By BRADY BURKE

Every year, one organization or another posts the day of the year that we all work to just to pay our taxes. With the proposed Mil Tax, property owners can add another two days of work to that date to pay the Mil Tax increase. That’s two days you work and pay taxes on that income, just to send the rest to your local government in the form of another tax. I, for one, am tired of government organizations overspending and otherwise mismanaging their monies and then putting their hand in my pocket to make up for it.

The University of New Mexico has many channels for raising money. They receive State funding. They get money from the Lottery. They have students who pay tuition. They have Alumni and the general public who make donations. Why then are our County officials proposing a local tax for a State facility? Does our County Council believe that we have so much excess money that they see fit to tax us more and spend it on a few? Kind of them to ask us, before they visit us again later and impose a tax where we have no choice.

Los Alamos is not the only community that utilizes the UNM-LA campus. They have students from all over northern New Mexico. It may seem unfair to ask the starving students to cough up more money, but they are the ones benefiting from the facility. This is a Northern New Mexico college, so why are Los Alamos homeowners footing the bill in support of students from all over?

Granted, the University is convenient and a positive influence in our community, but so is having a Motor Vehicle office. I don’t think anyone would consider funding that State agency’s Los Alamos office out of local property taxes. The University is a State institution. If they need more money, have the State raise taxes and share the burden. See how well that goes over.

The rationale that we should pay more taxes because we have a lower tax on anything is nonsense, unless we are being driven to a socialist state. Because we don’t pay a high tax percentage, doesn’t mean that we should. Is this disparity supposed to make us think it is ok to give up more money?

If I’m not going to get paid for two days, it will be because I’m spending time relaxing from already working too many days to pay my current taxes, not because another government agency has run out of money. I’m voting NO! on the Mil tax increase.