WCLCB - When Is An “Attack” the Truth?
Last Thursday we were treated to a marvelous op-ed in the Daily Times (you may open a PDF here) by Justin Collis, General Manager of the Wicomico County liquor dispensary system. His argument is so persuasive that it is imperative that our County Council dig deeper into the WCLCB’s affairs rather than reduce their efforts.
Mr. Collis is under the delusion that restaurant owners, bar owners, and those of us who choose to partake of distilled spirits somehow owe him and the other employees of the WCLCB a job:
“I find it disappointingly amazing that a few people in the community would like to put 30 people out of work in this economy…”
No Mr. Collis, I bear no ill will to you or the other who work at the WCLCB. That said, what is the basis of your claim that we somehow owe you employment?
Mr. Collis also makes the false claim that taxes will have to be raised to make up for lost revenue IF the dispensary system reverts to private enterprise. Higher licensing fees should more than make up for any lost revenue from closing the WCLCB.
Of course Collis continues his argument with no evidence to back it up. In the world of Mr. Collis “we are in need of more than $1 million to balance the county budget.” It’s strange; I was at the council meeting where the budget was passed and I was sure that they passed a balance budget. Sure, Rick Pollitt wants to spend more money; so does the Board of Education. In fact, every government department wants to spend more. That doesn’t mean that we can, nor should. It certainly doesn’t mean that the Wicomico County budget is somehow $1 million out of balance simply because Justin Collis imagines that it is.
Of course, what can we expect from someone who actually uses a term like “$400,000 of free money“. There’s no such thing. As we all know, someone (or some group) ALWAYS pays.
My personal favorite statement in Justin’s Adventures in Wonderland is his assertion that the dispensary system returns $400,000 to taxpayers AND that this is a 58% increase over the last five years.
As noted in a previous post, FY 2003 was the last time that the WCLCB forward over $400,000 to the taxpayers. Since then we have seen a precipitous drop of over 37%:
Now we don’t know how much will be coming in THIS fiscal year (the year isn’t over yet). I’m quite sure that they are trying hard to get over that $400,000 hurdle.
It doesn’t matter. There will be revenue to replace it when we finally wave goodbye to this antiquated system. Perhaps Mr. Collis can take up practicing law in Salisbury City Attorney Paul Wilber’s firm. His grasp of the truth would certainly serve the Tilghman administration well.
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