Celebrating July Fourth

Over at Jeremy Ryan’s blog, he has a nice little primer on the new 1% local option sales tax, where he notes, “What a way to celebrate the Independence day, but with a new tax,” and asks, “Am I the only one to see the irony in initiating a new sales tax right before a celebration for an event that started with a sales tax revolt??”

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the great leaders of this city who, as careful stewards of our hard-earned dollars, not only gave us the 1% local option sales tax to avoid higher property taxes, but then so generously allowed us to have both a new sales tax and higher property taxes.

No only that, but they even took it a step further to really give us a joyful Fourth of July celebration experience as free tax-payers of this great city. They decided to also allow us to pay $7 to park at Oakledge Park to see last night’s fireworks and not honor the season park pass that residents doled out 35-bucks for.

I have been going to Oakledge for the past four years and parking there with my season pass, so I can only attribute this latest money grab to the honorable new mayor Bob Kiss.

In honor of his commitment to the poor and his “progressive” principles, I will come at this with a story of a poor, single mother, who worked all day at her non-livable wage job to support her family. Tired – no, exhausted – from a long, hard day at work, she warily gathers her young ones into the family car to go see the fireworks. Having a family to feed, and feeling the extra pinch now that school is out and her kids can no longer have free lunch and breakfast at school, she does not have any extra money. Fortunately, she qualified for a free season pass to the Burlington parks, through a generous program of the Parks and Rec. Department.

She arrives at the park only to be told that this year, under Mayor Kiss’ new city policies, season passes will not be honored for tonight’s event and to add insult to injury, instead of the regular $4 fee for parking, it is $7.

“Just be glad that you’re not at Perkins Pier,” the sympathetically irritated attendant remarks, “they are charging $15 to park there.”

Unfortunately, this mom did not have any money, so regrettably, with crying babes in tow, she drives away. Unable to find parking, she tearfully promises to take them to fireworks tomorrow night – the real Fourth of July. For this is no celebration of independence for the residents of Burlington.

Thank you, Mayor Kiss, thank you. Thank you and all who work for you for understanding the struggles of the people you purport to represent.

I will close with this snippet from Freedom Works’ Vermont chapter:

It is interesting to ponder the emotions we modern Americans traditionally feel on the Fourth of July: Pride, joy, a certain sense of tranquility that unfolds with the picnic blankets on summer nights under a fireworks display. These are very different from the emotions coursing through people’s breasts on the original July 4 in 1776. The founding fathers weren’t joyful or tranquil. They were pissed. Fed up and angry over what? TAXES! Taxes, and a government totally out of touch with or accountable to their concerns.

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Editor’s note: The above story about the single mom was not about any real person. It was based on real circumstances and meant to illustrate one of the many flaws with the City’s decision to charge extra for parking last night.