WE Blog

Lakes like Cedar Bluff, Wilson, Webster, etc. are MAJOR economic development engines in western Kansas. Recreational water users generate a LOT of jobs and bring in outside dollars here in the west.

The problem?

Folks wont come to fish, hunt, bird watch, etc. if there is no WATER in the damn lakes.

So.. everyone whining about economic develoment in western Kansas needs to look at the water issue. Do you really think it’s smart to create a few temporary construction jobs and fewer permanent jobs if it means draining the water?

heheheheh. Just ask the folks at Cedar Bluff. Sebelius, and her henchmen joe harkins and the whole kansas water office were MORE than happy to drain Cedar Bluff at the request of Hays and Russell.

I wonder if all those lost jobs due to declining lake water were worth it? I wonder how much tourism and real economic development the Russell ethanol plant generates?

Not as much as Cedar Bluff, but hell, sebelius had a political debt to pay to john bird, damn the region anyway. And now hays and bird want to use the rest of the water out here for hays based sunflower and their coal jones?

I’ve been saying it for six years. In this state, under sebelius, water is nothing more than payment for political favors.

Seems to me that the way to approach this is to be sure there is water in the lakes in the first place so boaters, et al, can have something to enjoy with their watercraft; then, perhaps, do a valuation scale such as is done with automobiles. I’m sure there is some type of used market, etc., for these things.

Wait a minute here! I smell a rat. There won’t be any huge rush to buy boats by lowering the property tax (which I agree is too high). Maybe a few, but don’t look for new Marina’s built upon sales. I boat for pleasure and love to fish. I will do so regardless of the property tax.

On the other hand, ever seen the gas and oil seeping out of some of these boats? Talk about pollution! And the noise pollution added by gas guzzling jet ski’s! They still up the bottom and ruin the fishing. Can’t hear the birds in the park, but you can sure hear the jet ski’s!

Probably should INCREASE the property taxes or create a CARBON Tax on these nasty polluters.
I think something like ten dollars a gallon is fair. Let’s next look at individual automobiles for a Carbon Tax…

T.I.C.

Hell, the same thing is happening with vehicles only on a much larger scale. While there are probably hundreds of Kansans registering their votes out of state to avoid the tax, there are THOUSANDS of Kansans tagging their vehicles out of state for the same reason. People are using 2 week timeshares and relative’s addresses to tag their vehicles. You can’t have one of the highest taxes in the country on something that is mobile. A house you can’t claim exists in another state, but a boat or a car, no problem. The legislatures need to pull their heads out and realize this. If they dropped the cost of tagging a vehicle down to a level comparable to other states, they would probably INCREASE their revenue, because not only would the people with integrity continue to tag in-state, but the tax evading scofflaws would also return to tagging in this state.