It is really refreshing to hear someone make a reasonable argument for why we should pay taxes for the services we want/have. While I understand the arguments for keeping the government from being wasteful, the idea that taxes should never be raised seems like a fantasy. In the end (for the most part) you get what you pay for.

I completly agree with Mr. SocialWorkGuy. People that have not much of an idea on what ALL the county does needs to dig a little deeper to find out how good we have it and how far ahead of most counties in Ga we are. Folks that think taxes should never rise have pretty much been living under a rock for the past 100 years. It's inevitable. BUT, with slightly higher taxes also comes the same and better services that we're accustomed to.

Out of the 159 Counties in Georgia, Bulloch County is ranked number 151 in taxes. That's at the bottom. There are 150 counties that pay more in property taxes than we do. People need to wake up, and quit griping!

governments have to have money to provide services. Just like at home. If you don't have an income, you can't pay your electricity bill, phone bill or buy food. How do people think they can have the wonderful services they have without paying for them. I like your ideas about a waiver, but we both know how far that one would get. The Cousin Jethro example gave me a great laugh for the end of the week.

Also, what many people don't seem realize is that our local government is having make up for monies that have been cut from the budget by the state and the feds. A great example of this is the animal shelter--the state prohibited the use of the gas chamber, but they didn't send a check to cover the increased costs of the lethal injection. Plus, what if a worker is seriously injured by a feral animal? Think the state will pay for the hospital bills?

Good point about the animal shelter. I think having the open forum was an excellent idea; this is transparent government at its finest. I think Bulloch County is headed in the right direction...there is so much to take advantage of here in the community and I'm proud to pay for it!

Although I don't live in Bulloch County, the same applies here. It's really very simple, folks. If you want the services, you have to pay for them. There is no "Free Lunch." If you want your dirt roads fixed, you hafta ante up and help pay for it; if you want the sheriff's department to come out when you have a serious problem, you have to pay for it. That old saw, "The best things in life are free," is just that, a saw. Nothing in life is free. There may be no monetary cost, but there is a "cost" just the same. It would be nice if a sort of "Big Brother" would appear and pay for all the things we want, but there isn't, so it falls to us to take care of it. So, if we want the services, we must be willing to ante up for them, or fall back to the caves and moulder in ignorance for another 1000 years or so.