Tax district appalling

"Special tax district operates with virtually no oversight" was the headline in Sunday's Missourian. That is appalling! Sadly, it's not surprising. We enact more and more laws, ordinances and regulations all the time. I constantly read that there is a lack of oversight. No accountability, no retribution, no consequence of doing a poor job.

The Town Plaza sales tax rate (8.975 percent) is a whole percent higher than the tax rate in Cape Girardeau (7.975 percent). The downtown sales tax rate (8.475 percent) is a half-percent higher than Cape. I will not shop in these areas because of the higher tax rates. It's not government "by the people," but government by business. Most people are ignorant of the increased tax rate and too stupid to realize the fact that these CID and TIF districts don't really do anything to benefit the public. It simply lines the pockets of business owners who would establish their businesses anyway. Ditto for the tax giveaways by city, county and state governments to "attract and retain" businesses.

"A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take away everything that you have." -- Thomas Jefferson

DAN PHELPS, Cape Girardeau