Selling a tax increase: Behind the curtain

The Davis County Commission is concerned about the proposed tax increase. They're worried that we might not like it. They're probably worried that we don't trust them.

I have some good evidence to support this claim.

Could it be because two out of three commissioners are out-a-here come January?

Not really, although that is true.

Now, this next part is going to sound pedantic at first. Stay with me.

Davis County's website it touting one page among its most "popular" links. That is supposed to mean, I think, that a lot of people have clicked on this link. Frankly, the County wanted this particular link to be popular. It was strategically placed so to influence a decision that will be ours to make. It's sitting out, in full view, in the middle of the page. You know, so people will click on it.

Let's break down this page into its most basic elements.

Its title is: " Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting (PDF)

That sounds innocuous enough. Impressive, actually.

Now the rub.

The URL, (that's the location of the file), for the page exposes the Commissions real intent. Here it is.

http://www.daviscountyutah.gov/tax_increase/financial_reporting_certificate.pdf

Did you see that? (I tried to make it obvious by making it bold) It's in a folder called "tax_increase". Someone must think that this particular document will influence the citizens of this county to vote for a tax increase.

The reality is that this certificate has nothing to do with whether this particular tax increase is
good or bad. It has everything to do with how good Steve Rawlings is at his job.

Where would our Commissioners be without Rawlings?