As Mayor, ‘Hard-Core Fiscal Conservative’ Sarah Palin Left Wasilla $20 Million In Debt
As Mayor, ‘Hard-Core Fiscal Conservative’ Sarah Palin Left Wasilla $20 Million In Debt
The campaign of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is presenting his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK), as a reformer, fiscal conservative, and “tough minded budget cutter.” Other conservatives have latched onto this image – Phyllis Schlafly calls Palin “the total package” with “fiscal conservative credentials.”
Palin embraces the title, labeling herself a “hard-core fiscal conservative,” whose “agenda was to stop wasteful spending.
However, as mayor of Wasilla, AK, Palin “was not always the fiscal watchdog she has since boasted of being.”
During her term in office, Palin cut property taxes and other small taxes on business. But as the Anchorage Daily News points out, “She wasn’t doing this by shrinking government.” During her tenure, the budget of Wasilla (population 5,469 in 2000) “apart from capital projects and debt, rose from $3.9 million in fiscal 1996 to $5.8 million.”
Palin also successfully pushed through a sales tax increase in Wasilla, which went to fund a $15 million sports complex. However, a land dispute over the sight of the complex led to “years of legal wrangling” and cost Wasilla almost $1.7 million, “a lot more than the roughly $125,000 the city would have paid in 1998 if it had closed a deal to buy the property outright.” Wasilla is still facing budget shortfalls from the case today.
When Palin left office in 2002, Wasilla had “racked up nearly $20 million in long-term debt,” or roughly $3,000 of debt per resident.
But Palin’s approach actually brings her in line with McCain, whose own “massive tax cuts” “would recklessly exacerbate the fiscal irresponsibility of the Bush Administration” and cause the largest deficit in 25 years.
7 Responses to “As Mayor, ‘Hard-Core Fiscal Conservative’ Sarah Palin Left Wasilla $20 Million In Debt”
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OH WOW…..PLASTER THIS EVERY WHERE YOU CAN…..
I KNOW I WILL.
September 3rd, 2008 at 4:00 pmMcCain’s “massive tax cuts”…for the wealthy. Always qualify them, because we all know McCain’s definition of “wealthy” is around $5 million a year.
September 3rd, 2008 at 4:14 pmPassed along to my political mailing list…
September 3rd, 2008 at 4:48 pmSarah Palin sought welfare for her town by campaigning in Washington for earmarks when she was mayor. Now she is governor of the biggest welfare state in the nation. A true fiscal conservative would figure out how to have the town and state pay their own way rather than relying on federal charity to cover their expenses.
September 3rd, 2008 at 5:57 pmwell, she’s a true conservative by action: spend way more than you make. what’s new?
September 6th, 2008 at 8:45 pmThis is what she said today (9/15/08)in Golden, Colorado:
“I knew that as I lowered taxes and got rid of business inventory taxes and then on a state level, suspended our fuel tax, those things do add to a vibrant economy, and we do have some wonderful economic indicators of success in my hometown,” Palin said. “We became part of the fastest growing area of the state because businesses wanted to be there. They knew that government would be on their side.”
http://embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/09/15/palin-addresses-wall-street-financial-crisis/
Then she proceeded to use that “Thanks But No Thanks” line about the Bridge to Nowhere.
I am really wondering how people can continue to believe the words that come out of her mouth.
More on Sarah Palin at:
http://nosarahpalin.blogspot.com
September 15th, 2008 at 7:03 pmBig-ticket items that created the debt: $14.7-million for a new multi-use sports complex; $5.5-million for street projects; and $3-million for water improvement projects.
The sales tax rate went from 2 percent to 2.5 percent under Palin
Voters okayed the bond issues for the sports complex and road projects, as well as for the sales tax increase. This is standard democratic practice to let the citizens decide if they want to issue bonds to pay for public projects except for in the US Congress.
The property tax rate was reduced under Palin from 2 mills to .5 mills (it was later eliminated under Keller).
Due to the economic growth in the community, Keller said, Wasilla is going to be able to stop charging that extra .5 percent sales tax two years earlier than anticipated
September 17th, 2008 at 12:42 pm