October 13, 2008
Monday PM

Have you ever wondered how much City tax you pay on a gallon of heating fuel? As of today (10/13) a local fuel vendor is selling #2 heating oil for $3.79 per gallon. With City tax included, the cost you pay is $4.02 per gallon (23 cents tax). As the cost per gallon increases, so does the tax.

We have some new faces in local government representing us and we need to tell them to immediately suspend the fuel tax. The City has millions in reserves and can easily suspend the fuel tax during the winter months.

This is especially important since we are likely to have a diesel surcharge added to our electrical bill sometime this winter.

If our elected officials refuse to listen to overwhelming public desire to eliminate sales tax on heating oil I propose we do the following:

I will start the citizen petition process if I can get enough volunteers to help me collect signatures -- email me. If our elected leaders think I am "blowing smoke" then perhaps they forgot my resolve during the Consolidation Fiasco. Government is elected to represent all the people, not just the few who show up asking for money.

This is not about a cash strapped government. The City has large reserves, and higher than expected sales tax revenue.

If we go the petition route we will need to do three to protect ourselves.

#1, petition to eliminate sales tax on heating oil, and food.
#2, petition to cap property taxes at the current level (to prevent the government from increasing property taxes to compensate for petition #1.
#3, petition to require a vote of the people before any new taxes are instituted (what the borough has now).

Our economy is in jeopardy. School enrollment is down and the population is shrinking. High fuel prices, inflation, and the collapse of the stock market threaten future tourism to the area. The time is now to give a break to individuals and businesses to help all survive the tough times ahead.

Please call or email your representatives. If that doesn't work email me and we will see what we can do to start the petition process.

Rodney Dial
thedials[at]gci.net
Ketchikan, AK

About: " Local family trying to start a new business that is open year around."

Received October 13, 2008 - Published October 13, 2008

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