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Letter to the editor

Today's Letters: In all the fretting, where's restraint?

By LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published June 17, 2007

Re: City prepares to be pinched, story, June 12.

They just don't get it. Already Largo is whining about how hard hit they'll be and services that will need to be cut if the state property tax laws get reformed to reflect reality.

Nowhere in the article do Largo officials talk about any kind of property tax reduction if the state doesn't force them to do something to give taxpayers relief. This in spite of the fact that the city is on track to receive another $1.2-million increase if nothing is done. That's approximately a 6 percent increase.

Did you get a 6 percent raise this year? I didn't. And that's after the many years of increased tax monies that they just kept spending and spending. And oh, did I mention that Largo is one of the few cities initially proposed to be required to cut 9 percent because of the runup they had without any fiscal constraint?

Kimball Adams, Largo management services director, said, "No government should breathe a sigh of relief." Mr. Adams, you've got it all wrong: No taxpayer in Largo should breathe a sigh of relief. I propose your title be changed to "mismanagement services director" because you and your city cohorts are out of control. Go cry wolf somewhere else.

Doug Bauer, Clearwater

Cities survive in fat or lean times

Re: Tax cuts bring relief, not crisis, guest column by Rep. Peter Nehr, June 7.

Finally, someone has stated the obvious! Rep. Peter Nehr points out the facts about property tax revenues here in recent years:

- Revenues have increased 148 percent since 1996.

- Revenues have increased 100 percent since 2000.

- Revenues have increased 84 percent since 2002.

Nehr poses a simple, common-sense question: Could local governments have survived if real estate values had not boomed, giving them all that extra money to increase their budgets?

The common-sense answer: of course!

Marilyn Renner, Dunedin

Project a waste of taxpayers' money

Our Pinellas County commissioners are threatening cuts in primary services such as law enforcement and firefighting. I believe better tax expenditure management can meet our needs.

I saw a great example of gross mismanagement today in our neighborhood. There were five men, two large dump trucks, a huge Gradall and a pickup on the side of Westlake Boulevard in Palm Harbor.

Their job was to replace a concrete storm drain cover with a new concrete cover that accommodates a manhole cover. The purpose is to allow the storm drain to be cleaned if necessary. Interesting, since the storm drains have never needed cleaning in the last 25 years they have been in place.

For the whole day, they removed the old concrete cover and made preparations to pour a new cover. I have seen this same project done before and it will take another three days. Based on my 15-plus years of experience in commercial construction management, this looks like a $5, 000 to $7, 000 project to me, maybe more, and what about the fuel costs for the large trucks, which were used only for transportation?

Our County Commission needs to get a grip on the out-of-control spending and get off the scare tactics about losses in primary services staff.

Ken Wright, Palm Harbor

Keep preserve as nature intended

This letter is an appeal to people who care about our dwindling natural resources to be vigilant of the County Commission's need to hack away at Brooker Creek Preserve with happy abandon - all in the name of serving the needs of a few.

The recent Brooker Creek meeting turnout was overwhelmingly in support of maintaining a hands-off stance on the preserve. If the outrage dies down, these myopic commissioners will take it as their right to bulldoze their opinions to an unfortunate conclusion for natural Pinellas County.

People need to be reminded that the availability of a soccer field is not a panacea for the overwhelming degradation of children's behavior toward the birds and animals that share their world.

The children going through their formative years with no training or opportunities to appreciate nature will throw objects at resting alligators, shoot arrows at nesting birds and toss trash into the waterways at the preserves. They grow up to dump the refuse oil from their cars in a convenient stream and kill mated osprey pairs nesting on their property because they "don't like the mess."

Kathleen Finnerty, Largo

[Last modified June 16, 2007, 19:29:33]