BC 2011 10 17 Regular Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

October 17, 2011 (Regular Meeting) Page 635 and labors to benefit those who are less fortunate than we may be. This board has exemplified a new attitude of cooperation and understanding. Many of us in the private sector see that you are beginning to hear our cries for relief from the burdens of government and are taking positive actions to change the way this county does business. For that we are extremely grateful. You have begun a journey in a new direction with a new attitude and building on those brave, positive steps and actions which you took last month We The People NC are asking you to continue that same kind of bravery and leadership as you take even more steps toward governing the way Cabarrus County Citizens are telling you they want the business of our County handled. We would like to thank you for acknowledging the fact that the business of governing belongs to the citizens and that many of us have awakened from our slumber and are now taking our rightful place beside you as together we go about the people's business. With that in mind We The People NC feel the need to speak in opposition to three items of new business on tonight's Board of Commission agenda. They are the proposed Carolina Thread Trail, the School Board's request to use QSCB Contractor Sales Tax and the Adoption of 2012 Schedule of Values. We are opposed to the spending of over $17 Million on a greenway through Cabarrus County because of three major reasons. Spending borrowed money, future maintenance cost, conversion of private land ownership to public. We are opposed to the conversion of money intended to help pay down the more than $500 Million School Bond Debt to new spending projects thus putting the Citizens even deeper in debt. We are opposed to the acceptance of the 2012 Schedule of Values as it relates to the increase in property tax from 63 cents per hundred now to a projected 70.5 cents per hundred starting in 2013. We were promised by the County commissioners that if we voted to accept the one quarter cent sales tax increase this would not happen. Walter Smiley, resident of 4720 Hendrix Court in Concord and member of "We The People ", read the following statement: I speak in opposition to the proposed Carolina Thread Trail. After hearing the proposal by the Parks Department - Resolution of support for the Carolina Thread Trail DOT Tiger Grant application at the Board of Commissioners work session in October 2011, in researching this matter, We The People must stand up and speak out in opposition to this expense of over $17 million for this specific project. We oppose this request for 3 reasons. First, the project does not pass our basic needs test. Is there a need by the general public of Cabarrus County for the expansion of the additional of the greenway system that currently exists? The short answer is no. Especially now at this particular time due to the cost as it relates to our current local state and national economic situation. Second, this project proposes the use of a Federal grant and is erroneously being promoted as not costing the citizens of Cabarrus County anything. This is not completely true on at least 2 fronts. First, Federal grant money does not magically appear. It comes out of the pockets of tax payers like me, you and those people behind me. The Federal Government is currently borrowing at least 43 cents of each dollar it spends, therefore it is spending money it simply does not have which makes no common sense. Second, the future cost to our citizens for ongoing maintenance and upkeep has not been identified nor has the source other than tax payer money been identified to pay these expenses. Third, this project is part of a much larger plan to convert land from private ownership to government owned and control land as outlined in a document entitled United Nations Sustainable Development, United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil June 3 -14, 1992 subtitle Agenda 21. As reported by the World Net Daily posted October 7, 2011, The New World Disorder, by Henry Lamb warns of