Courtesy Photo­Image Mayor Marc Kaschke

This fall there will be an important discussion on the national level about the size and scope of government in our daily lives. The past few years have seen massive out-of-control spending by the federal government.

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This is simply not sustainable and jeopardizes future generations looking to achieve the American Dream.

Locally, we need to learn from the mistakes of the federal government. We need serious discussions on how to reduce spending locally so that we can provide tax relief for the hard-working families of North Platte.

We can’t do it without a plan. We have lacked long-term strategic planning with our city budget process. This needs to change. We need to think into the future and make decisions on how we can do things better; how we can eliminate waste; and how we can make local government operate more efficiently.

I will fight for a government that does more with less.

Our community is prospering. During my first term as mayor, we have seen more than $100 million in new construction. Sales tax revenues have continued to climb and are up by more than $395,000 this year alone.

This gives us an opportunity to lower taxes. In coffee shops and at the softball fields, I repeatedly hear how people want to see city government reduce taxes. I’ve listened, and now is that time.

I plan to introduce a long-term plan that reduces the property tax levy by 15 percent over the next five years.

North Platte can lead the charge and show Washington, D.C. how to cut taxes and limit government actions in our daily lives.

First printed in the July 25 print edition of the North Platte Bulletin.