Time for city to entertain conversation about taxes

I really struggle with the asking for more money after attending council meetings and seeing how freely the council spent taxpayer revenue.

1) Eagerly supporting/funding study for the commuter train from McMinnville to Portland that did not have any chance of happening.

2) Funding the Newberg-Dundee bypass at a level greater than Newberg and Dundee combined even though there would be a shortfall in funding McMinnville street maintenance.

3) Never in the last three decades taking a stand against the mismanagement of PERS and now wanting money to cover PERS costs.

"The choice, ultimately, is ours — we’ll either pay more or get less."

Really? I guess the question is - how is that any different than what has been happening for the last 30 years?

You're right, Don. That's always been the underlying choice.
However, people like to think they can have their cake and eat it too. They like to think if they just root out all of the supposed waste, there will be lots of money left to meet their personal priorities. So we feel compelled to remind them of reality.
Steve

Steve,

Nearly every level of government ( or public-funded entity) will claim slim, but the truth does not coincide with that assessment.

The article states the city has raised fees (or licenses) and cutting staff. So the reality these days is we are already paying more and getting less. Not much more room to wiggle, don't you think?