GIS 5101 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems

Comment on these two post as if you were me with a 100 words each, DO NOT COMPARE THE POSTS, and put 3 references for each post, and please seperate the references with the post it was made for.
Meaghan Jeffers
For this situation, I related it to where I live (Martha’s Vineyard) and how something like this would affect the island. One thing that stuck out to me was when Robert proposed, “sales taxes could be tailored in such a way that they could target visitors to the state, for example by increasing hotel and rental car tax rates” (Fenske). It is true that this would definitely hinder people from visiting the Vineyard often, but even though the locals hate tourists it is also true that tourists are what keeps our island thriving. Most of the island is small local businesses, most of which are only open May-October (known as tourist season). If people were to stop visiting because of such high sales tax, the island overall would most likely suffer greatly. It would affect security because it would affect the police presence on the island, there would likely not need to be as many officers as there are now, and there definitely would be less numbers of extra help brought in for the summer months. This leaves less security and coverage overall, which leaves more opportunity for crime, more closing businesses, and because of that the economy of MV would decline significantly.
Reference:
Fenske, Curt. A Taxing Dilemma. Northern Arizona State University. https://nuonline(dot)neu(dot)edu/bbcswebdav/courses/HLS6060.20456.201725/A%20Taxing%20Dilemma.pdf
Dustin Tucker
This dilemma relates to the homeland security efforts that surround the National Cherry Festival in the area where I am from. During this festival, hundreds of thousands of people flock to Traverse City and the surrounding area for cherries, watch the Blue Angels or the Thunder Birds, and sight see around Northern Michigan. This requires substantial funding from the local level, state level, and federal level for protection and response. Though the festival occurs in Grand Traverse County, it is truly a multi-jurisdictional effort. Though this festival is highly attended, I don't think increasing the sales tax would counteract the removal of income tax. This is, though, a local event. In Grand Rapids, Michigan, an increased sales tax could surpass what income tax they are collecting. GR is one of the fastest growing cities in the US (Detroit Free Press, 2015). In saying that, the income for those moving to the city may start with lower incomes, leading me to believe that an increased tax on sales would provide more funding.
Across the board, Michigan is unique for area in which it covers. The Lower Peninsula has metropolitan cities put together very closely. The Upper Peninsula, which some at my school in Indiana didn't even know was apart of Michigan, is very rural, with many areas struggling to not turn into ghost towns (AP, 2011). The largest increase of traffic in the UP is more than likely tourists to take snowmobile trips.
Michigan is a hard area to provide coverage when relating to homeland security. The increased sales tax from it's current 6% would likely provide great funding for all efforts, but there would still need to be some income tax as to not decrease state revenues drastically.
References
Associated Press. (2011, May 27). Michigan's Upper Peninsula Struggling to Survive. Retrieved from http://www(dot)mlive(dot)com/news/index.ssf/2011/05/michigans_upper_peninsula_stru.html
Lloyd, Eric. (2015, June 20). Grand Rapids Ranked 3rd in US for Economic Growth. Retrieved from http://www(dot)freep(dot)com/story/news/local/michigan/2015/06/20/grand-rapids-economic-growth/29024917/