Quote:
Originally Posted by Niferlou06
Here is the email reply:
Thank you for your well thought out and insightful email. I have not lost sight of what I have come to office to do. I want to reassure you of that first and foremost. Additionally we are having a workshop on January 5th to address the issues of impact fees and what those effects may be on potential revenues to try and lower the burden on the ad valorum tax base. It is critical for us to find additional revenue streams and apply those to once again lower the burden on the ad valorum taxes in Sumter County. Thank you for your interest as I work toward identifying solutions to remedy the situation...Craig
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...additional revenue streams. This is something they should ALWAYS have. The town I came from (yes, Connecticut, yes, boo-hiss taxes, shove that to the side and pay attention to what I'm saying, not to your emotions for once)...
is always in the black. They have a "rainy day fund" because they KNOW there will always be emergencies that they need extra funding for. We paid heavy in property taxes, but the town ALWAYS paid its bills and as a result, was able to get an A rating - which resulted in more services for less money overall.
When we were hit with 6 FEET of snow over a 1-week period, our town was able to plow us out and prepare the roads for the utility companies to put us all back online within a week. MOST of us had heat again within 24 hours. The town public works department worked 24/7 to get trees off the road, get splintered garage corners away from power lines, and move roofs that had collapsed away from stairwells.
And still - they didn't end up in debt to anyone, or have to raise the taxes. Personally I'd rather pay $1 too much in taxes every year, than have an emergency and the town not have enough to pay for the emergency.
Because when that happens, debt accrues interest, and the taxpayer is the one who has to pay that.