Tired as I am over the continuous battle over Scotland County taxes I will jump into the fray once again.
Scotland County does not pay the 37th highest taxes in the state. Never did and never will. Scotland County has the 37th highest tax RATE in the state but the actual tax burden is, the last time I saw it published, 33rd from the bottom. Taxes actually paid have more to do with the valuation of property than the tax rate and contrary to the opinion of some, businesses are smart enough to figure this out.
The only time an individual will pay more in taxes than a resident of a “more prosperous” county is for the most part the tax on a motor vehicle. For some reason, when one complains about paying over $700 in taxes on a vehicle valued at over $50,000 I fail to feel much compassion. This is most likely because I have never in my life been able to afford or have financed a vehicle that cost anywhere in the neighborhood of $50,000. The most I have ever been able to justify was a car that cost me a little north of $22,000 and I worried how I would pay for that one.
Misrepresenting the relationship of rate to taxes and complaining bitterly because “the Elites” didn’t spend the money the way you would have spent it or had the audacity to buy fire trucks and ambulances when the old ones would have “worked just fine” doesn’t help the situation. On top of all that, if you bothered to check with some of the industries that have considered locating in Scotland County and decided against it, you’d most likely find that the fact that fully one-third of our county’s work force is functionally illiterate (that means they can pronounce the words perfectly but don’t have a clue what the words mean) is of far greater importance to them than our tax rate.
Which brings me to another point. A surprisingly large number of Scotland County residents will see that figure and reply, “The schools, with all their money, aren’t teaching people to read! Let’s take money away from them!” How this is supposed to improve education in Scotland County misses me.
As I’ve said before, people have always complained about taxes and always will. Let’s just keep our numbers straight.
Jim Jordan
Laurinburg