Hello, SOSers, This will be a long email due to the relevant articles in todays paper. Notices will probably be sent this week for upcoming events in which we are participating. Please stick with us and read this one all the way to the end. The following was printed today and submitted by one of our loyal and involved S.O.S. Save Our Septics members, Bruce Waldt. Thanks, Bruce, for letting your voice be heard. **************************************************************************************** Publication: Charlotte Sun; Date: Sep 14, 2014; Section: Charlotte Sun (Local); Page: CS8 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR County’s long arm has you in mind Editor: Taxpayers: I am wondering if we are grasping the reality of what it will cost to live in Charlotte County in the next five years. Paying for Murdock Village continues. Now add to that Parkside and expected costs and overruns. Let’s not forget the cost of cleaning up some of the dysfunctional waterways. Make sure to factor in the request for an extension of the 1 percent sales tax. Oh, never forget CCU and all its costs. They have already talked about a 35 percent increase in costs. For those of you not living in the Spring Lake district, that’s before one bucket of sand/dirt has been excavated for a questionable mandatory sewer system. If they project this kind of increase what’s going to happen when the work begins and cost overruns begin to show up at the door of the taxpayers? Your neighborhood may be next! If you are presently working, better save a whole bunch more for your retirement. As for retired folks, the concerns grow as to how much more the county reaches into our fixed incomes. Be warned the long arm of Charlotte County government has each one of us in mind as it spends and spends. Bruce Waldt Port Charlotte **************************************************************************************** Its a shame that the Sun has taken this long to be concerned about the cost of the sewer project and how it is to be paid for. Pay particular attention to the words we have highlighted and our comments in red when reading the editorial below. NOTICE THE ONLY SOLUTION THE VAPID SUN EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR MAKES IS MORE GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT. THE SUN & ITS MYRMIDONS BELIEVE ONLY GOVERNMENT CAN SOLVE PROBLEMS IN OUR LIVES. THE SUN, OF COURSE, IGNORES THE FACT THAT ALL GOVERNMENT HAS NOTHING UNLESS THEY TAKE IF BY FORCE OF TAXES & THROUGH THE THREAT OF FORCE BY THE THUGGISH IRS & OTHER POLICE & MILITARY CREATIONS UNDER THEIR CONTROL. WE CITIZENS HAVE MORE BRAINPOWER BY FAR THAN DOES OUR GOVERNMENT IN CHARLOTTE COUNTY. Publication: Charlotte Sun; Date: Sep 14, 2014; Section: Charlotte Sun (Local); Page: CS8 OUR VIEW State should add funding for sewer project OUR POSITION: Sewer cost highlights need for state, federal funding of wastewater infrastructure. Two things are clear from Tuesday’s update on the East and West Spring Lake sewer project. First, any delay will push costs higher, as the economy improves and contractors gain pricing power. Second, successful efforts to obtain state and federal grants to defray some of the costs must continue. The announcement that the price estimate has risen is not surprising. Bids for public infrastructure work are rising across the state as the number of projects grows, straining the supply of contractors and workers. In the second quarter of 2014, more than 1,300 construction projects were released for bid in Florida. The value of those projects rose 20 percent over the year earlier quarter to $4.2 billion. Predictably, the news spurred sewer opponents to agitate for a retreat by the Charlotte County Commission. WE ARE NOW CONSIDERED AGITATORS? Commissioners made no comments on the presentation by Charlotte County Utilities Director Terri Couture and there is no indication the board is wavering on its commitment to proceed. With good reason. They already withstood whatever political pressure there was to abandon the $17.4 million project, facing a small but strident group of affected homeowners, led by the organizers of the group Save Our Septics. This small but strident group (SOS) must continue to push for what is right. Two commissioners who voted for the project — Chris Constance and Stephen R. Deutsch — handily survived August primary elections. Constance’s write-in candidate opponent Robert Reichert, who clearly registered only to close the Republican primary, withdrew from the general election. Deutsch faces token opposition from a no party affiliation candidate who has raised no money except a personal loan to his campaign account. Don Monroe is the name of this candidate. We will send more information about him this week. We have met with him. Don wont accept campaign donations. With Dons permission, we will encourage you to give him a call and meet him personally or converse with him via phone to help you decide that he will be a better commissioner for the county than Deutsch has been. Given the steadfastness of the board, the last-minute addition of the sewer presentation to Tuesday’s agenda was unfortunate. There will be many future updates, bid reviews and contract awards on the project and we expect all of them to be appropriately advertised to the public beforehand. Couture’s warning on price escalation was tempered by better news about borrowing costs and grants that she said will keep the project on