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"Wall Street is urging governments to invest in big ticket infrastructure projects. Voters and officials have a different message: Not so fast.
Plunging global interest rates have made borrowing cheaper than ever. But instead of spending on aging roads, bridges and buildings, many state and local governments are scaling back."
Not so in Lake Worth--these officials want to plow ahead and get everyone in more debt for 30 years and have put forth a new bond referendum that will be on the November ballot with no details. The city manager even told a resident to read the ballot language to understand it: "Regardless of this dust up, please take the time to read the proposed ballot language for yourself."
We can't even fund our pension liabilities and the city is hiring new employees so it's no wonder why they want to once again grab the cash.
Read the WSJ article, the American Paradox.
As property values go up in Lake Worth the city should use the majority of that money on at least beginning road repairs.Not hiring new people,like the propaganda mistress they just had to have. How stupid and wasteful. Shoving a new bond up our asses with no details is just rude. I didn't have a red vote no sign last time ,but I know govt. corruption when I see it.I will be voting against this.And BTW, what damn bang for my buck has the city given to me or my neighborhood? Why does this crappy city even exist? I would rather see the county take us over. Then I could pay taxes to one master,not two.
ReplyDeleteWe said no too but here we go again.
ReplyDeleteSay NO to this cash grab by the arrogant and corrupt trio.
ReplyDeleteDoes any one of them have enough business or government experience or education to be trusted with $40 million in Corruption County? One runs a porn distribution business, a second managed a Burger King.
Ladies and Gentleman, hold on to your wallets.
Vote NO in November!
Bite the bullet and fix the roads is the cry from the residents and businesses! The only way the roads will get fixed is with a bond referendum. We need shovel ready projects so when Hillary or Donald get elected and they honor their promises to infuse federal money into local infrastructure, we in LW are ready with our projects.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, all those 'promises' for repairing infrastructure will not pave all our roads...
That is why we need to VOTE YES ON THE BOND.
If you don't vote YES for the bond to repair the roads, then don't be bitching about the potholes.
Pension liabilities don't even come into this picture. New hires aren't even on the same pension you are referring to. We will always need new employees.
ReplyDeleteThe interest is so low right now that IF we were to decide to float a bond for the much needed road repairs, now would be the time.
I had another discussion with a fellow resident tax payer last night and he thought that a "non-advelorem" assessment would be a much better way to go about. Others have also argued this point. The difference stated is that all properties would pay into the upgrades. With a bond, many properties, including many non-profit entities like churches and tax exempt housing would not pay into the maintenance and repair even though they use the same roadways we all do.
No doubt we need the work done and also no doubt, it will increase the values of our adjacent properties, in turn, increasing taxable value.
It is about time the city started addressing this most mundane function of government. Fix the damn roads.
Your 2nd sentence and 3rd are true. We are hiring MORE staff and all of this costs $$$$$ whether or not they are on the old or new pension which is irrelevant.
ReplyDeleteDid you read the Wall Street Journal article?
I think it was well explained by our city attorney why a special assessment won't work for roads. The only tax that is ever fair is an advalorem tax based on the value of your property or a sales tax based on your consumption although that hits the poor disproportionately.
Ad-Valorem means tax, and is deductable on your Federal Income Tax return just like Mortgage Interest. Non-Ad-Valorem is not deductible unless of course you are talking about an investment property. If I am going to have things added to my property tax bill, I would prefer tax deductible items.
ReplyDelete12:05--An assessment where everyone, poor and wealthy alike, pay the exact same fee? We're not under socialism yet. This would be an unfair tax.
ReplyDeleteTo the "obtuse" anonymous poster who attempted to post here--if you're going to use personal attacks and swear words, what about using your real name? Too "obtuse" for that? Wes?
ReplyDeleteAnd I ask you, what better person to write about something than someone it won't affect? Pretty unbiased I would say. Hope you pay out your insufferable rear.