"Most people deal with each other on the premise of mutual respect. You don't threaten your neighbors with fines or jail because they make choices that are different from yours. We should hold our government to the same standard. The Libertarian Party is the only party that respects your rights as a unique and cmpetent individual."
LIST OF ISSUES Continued
Fiscal Responsibility
The number one task of the McLean County Board is to set a responsible budget. A budget that doesn't protect its most important assets is not, in my opinion, a responsible budget. The county employees are the counties most important asset. A fiscally responsible budget must include appropriate raises for competent employees. Last years budget that did not provide raises for most county employees is not acceptable.
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I support Economic Development (see Jobs and Environment ) however I do not believe McLean County needs to hire an Economic Development staff member. It has been my experience that these positions come and go within local government bodies. If you get a good person with a great work ethic it can be fruitful. However it is often one of those positions where no one knows what the person is supposed to do and there is little supervision. This often results in simply another bureaucrat in another position and little gets accomplished.
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Likewise I do not agree with the County supporting Normal's Electronics Recycling Program especially given there are other non governmental options avaiable in McLean County. Both Best Buy and Goodwill offer free electronics recycling. The County should not respond to threats from the city of Normal just because it decides it can no longer afford one of its programs. The County faces budget issues just like Normal does.
Corporate Welfare
McLean County needs to review how it determines its property tax assessments for businesses so that they are not given tax breaks through legal agreements reached after filing lawsuits because when businesses pay less than their fair share more of the tax burden falls on individual property owners. McLean County is wrestling with The Chateau over their assessment. Wal-Mart, Commerce Bank, Young America and First Site recently reached agreements with local taxing bodies. The County tax assessment process needs to be solid enough so that the County can successfully defend lawsuits and we can end this type of corporate welfare.
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Tax abatements are another practice that needs to stop. Tax abatements, like, legal agreements lowering tax assessments are simply another form of corporate welfare. "In recent weeks the McLean County Board gave the go-ahead for previously agreed-to property tax breaks for Rivian." Last fall the board voted 16-1 to give tax abatements to Brandt Industries, a Canadian company, costing the county $70,000. According to the Pantagraph, "The company is in line to receive a total of of five years of future property tax abatements worth at least $637,000 in addition to $1.1 million in state income tax credits."