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Is it spin, or is it something worse?
Letter from the Editor I don’t know if they became emboldened by the four years Donald Trump was president, but we seem to have entered a period when local officials state things that are objectively not true and expect us to publish them as if they are credible.
Some might call it spin, but I think it’s more than that. I think the local leaders figure that if they speak a falsehood often enough and with enough passion, some people will come to believe it. Consider how many people believe the election was stolen from Trump -- even though no evidence supports that lie -- merely because Trump keeps saying it and the media keeps reporting when he says it.
We had an example in the past week, with pressure to publish something that’s false. We didn’t.
It involves Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish. He has said repeatedly he would find the money to pay for a much-needed new Cuyahoga County jail without increasing taxes. In our newsroom, we’re fairly familiar with county finances, and we were pretty sure he could not make good on that promise.
Wednesday, he made it official. He announced he would pay for the jail with a tax increase. A quarter-percent increase in the sales tax that was supposed to expire in 2027 will be made permanent. So, in 2028, instead of paying 7.75 percent in sales taxes on Cuyahoga County purchases, we’ll pay 8.
But Budish said that is not a tax increase. He said it is an extension. That’s just silly.
Consider a $35,000 automobile purchase in 2028. As of now, with that quarter percent of the sale tax set to go off the books, you’d pay $2,712.50 in sales taxes, at a rate of 7.75 percent. Budish’s proposal to add that quarter percent back in, with no expiration date, meaning you’d pay $2,800 in sales taxes.
What else is that extra $87.50 but a tax increase? And the extra quarter percent would apply to a lot more than auto purchases. It would accumulate with every purchase you make until you stop buying things in Cuyahoga County. It will add up to a significant increase in taxes.
Reporter Courtney Astolfi wrote the story, and not long after it published on cleveland.com, the county called to complain that she described Budish’s proposal as a tax increase. We rejected their complaint.
The proper thing for Budish to do was be straightforward and say the county must build a safe jail and needs a tax increase to do it. That he did not, and that his team pushed back when we accurately described it, is a troubling sign of the times. He seems to believe that he can make falsehoods into facts by merely stating them.
Next year, if he runs for re-election, we suspect he will base part of his campaign on a claim that he did not raise taxes. We will lay out the truth every time that happens.
Thanks
Chris Quinn Editor and Vice President of Content
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