Opinion: Local Government Has Proven It Can't Stop Overspending
Tax Relief Is the Only Way To Shock The System Back Into Balance
THIRD OF THREE STORIES
The sky is not falling!
Some local and state elected officials, their appointed bureaucrats and favorite megaphones in the media want you to think it will if you vote “yes” for the proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot. The amendment increases the homestead exemption from $50,000 to $150,000 the first year and $250,000 thereafter.
The naysayers are telling you that if the homestead initiative passes, counties will have to cut crucial services. You won’t be able to go to Walmart without being robbed. Your homes will be left to burn, citizens will drop dead because rescues don’t have the money to operate and there will be potholes in our roads big enough to swallow a bass boat.
I’m not a brain surgeon, just a blonde. But I can read, do basic math and recognize when my property tax bill is growing faster than my paycheck. So, I studied the homestead amendment, read the legislators’ reasons for putting it on the ballot, reviewed the arguments against it, and researched the facts. I, also, spoke directly with a legislator.
Legislators contend there are local politicians throughout the state who are spending taxpayer money like drunken sailors on shore leave. They also say they regularly hear from folks in Florida desperately pleading for help from high and rising property taxes. The homeowners tell how they have sacrificed and saved to buy small homes and pay off their mortgages, yet local governments have raised taxes so high they now have to choose between property taxes, food and the medication they need to keep them alive.
Granted, over the years, history has taught us that information coming from Tallahassee should be taken with a grain of salt—or the whole saltshaker—and examined carefully. In this case, I found the legislators’ reasons for the increase in exemptions were supported by something rarely seen in politics: actual evidence.
Nevertheless, some local officials are having a hissy-fit over the amendment. They tell us our county is already “lean” and operating on a shoestring budget. They brag they are currently cutting expenses by not replacing “non-essential employees” who retire or leave.
While no county official was willing to put their name on the claim, a June 9 Florida Times-Union story quoted “the county” defending its spending habits:
Clay County continuously leads the way to run as efficiently as possible while getting the most value for taxpayer dollars.
That statement should come with a complimentary pair of hip waders because it’s so full of bull fertilizer it could green up every pasture from Middleburg to Keystone Heights.
And, I’m still wondering why non-essential employees were hired in the first place.
We have some smart, honest, hardworking politicians and solid county employees who are doing their jobs to the best of their abilities. We also have some that are not—but paid like they were.
During my 30-plus years of reporting on Clay County, I’ve watched closely the habits of those who are spending of our tax money. We’ve had, and continue to have waste, duplication, pet projects and lots of creative spending masquerading as necessity. I’ve seen county officials spend money that benefitted local citizens about as much as a dead possum on Highway 17.
The list of examples of wasteful spending and poor financial decisions are longer than the list of reasons why our tax collector rarely shows up for work. But here’s just a few.
We rank 25th in population among Florida’s 67 counties. Yet, official sources show that many of our appointed officals, including county manager, fire chief, acting fire chief, Orange Park’s town manager, Green Cove Springs’ city manager, and numerous others are paid some of the highest salaries and benefits in the entire state. This includes counties and municipalities with larger populations, seaports, airports and utilities.
Years ago, we voted to cap our commissioners’ salaries. But some of our other elected officials’ enjoy huge paychecks that are larger than those of our state representatives and governor. They say Tallahassee sets a “formula” for their salaries. They want us to believe they have no choice but to abide by the formula and take raises big enough to choke an Everglades python because the state says they must.
But that’s just another dog that won’t hunt.
Those formulas are suggestions, not mandates. Salaries are suppposed to be based on what the county can afford. And a county of our size cannot afford the huge salaries of some of our elected and appointed officials or the generous benefits and contributions to investment accounts that resemble executive compensations on Wall Street.
There’s lots more examples of “What the heck were they thinking?” spending.
Our elected officials donated untold tax dollars to “charities” whose directors, we later discovered, used the donations to buy homes, cars, vacations and lots of Pina Coladas. Developers were given breaks on impact fees, forcing us to pony up for growth. Then there’s that boatload of money the county gave to build a pickleball court in Green Cove, while most local residents have no idea what pickleball is, have never played and never will?
The county has also contributed to tax losses. Recently, instead of purchasing less expensive property elsewhere in the county, officials bought a 1.4 acre commercial lot in the City of Green Cove Springs to build the $15 million, 30,000-square-foot Economic Development Service Facility, that had little demonstrated need.
This decision took the property off the tax roles and shifted the burden to the already overtaxed residents of Green Cove and their cash-strapped goverment. But county officials are pridefully busting their buttons—and a few Spanx seams—celebrating because they made sure the building had a gym for employees.
If you need more proof that money management is not some of our local politicians’ forte, you’ve got it. We just found out in the last couple of days, there is a gaping $35 million deficit hole in next years’ budget, even before the homestead exemption is decided.
The Chicken Littles won’t tell you that businesses and second homeowners will still pay 100 percent of their property taxes. They don’t mention that our county already has a multitude of homes, with more being rapidly built, that are above $250,000 and into the millions, and will continue to require large homeowner taxes.
There’s silence about the fact that our operating budgets do not come from just property taxes alone. Instead, a substantial part comes from a whole slew of services that the county taxes and collects: local sales tax, service taxes on gas, electricity, natural gas, water, sewer, stormwater, numerous types of telecommunications, fees for public right of ways, building permits, planning and zoning applications, impact fees, tourist development taxes, fines and forfeitures, traffic and parking fines, court related revenues, code enforcement fines—and the list goes on.
We’ve heard zilch about the shared state revenues given to the county from sales tax, fuel taxes and other revenue-sharing programs, as well as state and federal grants for public safety, housing, transportation, emergency management and environmental protection.
We have, indeed, heard a few reasons why some folks don’t want us to approve the initiative. But the opponents’ reasons sound like they’ve been standing too close to the mosquito fogger in their tin-foil hats.
They say the initiative is a grab for power by Governor DeSantis. They tell us we are in danger of losing “home rule” or local control. With less tax money rolling in, those opposing contend officials will have to go to Tallahassee with their hats in hand and allow Tallahassee to be the boss of us in exchange for part of the secret stash it’s hoarding.
But legislators said, the joke’s on the hat-holders, because there is no such stash. Our state representatives insists that if the amendment passes, local officials will keep their home-rule power. They are simply going to have to take up a loop in their fat pants and stop spending like the Kardashians.
The homestead initiative actually puts a little power back where it belongs—with the folks paying the bills. If officials can’t make do with the wagonload of taxes they already collect or cut the fat in their bloated budgets, they can come to the taxpayers, show their math and make their case. Then, we can decide at the ballot box whether there is a need or if they want us to fulfill somebody’s wish list.
For some people, property taxes are just another line item in their budget. For others, they’re the difference between paying for prescriptions, keeping the lights on and making ends meet.
Before you vote, think about who deserves that money more. Is it officials who continue to increase their salaries, retirement and money for boondoggle projects? Or, is it us—the homeowners who need a financial break—especially those eating Spam while struggling to stay in the homes they’ve worked a lifetime to afford?
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