Grand Rapids Pundit

Grand Rapids Community College Admits to Taxpayer Extortion

Today’s Grand Rapids Press reports that Grand Rapids Community College is backing down from its prior threats to raise tuition if the millage that failed on Tuesday didn’t pass. This is typical behavior of bureaucrats and those who love to spend other people’s money. How often do we hear from city government politicans that if they don’t raise taxes or get more revenue sharing that they will have to cut fire and police? It’s the same concept – what we call taxpayer extortion. Remember how the mafia used to require “protection” payments? The concept here isn’t too different. Bureaucrats threaten that crime will skyrocket, everyone’s tuition will go up, trash won’t get picked up, well, you pick your poison. It’s the usual argument that the sky will fall if a tax increase isn’t passed.

Well, GRCC did it and the taxpayers called the bluff. And guess what. They were bluffing. The frustrating part was the sheer amount of coverage this and related GRCC issues received in the GR Press in the run-up to the election. The bias was clear.

What do the bureaucrats have to say now? “Nevermind! Just kidding!”

It’s time to pass a state law to require that all tax issues be kept on only the November ballot.

Posted by: GRPundit on Thursday, 9th Aug, 2007

Grand Rapids Community College Fails (Again)

The perfidy of the GRCC board of trustees was called out by the taxpayers of Kent County last night. Out of over 63,000 votes cast, the second millage request in three months failed by 361 votes. Perhaps it was the fact that everyone just paid their summer property taxes and that was fresh on their minds. Or perhaps it was the fact that GRCC attempted to jerry-rig the election by holding it at a time when the majority of voters would be from the city of Grand Rapids (and outlying townships had nothing else to vote on).

Or perhaps it was a small group of taxpayers called Kent County Families for Fiscal Responsibility. The group opposed the millage request earlier this year for the disastrous waste of money called The Rapid. This time they opposed the GRCC millage request because of the clear contempt of the taxpayer showed by the GRCC board of trustees. According to the WOOD Radio news web site, KCFFR targeted the townships that GRCC expected to have a low turnout:

Dr. Eric Larson, head of the opposition against the vote via Kent County Families for Fiscal Responsbility says they targeted areas in outlying areas like Chester Township and Georgetown Twp. and were able to add to their “no” results with flyers, media print ads and the like.

It’s probably safe to say that KCFFR’s effort, no matter how small, invalidated the $100,000 that the GRCC supporters spent this time (again). What a great example of how local citizens can stand up and make a difference to stop the tax and spend steamrollers that run our local government entities.

Posted by: GRPundit on Wednesday, 8th Aug, 2007

GRCC Election Engineering

Brief summary of the election two weeks ago:

• The Rapid’s tax increase passed (but at 58% Yes, compared to 66% Yes last time). Of the six cities in The Rapid’s tax authority (Grand Rapids, East Grand Rapids, Kentwood, Walker, Wyoming, and Grandville), three of them voted NO on the Rapid – Grandville, Walker, and Wyoming. Fully half of the municipalities in The Rapid’s service area voted no. However, alas, it doesn’t matter how each city voted – the tax passes on a majority of the ccombined citizens of all six cities. So, in other words, residents of Grandville, Walker, and Wyoming, who never have had a choice about whether or not to be part of The Rapid, are subsidizing the majority of the riders in Grand Rapids. It’s like that giant sucking sound Ross Perot talked about – though the money is flying out of Grandville, Walker, and Wyoming into Grand Rapids. Hopefully the group that opposed The Rapid will continue to expose the gushing wanton waste in The Rapid’s budget.
• GRCC’s millage request failed. This was a surprise. The No votes won by a very slim margin. More on this later.
• Grand Rapids Public Schools’ request for a millage renewal on non-homesead property passed handily. It always does.

Now, for the fun part. Grand Rapids Community College’s millage request failed. The result? They say they’ll have to raise tuition 8%. If you are a resident of Kent County, you’ll pay $79.50 per credit hour instead of the prior $73.50 per credit hour.

Well, that’s unacceptable to the bureaucrats at GRCC. They have decided to call another election in August to have everyone vote on the tax increase again! Why? Because fewer people vote outside of the city in August elections, meaning that voters in the communities that voted no on the millage just two weeks ago are less likely to head to the polls in August. This outrage of blatant contempt and disregard for the citizens of Kent County is a disgrace. The trustees at GRCC need to be called to task for their behavior.

