Heated discussion on WHBU this morning about the "Quality of Life grant" using Food and Beverage Tax money.

I'm a strong believer in helping many of the worthwhile causes in Anderson/Madison County. Salvation Army, Second Harvest Food Bank, Stop Smoking programs, Alternatives, and alike are all good programs. They provide important services to Anderson and deserve our help.

That being said, the Food and Beverage Tax was never designed and shouldn't be used for these programs. It was initially "sold" to the community as a way to pay for a Convention Center. This would bring people into the community, who would eat in our restaurants, and bring more money into the fund.

We are facing serious budget problems in our community and tough decisions will have to be made. It's this kind of "reallocation" of funding which has brought us to this point. When your house is on fire is it the right time to paint it?

I'm not criticizing the programs, but suggest our remaining resources should be spent to bring businesses/visitors into the community. Only a small percentage of the money was allocated for that purpose.

Nothing new here. They sell a tax or user fee for one purpose then use it for something else. They did that with the sewer "tax" ($3.50) they added to our utility bills and then a portion (about 1/3 as I remember) went to raises in stead of bringing the sewer system up to mandated standards. Maybe we should p*** a law that money can't be diverted from it's intended purpose without a referendum.

I think a convention center is needed. I recall Muncie's center is always busy.
Still, I think the money would best be used to attract businesses to the county. I think we should focus on Green Industries by upgrading our city buildings with solar panels and windmills etc. The amount spent would be made up by the energy cost saved and green industries like Brivendi (sp) would take notice.

There is a windmill on the 5th floor. Very efficient at blowing hot air.

So some people think Anderson needs an convention center. Muncie's got one, great. They got more people, more business and they have not had their heart torn out by GM leaving the city. The people of Madison county just doesn't have the money.
Just ask the people in Noblesville, in fact ask the people who pay food and beverage tax for the Colt's stadium. Where you can watch the millionaires play their millionaire football players. Have you been there and had a $4 beer and a $4 hotdog. I'll bet you haven't but if you live in Marion county and the surrounding counties very time you eat out you are paying the Colts. Really it just doesn't seem fair.