San Antonio golfers to feel the pinch of big government

The city of San Antonio has thrown down the gauntlet: If you plan on doing something, they plan on taxing you for it.

Yesterday, the San Antonio City Council announced their 2006 budget which will include a raise in property tax payments and new fees on everything from ambulance rides (this will go from $90 to $500), increases in parking at events, as well as golfing at one of San Antonio’s six municipal courses.

Mark Lawson, manager of Mission Del Lago Municipal Golf Course said it appear that the fee for golfers will be an extra $2 for cart fees, though it won’t be known for sure until Oct. 1.

“They weren’t very specific and it’s hard to really say,” Lawson said. “We’ve had other increases over the years and usually it hurts at first but then gets better.”

It’s been a tough year for San Antonio munis. With complaints about the condition of courses, the city decided to move their annual championship away from municipal courses, the first time that has happened in 85 years. Basically, the city penalized the city for not keeping the city’s courses up to par.

Now, I’ve never done a full budget analysis of the City of San Antonio, but the past is a good judge of the present and it allows me to say this with complete confidence: The city of San Antonio is wasting money and now they need more.

Unfortunately, it appears the entire nation has given up on the concept of smaller government, so now we must pay to keep it huge. An extra two bucks for your cart may not seem like much (though an extra $410 for an ambulance ride seems surreal), but it really comes down to the fact that it will never end.

They tax you if you live in a house, if you sin, if you play, and if you get ill. When will you have paid enough?