Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/554633
18 UCW AUGUST 12-18, 2015 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM I love music. When I was a little girl, which was not that long ago, music would echo through our home and I would sing every word of the song as I danced to the beat of the music. B.B. King, Kenny Rogers, Smokey Robinson and others were some of my favorites. The Hope Mills Recreation Center loves music, too, and hosts open mic oldies, rock and blues music every first and third Friday of each month at 6 p.m. "The Relics, a band, comes out twice a month until 8:30 p.m. and they play oldies, country and gospel music," said Kenny Bullock, director of the Hope Mills Recreation Center. "We also have open mic for people who want to come up and sing." The oldies nights started about seven years ago with Larry Wright and his wife. "They had a group that liked to go around and perform," said Bullock. "They began performing at the Hope Mills Recreation Center on the first and third Friday of each month and they averaged between 80-100 people." It has been an ongoing thing and it has been going strong since. The Relics is a six-member band that features country, blues, gospel and old rock music from the '50s and '60s. "We started singing individu- ally and we would sing at the Gilmore Center, the Eastover Center and other places," said Barbra Sheppard, leader of The Relics. "Then Ray, Calvin and I decided that we would put something together and form a band." Sheppard added that they started playing at a coffee shop in Hope Mills and at birthday parties. The band loves to play for the seniors at the recre- ation center because it is fun and they like giving back to the neighborhood. They quiz the audience members to see if they know who wrote or sang the songs and give the winners candy bars. "We have a family atmosphere and we encour- age people to come out, enjoy and participate," said Bullock. "We ask that everyone bring potato chips, doughnuts and drinks to enjoy while they watch the performance." The free event is open to all seniors and any- one who wants to come out to enjoy the music. Registration to perform is the day of the event. The sign-up is open to everyone on a first come, first to perform basis. For more information visit www.townofhopemills.com or call 426-4109. Hope Mills Recreation Center Hosts Oldies Nights by DR. SHANESSA FENNER JOHN HOOD, President of the John Locke Foundation, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly. com. 910.484.6200 Don't miss the open mic night and oldies night at the Hope Mills Recreation Center every first and third Friday. The event features local band The Relics. Music includes coun- try, blues, gospel and 1950s and '60s rock and roll. DR. SHANESSA FENNER, Principal WT Brown Elementary School, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly. com. If you ever thought that complaining about the tax system was a mod- ern phenomenon, I can disabuse you of the notion in two sentences. The first, shorter one has an ancient pedigree. "The people are hungry: It is because those in authority eat up too much in taxes," states the Chinese Taoist text Tao Te Ching. The second, longer sentence comes from the late 19th century. "When more of the people's sustenance is exacted through the form of taxation than is necessary to meet the just obligations of government and expenses of its economical administration," wrote Grover Cleveland, one of America's greatest presidents, "such exaction becomes ruthless extortion and a violation of the funda- mental principles of free government." As Cleveland observes, some taxation is necessary for government to provide basic services. But politicians typically face strong incentives to go beyond the basics. Consider a proposal to raise taxes to subsidize a local sports team. Most local residents don't benefit directly from such an expenditure. They don't work for the team, its vendors or neighboring businesses. In most communities, those who regularly attend the games are a minority of the population. But for this very reason, the beneficiaries are highly motivated to get the program enacted. They stand to realize significant benefits per person. On the other hand, even if the project costs many millions of dollars, it is unlikely to cost any particular taxpayer more than a few dollars. That's not much of an incen- tive to engage in political action to halt the program. Although it might seem puz- zling at first, then, the truth is that special-interest groups often prevail over majori- ties in the democratic process. Although these dynamics, known as "public choice economics," are inherent to all representative governments, there are constitutional provisions and processes that make the triumph of special interests less likely. One is to clearly separate a govern- ment's legislative, executive and judicial powers so that it takes multiple actors to accomplish anything. Another is to include the public directly in making costly, long- term decisions such as issuing public debt or, yes, expending tax dollars on capital projects such as sports arenas. Still another useful tool is transparency. I don't just mean requiring government meetings to be open, providing public records on request and put- ting information such as government budgets and spending ledgers online. I also mean making public policies easy to follow and understand. When it comes to tax policy, this principle requires governments to employ revenue sources that average citizens can see, track and understand. That's an argu- ment for taxes that generates annual bills, such as taxes on real property. There's a reason the property tax is difficult to raise. People can clearly see how much it costs them. Unfortunately, many localities have increasingly come to rely on taxes that are hidden in service contracts or bills, especially when visitors comprise a significant share of those who will pay them. A Texas-based think tank, the National Center for Policy Analysis, recently published a nationwide study of hotel occupancy taxes, car rental taxes and airline taxes. Would it surprise you to learn that North Carolina's largest city, Charlotte, had the ninth-highest tax burden on travelers among major cities in the United States? That's what the NCPA study found. Although policymakers often assume they can get away with taxing visitors heavi- ly without major consequences, there's good evidence to the contrary. The more you tax your visitors, the less money they have to purchase goods and services while they're in your community. Moreover, it's a fallacy to argue that these taxes only hit visitors. Lots of local households and businesses rent cars, for example, or pay hotel bills for relatives, friends or business associates. Generally applied property and sales tax are sufficient to capture revenue from those who visit, shop, do business or stay overnight in a community. Extra levies are abusive. Sure, politicians feel they can get away with them because so many of the taxpayers aren't local and can't vote against them. But that doesn't make it good policy. N.C. City Earns Dubious Distinction by JOHN HOOD A Texas-based think tank, the National Center for Policy Analysis, recently published a nationwide study of hotel occupancy taxes, car rental taxes and airline taxes. Would it surprise you to learn that North Carolina's largest city, Charlotte, had the 9th- highest tax burden on travelers among major cities in the United States?