It seems to me we've gotten into a messy little habit of raising taxes in such a way as to cause someone else to pay them, not us. Give you an example:
A friend of mine took his family on a short vacation to North Carolina this summer and he showed me the itemized statement from the place where they stayed. There were 28 entries for a total of $673. Twelve of those entries were for taxes, and that came to $55. He was an outsider and he paid the state and county 8% for the privilege of spending his money there. We do the same thing to people who vacation in Hall County. That's taxation without representation, isn't it?
It seems to me we are playing the same game with so-called impact fees. Impact fees are a means of raising taxes, and their popularity lies with the idea we are going to make someone else pay. Those of us who have already moved here are going to make the newcomers pay. Since many new homeowners are younger people, us old-timers and mover-inners are asking the next generation to pay. And anybody who thinks new businesses looking at locating here don't care about higher taxes have never been in business.
I've heard all the excuses about raising someone else's taxes because, we say, that somebody else has caused increased expenses, but it seems to me we are hunting ways, first, to increase taxes, and second, to find a way to get someone else to pay them . especially if that somebody else cannot vote here. It seems to me we need to do some serious thinking about the fairness of passing off our tax increases to newcomers, tourists, new businesses that create jobs, and especially handing higher tax bills to our children and grandchildren.
This is Gordon Sawyer, and may the wind always be at your back.
Monday
August 4th, 2025
8:29AM
