

The Commissioners are looking for this sales tax increase to bring in $2,000,000 extra to the County in new revenue, yet they offer no rhyme or reason of why they put this on the ballot. Except for the stupid line that “they want the citizens to decide whether or not to raise taxes on themselves. The Commissioners, Schools, CCC and everybody else cannot or will not say what they would spend this extra $2,000,000 on. Only a fool would vote for such a tax increase under those conditions. Or somebody who was “promised some money if the tax increase passes.

But let’s look a little further. If the Commissioners are so fast to do what the people want, why did the Commissioners NOT have a referendum on the following:

• The Catawba Casino that has been such a controversy.
• School Merger or to Unmerge the schools to save money.
• District Representation for Commissioners that would allow somebody from outside Shelby or Kings Mountain to be a County Commissioner
• Selling the Hospital and then loaning Carolina’s Medical $77.000.000 for 27 years at NO interest to buy it.
• Giving $5,000,000 plus to the American Legion World Series and lying about it.
• Loaning and paying Millions to Destination Cleveland County for the Earl Scruggs Center. Which has never been able to pay for itself.
• Buying lots of property and giving it to Shelby and Clearwater Paper. Millions of Dollars

It just goes on and on.

And, what about all the waste that the Commissioners continue to allow. Taxpayer money waste that eventually ends up as huge profits for their Good-Ole-Boys and Girls they are friendly with. Again, it goes on and on.

Now, let’s get to the truth of the matter. None of this is on the Commissioner’s mind. This tax increase right before an election year is on it’s face a stupid idea. And the Commissioners are not stupid. They are crooks and liars. Crooks as the violate open meetings laws and liars because all this sales tax increase is a deception. I will explain.

During a recent Commissioner’s Meeting, County Manager Brian Epley gave a presentation about the effects of this sales tax increase. It is a “Diversity of Revenue” says Epley-all proud of himself. I immediately knew what the secret was and this $2,000,000 more tax money coming into the wasteful commissioner’s hands is chicken feed. I have heard this Diversity of Revenue thing before. Twenty+ years ago at a Water Board Meeting.

The Water Board then, as the Commissioners are now are broke and are getting ready to refinance some bonds, sell some new bonds or refinance or apply for some major loans. And the Bond and banking people like a “Diversity of Revenue.” That’s what the money bags who loan out big dollars like to see. A diversity of revenue, especially from taxes. The money bags told the Water Board that they wanted them to raise a tax and the Water Board raised a tax. They didn’t increase any existing tax because, until then, they didn’t have an existing tax. The water Board raised a 1% tax that they did not need.

I am not sure that water tax is still going on, but I watched the Water Board raise that unnecessary tax that went on for years. And what was the first thing the Water Board did when they raised that unnecessary tax? Everybody should be able to figure that one out. They gave themselves $150 for every meeting they attended. Meetings that usually only took an hour way back then.

So, this new Sales Tax increase the Commissioners want to slide by taxpayers in a low turnout election year is, in my studied opinion, will be a prelude to some big financial deal that will add $Millions of debt on Cleveland County. Some project that a few insiders are likely to make big bundles of money on. Otherwise, why are the Commissioners not willing to tell all of us what is really going on. Where, exactly, this new revenue is going to go. Something they refuse to do.

But, us folks that the Commissioners want to hide everything from can put a stop to all of this. Just vote AGAINST the Sales tax increase. Cleveland County is broke and in debt over our ears already. Last time I looked hard at the County Budget; the County received $350,000 in investment but paid out $7,000,000 in debt service. A factor of 20. For every dollar received from investments, $20 pas paid out for debts. None of us Hillbillies can survive very long like that. And neither can Cleveland County. The bill has to be paid sometime. Sooner or later we will have to pay the piper for our corruption, disguised as financial foolishness enabled by voter apathy.

So, what you see below is a representation of what you will see on the 2019 Elections Ballot. Mark against this Sales Tax increase and in the 2020 Elections vote out all the incumbent commissioners who are throwing our money away hand over fist.
Referenda

Local Sales and Use Tax

Local sales and use tax at the rate
of one-quarter percent (0.25%) in
addition to all other State and
local sales and use taxes.

⃝ For

⃝ Against