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Today's Poll!Backers: Tax would fund more training
Saturday, July 21, 2012
If voters pass a quarter-cent sales tax to help fund the Jefferson City Fire Department next month, supporters say firefighters will be given more training to help save lives.
At a campaign rally Friday afternoon, Third Ward City Councilman Dr. Bryan Pope said as he and other sales tax supporters have walked through the city to answer questions about the tax, residents have said they want firefighters to continue to perform as first responders.
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Comments
BillyJoeRayBob 10 months ago
New tax dollars is not the answer in this situation .. the fire department can save a lot of money if they quit following ambulances to BS ambulance calls and minor traffic accidents and stand around shooting the bull because they weren't needed in the first place .. the fire department does not need to be trained or equipped to be paramedics; those already exist and are doing the job just fine .. they need to take a hard, honest look at how they are using their available budget and resources .. I previously suggested the city offering the firefighters $1 for every $10 of true savings they identify in the department budget .. it might be surprising to suddenly see all the areas of fat they could trim if resulted in a little extra money in their paychecks .. I also suggested they spend their down time waiting for a "true" emergency performing other functions for the city that could in turn save more dollars. The supporters of the tax find it easier to ask for more money than to get serious about identifying ways to efficiently cut costs and best utilize their existing resources.
BillyJoeRayBob 10 months ago
I'm sure a young handsome policeman would have already rescued the victims and knocked down the flames with his fire extinguisher before that ever happened :) .. nothing like responding to a rational view point with an irrational and useless rant. :(
BillyJoeRayBob 10 months ago
Ask any paramedic, EMT, fireman, ER nurse or police officer .. a large percentage of ambulance calls are not emergencies .. there are a lot of people who call for an ambulance instead of getting a friend or relative to take them to the ER because (1) they are not paying for it; and (2) their friends and relatives know it's not an emergency. I was around it for over 25 years and know of what I speak. Indulge me .. take the time to learn what is really happening out there where the rubber meets the road.
JCLifer 10 months ago
I just wonder what they did with all that Homeland Security, TARP, ans ARRA money they got over the last five years. The feds gave Jeff City millions to improve safety and emergency preparedness. What did they do with all that money?
viktorkowski 10 months ago
spent it wisely.
youtube.com/watch?v=7Nug5FZgxuk
rodinman 10 months ago
The fire department is adequately funded now. They need to concentrate on their jobs and quit trying to do someone else's job. This tax, prop 2, is a way for the city council to free up funds for "special" projects that the voters said no to in February. The property tax can be reinstated with a simple majority vote by the city council. What happens to the capital improvement tax money that was earmarked for the fire department? Does the tax go away or is the money placed in the general fund? The council has failed to explain (I presume they don't want to explain) all the funding the fire department gets and what will happen to that money should this tax pass and fund all fire department needs. I plan to vote "NO" and hope the majority of folks do likewise. The same with the forced annexation issue.
JCsleeper 10 months ago
This will bring in more money to the JCFD. Therefore it is a TAX INCREASE ! Also tired of them ringing the phone. Three times today, already. You ring my phone. you lose my vote.
gettingthere 10 months ago
I agree. It's not even funny anymore how much money people are expecting. Ameren went up recently, asked for another raise, Water rates went up, Library rate is going up, Gas is never coming down again. The community/country is headed for another revolution if the greedy don't back off! The rich are staying rich, and the middle class is becoming poor.
Maybe the city needs to cut the salaries down to minimum wage like that town in NJ. We will have lots of money for training then!!
online_editor 10 months ago
I removed a couple of comments that strayed off topic to broader issues (i.e., secession) which are routinely discussed on other story pages. Let's arbitrarily try to keep this page reserved for discussion that's primarily focused on the proposed fire department tax and the status of city revenues as it relates to that. Thanks. --Rick Brown, online editor, News Tribune
countyfactor 10 months ago
Sounds like to me you all live out in the county trying to pose as city residents, I support my fire department and welcome the property tax reduction. I would much rather pay this sales tax than the transformation tax any day of the week. Oh buy the way my neighbor was having a heart attack and guess who shows up first? No your wrong.... It was the fire dept.
hudson 10 months ago
More taxes, More goverment , Less taxes,Less goverment ! Coloumbia MO pension 100,000,000 underfunded,What is the condition of the Jefferson city pension system ?
Forward 10 months ago
These comments sure do sound like they have a lot of county influence. I would rather, as a resident of the city, pay a sales tax to support better training and equipment for our fire dept. They have been saying for years that they need money for equipment and training but the council have denied it. Their entire dept training budget is 7k. Almost half of their services are performed for people that are not city residents. And lets face it if you or your family has an emergency in the city odds are the fire dept will be there well before the county ambulance service. The fire department responds from 5 strategically placed stations and the county ambulance service responds from one location that is far from strategically placed.
gettingthere 10 months ago
The more I hear about tax increases, government interention, bank bailouts, etc, the more I think Graceful is right, regulation is a major problem. Regulation starts with someone wanting more security for their investment, like Ameren's monopoly in JC, they regulate competition out, regulate rates up, and get their cronies to push it through the government(PSC).
