Guest Column

Leaders spin taxes for own gain

By BLAISE INGOGLIA
Published October 24, 2007

Since the final Hernando County Commission budget hearing on Sept. 27, our elected "leaders" have been trying to take all the glory and credit for what they are calling "the largest tax cut in Hernando County history."

Don't break your arm patting yourself on the back.

Make no mistake about it; campaign season has begun. It started at the first budget hearing on Sept. 13 and will end in November 2008 with the general election.

The incumbents will do or say anything to get re-elected. I made a promise to the residents of this county at the final budget hearing that I will stick around and inform them. After reading "post budget hearing" comments, I cannot allow the incumbents to spin what happened. So, here we go.

STOP telling people this is the largest tax cut in our county's history. Not because it is not true, but because you, the commissioners, had nothing to do with it. You didn't cut because you wanted to, you cut because you had to. The fact is, you were mandated to cut by the state Legislature. Then you were backed into a corner and forced to make another cut by the concerned residents of this county. If you really cared so much about the residents, you would have cut before a community uprising.

STOP telling people you have been lowering millage rates in this county for years. Not because it is not true, but because residents don't care about millage rates, we care about taxes. What good is the lowering of the millage if taxes go up? If you really cared so much about the residents, you would have cut the millage rate significantly years earlier to actually lower real estate taxes for our residents.

STOP telling people you have cut spending. Not because it is not true, but because ... uh, well, this just isn't true. The fact of the matter is, in a time of budgetary crisis you increased spending. In 2007, the general fund budget was $120.4-million. The budget that was just adopted for 2008 calls for a budget of $125-million. How is that cutting spending? Our real estate taxes make up a large part of our general fund. The fact is these commissioners have overseen the largest increases of our budget in Hernando County history, both in dollars and in percentage, escalating at nearly five times the rate of population growth.

STOP telling people I have been putting on these seminars for political reasons with statements like "it's been political all along" and "he's always been about the politics, it's never been about the taxes." We, as a community, came to you asking for meaningful real estate tax relief. Up until the final budget hearing, it was about education and information. On Sept. 27 you, the commissioners, decided not to listen to the residents of this county. At that very moment, it became political. You made it political. Our only recourse after that night is at the polls next November. Did you think we were just going to go away? Wishful thinking.

The incumbents' worst fears have been realized - an informed public!

A wise man once said "politicians are like diapers, they should be changed often and for the same reasons." Hernando County, it's time to take out the talcum powder.

Blaise Ingoglia owns several businesses in Hernando County and was the presenter of the recent Government Gone Wild seminars. Guest columnists write their own views on subjects they choose, which do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.

[Last modified October 23, 2007, 20:04:24]