No taxation without representation — it's time for a Brandenburg Tea Party

One of the most notable opening acts of the Revolutionary War was the Boston Tea Party. American colonists under the banner of "no taxation without representation" lobbed crates full of tea from England into the Boston Harbor in protest to the English King levying crippling taxes upon the colonists without allowing them to have representation, and a voice, in the English Parliament.

If you do not live within the Brandenburg city limits, you can not run for Mayor, City Council or even have a voice in how the city is run. But last week, at the Brandenburg City Council meeting, the king and his court made it very clear that they intend to reach out beyond their city limits, into households all across Meade County, and pick what little meat is left on struggling families' finances to fill the city's coffers. Mayor David Pace and his council (Bruce Fackler, Bradley Johnston, Ginger Coomes, Charlotte Ford, Mark Spry, and Bill Basham) proudly sat back in their plush council chairs as their city attorney, Jessica Roberts, read the first reading of their newly concocted ordinance 677, referring to a new tax, deceptively called business and occupational licensing fees.

It may sound innocuous, as Pace even admitted when he said "the connotation sounds a lot better" calling it that, but do not be confused — it's an employee tax that will be applied not only to every Meade Countian who works in Brandenburg but also to any employee who works outside of Brandenburg but has their paycheck made out within the city limits. So if you work at Payneville Elementary or Flaherty Elementary, you will still have your paycheck docked with a Brandenburg occupational licensing fee because your paychecks are cut from the Meade County School District Central Office in Brandenburg. It will also tax any businesses on "net profits of business conducted within the city." So if you own a hauling company based in Flaherty and transport a load of rock to Brandenburg, you will owe the city taxes. If you have a framing, HVAC or electrical business based outside of Brandenburg but work on a home or business in Brandenburg, you will owe the city taxes on your net profits of business.

How far out of touch are the king and his court, that they would dare attempt to levy a tax basically on all of Meade County from their brick castle in the county seat, while all of us peasants across the countryside are struggling to make ends meet? While they sit in their fancy homes down by the river in Brandenburg saying let them eat cake, we, the peasant class, can't afford to feed our children or pay for our basic needs thanks to stagnant wages and a level of inflation that has us paying 20 to 40 percent more than we were just a few years ago for basically everything. While the mayor double-dips taxpayers by pulling a salary from the city as mayor and another salary from both city and county taxpayers as the Meade County/Brandenburg Industrial Development Authority chairman, he dares look at the measly $15 to $20 an hour that many of us make with lustful eyes and thinks he deserves a piece of our chump change to keep for himself and council members like Bruce Fackler, who suggested this theft tax a couple of meetings ago. The city is making more money off property taxes than it ever has with new development and property values soaring over the last few years, but they still want more. They want to pump every last dime from us, even when we have nothing left to give.

Is it not enough that we spend our ever-decreasing dollars at the city's restaurants, grocery stores, and gas stations before returning back home each day? Is it not enough that all Meade County taxpayers had to pick up half the tab for Brandenburg's new, multi-million dollar sewer plant just a few short years ago because many of these same leaders were so starstruck by Nucor that they gave them the city's sewer plant without having enough money to pay for a new one. So, they made all Meade Countians help pay for it, even though we don’t use it.

We are taxed to death as it is right now by the repetitive taxes upon taxes, levied by the local, state and federal governments along with the schools, library and so on. Most in Meade County are struggling just to keep our noses above water in this nightmarishly, inflated economy that we find ourselves living in. And now, in the middle of all this strife, a group of cold-hearted, cutthroat "leaders" in Brandenburg have decided to incomprehensibly come for all our financial jugulars across Meade County. The affluent leaders of Brandenburg have long looked down their noses in contempt at those of us outside their city limits. They may rule over the largest city in Meade County -- a paltry 2,000 plus people, but I think it's long past time we remind them that there are 28,000 plus Meade Countians that reside outside their city. I think it's time that everyone from Big Spring and Flaherty in the south to Big Bend and Wolf Creek in the north and from Guston in the west to Muldraugh in the east and all the little towns in between come together as a united 28,000+ person front and remind the leaders of Brandenburg what happens when the silent majority comes together as one. It's time for a Brandenburg Tea Party.

I'm not suggesting we dump anything into the Ohio River, but from now until they read the second reading of this heartless, cutthroat ordinance that they plan to impose on struggling Meade County families at their July 8 meeting, we should dump our opinions on their city hall, all day, every day. Their phone number is 270-422-4981. Their email is brandenburg@brandenburgcity.com. And their address is 737 High St., Brandenburg, KY 40108. May we, the citizens of Meade County, fill their lives full, for the next 18 days, with just what we think about their heartless taxation without representation. May we make it so clear to them that they will never dare come for our paychecks, ever again. We have given Brandenburg more than it deserves, and now their greedy leaders are coming for more. It’s not our fault or burden if they can’t run a city properly. It is time to let them know that the buck stops here!