Replacement of four out of five of the members of the Warren County Board of Supervisors during the last election was somewhat surprising.

As I was paying my property taxes last week, I wondered if the tax increases imposed by the last board contributed to their demise. Taxes on my downtown building increased over 10 percent this year; that was reason enough for me to vote against my representative.

Now it seems that the city is attempting to raise taxes through an increase in sales tax, and probably by any other means they can come up with.

Based on the way this administration blows through our tax dollars, the increase is probably necessary. I don’t think the mayor and aldermen understand the word “frugal.” Each new “study,” each new “gift” (such as that recently given to the National Park Service), each new bond issuance and each new pay raise increases the need for more tax dollars.

Taxes are not the property of the mayor and alderman or the Board of Supervisors. They belong to you and me, the citizens from whom they are appropriated.

It’s high time our “leaders” consider the plight of Vicksburg and Warren County property owners, learn the meaning of the word frugal, and begin lowering our property taxes instead of raising them. Such would be good for the growth of our city and county.

Lastly, per The Vicksburg Post, despite having more employees per capita than almost any other city in Mississippi, Vicksburg city leaders intend to pay $2.4 million to a contractor to replace incandescent bulbs with LEDs and replace 13 air conditioning units at the convention center. It’s expected that these improvements (according to the Post article) will save the city $98,000 per year.

On the face of it, this appears to be one of the most bizarre expenditures ever conceived by city leaders, who have apparently lost all proficiency in math. Twenty-four years to break even? Absurd.

City residents may want to approach the next city election with an attitude similar to that held prior to the election of the Board of Supervisors.

 

Malcolm Allred

Vicksburg