A wolf in cow's clothing.
Is the Douglas County Open Space and Agricultural Lands Preservation Implementation Plan (Whew!) all that it is presented to be or is it something else?
I tried to read the plan and came away with some reason to support taxing the public to finance it. This was a fact as most of the plan is about the reasons for the plan and not much on what the plan is actually to accomplish. Kind of like talking about financing a home without having any idea of what size it will be or what it will look like or where it will be located.
What strikes me the most is that we will be asked to finance via sales and use tax monies, something that does not specifically say what the money will buy, just that it will take place between willing sellers and willing buyers. Why do I hear something that looks like a cow licking its chops?
The plan covers all the allowed actions that the Legislature authorized for all the counties in the state. It should be called the State of Nevada Plan. Where do the green pastures we hear so much about fit into all of this? Somewhere between visual open space, passive and active recreation, buffers and corridors, ridge lines, parks, flood plains, stream zones and any other types of lands that the legislature has authorized any of the counties to buy. Do I see pointy ears and a bushy tail on that cow?
What in the world is a conservation easement? The plan doesn't say what it will contain, just that a "Legacy Committee" will be able to negotiate it and with final approval by the commissioners, spend the tax money we are to provide. And too, the tax funds can be used to secure bonds which will provide the real money for whatever purchases and obligate us to continue taxing ourselves for as long as it takes to pay off the bonds. Holy Moley, that cow is howling at the moon!
And the Legacy Committee is not going to be run by the ranchers, who this program is for, but by seven people of which only three are to be ranchers. The cowhands are outvoted. Yikes! That's not cowherd, it's a pack, and those aren't cows!
I think this tax and plan are a classic example of a government program growing way beyond a good intention. The master plan is coming up for review soon, and the plan should be reworked to very specifically define what it asks us to buy. Like so many of us, when the kids ask for money, the answer is, "What do you need it for?"
I think we should vote no to the increase in the sales and use tax but keep working on the idea 'til we get it right. Other places have.
