I am all for progress when it is affordable and provides something for me and my family. However, the so called town hall meeting last night seemed a far cry from what was expected. First of all this was the strangest format for a town hall meeting I have ever heard of. It was a marketing meeting with BJM consulting presenting information and no questions until after the presentation,and then only questions from cards with not enough space to write anything of value. Then someone with INC decided on what questions to ask the presenter. Talk about a one-way meeting, numerous people left before the end. What a waste of time. So now let us review -- 1. The presenter indicated that taxes for a city would go up even though the INC Navarre proponents have said a thousand times no new taxes. A one mill tax increase in property tax is slated for the go down. This is the first tax. 2. It is estimated that two million dollars will be available to run the city even though many cities of much less population have budgets three times higher that the estimate. In addition, it was indicated that the county would have to make up for the short fall when the incorporated city got its share of funding and most likely the county would raise taxes to cover their loss. This is the second tax. 3. There are facts and figures that indicate that the city would need an additional 1/2% sales tax to cover several items such as a disaster reserve fund. It was suggested that the disaster reserve fund should be provided for immediately since a disaster such as a hurricane would leave the city liable for very expensive repairs. That is the third tax. 4. Unless you have been living under a rock there has been much energy exerted toward the building of a new courthouse in Milton which has a price tag of some 50 to 70 million which will be paid for by, you guessed it another county tax of at least one percent. That is the fourth tax. 5. Many of us have calculated that capitol improvements for this area could have a price tag of 100 to 300 million over the course of the next ten years. Guess how this will be paid for? Duh!! how about a few more taxes. 6. It was indicated that maybe we would not want to take on the liability of the beach (such as re-nourishment, buy the Pier and should rid the area of the sewage processing at the beach it was illegal, probably because of EPA regs and not counting the incredible liability we would be faced with. In addition, all the parks would remain with the county unless we bought them. 7. We would still have the same water company, solid waste service, power company, law enforcement provisions as before. Under state law the Sheriff is responsible to the county who funds them not to any city which seemed to be a surprise to many. In addition, if the crime rate went up or deputies were needed elsewhere it is the discretion of the Sheriff as to where he deploys his labor force. If we wanted more bodies we would have to buy them from the sheriff. Conclusion: I see at this time no redeeming value in this process except excessive debt for the people of Navarre. We do not have the tax base to support the things everyone wants unless they want thousands of dollars of additional taxes levied in a time when the economy is reaching the bottom of the barrel. We are not like Gulf Breeze with hospitals, professional service providers (doctors, lawyers, professional technicians, etc., etc. I can not conceive of anyone working as mayor or city council for one dollar a year, are you kidding, this is 2014. The expenses described are far fetched at best, such as expecting to get a capable lawyer for $75,000 a year. The county attorney was paid $136,000 and she left recently. There is a lot more that can be said but if you want to roll the dice and depend on the FEMA, grants, and hope and change to bring you through it will be a disaster. We have tried hope and change since 2008, how has it working for you? Maybe many of you heard something else but I have read both the county funded study of 2007 and the recent study of 2014. The current one leaves more questions than answers.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 18:04:48 +0000
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