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City needs to spend parks and rec money
To the editor:
I would like to call on the citizens of Blytheville to be aware of wasted tax dollars.
Every time we spend money in Blytheville, we are charged a tax. 1/4 cent of that tax is put in a special fund specifically for the Parks and Recreation Department. We pay this tax, yet for the last five years, there has been an excess of $250,000 not being used. Approximately $900,000 is paid in taxes by the citizens of Blytheville, yet $250,000 every year is excess funds. This is beyond, the present proposed budgets.
Yet, even with this excess of funds, our employees at these venues are underpaid, and our facilities are in poor shape. Our parks and recreation director can't manage to organize a hayride, much less the needed improvements at our facilities.
The attitude is save money. This is wrong. We as Blytheville citizens should be demanding that this money be invested in our parks infrastructure. In my 53 years, I have never seen borrowed money so cheap, and saving accounts pay so little. Yet our city leadership has decided to save this extra monies, instead of investing in Blytheville's future. We should demand that these monies be invested in our parks, or the citizens should repeal this wasted tax.
Not only should we invest the present funds, but invest further in our growth. But without leadership that believes there's a future, we will be stuck in this dismal past. I state today and every day, the future is coming whether we like it or not. Plan for it. Our present management only wishes to keep our heads in the sand, afraid to look up.
We could have activities for our youth, beautiful amenities, and planned and structured programs. The best our leadership has done is declare our parks smoke-free. That's pathetic.
Where's the Easter egg hunt, hayrides, swim lessons, knitting classes, bridge club, sewing classes, cooking classes, golf lessons, skeet shooting, basketball club, dance classes, archery lessons, lawn bowling, dance classes, volleyball, frisbee, chess club, checkers? Want to know why our youth is in trouble? They have nothing relevant to do. And why, we are saving our parks and recreation money for better days at a stupid 2 percent interest. We simply cannot manage the money for a checkers tournament, or anything else for our youth or elderly to do.