Facilitating change
Attending the township meetings is where I have learned a bit about what happens to some of the money paid for property taxes. Paying property taxes is reasonable and I want to continue supporting my township in our maintenance of the library, the roads, and the elections. Much of the money collected from property taxes is spent in ways that can be greatly trimmed and on things that I will opt out of supporting.
At the township meetings I learned that the money from my property taxes, in part pays for limestone to be spread on dirt roads. I learned that this limestone is usually scraped in to the ditch shortly after it is spread, due to the impossible task of scheduling proper maintenance of so many roads in the county. The township representatives also explained, through their own complaining, that the county usually spreads the limestone when the roads are hard and dry, instead of when they are soft, which allows the limestone to fulfill its purpose. I am done paying for limestone. I love living on a dirt road. The road gets muddy and filled with potholes and ruts. I drive slowly and enjoy looking at the scenery. There are many people living on this road that organize their life in a way that requires large semi-trucks with trailers to travel down our pretty dirt road. These neighbors can pay for limestone to “maintain” the road so their trucking partners can easily travel with their loads of animal feed, live animals, and logs. If they want to do something to make money, and spend that money on limestone that ends up in the ditch, I fully support them in doing that.
Another thing I learned at the township meetings is that brine is sprayed for dust control. My house sits very near the road and I spend a lot of time on our front porch. I see dust fly around when vehicles go by and it doesn’t bother me at all. We have kept our yard in such a way that a great hedge of wild plants has grown up between the road and the yard. There are trees, Autumn Olive and Elder Berry bushes, wild grape vines and more that easily block road dust from our home. These plants grew out of Mother Earth for free, they were not purchased and planted. Some people don’t want their yard to look like ours does, and I don’t want to pay for brine. People who are bothered by road dust are welcome to work a job to make money and then spend that money on brine. I am done paying for brine.
Something that can be greatly trimmed is the use and maintenance of the building called Township Hall. As the Township and the Village have less money to spend, they will work things out and find a way to share space. I am done paying for an entire building to be used by the Township while the Village residents pay for an entirely separate building that is just 10 steps away to the north. It is good for humans to have less and push themselves a bit into creative ideas about how to adjust practices and share space. I am done paying for the Township building in its current state of use.
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