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Vote for capital facilities tax, Hathaway scholarships on Nov. 7
By Anthony McConnell
Trail Editor
It has been a long-standing tradition for the editorial pages of newspapers to endorse political candidates, but the Northwest Trail will not be endorsing a single candidate in the 2006 election. We at the Trail do not feel it is necessary for us to tell our readers who to vote for – it’s just not our place.
We will, however, tell our readers to vote, it was the subject of the editorial in Issue six, and tell our readers who is running and what the issues are, we have had coverage of the election in many of this year’s issues. But we will not tell you who to vote for.
On the other hand there are several items on the ballot this year that will have a direct effect on the lives of many students at NWC, and we will be throwing our support behind them.
First up is the proposed one percent capital facilities tax. The tax if passed would raise the sales tax in Park County to five percent in order to provide funding for a new pool complex in Powell – you have most likely seen the fliers and yard signs with the “pennies for pools” slogan. It may not be evident at first how this would impact the college.
The tax, if passed, would allow the athletic department at NWC to have a more complete program. In addition the pool would give students one more activity to participate in during those boring winter nights everyone has experienced while at Northwest.
There are those who would argue, the last thing we need is another tax but the benefits of this tax far outweigh the measly pennies it would cost residents. Nonresident visitors, better known as tourists, would pay about one third of the tax. And with the recent removal of sales tax from food most residents will still be paying less in sales tax than in previous years.
Next up is Constitutional Amendment C. This amendment would make the Hathaway scholarship a permanent part of financial aid in Wyoming. This program gives thousands of students much needed money for college. The amendment would also allow the Legislature to take money from the Hathaway fund and invest it in order to allow the program to become self-sufficient.
Both the capital facilities tax and Constitutional Amendment C would greatly benefit students at Northwest and when you go to the polls on Nov. 7, we urge you to vote for them.