A great debate of ideas...
Leave it to me to enter into a debate with another State…
The Trail-Gazette is a weekly newspaper in Estes Park, Colorado.
It is published by Prairie Mountain Publishing, a unit of MediaNews Group. The Trail-Gazette covers local government, schools, sports, community events, entertainment, real estate, and Rocky Mountain National Park.
The Trail Gazette - Editorial opinion - EVRPD decision creates slippery slope
Mike Romero is the publisher of the Trail-Gazette.
Esperanza Amelia Rodriguez Dia • 5 days ago
Have the residents ever heard of dissolution of a District? DO IT... and force the EVRPD to start fresh... by having people determine whether they want to be taxed or not. It is evident by this story that once any level of government gets into our pocket, they want our money whether we are willing or even use the services intended by the special taxing district.
STAND FIRM AND SAY NO TO MORE TAXES!
JustSayinEP Esperanza Amelia Rodriguez Dia • 7 hours ago • edited
Got it. You have yours, and you have no need for government, quasi-government agencies, community and/or neighbors.
I hope that you don't drive on taxpayers supported roads, and will never have a need to call for taxpayer supported police or emergency services.
You're an extreme Libertarian. I found this quote which describes most of the libertarians I've met:
“There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.”
Esperanza Amelia Rodriguez Dia JustSayinEP • 6 hours ago
Wow... talk about the need to attack to make an argument...
The comment was an attempt to bring CHOICE into government... The dissolution of a district would bring a separation from OBLIGATION... then those who want to continue... can CHOOSE to do so by recreating the district but now putting on their shoulders the debt they want to force others to pay... Have you ever heard of the Tea Party... it was over - taxation that made these United States, should we now have a Cuban Coffee Revolution instead?
As for Ayn Rand... what an honor to be considered like her, thank you! Ayn Rand advocated reason as the only means of acquiring knowledge, supporting rational and ethical egoism and rejected altruism. In politics, she condemned the initiation of force as immoral, therefore, to force people to pay taxes they do not derive a benefit from is and ought to be IMMORAL...
Thanks for debating with me!
Louis Friend Esperanza Amelia Rodriguez Dia • 26 minutes ago
Perhaps you should take a closer look at how the Estes Valley Recreation and Park District - and all other special districts in the state - were formed. Hint: they were created by a vote of the local citizens who desired the types of services and amenities the pending districts would offer, not by bureaucrats in Denver or Washington.
This is not a case of an immoral, quasi-governmental agency "forcing" people to pay taxes, it's a case of equitable application of established policy across the entire district.
Also, these are not "new taxes," but quite the opposite - the properties in question have always been within the boundary of the district and NEVER paid taxes due to the county's incompetent management of the GIS and tax roll systems.
If you want to be like Ayn Rand, you should write a book … oh, wait.
Esperanza Amelia Rodriguez Dia Louis Friend • 7 minutes ago
Oh... thank GOD you noticed I wrote one already... two actually, first in English / second its translation to Spanish... but let's go on... the article reads:
- Larimer County Commissioners approved the request of some 30 property owners who reside in the Pole Hill area to be exempted from the Estes Valley Recreation and Park District’s special taxing district.
- Why? The property owners claim to live too far and do not use the district’s recreation facilities, therefore they should be exempted from the taxing district boundary, which was established in 1955.
- Therefore, in 1955... 64 years ago, a district is formed. Many have lived / worked off those taxes, but now some want to CHOOSE to be exempt, this is a free country and in order to tax ourselves... WE MUST AGREE... taxes are and should NOT be imposed. Those people have the right to make a choice on how to live their lives.
To dissolve the district will require to start a new process and people will be given the right to determine who ought to be taxed.
If everyone chooses NOT to be taxed, then... whatever project will come to an end. Period...
By now, those who agreed to be taxed in 1955 may no longer live, time to revise how our lives are lived, not be harnessed with what appears to be a legacy of choices of the past.
Your statement 'some NEVER paid taxes due to the county's incompetent management of the GIS and tax roll systems' is indicative that extreme measures are necessary.
Here, there and everywhere, we are subjected to mismanagement and only through the painful exercise of a review of each and every angle of taxation will we come out at the other end becoming fiscally responsible, judicial and deserving of the
HONOR OF PUBLIC TRUST!!!
Oh... wait... I may just have been inspired to write my next epic.... story... entitled: Anathema to the Constitution of these United States... the acceptance of mismanagement / payment of taxes... just because it has been on the books for over 60 years... PLEASE!!!
Louis Friend Esperanza Amelia Rodriguez Dia • 8 hours ago
OK, let’s take it a step further. Obviously you’re missing the general point. How about this scenario - we’ll let you decide which taxes you want to pay (if any) if you’ll agree to, oh, I don’t know - not burden any of the beneficial systems or services we taxpayers fund by utilizing said services, ever - for the rest of your life. Drive on tax-funded roads? Nope - you agree that you’re exempt. Break a leg waiting in line for a book signing? Don’t bother calling an ambulance; better get yourself to the hospital (the one not supported by tax dollars, of course). House catches on fire? Don’t bother calling the fire department - I’m sure you can handle it all by yourself. You’re exempt, remember?
Sound ridiculous? Yeah, so do you.
Esperanza Amelia Rodriguez Dia Louis Friend • a few seconds ago
Let's take it a step further. Obviously I am not missing the general point. Have you ever read the Tax Poem... you ought to:
The Tax Poem by Author Unknown
Tax his land, tax his wage, Tax his bed in which he lays. Tax his tractor, tax his mule, Teach him taxes is the rule. Tax his cow, tax his goat,
Tax his pants, tax his coat. Tax his ties, tax his shirts, Tax his work, tax his dirt. Tax his chew, tax his smoke, Teach him taxes are no joke.
Tax his car, tax his grass, Tax the roads he must pass. Tax his food, tax his drink, Tax him if he tries to think. Tax his sodas, tax his beers,
If he cries, tax his tears. Tax his bills, tax his gas, Tax his notes, tax his cash. Tax him good and let him know That after taxes, he has no dough.
If he hollers, tax him more, Tax him until he’s good and sore. Tax his coffin, tax his grave, Tax the sod in which he lays. Put these word
s upon his tomb,
"Taxes drove me to my doom!" And when he’s gone, we won’t relax, We’ll still be after the inheritance tax.
So, now that we have established that we know we are being taxed to death... Let's read your scenario
Most taxes are either Federal / State or Municipal in nature... but when it comes to Special Taxing Districts, taxes are self-imposed, in other words, people get together to determine a project, an obligation, or a desire to maintain, create something. There is always an ordinance that defines the purpose of this particular type of taxation. IT IS A CHOICE... So, after so many years, mismanagement and a court ruling that some do not benefit from such a tax, rather than spend more tax payer money in a fight... dissolve the district... start fresh... review each component of the management aspects of the district, hold accountable those that administer it and start fresh... in that struggle and painful process, capture the lessons learned and create a system that has the necessary safeguards for this NOT to happen again.
Define the district... and if you get the majority to ACCEPT the particular taxation, then proceed...
Have sincerely tried to guide you through the thinking process required to improve a system, your other statements are so ridiculous in nature that they deserve neither an answer not recognition for they are in no way related to the purpose of my comments... Stay well…