We hope that today’s “IS IT TRUE” will provoke honest and open dialogue concerning issues that we, as responsible citizens of this community, need to address in a rational and responsible way?

IS IT TRUE that last week the City of Evansville Water and Sewer Utility launched a lawsuit against the owners of the McCurdy Hotel to collect roughly $861,000 in unpaid sewer bills?…it is understood that this is not for water that has been used or consumed in the operation of the historic old building?…these charges and others that have been disputed by the Kunkel Group were incurred as a result of discharging groundwater into the storm sewers?…this means that this is not quite like running your own tap that has water that the City Utility has treated into the storm drains?

IS IT TRUE what is being done at the McCurdy is pumping up groundwater to be used in a geothermal temperature control system and then discharging that water into the sewer?…any treatment that needs to be done is not as intense as taking it from the Ohio River or from the toilet so some of the posturings by the City Utility is just that?…we understand that discharging natural groundwater into the sewer is worthy of some charge but the reality is that this level of charge makes the McCurdy an impossible building to operate at a profit?

IS IT TRUE we expect unless both accommodations and rational pricing can be extended to the Kunkel Group that the next thing that will happen is that the City of Evansville will own the building and no one with two brain cells will want it?…then after 10 years of questionable dealings by the City of Evansville, the Redevelopment Commission, and a couple of political cronies, the historic McCurdy could still meet the wrecking ball of obsolescence?…for many years the McCurdy was a candidate for destruction until the Kunkel Group stepped in to renovate it?

IS IT TRUE the legacy Alles Furniture store in Henderson, Kentucky has announced that it will be closing its doors forever?…this is another mom and pop style furniture store like South 41 Furniture, Buchannan’s Furniture, the Sturgis Furniture Company and many others in the Tri-State that have died at the hands of big-box retailers that take their profits off to other places?…it is not just furniture either?…dozens of shoe stores, bookstores, local restaurants, Kuester’s Hardware, Wesselman’s Weinbach, Ayr-Way, K-Mart, Sears, the Evansville Store, DeJong’s, Strauss, F’s Steak House, and dozens of others have been innovated out of existence first by big-box chain stores and later by online shopping like Amazon??

IS IT TRUE the best way to say the large number of dollars that municipalities all over the United States are spending on expanding jails is to raise a generation that does not expand criminal activities?…this year it would save the Vanderburgh County taxpayers $40 million and 10 years ago it would have saved a similar amount?… Evansville may not have any population growth but the jails do?…this part of the country has seen very little economic or population growth but over the last 10 years we have set records for criminal activities of the violent kind?…we would like to remind our elected official we have always had crime problems that’s why we have jails?

IS IT TRUE that the City of Owensboro recently had a serious situation when a dilapidated old water main broke leaving the residents without water for an extended period?…the question has been raised about whether or not such a thing could happen in Evansville?…the only logical answer and it is as obvious as the nose on one’s face is that yes it could happen in Evansville?… Evansville has roughly triple as many old cast iron pipes as Owensboro and it is just a matter of time before parts of Evansville are left high and dry when an old neglected pipe ruptures?…such things have happened before and smaller versions happen every time it freezes?…it has not been very long since a car was swallowed up when an old water pipe created a small pond size pothole in a road?…that old cast iron pipe was repaired but was not replaced with a new pipe so brace yourselves people, Evansville will have the same problem for the same non-sensical reason that Owensboro did?

IS IT TRUE that McKinsey and Company recently published a study about what jobs are most likely to be eliminated by robotics during the next 5 to 10 years?…the list included food preparation, fast food workers, drivers, hospitality workers, and manufacturing?…this particular list should be etched into the minds of local government since Evansville is somewhat dependent on these kinds of workers?…the other thing of interest that is ominous for the local economy is the projections that coal will be phased out and so will certain products made of plastics?

IS IT TRUE we are hearing that the Evansville DMD may be considering some money on facade grants on buildings and giving low-interest loans to help develop loft apartments on North Main Street?  …wasn’t this tried by the Wienzapfel Administration on Main Street many years ago that turned out to be less than successful?

Today’s “Readers Poll” question is: Do you feel that Government shouldn’t do for people what they should do for themselves?

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TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS—Attention online shoppers: You might soon be paying sales taxes on the goods you buy from out-of-state merchants you access via the internet.

The Indiana Department of Revenue announced Friday that it will begin enforcing a year-old law to collect taxes on out-of-state sales effective Oct. 1, pending a final ruling in its favor in a lawsuit.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a 1992 ruling that effectively barred states from collecting sales taxes through businesses that did not have a physical location in the state. The ruling in South Dakota v. Wayfair said that states can compel businesses to collect sales taxes on goods and services purchase online.

The Indiana General Assembly, in the 2017 session, enacted legislation requiring retail merchants that do not have a physical location in the state to collect sales taxes on purchases. Hoosier should have paid sales taxes on out-of-state purchases by reporting the transactions on their tax returns. But many do not.

The 2017 law was challenged and has been on hold pending the outcome of the Wayfair case. If the law is upheld in light of the Wayfair decision, state revenue officials will require out-of-state retail merchants with sales exceeding $100,000, or 200 or more separate Indiana transactions, to register and remit the state sales tax.

Remote sellers seeking to comply with the laws of multiple states (including Indiana) should register with the Streamlined Sales Tax Registration system at www.streamlinedsalestax.org. Remote sellers seeking to comply with only Indiana’s economic nexus law should register through the online portal, INBiz, at www.inbiz.in.gov