What do you know? The citizens of Grand Rapids came through last night! The Zoo tax (oh, wait, I mean wildlife park) went down pretty handily. It looks like the first and second wards of the city (West and NE ends) voted it down, but of course, the third ward, (SE side) voted in favor of it. Is there a tax the third ward hasn't loved?
Perhaps it's time to question the very premise of last night's vote. Why does the county even run a zoo? Is a zoo a legitimate function of government? It should be able to operate just as any other non-profit organization - through private donations and entrance fees. A zoo is really no different than a taxpayer funded major league stadium. Just another publicly subsidized entertainment venue. Is that really what we should be doing with our tax dollars?
What bothered us here at GRPundit most was the fact that we were being asked to pay for a new zoo through our taxes, yet we'd still have to pay to get in the door. It's like not being able to get into the house you pay a mortgage on.
Unfortunately, this probably isn't the last we've heard of an extra tax for the zoo. They'll probably go back to the drawing board and come back in a year or two.
No comments:
Post a Comment