An opponent of past sales tax issues has come out against another five-year renewal of the countywide capital improvements sales tax in Cole County.
Former commission candidate Ed Williams recently launched a website, votenoonsalestax.com.
Voters will decide the issue, Countywide Proposition A, on the April 5 ballot.
"We can't cut out sales taxes, unfortunately," he said. "The reason they're so popular with governments is that people don't realize they're paying them or how much they're paying in sales tax. I think we should make a great effort to keep them as low as possible because they're unfair and regressive."
Williams questions how a "special tax" has continued for 30 years. He feels there should be more reliance on property taxes, which would have businesses and large property owners paying more.
"Commercial property is taxed at a higher rate," he said. "Sales taxes impact lower-wage people more than higher-income people."
An argument by proponents of the tax is people from out of town pay a large portion of the tax, and Williams doesn't think that's fair.
"We're taking advantage of them, and it suggests we are getting something for nothing," he said. "We shouldn't depend on that."
"A sales tax is the most fair and efficient tax because it's collected on what people purchase," said Brad Bates, campaign co-chair. "The more purchases you make, the more you pay on it. It's true out-of-towners pay, but if they shop here they use our roads to get to our stores."
Another point proponents have made is having this tax has allowed Cole County to improve and maintain roads at a better rate than surrounding counties. Williams said he doesn't believe that.
"Many roads around us may not look good, but they're adequate for the amount of traffic they handle," he said.
"We are a large county and have more traffic on our roads than rural counties," Bates said. "We have to make them safe with upgrades. We have many low-water crossings, and they may only flood a few time a year. But if you had the chance to do something to make it safe, wouldn't you want to do that?"
On his website, Williams said he doesn't believe the smaller communities should each get $100,000 for projects in their community. Instead, the money should be given based on need, since some communities are bigger than others, he said.
"Compare Wardsville to Taos or Lohman," he said. "You can assume Wardsville would have greater needs than the other two communities. There should be more thought given on the distribution of this money. Right now, it's just a way to get votes."
"It's the fairest way for all communities to give them the same amount," Bates said. "They all have needs that they can address with this money. If you penalize one community because of a loss of population, it wouldn't be the most judicious way to proceed."
Williams also said there is a better chance of passing this in April since there are few local issues on the ballot.
"If this had been put on the November ballot, there's no way it would pass, and the reason they want it in April is because they know people won't be paying much attention," he said.
"I've heard the other way around," Bates said. "Because the tax has been successful, our fear is people won't get out because they will assume it will pass. April elections generally have lower turnouts."