Sunset taxes never go away

To the editor:

When will the sun ever set on sunset taxes? Cape Girardeau voters will once again be asked to extend a tax, this time a transportation tax for another five years. The original tax was sold to us with a sunset clause, which is a promise from our city officials that the tax would expire at the end of five years. This is the second time they have come back to us with this particular tax. Of course, the selling pitch now is, "This won't raise your taxes." They do not mention that our taxes would go down if we do not extend the tax.

If a tax is allowed to be sold with a promise that it will expire at the end of a particular time, it should be required to expire and not be brought up before its expiration for an extension. Then, when it is brought up again, it would have to be explained for what it is: a tax increase. This dishonest use of terms to sell a tax with a promise to end it after a certain period of time and then refuse to let it sunset and propose an extension is unfair and manipulative. I challenge any city official to give us a list of all taxes that had sunset clauses and were actually allowed to expire. I certainly cannot think of one.

Either stop using the sunset clause as a tool to make tax increases seem more palatable to the voters, or follow through with your original proposal to lower our taxes when you promised you would.

BETTY A DRY, Cape Girardeau