A terrible fraud is being perpetuated on the citizens of Doña Ana County. This week we are hearing that the 911 dispatch center is critical to saving lives and it needs to be modernized, so citizens are just going to have to increase taxes or there will be dire consequences.

Most citizens have reacted as predicted, saying, “We will increase taxes because without the dispatch center the police cannot function.” They reason, “It is just a little increase and without the dispatch center lives will be lost.”

I did not have that same reaction.

In short, I would like to know why the dollars to protect my life are the last dollars raised by my government rather than the first dollars. Before public relations, paper pushers, new desks, recycling centers - in fact, before any other money is spent whatsoever, the cost of protecting citizens should be in place.

This fraud is being done because the 911 dispatch center is the most critical resource for our community and our lives. We cannot do without it. Even citizens who hate all taxes concede that they need the 911 dispatch center.

The sky-is-falling tactic

To be clear, I am not saying the 911 dispatch center does not need improvement. It does. But it is being manipulated by these people to trick the citizens out of more tax money using the sky-is-falling tactic.

Example: Years ago in Albuquerque there was a budget shortfall. The police department said that the choice was a tax increase or the layoff of all of the police in the worse section of Albuquerque. The voters fell for it and increased their taxes. There was never any dialog about why they would take the most-needed police officers in Albuquerque off of the most dangerous streets while keeping all of the layers of administration.

Know this: The governmental leaders understand that the citizens will not dependably go to bat for low-priority items, so those items are never on the table where they could be chopped. The fraud being perpetuated upon the citizens is the notion that there is absolutely no way to protect the citizens without increasing taxes.

Nothing is being said about just doing away with every agency, including the dog catchers, until we have fully funded the police effort in our area. Without our safety, nothing else the government does is of any value.

Using this approach, asking for tax increases would be for increasing the public relations efforts. To be sure I very much like the people who are doing public relations for Doña Ana County and think they do an excellent job. But if I must select that either the citizens be safe in their homes or the public relations, well…

Using the priorities approach, not one bag of trash should be picked up if the police do not have bullets for their guns or cars that run. Not one dollar should be spent on anything until citizens can be safe in this county. A few years ago the City of Las Cruces perpetuated the same fraud using the police as the hook to get a tax increase without putting any of the lesser important activities to a vote.

In these economic times…

Shifting gears, as I considered this fraud I could not help thinking that regardless of the reason to propose an increase in taxes, I cannot think of a worse time to be coming before the people with that message. It is a lightning point that citizens pay far too many taxes and we are in a recession with many people un or under employed at this time.

Why would anyone dare to come before the citizens asking for more money? All I can attribute it to is plain and simple government arrogance.

Consider that the entire world economy is tittering on collapse due to so much government spending. And in almost every country there are government officials who are still trying to raise more taxes and give more tax money to citizens.

In Greece the government and the people cannot get their arms around the concept that they are spending more than they have and have done so for a very long time, which has bankrupted the country. They just cannot get it through their heads that their problem is too many people are riding in the wagon and not enough people are pulling the wagon. They think they can ride for free forever.

Every voice of reason that says that Greece must cut spending is met with hostility, yet Greece is all bluster and nothing to back it up. If the world just quits giving money to them, all of those people who have been promised something for nothing will only have nothing left.

The real question

I hope better thinkers in our government find the money to modernize the 911 center without asking the taxpayers to approve more taxes. There will be those who look perplexed at the notion the citizens do not appreciate their sleight of hand – keeping lesser programs going and letting the 911 center fall in disrepair.

At the very least, each duly elected representative should have to explain how it is that so much money is being spent on so many things unrelated to the safety of the citizens and the core element of safety in this county is being used to cheat the taxpayers. That is the real question.

Swickard is a weekly columnist for this site. You can reach him at michael@swickard.com.

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