Search the ArchivesNavigation Contact InformationThe Citizen Newspapers For Advertising Information Email us your news! For technical difficulties |
Property taxes here up 25% in 5 yearsTue, 03/24/2009 - 3:47pm
By: Letters to the ...
I must comment on some glaring inaccuracies by Dar Thompson in his ardent alacrity for higher taxes. Mr. Thompson misspeaks when he states that there have been no tax increases over the past five years. In reality, during the real estate boom that ended very recently, our property taxes increased at a rate that was between double and triple the rate of inflation because of rapidly rising assessments. As a result, Fayette County property taxes increased considerably over these years with little to no increase in the millage rate. Now, with the recent 2008 millage rate increase, we residents have endured yet another substantial increase in spite of the fact that our property values are in a state of decline. So where Mr. Thompson says that we’ve had no tax increases over the past five years, mine have risen by more than a fourth (27.14 percent) over this same period. I would suspect that my fellow citizens have been similarly affected. These increases amount to far, far more than the $1.88 per week that Mr. Thompson assesses. Mr. Thompson also lauds the recent ESPLOST tax increase and the revenue that it will generate. The reality is that this increased revenue will probably not be realized because it has shortsightedly removed any incentive for those who reside both in and out of Fayette County to shop here. Sales tax revenues are already down 12 percent year-over-year, so any credence placed in this tax increase is foolhardy. We are not “spoiled,” as Mr. Thompson describes. Instead, many Fayette families are in deep financial crisis, with many out of work or facing massive pay cuts and/or loss of pension while having onerous tax increases levied upon them by our local government. Mr. Thompson makes a callous judgment that if another tax increase places these citizens in bankruptcy, then their financial situation is precarious enough to make them a lost cause anyway. With many families now “hand-to-mouth” and in perhaps the most tenuous financial situation of their lifetimes, I find it quite misplaced to ask them for more in taxes to help fund Fayette County School Superintendent John DeCotis’ obscene $214,371.34 salary. I agree with Mr. Thompson that we need to maintain the beauty and allure of our community. But with 83 percent of our property tax dollars going to the school district, I consider it unethical and unconscionable to impose any additional tax increases on the citizens of Fayette County when we have a school superintendent with a salary 1.56 times that of our governor and who has a huge bureaucracy of six-figure employees (49 to be exact) in his administration. Substantial cuts in this area must certainly preempt any further discussion of higher taxes. Ralph P. Trapaga Peachtree City, Ga. login to post comments
|
Copyright 2010 - Fayette Publishing, Inc. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use Policy
Server 4
