Letters to the editor — Aug. 24

Tax increase bargain, not theft

I read with interest articles in Thursday’s and Friday’s News Journal about the .25 percent sales tax the county commissioners have discussed.

Voters in Curry County voted against a property tax increase for new or remodeled jail facilities. I’ll admit I voted against these increases.

My thoughts are everyone should help pay for these needs, not just property owners. With a hike in the sales tax, everyone pays a share including our visitors from out of county and out of state.

My thoughts here are they use our streets and other services, so help us pay for them.

Criminals in our jails are there by their own choice. Why shouldn’t they or their families and friends pay part of their expenses? Even if they are sent to state facilities, it is tax money that takes care of them.

Now the state takes 1/12 of 1 percent of our sales tax to help pay for the Affordable Healthcare Act. That doesn’t sound like much, but it still takes away from our revenue.

So my opinion is the .25 percent hike is a bargain, not a theft.

Ruby McCormick

Clovis

Tax hike egregious overreach

I am rarely surprised by the overreach of government at any level. That said, the action of the Curry County Commission regarding a gross receipts tax hike to (essentially) fund a new jail that voters have rejected three times is reprehensible.

The arrogance is beyond comprehension.

If voters hadn’t yet figured out what their commissioners actually think of them and their voice, they should have no doubt now.

For Wendell Bostwick to publicly diminish the 9 percent voter turnout for this issue as an excuse for his actions is the worst kind of betrayal. His comment is not only condescending, it’s downright misleading. He left out just a few pertinent facts.

In 2010, which was also a gubernatorial election, the voter turnout was 50 percent, and 73 percent of those voters overwhelmingly said “no” to the jail.

The two years the voter turnout was 9 percent and 10 percent (2012 and 2013, respectively), the jail issue was the only item on the ballot. This was by design, of course, in hopes that pressured county employees would be the only people who voted.

Regardless of the low numbers, the 2013 vote was a resounding 2 to 1 against the jail. The 2012 ballots again revealed that, by 68 votes, the people rejected the jail proposal.

As a taxpayer in Clovis, Curry County and New Mexico, this end around the will of the people makes my blood boil.

If this measure passes, I will make it my life’s mission to have everyone in that clown act who is eligible and voted for it recalled from office.

I hope voters make every effort to attend the Sept. 16 public hearing and make sure commissioners can hear you now.

Glenda Bly

Farwell