budget. We expect the board to aggressively lobby our legislative delegation for additional state funding when the Legislature convenes next year. Wastewater infrastructure is underfunded at the state level despite growing evidence that septic tank failures are impairing state waters. Earlier this year, the state was sued over septic-borne pollution flowing into the Indian River Lagoon. The suit seeks a ban on the issuance of new septic tank permits. It follows an August 2013 study from Florida Atlantic University that concluded some 287,000 septic tanks in counties bordering the lagoon are “a major contributing factor” to its ecological decline. The Legislature and Gov. Rick Scott have shown a willingness to fund projects. In a Sept. 9 announcement of a $250,000 grant to the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program, the Department of Environmental Protection noted that $20 million has been allocated for a muck removal project, $746,000 for water quality monitoring sensors and more than $12 million in water quality restoration grants. The county and its legislative delegation must convince Tallahassee it is far better to spend money on prevention — such as septic tank removal efforts around East and West Spring Lake — than to scramble to restore polluted waterways after the fish, birds and sea mammals start washing ashore. ************************************************************************************* County holds budget line By GARY ROBERTS STAFF WRITER MURDOCK — Although the proposed 2015 Charlotte County budget and millage rate are holding steady, the coming year looks to bring a change in some spending habits. By tentatively approving a $591.5 million net budget at the first of two budget public hearings last week, commissioners increased the county’s annual spending plan by $27 million, or just 5 percent, from the previous year. The net budget does not include transfer funds or $61.5 million in reserves. The total proposed budget is $913.1 million, which marks a significant reduction from the $1.2 billion overall county budget in 2007. The County Commission also unanimously agreed on Wednesday to hold the millage rate at 6.3007. One mill equals $1 in taxes for every $1,000 of a property’s taxable value. Under the proposed millage, a property owner with a house valued at $100,000, with a $50,000 homestead exemption, would be looking at a $330 tax bill for countywide services. The county was able to hold the line on taxes because taxable property values increased by 4.45 percent, more than double from a year ago. In Southwest Florida, however, Charlotte lags behind surrounding counties Lee (7.10 percent), Sarasota (6.80 percent) and Collier (6.55 percent). “We’re starting to see that uptick again,” said Gordon Burger, county budget director. “The good news is our values are climbing; but the bad news is, not at the same rate as the rest of our neighbors.” But with rising values come increased property tax revenues. In the new fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1, the county expects to reap nearly $5 million in additional tax money. Of this extra revenue, $1.88 million is earmarked for the employee health benefits reserve fund, and $1.46 million for the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office budget. The self-funded health benefits reserve, which pays out claims, had dropped to $500,000, prompting officials to build it back up. Another change in the upcoming budget is from Charlotte County Utilities. Recently, CCU changed its policy regarding needed utility relocations and upgrades in association with capital improvement projects. With CCU now paying the cost, rather than billing for additional reimbursement, an extra $24.1 million has been added to its budget. Other projected spending hikes include $204,925 for more community development staff due to increased building activity, $401,974 for a larger tourism marketing budget to draw more visitors, and $800,000 to begin the planned justice center expansion, which was taken off the sales-tax project list for the upcoming referendum. Burger explained, however, that the county’s operating budget has remained flat for the past four years, and actually has dropped a bit. This was due, he said, to the commission keeping a watchful eye on the budget early on. “This county did things the smart way when they made the cuts upfront,” Burger said. Still, Commissioner Chris Constance cautioned against spending money not yet in hand. “I want to see a flatter line,” Constance said. “It’s not there until we actually see it.” One factor supporting his prudence it that the capital budget continues to escalate because so many projects were deferred during the lean years of the recession, and previously approved sales-tax projects are in full swing, he said. Meanwhile, the county’s outstanding debt continues to recede, from $332 million in 2011, to $302 million this year, to a projected $287 million in 2015. A final budget hearing is scheduled for 5 p.m. Sept. 24, in the Commission Chambers at the County Administration Building, 18500 Murdock Circle, Murdock. ********************************************************************************************************************************* Susan Hutt S.O.S. - Save Our Septics No affiliation with nor endorsement by Bio-Microbics
Posted on: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 03:01:06 +0000
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