Hazlehurst's Blog

Maketa’s tax proposal is a study in doing it wrong

During Tuesday’s special meeting of the County Commission, it was déjà vu all over again. Commissioner Sallie Clark had a testy exchange with her former colleague, the irrepressible Douglas Bruce; Sheriff Terry Maketa discussed in detail his department’s needs; Commissioner Darryl Glenn was absent; and Chairwoman Amy Lathen put on her Game Day face and [...]

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Low taxes: part of the problem, or the solution?

Why tax property, particularly private residences? The answer is simple: to protect property. Unlike sales or income taxes, property tax revenue is stable and predictable. Local governments across the nation traditionally have relied upon property taxes to fund the core operations of government, especially police and fire. Excessive reliance upon sales-tax receipts can lead to [...]

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Education as an export/import business

Conventional wisdom: Tax-averse states that fail to adequately fund public elementary, secondary, and higher education will fall behind their peers. Superb public education creates the educated workforce so necessary to economic success. Statistics 101: Colorado is a little better at funding education than southern backwaters such as Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi, but we’re still down there [...]

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The new USOC deal in verse

As the new USOC deal, like some cawing raven of doom, figuratively flaps from one group of lawyers to another, from one dithering board to another, eventually to settle on city hall, what will we see? With yet more apologies to the restless spirit of Edgar Allan Poe, here’s what we may see. Once upon [...]

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