To the editor:

The tax hike before us during next month’s special election leaves several things out that voters should know.

No. 1: It doesn’t tell us the full burden to the taxpayer. The request to raise our sales taxes by half a penny, that’s in there. But the county will have to raise our property taxes too once the jail opens to come up with an additional $5 million/year to operate it.

No. 2: The construction projects estimated at $55 million are expected to be paid off in 20 years, but the taxes remain permanent. It’s a cash grab.

No. 3: The county has raised our property taxes by 40 percent in less than a decade.

No. 4: The county put the funding for mental health and jail expansion on the same ballot. Then they blamed the state for not giving them the latitude to allow them to be voted upon on their own individual merits. But it was the county who wrote the tax language that the state Legislature approved. From national to state to local governments, you can’t ever seem to get a straight answer anymore.