Taxed to the Max - What happened to equitability?

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Talking about the fire assessment: "The actual assessment would depend on the total costs included in the assessment such as fire fighter pension costs."

Because of property values being less than desired, the City now is trying desperately to convince Palm Beach County that our fire/rescue costs should be paid by a special assessment and billed to all of us on the non-advalorem part of our tax bill. In the past, the cost was based on the value of our property and we were being charged 3.4581 mils for fire/rescue.

The above is the revealing statement in the City Manager's Assessment of the Fire rescue situation. The City wants us to pay an equal share of the cost of fire/rescue. Every property owner would pay the same in order to cover the expense of having fire/rescue and all the pension retirement costs which now are 172% of payroll. Commissioner Maxwell says this is fair! Their argument? We get the service therefore charging everyone the same fee is fair.

Someone in a small 780 s.f. unit should not be paying the same rate as someone in a 5,000 s.f. house. Someone who lives in a cement block structure versus a wood frame, should not pay the same. Someone who chooses to live in The Lucerne should not be paying the same rate as someone in a single family structure. It takes more resources to put out a fire in a highrise. Taxes should be fair, just and equitable. Taxing everyone the same fee is nothing more than the easy way out.

We, the taxpayers, did not approve of these union contracts that are breaking our city and now will force all of us to pay equally, if the city gets its way. The tax is not based on one's ability to pay. The City could care less that some people are poor; some are on fixed incomes and struggling to stay in their homes. It will have nothing to do with the value of our property. It will not give the city or the county any incentive to keep costs down as the fire unions keep wanting more. We, in Lake Worth will pay the same fee regardless, freeing up millage for other expenses in the City's budget. The City Manager has suggested that we also might be taxed to the max...10 mils.

The City says, "The City feels strongly that this proposed funding mechanism (throwing fire costs onto the non-advalorem portion of our bill) will ensure that all city residents who benefit from fire protection pay their fair share of the cost of this service." Paying a fair share is fine, but "fair" it is not when the cost per owner is the same. This is public safety and something we must pay by law...not quite the same thing as a choice between buying an I-Pod or and I-Pad, a commodity, a luxury at a fixed price and something that we can do without.

While the economy is still fragile and people are still losing their homes and losing their jobs, the City of Lake Worth wants to tax us MORE to the maximum allowed by Law, not less, even dreaming up ways to get more than the 10 mils by throwing fire/rescue on to our tax bill as an assessment.

One half of the Palm Beach County Fire/rescue workers make more than $90,000 with one-third of them making six figure salaries, according to the PB Post. Palm Beach County now has two options to meet Fire costs: raise taxes or reduce the number of workers. The root cause still exists--Unions.

The City of Lake Worth's fire is in the hands of Palm Beach County. They can allow the city manager to tax us all the same rate or we can once again have our own fire department and we all will be taxed the same rate. Those seem to be our choices coming out of City Hall.

The positive is that with our own fire department, the City will be in control. And with a strong city manager as is Susan Stanton, we will not see retirement costs at 172% of payroll for new firemen, a cost that is unsustainable anywhere. If we had our own fire department the Florida Retirement System (FRS) is recommended as the pension plan. Perhaps if we had our own fire department, we would be more agreeable to paying a special assessment based on ability to pay or the best option-- pay per the total square footage of our residence. To break it down more than that would be an impossible feat.

Everyone should try and attend the Budget meetings. The Fire/Rescue will be discussed in a special meeting on July 21 where you will have a chance to speak to the issue. The first Budget workshop meeting is on July 26 and 27 with the millage set on July 28. Be as passionate as you were with the PBSO issue. As the Budget discussions are workshops, we will not have an opportunity to speak, another travesty, as it is our pocketbook they are trying to screw.