Tax dollars should fund
what we’re told they will
Re: “Walters: The long-standing, corrosive trend in California government” (Opinion section, Mercurynews.com, Jan. 5):
The fact that we Californians pay some of the highest taxes in the U.S. (mostly income), and the state government has sent $8 billion, since 2011, to counties to cover the costs of the massive prison “realignment,” but counties have used the money for ordinary law enforcement costs instead of useful, prison rehabilitation efforts as promised is astonishing.
If the governor or Legislature enact policies that state billions of dollars will be used to improve local jails and probation services, I expect them to stay true to their word.
How is it that a powerful governing body can be so dishonest with its spending? If up to 12.3% of my paycheck is going to the government, I expect that money to be put into solutions for problems that the government clearly lays out for the public. So, let’s keep the government in check with the way it spends its money.
Nolan Smith
Los Gatos
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