I agree with most of the original post but take exception to this thought:
"I would caution all not to be foolish enough to say raise taxes on the developer and the other business, it doesn't work. You're not going to hurt any business by raising taxes, only yourselves. If you've ever run a business you'll know that businesses don't pay taxes, they collect them. A tax or a fee on a business is no different than labor and material, just another cost that is included in the final sale price and passed on to the consumer. It will actually cost more because the business will have additional overhead costs for the collecting and bookkeeping process and will do as they do with labor and material, mark it up. It's not greed, it's how businesses work."
That is exactly what should have happened in the case of funding for all the new infrastructure required to support thousands of new homes. That cost should be passed on to the buyers of those new homes in the form of appropriate impact fees. It should not be borne by all the other residents of Sumter County. The developer got a sweet deal from the commissioners.
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