A Tax Hike May Be the Only Way Out

I am quite amenable to a temporary Orange County tax increase to help us out of the festering fiscal morass whose concoction was presided over by our pompous elected leadership.

However, it seems to me a moral imperative that there is a necessary quid pro quo, as politicos are so fond of saying. Every one of the supervisors seated on the board during its long festival of incompetence should resign, should have, in fact, resigned already.

We must all ask ourselves (and one hopes, perhaps in vain, that the supervisors might join in the asking): Just what is the absolute minimum constituents should require of elected officials? Pithy though it may be, the answer is obvious to all but the most mentally taxed: Keep the boat afloat!

PRISCILLA MAYFIELD

Orange

* Sure I’ll vote for a sales tax increase, but only if we add an additional 100% tax on the pensions of the current and past Board of Supervisors who were responsible for our bankruptcy.

These are the people who through sheer negligence created this problem. They were too (busy) attending ceremonies to have their names mounted on everything from schools and libraries to airport terminals to make reasonable financial decisions. How else can you explain their votes to borrow $600 million dollars in late 1994 on a bet that interest rates would go down.

Tax away THEIR pensions, remove THEIR names from all public property, and prosecute THEIR criminal negligence. Anything else is an insult to every working and laid-off resident of the county who will bear the burden of repaying the debt they thrust on us.

JEFF HORNACEK

Dana Point

* I do not have much money. I’m a retired schoolteacher. Disabled. Single. Never married. I do not receive either Social Security or Medicare. And, I never will. I don’t qualify and I can’t afford to buy.

But I’m willing to pay either more property taxes or a higher sales tax in order to protect both jobs and services within Orange County.

So, I respectfully ask the powers to be to spread the burden. Don’t fire county workers. Don’t cut services. Please.

FLORA IRENE MATA

Leisure World

Seal Beach

* Thank you Bill Popejoy for donating your immense talent and energy to help solve our county problems. However, I hope the supervisors will soon realize if we severely cut social services, education, libraries, etc., we are going to greatly lower the quality of life we now enjoy. What is so wrong with--pardon the expression--raising taxes? A two- or three-year small parcel tax on all county real estate would surely help solve the problem. The bankruptcy is no different from an earthquake, flood or some other disaster. Let’s pay some taxes, pay the bills and keep our county’s reputation and our real estate values at a premium.

BOB KNOX

Newport Beach

* We must insist that our Orange County elected leaders stop their insistence that we do not raise taxes to overcome our lack of funds.

We must not lower the quality of our services to our children, to our needy, our handicapped, our emergency services and all the other services that are needed to make Orange County still the best place to live.

I am 83 years old, retired on a fixed income, but I would gladly share a portion of that income to help our beloved county.

RAYMOND E HEBERT

Huntington Beach

* Although we are retired and living on a fixed income, we do not believe that the solution to the financial difficulties besetting Orange County should be borne by a drastic cutting off of essential county services or by the wholesale laying off of county employees.

In our opinion, the solution to this financial debacle must include a tax increase along with prudent cost-saving efforts.

The Board of Supervisors has failed to propose any tax increase to help solve this problem for one reason and one reason only: to keep their jobs. They believe that to favor a tax increase is tantamount to the voters ousting them from their office. In this regard, they have misjudged their constituents. We think most Orange County voters would accept an increase in sales tax to help the county restore itself to financial well-being.

It is time for the Board of Supervisors to begin acting with courage and conviction for the best interests of the county and all its citizens, not for their own self-interest and protection.

SIDNEY R. and RITA KUPERBERG

Huntington Beach

* I am mad. I have lived in Orange County for 35 years, have paid county taxes to build libraries, schools, jails, parks freeways and airports, and paid for social services that make this county a good place to live. Now that we are in financial trouble, the leaders of this county want to take away all my investment. It would make more sense to me if, instead of selling all my property, that the leaders would bite the bullet and share the responsibility with all the citizens of Orange County and raise taxes. It would spread the burden more evenly throughout the county, it would keep intact our investments of a lifetime.

MYRTH BUCKLEY

Lake Forest