Reader said Hotel-Motel tax is ‘unjustified’
I am appalled that BOMA is determined to force through an unjustified tax just because they can, and seem to rationalize it through the logic that someone else will have to pay for it and not the residents themselves.
To impose a tax just because you can get away with it is exactly the kind of tyranny the Founders of this nation fought and died to resist. The argument should not be if 2 percent or 3 percent is a better number to tax, but whether a government that already is running in a surplus is even entitled to more funds through a new tax.
The only thing in this world a politician can never have enough of is someone else’s money, and this hotel tax clearly demonstrates that.
We all hear the “tourism” argument thrown around in this debate, and I would like to point out that Farragut will never win the tourism war with Sevier County nor should it waste money trying. This Town’s focus should be on providing the best place to live and work in the area while living within our means.
A vote of the people would be nice, but as residents of Knox County already know too well is that a ballot item is the perfect opportunity to hold the citizens hostage with the “if you vote this tax down, we will just pass another tax that will be worse on you” tactic.
Today it is a hotel tax, but tomorrow or the next day it will be a debate for a property tax on the Town’s residents. When that debate comes, I would hope that the citizens of this town would resist it more than they seem to resist this hotel tax. I know I will.
Sam Hilton, Farragut
