A lot of county property tax bills will go up next year, but County Mayor Jim Coppinger and Hamilton County commissioners are not calling it a tax increase.
It’s a matter of semantics – a Greek-derived word for the manipulation of meaning.
Or you could think of it as fold in the fabric of political governing. A pleat to give commissioners cover from the outcry of some disappointed residents. A tuck to hide the unpleasant sight of making sausage.
But here’s the good news. No matter what Coppinger and commissioners call it, it is both a sign of our county’s progress and a hopeful indicator of future progress.
No one wants to pay taxes. Any taxes, let alone more taxes. But having a great community to live in is not free. We have to pay for schools to be built and teachers to be hired and sewage to be drained and jail cells to house the people our police arrest for crimes. We have to pay for roads to be built. We have to keep our water and land clean.