COUNTY: Taxes and integrity

David Stewart votes for raises for county employees ($1 million for the Sheriff’s Department in the Coeur d’Alene Press, February 2015, and 8 percent for other employees in June 2015) then votes against a tax increase. Where is that money supposed to come from? I have got no problem with raises, especially for the Sheriff’s Department. We just have to be realistic that you can’t do it without raising taxes. Raising the budget equals raising taxes — that is economics 101.

It doesn’t matter to Stewart anyway, since he doesn’t pay his own taxes. I am betting he is angling to run for office again in some way. It would speak more to character if he would simply pay his own taxes rather than try to bankrupt the county.

CATHERINE MATHESON

Coeur d’Alene