Elk Konnected Hand out at County Commissioners meeting on 4/25

[Ross]

New study finds Kansas' tax loads worse than reported
By kansasreporter on March 5, 2012

TOPEKA — A new national study says Kansas business owners pay some of the highest taxes in the country.
No surprise there, one business owner said.
"We have so many kinds of taxes, and they are all high," said Ken Daniel, chairman of Midway Wholesale Co., a Topeka building materials distributor. He said his 40-year-old company's tax bill will be in the neighborhood of $150,000 this year.

(Skipping down several paragraphs)

The new study, titled "Location Matters — Business Tax Costs in 50 States," was released this week by the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan research and education organization in Washington, D.C., that advocates for lower taxes.
The study notes, "Kansas offers among the most generous property tax abatements and investment tax credits across most firm types, yet these incentives seem to have little impact on the state's rankings for new operations."Derrick Sontag, director of Americans for Prosperity-Kansas, said the practice of government picking winners and losers must come to an end. "When you read a report like this how can one not come to the conclusion that we need to address this problem with aggressive tax reform that provides everyone an opportunity?"

Dave Trabert, president of the Kansas Policy Institute, told KansasWatchdog that, "Incentives are what one offers (whether a business or a government) when one is not competitive."

{They seem to have so many different ways of saying ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT call it what you want, it doesn't appear to work, does it?}

There is more bad news for Kansas in the study. You can read the whole story at:
http://kansas.watchdog.org/8676/new-study-finds-kansas-tax-loads-worse-than-reported/

[redcliffsw]

You're right! 

Liberty is more important than the tyranny of economic development by and thru government.

[Diane Amberg]

   You have the liberty, to move to any state (or country) you choose.You can take any job you can get ,live in any housing you can afford and support any of many political parties that exist.
  You can shop anywhere you want, home school your kids if you wish, grow your own food if you choose to do so.You can fly our flag or not, worship as you choose, or not. Go to a doc or not, speak English or not, protest or not, take risks or not. You will not '"vanish" in the middle of the night unless you choose to do so yourself. You can refuse to accept low interest Gov't loans after a disaster.
   You, as Kansans may have high taxes but you have practically no zoning that I know of, and can pretty much use or destroy your own land as you choose, including living in substandard housing until it falls down around your ears. You can protest traffic tickets and choose your own lawyer in legal matters. I could go on.
    Is this country perfect? Of course not! It is made up of people, who are never perfect.
The takers will always take and the givers will always give. There will always be misfits and people who are never satisfied.
   There will always be manipulators and users. It's a weakness of a free country.
But they all die in the end and leave this world behind. The pendulum swings and will forever.

[srkruzich]

The only problem to that diane is you don't get all that if you don't pay the jack booted thugs of federal government.  Sorry but that doesn't cut it.  LIberty is freedom from them and freedom from theft of property and personal wealth. 

[jarhead]

Quote from Diane:
You, as Kansans may have high taxes but you have practically no zoning that I know of, and can pretty much use or destroy your own land as you choose, including living in substandard housing until it falls down around your ears.

Looks like someone is itching for a fight !! I don't care if you have family buried here or not, I do not think you know horse shit from apple butter about living here. Your sarcastic remark about our substandard housing shows your true colors.

[Diane Amberg]

Where did I say anything about any of you living in substandard housing ? I said you COULD and its true!
Actually, we have some of the same circumstances with folks who can no longer take care of themselves staying in really bad situations because there is no way to help them if they refuse.
Stop trying to find insults and put downs because they aren't there and wouldn't be unless you manipulate my words to create them.
   Besides, even if they were intended and they aren't, aren't you supposed to be tough enough to take it? Big boy skives and all that? You all were the ones grumping about trash cans at the curb and all. That didn't come from me. By the way, my true colors are red, white and blue.
  Just gentle down big boy, nothing to spook from here. So much for freedom of speech. Only a certain few can have it I guess.
Bye

[Ross]

Diane we are here to discuss what is happening in Elk County and what is happening here and now.
Not the rest of the world or 30 years ago or the future.
We are full well aware of our local rules and regulations and we also know how or where we can choose to live, that is something that applies to most humans on the planet earth. But thanks for letting us know you are aware of it.

Let's try to stay on topic, I know I sometimes drift, too.

Just like this.

I just stopped to check e-mail and to rest from cleaning some chickens for some good meals. Yum.
And now I am going back outside and enjoy the weather some more while I get some more work done.

[Ross]

Just for fun.

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[Ross]

What is happening to the Elk Konected, LLC's Steering Committee?

Is it shrinking?

I only found these 5 people listed on their web site.
Steering Committee:
Jennifer Brummel, Julie Englebrecht, Liz Hendricks, Tommie Provence, David Whetstone

I thought they had a bunch more then that, what happened?

http://www.publicsquarecommunities.com/community/elk/steering.php

And they still don't have anyone listed as their Action Teams, I wonder why?

Action Teams

Physical Image - No one listed?

Wellness - No one listed?

Youth Development - No one listed?

http://www.publicsquarecommunities.com/community/elk/teams.php

I wonder why?

What ever happened to, "Watch Us Grow" ?

Where are all the volunteers?

[evanstrail]

An example of a very small town in rural Nebraska that took a very pro-active approach to sustaining it's future:

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/netradio/news.newsmain/article/0/1/1897484/Nebraska.News/Small.town.uses.local.tax.to.create.jobs..slow.population.loss