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<br /> <br />Page 15 <br />1 <br />going that route. And that's why the heavy fight for <br />2 <br />the G.E.T. <br />3 <br />Initially, I didn't care for the G.E.T. <br />4 <br />because it was just a tax on the same people in another <br />5 <br />way -- until you find out that at least 25 percent of <br />6 <br />those taxes come from tourists. And that is our goal, <br />7 <br />as much as possible, to get revenues from outside of <br />8 <br />the people here. Now, that increase of G.E.T., which <br />9 <br />was .5 percent, which is a very small percent, I ask <br />10 <br />you to calculate how much we would have to have raised <br />11 <br />of property tax to get 50 million dollars. <br />12 <br />So, you know, although we didn't go out to <br />13 <br />the public and jump up and down with joy, I did jump up <br />14 <br />and down with joy, not just for the money -- obviously, <br />15 <br />it is -- but that stopped us from having to raise the <br />16 <br />property tax, which we are very concerned about. That <br />17 <br />afforded us the ability to spread the source of <br />18 <br />revenue. That does not take away that it is a <br />19 <br />requirement that you elect us for, to minimize our <br />20 <br />government expenses as best as possible. <br />21 <br />So, I will say openly -- yes, salaries and <br />22 <br />wages are the majority of it. When you say "services," <br />23 <br />it’s not buying things. Somebody has got to provide the <br />24 <br />services. The park demand grows, you know, police <br />25 <br />protection grows, road maintenance grow, et cetera, et <br /> <br />ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES <br />(808) 933-9800 <br /> <br />