Seems to me this whole blame the “Developer” , be against the “Developer” effort has been misguided from the beginning. The developer is actually a business operation that is one of, if not the largest employer in Sumter County. This organization is NOT the enemy but rather a business whom’s success or failure will directly impact every citizen in this County. If you want to discuss the impact of growth, good and bad, then ask the County Commission for a comprehensive study on the impact of growth for the things we pay taxes for (I.e. roads, public safety, schools, public health,recreation, etc). Then develop a method to fund these programs based on the services existing property owners utilize and assess impact fees for cost associated with new homeowners. The truth of the matter is, Estep, Miller and Search were elected as a knee jerk reaction to a tax increase, they used words that tickled a vast majority of voters ears but had NO PLAN as to how to carry it out. County government is a complex operation and there are no simple answers like “we’ll just cut taxes and increase fees”. I just hope these new inexperienced Commissioners have enough character to admit they had no clue and proceed on a path of logical decision making.
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