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,JAS <br />BOOK 6 74 <br />15 years, will not be able to maintain the quality of life we <br />have in this county without this tax. <br />Chairman Wheeler advised that in some counties as much as <br />40% of the tax is paid by non-residents, and Commissioner Bird <br />agreed this is an attempt to spread the financial burden for the <br />growth of this county over as broad a base as we can. <br />Chairman Wheeler asked if anyone present wished to be heard. <br />William Koolage, 815 26th Avenue, was discouraged to see so <br />few people here from the public with such an important event <br />taking place. He was generally in favor of the proposed <br />ordinance but his main point was that he would like to see more <br />definition. The farther out we go in estimating, the bigger the <br />possible error, and he would like to see something put together, <br />based on the current ad valorem taxes and population projection, <br />as to how much in operational funds we are going to need in these <br />sequential 5 year periods. This 1t sales tax is only for capital <br />items so there is a need to know if operational expenses are <br />going to bring us immediately to the ad valorem cap. Mr. <br />Koolage stressed that while he has heard quite a bit about the <br />first 5 years, he felt the Board needs to give the people more <br />confidence about the sequential 5 year periods. He has not heard <br />much mentioned about them except for roads and would like to see <br />more definition and have the projects anticipated for each <br />sequence set out and the dollars tied to them. <br />Commissioner Scurlock assured him that we have projects and <br />anticipated expenses projected for each phase of the 15 years and <br />that this has been gone into as thoroughly as possible. He <br />believed if we don't have this additional source of revenue, what <br />will happen is that the definition of what we consider essential <br />services now necessarily will become much narrower to the point <br />where you are talking truly about only what is absolutely <br />essential for the public health, safety and welfare, and our <br />quality of life will be impacted significantly. <br />16 <br />