“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.