Dec 5, 2018
Cities love to discuss how to bring in revenue to pay for all of their spending. They almost can't wait to raise taxes, implement new taxes, raise fees, or write new bonds. Should we be throwing a party while spending other people's money? Should government celebrate all of the "great" projects that get implemented on the backs of the people they serve? We, here at Community Solutions MN, don't agree. Spending other's money is a somber responsibility. It should be handled with the greatest amount of care and reverence. Unfortunately, that is almost never the case. Every city, county, and school seem to have the same approach. How did former Crystal Councilman Mark Hoffman put it? We can tax residents to cover our butts whenever we want to? It's disgusting that they believe they have first rights to our money.
Enter Mayor Jim Adams. Under his leadership, the city of Crystal has walked a road of innovation and reform. We've written all about removing the point of sale inspections, the city code task force, and paying for a much needed public works building all in cash. And it's that last point that we want to dig deeper into this week. We invite Mayor Adams back on the show to discuss his goals to make Crystal a debt-free city. This is a bold plan that some would say is impossible. If he can accomplish this task, he will have been successful in eliminating most hidden taxes and saving the taxpayers of Crystal tens of millions of dollars over the long term. Listen to Mayor Adam's plans and then try to get your city, county, and school district to rethink how they spend your money.
We also take a deeper look at how those mysterious write-in votes work.
Have you checked out our Spotify playlist? At the beginning of each episode Jason quotes some song lyrics that have to do with the subject matter of the podcast. Andrew never knows what they are, but now he can… and so can you! We’ve launched the Spotify playlist: “Community Solutions Music From the Podcast“! You can listen to Roundabout from Yes after listing to Episode 30 on Roundabouts… or kick back and enjoy a rocking playlist just for the thrill of it. We add a new song every week. Subscribe and enjoy!
Don’t forget that you can also subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify, or go out to the PodBabble Podcast Network!