Voters will sometimes approve an income tax increase, as witnessed recently in Columbus, Ohio. As a true blue Wolverine, I think this may be indicative of the quality of education at THE Ohio State University. But, Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman shared some lessons that governments in North Carolina could learn, especially those looking to raise taxes next Tuesday.
- “The [$100+ million in budget] cuts we made in [fiscal] ’09 did not include any public safety officers. We closed 11 recreation centers and we cut all functions of city government by significant amounts.”
- “You have to have total and complete transparency — of your books, your finances.”
- “There must be a reform plan. … determine what it is you can do better as a city, and then do it.”
- “[Y]ou have to take some cuts yourself. I cut my salary and the salary of everybody that I had control over. We had to show our citizens that this is the real deal.”
Mayor Coleman also demonstrated one of the major flaws in the way some government officials think.
There is no way we could raise anywhere near close to the revenue we needed through cuts.
And this from a man who has reduced city spending without cutting funds for public safety – one of the first things on the chopping block for those less committed to good government.
