By 
To the editor,
I’ve spoken to County Commissioner Troy VanDusen, both publicly and privately, on a wide variety of topics and issues. I’ve always found him to be both responsive and thoughtful. I appreciate his willingness to serve as a Commissioner. He understands that regardless of what decision is made on what issue — someone won’t like it.
I also appreciate that he pointed out I was wrong to claim the sales tax increase would impact vehicle purchases (or ag equipment purchases for that matter). It won’t. In some ways my confusion supports my desire for a public vote on the sales tax increase. As Commissioner VanDusen notes in his letter the “facts deserve to be included in any honest discussion of the issue.”
A public vote on the sales tax increase allows the time necessary to explore the issue honestly and fully. How much money are we talking about? How and when will those dollars be dispersed to home owners? What will the .5% sales tax increase cost the average Codington County resident annually? I cannot answer those questions, but referring the issue to a vote will give us some time to gather the facts which should be included in an honest discussion of the issue.
Commissioner VanDusen claimed I was misleading folks in my last letter. That wasn’t my intent — I didn’t imply that Commissioners were somehow going to use these monies for their own purposes. I clearly stated that it was to go to property tax relief. Just to clarify, my point was that the Commissioners had three choices. They could vote for or against the sales tax increase or they could have referred the issue to the voters. They chose to vote for the sales tax increase — all perfectly legal and within their authority.
That decision means that in order for people to have their voices heard on the issue, we need to gather signatures from registered voters within Codington County. I hope that effort is successful and that we have time to fully understand the impact of the sales tax increase. If it is referred to a vote it might not change the outcome, but at least people will have the opportunity to weigh in on the decision.
Douglas Allen
Watertown
Editor’s note: Doug Allen is a local columnist for The Watertown Current, a former educator, and a member of the Watertown City Council.
