On Nov 6, 2007 10:57 PM, Steve <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > After having read the full text of this bill I encourage everyone to > call their representatives immediately and urge them to vote NO on > this bill. > It would essentially prevent any city from joining in Utopia without a > major referendum and even then it controls with precision what must be > said on the ballot when a city decides it wants to either join utopia > or provide a city wide network.
I think a referendum would be appropriate. The people financing the project (taxpayers) should be allowed to vote yea or nay for such a commitment. I would think that most cities would vote in favor of Utopia. The control of what must be said on the ballot seems a little cloak and dagger though. > Additionally it places strict limits on a cities ability to raise > revenue via bonds and/or pledge sales tax revenue. This is not for the state to decide. The city should control their own tax structure and amounts. Tax too much and you'll drive away citizens (and ultimately lower your tax revenue). Don't tax enough and you may not be able to provide subsidized services that may attract people to your city (and ultimately increase tax revenue). It's a delicate balance. > Finally it states that even IF a city were to get past the rigmarole > and be able to provide service to it citizens, it places limits on how > the city can offer it services. > For instance there is no way a city could offer a subsidized > "lifeline" style service. Additionally it forces the city to collect > taxes on a service essentially being provided for BY taxes. Again, this should be up to the city to decide. > This bill is clearly a submarine attack by Qwest, Comcast and other > incumbent monopolies to prevent Utopia from spreading, and try to put > a stop to what is already existent, since of course these provisions > are retroactive to 2004. I'm no fan of Qwest or Comcast. However, in the context of high-speed Internet, neither Qwest nor Comcat qualify as a monopoly. They compete with each other and with many independent ISPs (particularly wireless ISPs). The government competes with no one -- they take their revenue (by force if necessary) -- the largest monopoly of all is the government. > In short, get this thing struck down! I agree that this is probably bad legislation, but I do agree with the required referendum portion. As the former Chief Justice John Marshall once said, "The power to tax is the power to destroy." Over taxation is the very reason American Colonists waged a bloody war with England. A government needs to be very careful about taxation -- even if the monies collected would go towards a potentially great service like Utopia. The people within each city should have the chance to vote up or down on a major financial commitment like Utopia. I'm assuming that Utopia will be a better implementation than iProvo, but iProvo is costing the taxpayers a lot of money and it's not living up to the promises the project originally claimed. Utopia may end up to be the same thing. -Bryan /* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
