Hope And Pray We Get Another Chance

Speak Out,

Every time you make an online purchase take a dollar bill out of your pocket, wad it up, and just throw it somewhere. Now imagine how many dollar bills would be laying around if everyone in Ripley County did this every time they make an online purchase. That’s exactly what Ripley Countians are doing by voting down the use tax.

To say that I am extremely disappointed in the election results for the Ripley County Use Tax is an understatement. People see the word tax and immediately vote no. In this case most of Ripley County is currently paying this tax on their online goods but the county cannot collect it. Attempts have been made to help people understand how this works, videos, social media campaigns ran etc. but we are knocked down at every turn. Everyday that this use tax isn’t in place Ripley County is losing money.

Ask the city how the use tax is working out for them. Seriously look at their numbers since passing the use tax for the city of Doniphan. Ask the numerous other counties in Missouri that passed this same use tax years ago how it has improved their budgets. The use tax helps replace tax revenue that was being lost to online purchases. The money that could have been collected from the use tax could have been used for so many things that Ripley County desperately needed but it was voted down yet again.

People will complain that they want their gravel fixed, need more law enforcement, we want a jail, our courthouse needs repaired, the want list goes on and on yet we refused to answer yes to the one question that could help make that want list a check list of accomplishments.

I hope and pray we have another chance to answer yes to this question in the future. If we don’t then Ripley County has just lost out on our chance to bring thousands of dollars into Ripley County.