Letter to the Editor: We should all dig a little deeper

Property tax relief is a hot topic for everyone right now, and for good reason. No one likes to see that bill come in the mail every year. No one likes writing out that check. Everyone would like to pay less in taxes, myself included. But when less taxes are paid, public agencies have less funding to provide essential services to residents. Public works projects that enhance our quality of life get stalled, or are ended. That’s not speculation, that’s a fact. I, for one, would like to see a breakdown telling me that for every dollar my tax is reduced, which service will be diminished by the loss of that dollar? That’s what we need to be thinking about when we champion lower taxes.

I just read a report about the lobbyists and the lobbying organizations who are pushing for these caps of property taxes in Iowa. Did you know that those lobbyists are being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to influence our legislators? Did you know that those lobbying organizations push for fiscal responsibility, yet they all operate in the red, spending much more on executive salaries and expenses than the revenues they take in? And these highly paid executives refused to respond to questions about this overspending in their organizations. Don’t take my word for it, look it up for yourself.

So I have to wonder about our legislators, who are taking their marching orders from these organizations who seem to have their own self-interests in mind rather than the interests of hard-working Iowans.

It would do us well to dig a little deeper and always be questioning the motives of those who profess to be looking out for best interests. Things are not always as they seem, especially when it comes to those in government and those who are bending their ears.

John Moore

Newton