Be careful with 'rainy day funds'

Letter to the Editor,

Mobile home tax statements were recently issued. For those of us in Troy, we noted that the county continues to tax at mills higher than those authorized by voters.

For the commissioners, clerk and recorder and treasurer to continue to tax at mills higher than those authorized by voters seems to be, at least, gross negligence.

Our elected county officials can no longer play dumb or stupid on this over-taxation. Their actions or inactions on this matter are somewhat dumbfounding; it’s absolutely indefensible. If commissioners continue down their path of planning to use the “reserve” fund to bail out the over-taxation that has occurred, they had better rethink it. My recollection is that the reserves were mostly accumulated from the 25-percent funds from national forest timber sales and, possibly, some funds from Secure Rural Schools.

Use of these reserve funds is for roads and schools (if not already spent), period. For years the county has used the interest from these reserve funds for whatever they choose.

Only an independent audit can determine if these funds continue to be used as authorized by Congress, and not as what I’ve heard called a “rainy day fund.”

Please vote out any of these yahoos from office that you can.

Larry Coryell