Temple’s taxpayers must be looking forward to a Tyroch-free city council, with attendant possibility of lower taxes. But the rest of us still have cause for worry. As a member of the city council, she raised taxes and grew spending repeatedly, and unnecessarily. Any guesses what she’ll do in the Legislature if she wins next month’s special election?
During her reign of error, Martha managed to mangle the city’s economy by growing taxes year after year. Appropriate, since she was part and parcel to city government increasing a mind-boggling 91 percent since 2000! What did she spend money on? Growing the “culture and leisure services” some 114 percent. Public safety? A comparively puny 43 percent. For those of you keeping track at home, population and inflation in Temple grew at an average rate of around 5 percent. Government spending under Tyroch-the-Taxer? More than 11 percent a year. In the April Republican Primary run-off she faces Ralph Sheffield, a strong conservative who promises to work to slow government growth and reduce taxes.
