Well it is two weeks since the Florida Legislature reached a decision on Florida Tax Reform, and nearly a week since the first phase was signed in, and already the lines are being drawn.
I have heard, and read, numerous opinions with regard to how this is going to affect the home owners in Central Florida. Will it affect schools, numbers of police men and women on the street, our safety, etc. So I thought that maybe it was time for me to add my thoughts.
I am from England, where they wrote the book on tax, property and otherwise, so I do have a slightly different view of the tax reform bill.
So this is the way I see it.
Basically something had to be done in order to help families that have got into properties that they can no longer afford, also to help those that find themselves paying taxes on properties that have been assessed at way more than the property is now worth, to slow the number of foreclosures, and to hopefully jump-start the housing market.
Everyone agreed on this!
So how was the Legislature going to help these people? We all agreed that property taxes had to be cut. So my question is how do we do that without losing out somewhere?
Last Friday whilst taking my daughter to day care, I heard an interview on the radio with Mayor Buddy Dyer, who was talking about adding more police to the streets of the most crime filled areas. He also said that he would be attending a meeting this week, where they would be reviewing their budget, now that the decision had been made on tax. He also mentioned that they will be adding 75 more police officer over the next three years. They were able to add these Officers, even with the tax cuts.
Instead of complaining about the cuts, has anyone ever thought of Neighborhood Watch Groups? In England most communities have Neighborhood Watch Groups and they do prove successful in saving money. Also, we could all become more considerate as far as breaking County rules about street parking, etc., this would save money on Enforcement Officers having to come out on a regular basis to deal with the same offenders. I am not saying that these Officers should lose their jobs, but I am sure that there are other ways that they could be used to be more cost effective to the County and at the end of the day US.
I would hope that all of our County Officials, will have enough sense to prioritize their new budgets in order to keep Florida the beautiful place in which we all live.
At the end of the day what is better for our neighborhoods, nice homes with happy owners, or many, many vacant houses that have been foreclosed on and stood empty, and going into dis-repair.
Maybe, we should all take a little time out of our very busy schedules and think of a couple of ways that WE as members of these Counties, enjoying all that the Counties have to offer, could help out.
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