Eat. Shop. Play. Local.
Recently
a letter to the editor of the local newspaper made
the argument for funding art at the elementary school
level. Apparently there has been discussion about
reducing the amount of art received in elementary
schools because of budget pressures. The typical
solution has been to increase the tax levy and ask
the tax payers to pay more.
A more sustainable approach is to simply spend local.
Every dollar spent locally in a community can have up
to three times the multiplier tax return to the
community versus buying from an out-of-state big box
retailer, all without raising taxes a single cent.
Let's use two simple examples:
Example 1) A citizen spends a dollar at a local
big-box retailer. Taxes are exchanged for that dollar
spent and the dollar is promptly deposited in an
out-of-state bank account somewhere in Four Corners,
Arkansas. That dollar is retired as far as the local
economy is concerned.
Example 2) A citizen spends a dollar at their local
custom frame shop. Again, taxes are exchanged but
this time the local frame shop owner races to their
local bank to cover the check they wrote to the local
plumber to have their hot water heater repaired. The
plumber in turn cashes that check to buy a silk suit
from Josephsons Clothing Store. Tom from Josephsons
then uses that money to buy himself a beer next door
at The Staghead Restaurant to celebrate having
finally sold that XXXL silk suit.
The same dollar has contributed to the local economy
three separate times, each time participating in the
overall tax exchange and actively contributes to the
cash flow of four different local employers.
Red Wing Downtown Main Street is focused on exactly
these types of issues. The Eat-Shop-Play-Local
tag-line could include many other action verbs (Buy.
Stay. Invest.), but the point is to think about where
your money goes after you spend it.
Visit the DTMS web site or
the
DTMS Facebook page and consider joining this
non-profit organization.