A letter from Mayors Jim Swan of Kissimmee and Donna Hart of St. Cloud appeared in the Thursday News-Gazette. The topic was, of course, what "may" happen if Amendment 1 (The Property Tax Amendment) passes.The letter is chocked full of "may," "could," and "might" predications that may or may not be accurate. What is missing for their letter is any statement of what elected officials plan to do if the amendment passes. We have seen estimates of what the amendment, minus the unquantified impact of portability, would cost each municipality. Why can't our elected officials tell us, in black and white, what budget items they plan to reduce to accommodate that cut, if it comes? Then the voters can make an apples-to-apples comparison of whether the benefits to them outweigh the specific costs. "May," "could," and "might" belong in the world of weather forecasting, not budget management.
Oh, and to the specific statement "It's important to remember that as the population grows, the demand for service also grows, and we cannot afford to deny citizens these essential services." Mayors, let us remind you that as the population grows, the tax base grows. Not just property taxes, but sales taxes, gas taxes, and so on. Have you heard of economies of scale?
Since the Mayors believe that their word is gospel when it comes to issues of all things governmental and that their letter to the editor should end all debate about whether people deserve a property tax cut, we thought we would also point out an editorial piece in Thursday's Orlando Sentinel that simply states that "Florida's cities aren't telling the truth about proposed property-tax cut." The editorial goes on to explain that "It's bad enough they trotted out firefighters and cops and threatened to fire them if voters approve the Amendment 1 property-tax cut, " followed by the charge that "Now it has gotten even sleazier. The Florida League of Cities is lying about Amendment 1's impact on longtime homeowners." Those are pretty harsh charges coming from the Orlando Sentinel, but facts are facts. The sad part is that most voters will be forced to make their choice based of half-truths instead of honest and hard facts.
Vote wisely.
4 comments:
Thanks for your continuing follow ups on a poor attempt by local govt's (Mark Durbin-Donna Hart) to justify their own reckless spending and budgets. Hopefully, the city of Kissimmee will elect new, stronger candidates for office in the near future. Let Swan go back to what he does best, shovel garbage!
I wish they would commit to tax relief if the does not pass. You are correct that the legislation is bad, but that does not mean that the taxes being charge are in anyway proper.
Unfortunetly, the threats to firefighters in Kissimmee have proved to be real already as the City of Kissimmee has already cut three firefighter positions and one Fire Arson Investigator. This was last year. God only knows what they will do if this amendment passes.
$3,000,000 in Fire Fees and a reduction in fire services. Only in Kissimmee.
The Commission worries about how much money they will lose with the Property Amendment. They should have save us our money by not building a FOUNTAIN and worring about being the ALL AMERICAN CITY.
Stop spending our money foolishly.
Make sure that we vote for Mr. Swan (Waste Mgmt.) and Ms. Van (shipley) Meter.
Why just keep this limited to the City of Kissimmee When we can vote for Van Meter to help spread it through the County.
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