I truly believe the time has come for a revolution!! Nothing is going to change the hearts and minds of the "greedy ones" more that someone not buying what they are selling.
We seriously need to move out, stop buying in JC, only go to the doctor when you are dying or delivering a baby(something like that). Seriously, nothing will change until we change their wallets!!
online_editor 10 months ago
Let's arbitrarily try to keep this page reserved for discussion that's primarily focused on the proposed fire department tax and the status of city revenues as it relates to that. Broader issues like bank bailouts and revolution are routinely discussed on other story pages, so focusing on this ballot issue here without straying too far afield gives people a central place to discuss the specifics of this proposal without wading through multiple topics. Thanks. --Rick Brown, online editor, News Tribune
connor 10 months ago
Just like other municipalities with their cigarette taxes, half cent here, quarter cent there taxes and what not taxes the City of Jefferson will eventually tax themselves out of revenue. My guess is there is a formula out there somewhere based on total taxes (hidden and otherwise) and average income yadda yadda. Has the city reached that point yet? Who knows? Getting any politician to admit it when that point is crossed especially if they recommended the tax will be impossible. Keep in mind however that each and every tax means that much less purchased overall by those paying the tax. A quarter cent sounds small but it all adds up.
JCLifer 10 months ago
The breaking point has been reached. Young professionals do not want to live here. Wages are so low; people are hurting from years of no raises, but we have all these taxes, utilities keep going up, gasoline is more expensive here, etc. The city leaders refuse to see how bad people are hurting because of their greed.
Try getting prices of utilities down and get wages up and then we can talk a boy a tax increase.
This one will be voted no just like transformation. Same for lubraryvtax.
Vote no.
BillyJoeRayBob 10 months ago
Just this week in the building I work in, the ambulance crew had the gurney unloaded and was already inside checking the patient when the 50' fire truck with at least three guys showed up, sirens a blaring, a couple minutes later. They stood outside shooting the bull with the maintenance guys for about 15 minutes before loading up and leaving. Do they arrive first sometimes? Yes, I am sure they do, but my point is the calls are usually not true life threatening emergencies. If you think they are, I've got a bridge I'd like to sell you at the lake. Bottom line, it's my personal opinion that the fire department does not need to be spending more tax dollars training their personnel to be paramedics and equipping their firetrucks with advanced life support medical equipment. I am recommending they look at ways to save money and not spend more.
RobHunterJohnson 10 months ago
Billy, In my world the Fire Truck makes it first. Mother, disabled neighbor, ect, and you are one of those guys that thinks that the everyone is just standing around except yourself! In the big city, a paramedic group is at each station, not at a single location, and you have about 4 minutes on not breathing call. I want the Fire department involved in my world. Rob
spelchek 10 months ago
Perhaps this is a way to fight declining revenues via a -2% growth rate? Less people = less property tax. A sales tax would garner more money from the outsiders coming in 5 days a week to work at the lowest paying state government jobs in the nation. Apparently forced annexation isn't working enough? This would circumvent that problem, no?
a2325 10 months ago
I just have one question. Is a quarter of one cent (1/4) that much money? We are talking about fractions of pennies. On my home I currently pay $200 a year in city property tax. That means with a 17% ($34) reduction in city tax I would pay $166 a year. I would have to spend more than $12,000 in goods and services before I would even break even with the $34 dollars saved. Who wouldnt want that? who doesnt want to lower their homeowners insurance? Who doesnt want better fire protection and fire provided EMS? The argument of EMS is faster than Fire is invalid. Ems comes from one of 2 stations in the city limits. Fire comes from 5 strategically fire stations from inside the city limits. . look at it. $4 spent = $0.01. $40 spent = in tax $0.10. $400 spent = in tax $1.00. $4000 spent = in tax $10.00. $40,000 spent = in tax $100.00. $400,000 spent = in tax $1,000.00. We want better roads. We want more bus routes. We want better schools. We want better services. Things take money. I want my fire department to be better equipped and better trained. I also want all of the county residents who work, commute, and play in Jefferson City to pay their share. I also dont want to hear from county people that they dont like it. I bet you work in Jeff. I bet you drive in Jeff. The population of Jeff swells from 40,000 to over 60,000 during the normal 8-5 Monday-Friday. Thats a 50% increase..
Why wouldnt I want that increased population to pay a portion of the services they are also provided..
Thats my two cents. Which I would have to spend 8 bucks before I reached that amount..
Im voting yes!. ..
online_editor 10 months ago
I removed some posts that strayed off topic and/or contained personal bickering. As an unfortunate byproduct of this, a few of the responses that included some on-topic points also needed to be removed because they completely lost their context. If you had points directly revelant to the topic of this story that were eliminated as a result of this, feel free to repost those opinions. --Rick Brown, online editor, News Tribune
RobHunterJohnson 10 months ago
Thanks, VOTE for Propositon 2! Rob
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