A little trivia--"What about the origins of the word mils? It won’t surprise those Americans who dislike taxes to discover that the word has, besides its Latin origin, a rich French heritage. There go those Socialists again.
In Latin, millsimum means “thousandth part.” It became millesme in Medieval French, which became millème, the still-in-use French for thousandth (as opposed to mille in French, which means thousand.)"
Is any other city in the State of Florida taxed at a rate of 10 mils?
Get Ready!
But the whole idea of 10 mils is not trivial and tonight is the night when the City of Lake Worth sets the tentative millage. Susan Stanton will probably go down in the annals of Lake Worth history of being the very first city manager to propose the max allowed by law. The City Commission can lower the tax rate before its final approval and that's what they will tell unhappy residents tonight.
Even my argument of going back to our own Lake Worth Fire department no longer cuts water--wrong timing--wrong economy, unless, of course, we all want to feel the pain of several million dollars to start all over again. It was more important to send a firetruck to Haiti than it was to save our very own department that we had for nearly 100 years with NO complaints. Vice Mayor Suzanne Mulvehill was the only commissioner at the time to vote "no" to go with the County. She made the correct decision. It is too bad that we all have suffered at the hands of former administrations who led us all down the garden path. Yesterday's mailer by the Firefighter FACTPAC made the argument. You still have to question, "Why do they care so much?"
It's never good to have to raise taxes but this year is probably the worst of times. Some of us really are holding on by a thread. I appreciate Mayor Waterman who brought up the plight of Seniors last night. Bringing back the trolley was mentioned and this would be the first step in really helping those elderly who have no means of affordable transportation even to the grocery store. It is a very real situation for many of the 14% of our Senior population but another 66% here in our city are working, middle class families who have suffered way too long. To tax them all the same for fire rescue, (the County Fire Rescue is now giving us two more months before we have to give them notice) is absolutely irrational.
Solid Waste will go up by $45 to $287.76 per residence. Is the cost of this service going up over 1/2 million dollars or is this just another way to screw the resident? Is this just another way to cover the $500,000 in rate decreases in the Utility? The City will keep Storm Water at the same rate as last year or $75.60. Millage will be set at 6.5419 which is above the roll-back rate by 1.3538 mils. Adding in the Fire/Rescue MSTU of 3.4581 mils, it brings up the total millage rate to 10 mils.
The Phrase Finder describes death and taxes as a rather "fatalistic and sardonic proverb." It draws on the actual inevitability of death to highlight the difficulty in avoiding the burden of taxes. We all know that we must pay taxes. We just want to believe that they are all justified and that they are all fair.
Thank you for mentioning the hardworking middle class families in this community. We seem to be expected to shoulder the burden of these increased costs/fees/taxes without any comment. In fact last night the City Manager made a comment of "we can just add it to the tax" in reference to some cost. This attitude does not sit well with many in Lake Worth.
ReplyDeleteThe City Manager owns no property in Lake Worth and simply pays her rent each month. After earning $12,500 a month plus benefits she must be banking a great deal each month with that salary. She is taxing the rest of us thru the roof. Joe Kroll has said many times that the city is making money on solid waste. So raising our costs is just another way to get more tax dollars out of us. We are getting the royal screw.
ReplyDeleteJohn--Everyone has their own story and sometimes things are not what they seem. I know that Susan pays half of her salary to her ex-wife and her son. But this really isn't about Susan. I am convinced that she is doing everything to position LW for the future and has nothing but intentions of just raising money. My point, though, is where is the money from the past? Where is the money when property vlaues were double? Where did it go? How was it spent? Was it spent? Is there money sitting in accoutns of which we know nothing. What about the utility and that black hole? It spends the most and makes the most and no one can tell us about any of it. Mock-Roos has come out like a bandidt for years. Mark Bates did a lot of fancy shuffling from one line to another.
ReplyDeleteReally John? You're getting the royal screw? Your tax payment on your LW property is 43% less in 2010 than it was in 2008. $7,327 less, to be exact. And now the city wants to increase your taxes by $45. What in the world are you complaining about? Do you just like to complain? I guess so.
ReplyDeleteHow exactly do you expect us to pay for your beloved PBSO?? How about all those storm water system improvements that are taking place right outside your front door?? BTW, next time you step up to the microphone to blame the commission for the drop in your property value, you should thank them for not raising the millage for the last two years. That's not what happened with your PALM BEACH property, is it? When the value of your Palm Beach property DROPPED BY 23% from 2009 to 2010, Palm Beach raised your millage rate.
The "royal screw" you're getting is probably the best one you've had in years. Enjoy it while you can because the county (oh, that bunch who never met a dollar they didn't immediately piss away to a developer or multi-million $$ corporation) is really going to stick it to you this year. Grease up buddy.
Wait til we all get wind of the new stormwater fees. They are going up. This money is supposed to go to infrastructure but it is anyones guess as to whether that will happen. Or will it just go into the general fund? Just look into the amount of monies spend on consulting firms, legal council, and failed social experiments(mentoring center) and one can determine where a few of the dollars went.
ReplyDeleteI would love to have our own fire department back. In the long-term, it would save us money. But we never can get past the short-term, myself included right now. The Mentoring Center consumed very few of our dollars. The building had to be maintained and repaired regardless. Now it will house our recreation department. But don't kid yourself, it was explained last night as well as on this blog--we will be giving English lessons there. The best thing is to freeze spending. No CIP's unless absolutely necessary. Go to the roll-back rate which would be a slight increase in taxes, and that's it for this year. But then again, nothing is as it seems or as easy.
ReplyDeleteI wish my taxes went down that much but you fail to take into account the amounts we pay to the city not as taxes but as hidden taxes in city services. My electric, water, sewer, went up so that I am now paying almost $4000 a year more today than I use to and I am using less water and power than I ever did. My sprinkler system has not been used in 3 years. Stanton has no problem using the utility company as a taxing system to pay for city services. At the same time she is causing business to move out and has done nothing to raise property values. So I'm thrilled that my property value has been destroyed and I now pay over 10,000 a year in taxes plusntons of other fees for little to know service and a city that' s a mess. Stanton needs to invest here and share in the losses she helps create. She has no guts and assumes she is on borrowed time. I really don't care.
ReplyDelete