By DELIA CRUZ-MURPHYGood Afternoon Gerry, (Letter)
I am saddened to hear that living in Los Alamos pains you so much. I understand from your continuous stream of negative communications that you are not satisfied with the development of Los Alamos, and the endless taxation to pay for said improvements.
As you have expressed many times in the past, you feel we are unfairly over taxed in Los Alamos. There were times in the past I would have had to agree with your sentiment of the improper use of funds from the taxation and bond issues … I felt at times that if I had to watch the Reservoir Road undergo one more round of endless repairs, or one more of the school parking lots get repaved as opposed to actual structural fixes I was going to revolt, so I can identify with some of your pain.
But seeing as how the schools are finally getting those much needed structural repairs, and the town infrastructure is currently being up-graded from circa 1943 I feel it is appropriate to temper those sentiments.
I am not sure how to fix the taxation/bond issue as the town infrastructure is so old, and the proposed fixes are not just cosmetic but are defensible and greatly needed. The recreation up-grades only increase the quality of life in Los Alamos. Instead of looking at mountain towns, such as Durango, and saying: “Gee, if only we could have a Rec Center like that in the middle of town for the kids”, or “Gee, if only we had a cover for the hockey rink so we could extend the season and hold more tournaments”, etc., we need to just make those up-grades.
Those up-grades do require funding, and I am not sure any other way to generate the funds … unless you are volunteering your time as a grant writer to generate funds for the improvement efforts.
While recreation is not the primary monetary revenue source for Los Alamos, it cannot be ignored as viable secondary revenue for the town.
Since you are finding yourself in this most egregious situation might I recommend the following relocation options, as these states claim no income taxes: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Washington or Wyoming? If those options are not to your liking I have attached the following link, which is a listing all of the tax rates (income, sales, property, and corporate tax rates) for other states. https:////www.tax-rates.org/
I hope this is helpful. I am sorry I have not been able to generate other worthwhile solutions for this predicament. Maybe there are others in town who might have practical solutions to the funding issue you are displeased with.
I sincerely apologize.
