Town Talk Church Point
Town Talk Church Point
Mayor Spanky Discusses Taxes and Supporting Our Local Businesses
Mayor Spanky takes us on a deep dive into the financial foundation of Church Point, illustrating the value of supporting local businesses. We explore the stark difference between property and sales taxes, highlighting how the latter - primarily generated by local businesses - constitutes the backbone of our town's infrastructure. Mayor Spanky explains how shopping locally helps fund public services and contributes to the town's overall growth.
Then, we tackle the thorny issue of social media's impact on local businesses. Mayor Spanky voices his concerns about the online criticism heaped on new businesses, primarily on Facebook, a phenomenon that can deter potential customers and damage the business environment. This enlightening discussion emphasizes the importance of responsible online behavior and the need for community support towards local businesses. Listen in to understand how your shopping habits and digital discourse can shape the fate of our beloved town.
Time for another Town Talk podcast. It is Chris and Mayor Spanky, and we have a pretty important topic that you wanted to discuss on this episode, and it's the topic of supporting local businesses, supporting local restaurants, anything that we have here in the town of Church Point, and also what that means what it means to the town when people Support our businesses and what it means to the town when people don't support our businesses. You want to. You want to elaborate on that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean this is gonna be a lot of information Real quick, so I'm gonna try to do my best to explain it. There's been a long history of People saying you know, that's my tax money. I understand that and I take it very seriously. In Church Point, it's a little different than just that. If you was in Texas, if you was in Florida is, if you was in California pretty much any other state than Louisiana what that statement would be? A very true statement, because in Texas a regular House might pay $8,000 $10,000 in property taxes a year. Florida's probably five to six. Our average is around 50 $50, not in the thousands Dollars. I'm gonna just tell you and I broke them down into districts Property tax only. Okay, that's the tax that you cannot get out of that. Sales tax is a tax, but anybody from anywhere can shop anywhere they want and choose where they go. You know you get what.
Speaker 1:I'm saying, yep, you don't have, you don't have to go of you to?
Speaker 2:yeah, we want you to, but you don't have to go to our local businesses and Guess what the people from rain can come to church right, I was gonna say that on the flip side, other people can come to town.
Speaker 2:It's a choice that the sales tax goes. So I'd like to go to that, to the only mandatory Property tax of church. Point is that is just that district one we get a right about $13,000. District two is around 11,900, district three is about 24 five and district four is thirty thousand four hundred dollars, district five, 32,400. So you can see that that's a right about a hundred, maybe a little over. You know, we cannot run a town off of a hundred thousand dollars. It's just. That is nothing. That that is absolutely nothing.
Speaker 2:But where we do get our money from is sales tax which, like I said, a person from outside the city limits Buys in town. They're paying that tax. That's a choice. So they can go anywhere they want, they choose here. We appreciate it.
Speaker 2:But this is what I'm asking the better we treat our businesses in town, the more you get what you want. You want those roads, you want that infrastructure, you want all these good things in town. You have to shop local. There's no where around it. I don't. Nobody wants to vote in a tax when it. When you say I want to go up on your taxes, you're gonna say no, but we wouldn't have to ask for money if you just shop local and stop tearing apart the new businesses that come.
Speaker 2:A lot of people come to me and say we need more restaurants. When we get a restaurant in town, don't go on Facebook because there's gonna be people tearing that thing to pieces. And guess what? I've talked to people that they, they tear that, tear it down. And I asked did you go? No, I just heard that. Well, I'm not gonna tell you. Well, so we're really gonna Not welcome businesses in or for something you heard. I mean that's the biggest problem we have in church, point one of them. One of them is that we just, yeah, look, and I gotta say every restaurant that opens the first week, there's five thousand people trying to get that right. And then they go on on Facebook right after and tearing them to pieces. It's like give them a chance to. You know polish what they do and you know they, they learn and they're trying.
Speaker 1:And you're right, every business, and not even here, everywhere there's a rush in that first week or two like, oh, such and such is coming, we're going, and as much as that business or that restaurant wants to get ready for that it's hard for them to do that, and then they're probably never going to get that volume again. In a short amount of time they might get the volume of people to go but, not in that short amount of time.
Speaker 1:Give them a chance to work a couple things out and go back. You know, I've always seen a couple memes and a couple things on Facebook and it's about people who rag fast food restaurants on social media, since we're on that topic.
Speaker 1:Like oh man, my burger is so sloppy look at the bun. I ordered no cheese and I wanted extra onions and I didn't get anything. All right, and they put that on Facebook. But I bet you, my house, that, that next week they're back at that fast food restaurant getting that burger again. So sometimes it's like, man, what's the difference? You're going to rag these chains and then keep going back and a local person that put their life on the line. You know to open something up, you know you're only going to give them one chance. And again, it's not here. I mean, it happens here, don't get me along, but it's not just here, it happens all over the place.
Speaker 2:And look, I've had bad experiences at restaurants in different areas. I don't think any in church porn, but I've had some in live fitness. I don't go to Facebook, right? I just choose. Okay, if it was that bad, I just won't go back. It's not a big deal, it's my choice. Guess what? You know what? And I'm going to say this in a cocky way, but I'm an adult and I can do what I want to do, right, and you can too.
Speaker 2:But don't go tear down people, because I've, like I said and that's what kind of got me to come talk about this is you're going to come talk to me about it? I'm going to ask you what you ought to, and if you say that you heard that it's bad, I'm going to rag you because, come on, man, you're going to go by somebody. What you heard, don't tell me what you heard. Tell me what you know. Yep, I eat at every restaurant in this town. I have no problems. And guess what? Whenever you want to, you know, because I hear it all the time we want this and we want that and we want this and I wanted to, I wanted it with you. Yeah, and guess what? All these places that are welcoming in restaurants and supporting them and getting their tax money. They're succeeding. The town is succeeding because their restaurants are succeeding. And I mean, if y'all, if the people, choose to keep on hurting these businesses, well, you won't get what you want.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean, this is not a good subject. I know that, that's a tough one.
