Letter to the Leland Town Council regarding the Sales Tax Distribution Issue

Below is the text of a letter that was distributed to members of the Leland Town Council via email prior to the town’s special meeting tonight regarding the issue of sales tax distribution.  A similar letter was distributed to the other municipalities in District 5.  Click here to email me your thoughts on this issue.

TEXT OF LETTER:

September 30, 2013

Dear Mayor Bozeman, Council Members and Leland Residents,

I regret that I am unable to be with you at tonight’s meeting.  Unfortunately, I had planned a business trip that has me staying out of town overnight tonight before I was notified of tonight’s meeting.

Understandably, the discussion regarding sales tax distribution is a sensitive one.  As is often the case when efforts are made to discuss such issues, there has been a great deal of confusion regarding this issue.

Please allow me the opportunity to again clarify a few key points regarding the issue:

• The Board of Commissioners is not advocating any change to the sales tax distribution formula.
• At the request of a citizen who is a former elected official in one of our municipalities, our board created an ad hoc committee to review how the county distributes sales tax receipts to municipalities.  ALL we have agreed to do at this time is listen to the committee’s feedback.
• If anyone tells you that the Board of Commissioners is pushing a specific change to the sales tax distribution formula, that is simply not true.
• The Board of Commissioners was asked to review the formula.  Again, that is all that we have committed to do.
• We will have to be convinced of two things before we make any changes: (1) That a change needs to be made; and, (2) If a change needs to be made, that any proposed change is the right one.
• We will have to be convinced that there is a compelling reason to make any change.

 

I have appointed Leland Town Councilman Jon Tait as the District 5 representative on the sales tax committee.  I believe he will represent our district well on the committee, and I have been in touch with him regularly since the process began.  I also plan to meet with Mayor Bozeman later this week to discuss the issue.

To reiterate, at this point all the Board of Commissioners has agreed to do is listen.  After Councilman Tait and the other committee members have done their work, I will cast my vote based on what I believe to be in the best interests of my constituents in District 5.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Frank Williams
Brunswick County Commissioner