Presidents
Message
“What’s Next In Reform”
To deny the public’s right to comment or
ask questions in a public forum sets a dangerous precedent. To belittle a
citizen during public comment from a position of power diminishes a
fundamental part of government, of the people.
The county commission may disagree
with the message or may not want to hear the message, but citizens have an
inherent right to be heard. It is the taxpayers’ money they are
spending.
Nowhere are citizens more involved in
government than at the local level. Citizen involvement is vital to
government by the people.
Our January 24th meeting on Amendment One drew a crowd in spite of the
wrong date in the newspaper, cold and blustery weather, and competing
for parking at South Walton High School with two basketball games and a
student talent show at the same time. Principal Mark Ewing set up the
cafeteria perfectly for our presentation and for our panel to answer
audience questions.
The main attraction at our meeting was the power point presentation by
WCTA treasurer and webmaster Bob Hudson. He and property appraiser
Patrick Pilcher worked long and hard to gather accurate and factual
data. You have the advantage of seeing some of this information in this
newsletter.
The amendment passed by 64% statewide and by almost 69% in Walton
County. There are 33,049 registered voters in our county. A total of
12,883 voted on Amendment One, more than the number of votes cast
countywide for presidential candidates. The message is clear – property
taxes are a serious concern for Florida property owners, regardless of
political party affiliation.
Amendment One is a small victory in the battle for property tax relief
but it takes one battle at a time to win the war. It is the tax cut that
is available now and it helps set the groundwork for future actions.
As more is done in the area of tax policy, we can expect another glut of
propaganda and scare tactics. Opposition to Amendment One proclaimed
devastating cuts to government budgets which would gut critical citizen
services, namely safety, health and education.
Statistics should also include the fact that Florida property taxes from
2001-06 went up 80%.
Walton County was valued at over $17 Billion in 2007. It would be an
insult to the citizens of our county to threaten the loss of jobs for
firefighters, law enforcement, and school teachers as a reason for not
supporting tax cuts. In the midst of an economic downturn, it is not
unreasonable to expect government to find a way to live on less without
cutting core public services.
There is obscene wasteful spending at all levels of government. We
expect our government to do no less than we do in our personal lives
when money is tight - cut the frills and focus on necessities.
Government officials will have to exercise fiscal discipline in spending
our money or they will need to be replaced.
As we search for ideas to grow Florida’s economy and sustain our quality
of life, we look to the Florida Tax and Budget Reform Commission which
will submit proposals by May 4, 2008. Currently, there are 35 proposals
for amendments or new sections to our state constitution reported out of
committee for consideration.
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