IN YOUR CORNER

by the Martin County Taxpayers' Association 08/15/99

The school district accomplished what the county commission has been unable to do for years. They cut taxes. In addition, the school district eliminated the transfer of capital funds to operations; a practice that had been going on for years against all budgetary reason. This means that money intended for building schools will be so used. It is primarily increased efficiency in operations that had made the transfer unnecessary. Now, with a comfortable financial picture in both the operations and capital budgets, and income forecasts in excess of expenditures, we think the school district might consider reducing their tax bite even more. They might consider reducing at least an additional .25 mils which equates to about $2 million. If the money is not in the budget it might not get spent.

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Increased property values eased the pain of additional county spending for taxpayers this year and much of this increased value was new commercial property and not an increase in taxes on previously taxed property. Commercial expansion not only adds value to the tax rolls, it is cheap expansion because commercial property requires fewer services per dollar of taxes paid. In light of these facts, the disagreement between the commission and the Economic Council and Chamber of Commerce about the county's economic element is of interest to taxpayers. We need a sound economic element in our comprehensive plan and we do not think the commission can write it unaided. They should listen to the Chamber and the Council and discuss their versions of the economic element before making any decision.

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The county has purchased another piece of land they cannot use at a cost in excess of $700,000. This property was purchased for the county Health Department which does need new quarters. However, the County Attorney's office once again neglected to check the zoning. Now, again after the money has been spent, the land must be rezoned and rezoning must be done by the City of Stuart who have no reason to do so. We think our legal experts have repeated this procedure often enough and we expect to see someone fired this time whether or not it all works out. Then maybe they will realize that taxpayer money is important.

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Martin County is currently bidding to furnish Fire and Emergency Services protection to Sewall's Point, which now buys this service from the City of Stuart for $207,000 per year. If the county charged Sewall's Point at the same rate everyone else in the county pays, the price would be over $500,000 per year. Obviously, the county plans to make a competitive bid, which would mean that county taxpayers would be subsidizing Sewall's Point. The same majority that voted for the most expensive bridge is orchestrating this plan.

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Impact fees are still being discussed and will be for some time we image. This is a fantastically complicated subject and there do not seem to be any experts, so any decision may be subject to legal challenge. The school district must decide on a fair and reasonable impact fee and submit it to the county in time for it to be considered in the general discussion on such fees. The school district cannot levy the fee, it must be levied by the county. The fee must be based on a need for capital facilities connected to an increase in the number of school children. Interestingly, a house subject to the impact fee need not harbor school age children, it is reason enough if the house could harbor such children and a school must be built to serve it. A housing community restricted to be use of the elderly might be exempt from any school impact fee.

In Martin County, the total impact of an average single family home is now estimated to be $11,296 of which the school impact in $4,598. Using the current impact fee schedule, the new resident would pay $973 and the taxpayers $3,050. This seems unfair to us. We imagine that the new residents will not cause all of the impact on the schools, but find it hard to believe that they will not cause more than 35%. The situation is very different in the non-school picture, where the situation is almost reversed with the new residents paying slightly more than 65%.

The school board has yet to submit impact figures and we hope they do so quickly and wisely. The size of the impact fee must be related to the problem and its expenditure must directly serve those paying. Arriving at the correct amount cannot be done overnight, but must be done soon.

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As you notice we have changed locations in the Stuart News. This move was by mutual consent and should make our column easier to find. Despite our location on the opinion page, you will find our column still full of facts that we hope will keep you abreast of the doings of our county's leaders and their use of your tax money.


W e encourage your comments, criticisms, ideas, or any questions about how your taxes work; call or fax 288-0474 or write to us at PO Box 741, Stuart, FL 34995 or e-mail us at admin@mctaxpayers.org or visit our WEB site, mctaxpayers.org.