By John D. Hudrlik
This letter is in reference to my decision to place the Moapa Valley TV district on the assessors rolls for a special tax assessment. When I moved into the valley 27 years ago it was a small tightly knit community with everybody helping each other. After a few years, when I got my feet on the ground I looked around and found the TV district needed some assistance. With my background in electronics and communication I felt this was an excellent opportunity to serve the community.
I have been on the board for about 20 years now and have seen the district evolve from an organization just trying to bring a few TV channels into the valley to the political colossus it is now.
In the early days of the district we were dependent on donations as we are now. However, even though we could have placed liens on non-payers homes, or taxed for funds, we chose not to. This is because I, like most others, don’t like taxes if there is an alternate route for the accomplishment of the purpose at hand. We chose instead to work towards getting things done with minimum expenditure while trying to maintain a working system.
The valley has grown over the years with many new people and retirees moving in. But our goal has been the same: to provide TV reception to the valley and the people dependent on it.
A couple of years ago with the advent of digital TV, it became apparent that the district would be needing more money to accomplish its purpose. We also saw that we have new opportunities to provide much better service because of the new digital capabilities.Another significant opportunity is the ability to provide a community channel for the transmission of events such as high school games, town board meetings etc.
So we started an effort to determine what it would take to get funding. We finally settled on a special assessment as the best method of distributing the costs; realizing all along that there is no way to do this that is entirely fair to everyone.
For the last several years we have been holding public meetings and going to town boards. In the process we have determined that ‘yes’ the district provides a needed service and the local population was willing to support it.
The support for the district has been overwhelming and it was to some surprise that on our April 1 hearing we had many people so vehemently opposed. Most of the opposition voiced the, “ I’ve got mine, too bad about you!” syndrome that unfortunately has become the battle cry of many of our citizens.
We currently pay taxes or assessments for many things that we do not use, or worse, do not even approve of. These things are done for “the good of society” such as funding schools, libraries, parks, fish hatcheries, golf courses and even beeping and talking crosswalk signals for the blind.
I don’t use or need most of these things. In fact, to tell the truth, I am on the side of those that consider TV to be a vast cultural wasteland. However in my job I was exposed to many people who are dependent on the TV for their news and entertainment and who cannot afford satellite or cable.
The district is now in the final stages of the process of obtaining funding. I would appreciate any more input to that effect. I would also appreciate any input at our meetings as to how our funds can be better spent and how we can provide better service to our community.
John Hudrlik is a member of the Board of Directors for the Moapa Valley Television Maintenance District.
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