Speaker 2:It's a tough one to talk about, but I'm willing to talk about it because it's the truth. Yeah, I mean because if you think that around $100,000 of property taxes are going to make this town roll, it won't. Yeah, what makes this town roll is your gas stations, your restaurants, your grocery stores. That's what makes this, the wheels turn in this town. So don't turn your back on them and look. If you didn't like the experience, just be quiet, yeah, just. You know, maybe you didn't have a good experience, maybe you don't like that type of food. That's fine, it's not. You don't ever have to go back there again.
Speaker 2:But don't go on Facebook. And these people are. And guess what the problem is? One of the big problems is the same people that come on Facebook and tear. These people are the same ones. When their cheerleader is looking for a sponsorship, they walk in in that door. Go into that spot, yep. You know how many people go into businesses that they've never stepped in before to ask for a donation? There's a problem? Yeah, yep. We're a team in this town. If we divide it, we're never going to go nowhere. Yeah, yep. And all I'm asking is stop tearing them down. Yeah, bring them up, yep. If you know, I'm not good to say just don't say nothing at all, right.
Speaker 1:Or if you really and I think that's somewhat of the problem if you really have an issue with anything you know any business, you know again let's any business If you would have a rational conversation with the manager or the owner about your experience more times and not.
Speaker 1:they would probably be open to solving your problem instead of you just going on social media and deciding to bash them. Yeah, you know, I mean, they would probably be open to solving your issue if you just ask them or tell them what your problem was. We have talked about this before on other podcasts. With the size of our town and we see people saying, well, we need a bowling alley, or we need a movie theater, we need a Walmart or we need these. Look it's. It's tough for a town of what? 4,200 people, yeah, To have these major chains come in. It's really not that feasible. It wouldn't be feasible for somebody to open up a bowling alley here. It just wouldn't be. I'm sorry.
Speaker 2:I fear that two of them and they couldn't sustain both of them.
Speaker 1:They don't want. You know so we need those local businesses, we need those local restaurants to come in, because we're not going to get the walk-ons. No, we're not going to get a walk-ons here in Church Point, and I don't mean that in a bad way. No, we're not going to you know, but we have a couple places in town where you could actually watch a ball game. Sit down at a bar, enjoy a beer, maybe enjoy a pitcher of beer with friends whatever we have those places.
Speaker 2:You know we do. And, like I said, I can tell you this to Pizzerville, usa go buy a beer over there. It would be the closest thing to a beer stroke on you ever had.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I think he's going to freeze up before you can drink it.
Speaker 2:But and that's what I'm saying these people are giving all they got to make these businesses go for you. Yeah, yeah, they're trying to make a living, but they can lose everything they got if they don't, if they don't make it. But the end result if you support them, you get better things because we get more taxes. The town has to have money to keep going in the right direction and we're doing fine, but we're not breaking no records, right? But if we stuck together, I can tell you this, I can pull the paper work. During COVID, when nobody could leave, the businesses in this town was rolling because people had to stay in church point, shop, church point. And look, do I, do we expect you to buy everything in church? Point no, there's no way. But do as much as you can and if you don't like this, just don't go on Facebook.
Speaker 2:We live in a weird time right now where people just go on Facebook and say whatever they want and they just doing it for clickbait. Think about those families. Think about that owner and his family. Yep, how they got to look at it as hard, as they're working as as much as they digging and they looking online and they're just being torn to pieces. Yeah, that would you like that to happen to you.
Speaker 1:No, I'm not on Facebook because I mean yeah, I mean, you don't care for it at all. Yeah, I mean, and I totally, I totally get that. This is not a podcast that's really bashing anyone. Oh, the town is not losing money Like there's nothing. But you felt that this was just something that really needed to be said, that we do need to come together and support our local businesses here. We really do, and it makes a difference. They are those businesses that are putting a banner in the outfield at the park. You know.
Speaker 1:they are those businesses that's putting an ad in the football program whatever it is, it's all these people that are doing it here in town and we need to just come together and support them as as much as we can, and it in supporting them it's going to help everyone.
Speaker 2:It comes around, yeah, because the thing about is, the more business you give to them, the more taxes they pay. The more taxes they pay, the more roads you get right, the more things you get. That's how we build the town, but I can tell you we're the only place in America that could not keep a Chinese restaurant.
Speaker 1:You're probably right about that.
Speaker 2:I pulled the band-aid off for now. And I pulled the band-aid off and look, was it the best Chinese restaurant I've ever had? No, it was a regular Chinese restaurant, but don't put that expectation that there was the top Chinese restaurant.
Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a regular Chinese restaurant and if you don't like it, just don't go. But don't go online and tear them down.
Speaker 1:Don't make up someone else's mind for them. Let them make up their mind. Let them make up their mind.
Speaker 2:Yep, and look, it sounds like I'm being negative, but I'm really not. You want help? Help yourself. Don't tear down these people. Build them up, because one day you're going to need them. And those big box stores, those big restaurants they're not donating to your little league, they're not donating to your cause, but these people over here are. So just give them a chance and stay off of Facebook.
Speaker 1:I think, Mayor, that's a great way to end this podcast. Nothing negative, no ill will. This is really about trying to come together and support what we have in town. So, Mayor, thanks again for joining us on another Town Talk episode. You have any questions? If there's a topic that you would like Mayor to discuss, you can message us on our official Town to Church Point page or towntalkquestionsatgmailcom. So until next time, appreciate it, Mayor. Thank you so much.