The following videos are from the Cherokee County Commissioners’ meeting on February 20, 2012 in North Carolina. The issue being debated concerns a contract with an outside vendor to audit the business property listings with the state in order to collect taxes on equipment and supplies. Any discrepancies found by the firm would result in their receipt from the county of a 35% fee for any new taxes collected, interest and penalties.
The end result was to void the contract and perform the audits in some other manner that will not result in paying the commission. Whether the audits will be performed in the future is subject to another meeting.
What are the lessons from this meeting?
- The commissioners did not sell the audit correctly. Although the outside firm had a good idea how much money would be generated by this audit for the county, this figure never was addressed. The people never saw a benefit from the audits to anyone except the outside vendor.
- The distribution of the money generated from the audit was never discussed. Would the money be used to reduce property taxes and provide relief to the people in the country where unemployment is 20%?
- Is the county is financial distress? Based on the incredible spending sprees from the last commissioners and a contingency fund that is twice what the state requires, the answer is no.
Should the business owners be required to render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s? Yes. Should the commissioners be held accountable for the financial state of the county and provide tax relief to the taxpayers in bad times? Yes. Will anyone suffer if the businesses do not pay their “fair share”? No. Can Cherokee County pay down their debt and reduce their monthly expenditures and budget without raising taxes? Yes. The following videos show over 150 people standing up against local government. Even more importantly, they won their argument.
David DeGerolamo
Cherokee County Commissioners’ Meeting – Part 1
Cherokee County Commissioners’ Meeting – Part 2
Cherokee County Commissioners’ Meeting – Part 3
Cherokee County Commissioners’ Meeting – Part 4
Thanks for making this available!
Cherokee County citizens are right to stand up, this is just a sneaky way to raise taxes. Don’t let up!!
If the white haired woman in the middle is holding public office, I would make sure it was her last term.
Maybe you should run if you have all the answers. Be a part of the solution and quit bad mouthing the people who trying to be part of the solution.
good work, David!
If we had this information concerning all of the offices in this country available….and we were to be able to talk and be heard, I think the graft, corruption, lack of integrity and personal accountability would stop! Thank you soooo much for posting this and continue to do this again and again!
I wonder what stake the two commissioners that voted the plan down had in being audited for their businesses. How much worry was there on their part that the audit would cost them money. Can we say “Conflict of Interest”. It may not have been sold right but, it does not mean it was not right. Everyone needs to pay taxes and as long as the funds are not being spent inappropriately then the government is doing what we elect them to do. Costs go up so must taxes. I understand there are wonderful people that volunteer, but there is always costs for government services. Those services need to be provide as much as we may hate the taxes it takes to provide them.
Lorraine Meltz says:
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February 26, 2012 at 4:47 pm
Yes, I do hold public office, chairmain of the county commisssioners, and you have no fear because I have no interest in running again, I don’t need the money or the benefits (like others) I only ran to see if I could some small way make a difference in the county I choose to live in over 25 years ago.
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