FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
John Schultz, Chair
Boone County Libertarian Party
1301 W. Colchester Road
Columbia, MO 65202
E-mail: chair@boone.lpmo.org
Website: http://boone.lpmo.org

Boone County Libertarians announce support for Janku and Barnes;
oppose courthouse sales tax

Columbia, MO -- March 31, 2006 -- The Boone County Libertarian Party (BCLP)
opposes enactment of the Boone County Courthouse expansion sales tax
and supports two Columbia City Council candidates based on their
opposition of the proposed smoking ban under consideration by the
Board of Health.

We support Chris Janku, candidate for the Second Ward, and Valerie
Barnes, candidate for the Sixth Ward.  We believe these two
candidates are the most likely to protect us from abusive government
regulation limiting individual free will.  In fact, both have
recently come out against the proposed smoking ban and are willing to
let private restaurants decide if they will allow a legal substance
to be used on their premises.  While these candidates might not be
card-carrying Libertarians, we support candidates who believe in the
free market and less government regulation; Chris Janku and Valerie
Barnes pass the test.

The BCLP opposes the courthouse expansion sales tax for both
philosophical reasons and procedural issues.  With the enactment of
this issue, sales taxes in those areas in Columbia that are within a
Transportation Development District (TDD) will exceed 8%.
Additionally, we believe that the county will find another pressing
need to renew this tax when it expires in three years.  This behavior
has occurred with several Columbia sales taxes, keeping citizens from
enjoying a return to lower taxation.  There will soon come a time
when Boone County residents will no longer be able to support the
continued sales tax increases they have been saddled with in recent
years.

Boone County Libertarian Party chairman John Schultz remarks “The
recent defeat of two sales tax proposals from the city of Columbia
should alert local government that many voters are not happy with
sales tax increases that seem to occur every election cycle.”

The Boone County Government Center’s third floor has sat nearly
empty since the building was constructed.  The county should have
utilized this space much sooner so that the true space need could be
assessed by the citizen committee that oversaw this proposal.  The
county says it has money set aside to enable it to use this wasted
space, but why has it not done so before now?  Furthermore, the
county has purchased several properties surrounding the courthouse
complex and now wishes to use this tax to pay off the loans on those
buildings.  Why did the county purchase those properties if it did
not have money in the bank to do so?  The proposal sounds like a
solution to a problem that was partially of the county’s
making.  Should we justify bad governance by giving them more money?
Voters should tell the county to come back with a more reasonable and
responsible project.

The BCLP has no official stance on any other races in the Boone County
area.

The Boone County Libertarian Party is affiliated with the Missouri
Libertarian Party, one of three established political parties in
Missouri.

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