The R-C Morning Report: Business tax defeated

I was on my way home when photographer Shannon Litz phoned me and said the business tax had been rejected out of hand by Douglas County commissioners. I used the verb "dropkicked" in the note I posted last night on the Web.

With the demise of the business license tax, Douglas County commissioners are going to have to find some other ways to make ends meet. One thing we can do to help as taxpayers is to not get all verklempt when some grant or study that backs some position we're particularly attached to doesn't pass the laugh test. There are going to be some hard choices about expenditures in the next few months. The thing to remember is that there aren't two sides, taxpayers versus the county, there's just we the people. That's the only way we'll get through this without tearing ourselves apart. We can go back to being our combative selves when times get better.

With that in mind, there are two letters to the editor about the business tax in today's edition that are thoughtful, intelligent commentaries on why we shouldn't have a business license tax that have been rendered completely irrelevant by events. The R-C was on the press by the time the commissioners voted. We'll have a complete report in Sunday's edition as promised.

The weather pattern is going to change a little bit with skies sunny during the day and then clouds rolling in during the night today and Saturday. The highs are staying up in the 60s, but the lows will be a bit warmer thanks to the cloud cover. There's a chance of rain on Monday.

Remember to set your clocks ahead on Sunday for the implementation of Daylight Savings Time. I might actually get home before the sun goes down starting Monday. I read a story yesterday that Daylight Savings Time actually increases energy costs.