What’s this? Their contact information?

• Gary P. Schenk (Chairman of the board of trustees)
  Home 676-2490
  Work: 647-8277
  gschenk@grcc.edu
• Ellen M. James (Vice-chair)
  Home: 363-4286
  Home Fax: 363-4286
  ejames@grcc.edu
• Olivia Margo Anderson (Treasurer)
  Home: 243-7521
  Fax: 243-3064
  maanders@grcc.edu
• Richard W. Verburg (Secretary)
  Home: 534-8068
  Fax: 534-8068
  rverburg@grcc.edu
• Terri A. Handlin (trustee)
  Home: 235-1121
  Home Fax: 235-1121
  thandlin@grcc.edu
• Janice L. Maggini (trustee)
  Home: 538-8796
  Fax: 538-8796
  jmaggini@grcc.edu
• Dr. Michael A. Stearns (trustee)
  Home 363-2911
  Work: 365-6151
  Work Fax:363-9609
  mstearns@grcc.edu

Posted by: GRPundit on Thursday, 24th May, 2007

Grand Rapids Area Tax Hikes – Vote on Tuesday, May 8th!

Don’t forget to vote tomorrow (Tuesday, May 8th). There are three tax issues on the ballot in Grand Rapids, and everyone in Kent County gets to vote on the Grand Rapids Community College tax hike.

If you live in Grand Rapids, East Grand Rapids, Kentwood, Walker, Wyoming, or Grandville, you get the pleasure of voting on the bloated and wasteful Interurban Transit Partnership (The Rapid) tax hike of 18%. Some interesting fact on The Rapid:

• Rapid buses carry an average of only six people at any given time
• Even as the numbers of passengers has increased, the cost of The Rapid on a per-passenger basis is also going up, meaning the Rapid is getting less efficient with time
• The Rapid’s web site misleads the public by under-reporting revenue by $18 million this year alone. Why do they hide the real cost of The Rapid?
• The average transit bus gets only 3.65 miles to the gallon and spews 50 times more pollution than a car. Rapid buses add pollution to the environment, they don’t reduce it!

You can read more information on the waste at The Rapid by checking out the Rapid No web site at www.RapidNo.org.

All Kent County residents get to vote on the GRCC millage increase of 31%. The interesting part is that this property tax increase is permanent! It never expires.

Grand Rapids Residents Also get to vote on the Grand Rapids Public Schools operating millage. This tax is on non-homestead property only, but effects renters.

So, don’t forget to vote on Tuesday, no matter where you live in Kent County.

Posted by: GRPundit on Monday, 7th May, 2007

Tax Attack 2007 – May 8th!

Grand Rapids residents need to be aware of tax attack 2007! There are three tax increase proposals on the ballot May 8th – did you know that? This is the problem with May elections – who pays attention?

Tax issues include the following:

• Grand Rapids Public Schools – GRPS is asking for a renewal of their 18 mill non-homestead operating millage. Basically what this means is that GRPS depends on an 18 mill tax on properties that are not claimed as primary residences. The 18 mill amount has actually decreased to 17.8258 mills due to Headlee amendment reductions. This is generally a non-controversial issue since homeowners do not pay it, only businesses and rental property owners (thus renters).
• Grand Rapids Community College – This one is a true tax increase. GRCC is asking for a an additional .56 mills, in addition to the current 1.7856 mills they already tax us for. That’s a whopping 31% increase. The increase will bring an additional $11 million to the college each year in revenues. It will cost the average homeowner an additional $28 a year, or about $140 over the next five years.
• Interurban Transit Partnership (The Rapid) – We’re no friends of the Rapid, as our readers should know. They are asking for a .17 mill increase to the .95 mills they already get in tax revenue. That’s an 18% increase. The new tax will raise about $2 million a year for the Rapid. This will cost the average GR homeowner about $8 a year or $40 over five years.

All told, the two homestead tax increases will cost the average homeowner about $37 a year extra, for a total annual cost of $173 a year for both GRCC and The Rapid.

Oh, and Grand Rapids Public Schools board elections are on the ballot too – but does anyone even care any more?

Posted by: GRPundit on Wednesday, 4th Apr, 2007