Mere days after the largest nationwide anti-tax rallies the likes of which haven’t been seen since prior to the start of the American Revolution, the City Council of Woonsocket, RI (Yes, THAT RI, with a sales, income, AND property tax, basically the highest in the country…) stood poised to stick the taxpayers with a "supplemental" tax bill to fund a budget shortfall in it’s school department. Essentially, the property taxpayers– with commercial owners paying 2-1/2 times the rate– would be sent a so-called "5th Quarter" tax bill. Normally, taxes are billed and paid in quarterly payments in the year.
The citizens of that fair old city in Northern Rhode Island have apparently decided that enough is enough and they weren’t going to sit by any longer and get steamrolled with yet another tax. Faced with a new "fee" on trash pickup and steep increases in water and sewer bills, the step of a supplemental tax bill was just a bridge too far. With a head of steam generated at the eleventh hour by angry business people, residential homeowners, and plain citizens, fired up by a spirited local talk radio program a few scant hours before, suddenly,
A TEA PARTY BROKE OUT…
The local paper, The Woonsocket Call described the events:
Harris Hall was so packed that admittance was closed after about 130 spectators filled the room. People were standing against the back walls because there weren’t any more seats left and there was a line of speakers behind the lectern waiting to address the council that snaked out into the foyer. More than two hours after the session began, people were still waiting for their turn to speak, and the council hadn’t even recited the Pledge of Allegiance to mark the formal start of the agenda.
But, points out, it didn’t start there…
[T]he tenor of the meeting actually began on the sidewalk outside, where a gathering of homeowners and proprietors of small businesses waved signs as they waited, before the meeting, for council members to arrive at City Hall. The signs bore slogans that included, “No Supplemental Tax Bill,” and “We Follow Our Budget.”
A sign-toting Jeanne Budnick, proprietor of Pepin Lumber, a family-owned business for generations, said the city should be forced to live within the constraints that everyday property owners and merchants deal with. In difficult economic times like these, Budnick said, another bill for the owners of businesses and homes will only make things worse for people struggling with unemployment, cuts in hours and higher health care costs.
“We all know these are difficult times,” Budnick said . “We’re making cuts left and right. I think it’s time the city lived within its means. We have to live within our means and this supplemental tax bill is the easy way out. It’s one more thing to make people lose their homes and businesses.”
I was able to listen to City Council meeting itself, thanks to the Internet and a local radio station (the City Council stopped simulcasting it’s meetings live– gee, I wonder why? 
). What a meeting! Many people spoke their piece, the likes of which hasn’t been heard for quite some time. One business owner stated that this unplanned, unexpected, and unbudgeted action means a $3,000 tax bill. Said another hapless taxpayer,
"Too often I’ve sat down and shut up. No more. Now I’m gonna stand up and speak out… I’m angry. I’m frustrated."
Prior to the meeting, the scuttlebutt was that the supplement was a done deal, with a strong majority expected to vote for it. A councilor was heard on the radio one day last week saying the people can come, but it won’t matter. "It’s all just noise."
Really? As the "noise" unfolded, one Councilor changed his mind:
"I was gonna vote one way before I got here. But now, I’m going to vote the other."
Another said the same. Basically, she picked up the message delivered by the throng. This was incredible to listen to. The City Council, when suddenly facing a crowd, heard the message of "enough is enough." As the taxpayers were being asked told to pay more, it was noted that five city personnel were paid DOUBLETIME to work at a sponsored Easter Egg hunt– all because of union rules. This revelation brought much grumbling and howls of disgust from the audience. Yet another councilor spoke up, eying the gathered people,
"It’s refreshing to see people involved with city government."
Then he told a story about a taxpayer not knowing what they would do. And how another called crying, stating she would lose her house. He declared that he will now vote no, too. The crowd cheered.
And so it went. The meeting lasted well into the night, covering other city business, but always leading back to the fiscal crisis at hand. And then they took a vote.
The expected 6 to 1 vote favoring a supplemental tax bill to be foisted up Woonsocket taxpayers turned into a stunning 4 to 3 midnight vote, DEFEATING it!
Victory for the taxpayyers was at hand. The citizens showed up, pouring their symbolic tea and real derision on the ongoing spending without regard for the folks footing the bill. Score one for the Tea Party movement! And score a BIG one for the people of Woonsocket, RI.
The entrenched politicians and the insulated bureacracies they protect have all pooh-poohed the Tea Party movement thus far, claiming them to be without real purpose. Now!Hampshire.com is reporting that the NH Democrat Party chairman Ray Buckley even went so far as to deem those involved as looking
"like they lost their minds”
Tell that to the folks in Woonsocket that drew a line in the sand last night and told their elected representatives they are Taxed Enough Already, that enough is enough. What’s so crazy about that?