I am from a family of Republicans of many generations and was raised to believe in "small government, small taxes." I have come to the realize the elected officials of my party no longer believes in that adage. Republicans control my city, county, state, both houses of Congress, and the Presidency. All I see is more government and more taxes. I do recognize the current President succeeded in forcing some tax and bureaucratic reductions, but it will be all for naught if the national debt keeps running amok. (Now over $40 trillion!)
Concerning our county and its latest tax increase my wife and I will be voting no. We have been subjected to a lot of smoke and mirrors concerning this tax, but the simple truth is that every penny of this tax will be paid directly by county tax payers. Just a moment of reflection will open your eyes to this fact. Where else would this money come from–the selling companies, the State, the Feds, the Tooth Fairy? Do you see how laughable those suggestions are? As a long-time business owner, I do recognize the "level the playing field" argument for local vs on-line purchasing, but that ship sailed decades ago. Those retailers that chose to stay in the marketplace have adjusted, and they realize that taking another (estimated) $750,000 dollars directly out of Crawford Countians pockets will certainly not help their businesses.
Some thoughts from a fifth-generation Crawford Countian and merchant: How about not approaching each challenge with "we need to raise taxes"! I believe we have a spending problem, not a taxing problem, just as in all levels of government Two of the three Commissioners promised me personally that if they were elected to scour the County spending from top to bottom to clear out waste and inefficiencies. I have seen no evidence of this. I see a Commission that is available to the public approximately two hours a week most, not all. And no evening meetings to allow full citizen participation which were part of the campaign platform.
How about leading a rollback of the rate we pay for Library taxes? Their recent budget shows a rainy-day fund of $1.25 million dollars. Every entity needs a little cushion, but this is insulting to the taxpayers of our county. That might leave a little room to ask for an equivalent tax for roads.
I do recall the fiasco of real-estate purchases and spending that seems to never stop for the Coroner's office, the million dollar gift of our COVID money to the Lange family for Practical Pocus with little to show for it, and now paying for two new bridges that failed at the first rise in the Meramec.
A little research using the Federal tool called FRED shows that Crawford County population has decreased by 7.3% (1,800 people) since 2010. This is equivalent to a town larger than Steelville! Our poverty rate overall is 14.7%, and 21.1% for children. Compare these statistics to the County budget that has increased 14.5% from 2024-2025, and 25.4% from 2020-2025. Do you see the disconnect here?
Finally, I believe our Commissioners have fallen into the old trap of thinking of themselves as "Crawford County" as evidenced by the recent statements of asserting this new tax money 'will greatly help the county'. We the people are the County, not you as our Commissioners. Granted the new tax would help you, but the actual Countians will be $750,000 poorer.
Sincerely,
Kem L. Schwieder
Steelville, MO
