Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Just say NO to an increase in your Stormwater tax. This should have been discussed as part of the budget process.

Make no mistake about it - I oppose this tax increase. See the notice published in the Sunday, November 19, 2017 Neighbors Section of the Miami Herald, page 30SE (if your paper has not already been picked up by recycling). This notice is also posted on the official Village of Palmetto Bay - check the agenda/meeting notices page

We have aggressively performed Stormwater improvements within Palmetto Bay under my terms as mayor.  But is this tax increase really necessary and, if so, why was it not discussed during the Budget session in terms of evaluating what services and at what level, we spend our Village tax receipts?

We all want to improve our Stormwater - and we have been working hard to make improvements.

More facts are needed for notice - this notice may be "legally sufficient" but it fails the test of Palmetto Bay transparency in that it does not provide notice as to whether the financial impact on the taxpayers is nominal or substantial.

#YourVoiceMatters should not be a hollow political catchphrase.  It should mean that ALL members of the village council want to hear from EVERYONE and in a transparent process, not restricted to a select few who happen to have the ear of a council member. 

If there  is a council member promoting this tax increase, then that council member should come forward and make the case for it, rather than seeking to have the 'administration' take the fall for pushing a tax increase initiative - especially after the manager freed up over $240,000.00 that could have been used for stormwater. 

No comments:

Post a Comment