Sales tax ‘education’ a nonissue

One of the reasons two Fargo city commissioners said they voted against putting an infrastructure sales tax extension on the ballot is there is not enough time to educate and inform voters about the need for the tax. It’s not the only reason Mike Williams and Dave Piepkorn voted “no,” but it certainly is the most peculiar.

The vote would not be until early June. That’s more than two months from today. About 10 weeks!

Are Fargo residents to believe they can’t be educated about the tax over a period of two months? Do Williams and Piepkorn think they and their colleagues on the commission lack the ability to get out the message?

Given the city’s decades-long emphasis on flood protection, street improvements and other infrastructure work, voters are not starting their assessment of the tax extension from square one. City voters have imposed and/or extended several special sales taxes over the years, and have rejected a few, too. They know the process. They understand why certain taxes are needed and others are not. Without judging the need for or merits of the sales tax extension that will be on the June ballot, it’s safe to say voters will know what they are voting for or against.

Williams and Piepkorn surely have other reasons for resisting the June tax vote, some sound, some opportunistic. Both men are seeking re-election.

Williams outlined his concerns in a recent commentary. It’s a thoughtful analysis, even if it sometimes strays from visionary to utopian.

Piepkorn, on the other hand, has donned the fashionable hat of a fiscal conservative, insisting his colleagues on the commission should be restrained from spending more on flood projects and infrastructure, even as the record shows he has voted in the affirmative for most of those expenditures. It appears he’s stuck his finger into the anti-tax, anti-government wind, and adjusted his public policy stance accordingly.

Let the debate about the tax extension begin. But let’s not forget that commissioners sometimes are motivated by factors other than the merits of the ballot question.

Tags: opinion, editorials, fargo, diversion, tax