During the Commission meeting of the Fire Board the commissioners became very deceptive to the taxpayers of Lehigh Acres Tuesday night. For many months the board has so called agonized over the decision of new type of taxation and even Fire Commissioner Cathy Kruse told the board she has lost sleep over her decision.
Representative Matt Cladwell said, “I helped them (fire board) get tools they needed to help fix the money situation but the fire board is an independently elected board.”
Now the truth has come to light and how deceptive the fire board has been for months. Read the full Approved resolution 14-04-01.
Ballot Question:
When approving the ballot language (see above) Commissioner David Adams vote “yes” but with reservations but reminded the other board members there was no language on the approved resolution to remove the ad valorem tax structure as the board promised to the voters.
Fire Board Chairman Larry Becker asked Special Attorney Heather J. Encinosa from Nabors, Giblin & Nickerson, P.A. to comment. Encinosa told the commissioners that there was no reason to add it in. Encinosa said, “It’s problematic to have that language in the ballot question, and you may need the income someday so I recommend leaving it out.” Fire Board Attorney Richard Pringle also agreed with Encinosa on her comment to the board.
As of right now if the ballot measure was approved today by the voters the fire board would have the right to charge a land owner both a tax assessment and ad valorem. So Double Taxation is this Fair and Equitable.
Commissioner Linda Carter was at the meeting by teleconference and voting “no” on the resolution to go ahead with a tax assessment all the others Commissioners voted yes for this measure. Carter said she would only support a flat or same tax for all taxpayers in prior meetings.
Cladwell said in an interview, “I told them (fire board) on more than one occasion a flat fair tax is the only way you can get the voters to vote for the change.”
After the meeting Fire Commissioner David Adams, “I promised the taxpayers of Lehigh Acres that there would not be an ad valorem tax if the voters approve the tax assessment.” When pushed for an answer why he voted yes, Adams said he never allow ad valorem to be used.
Commissioner Jackie Danis told the Lehigh Acres Gazette after meeting that Chairman Larry Becker told her, he is going to schedule a special meeting middle of next month to fix the so called mistake. (This communication between Commissioners Becker and Danis could be a Sunshine law violation since they must vote.)
Double Taxation – Fair and Equitable two sets words you will be hearing more and more of in the future.
It may be that the payments for the fire department have blown to a too big number in the years when the property taxes have been so high, do to the overpriced values of the property and homes. In that years of nearly unlimited tax cash flow may be the fire department has become too big. And it has not downsized as it would have been required from the funding side in the past years.
In the last years the prices for homes have come to a lower more realistic value and the tax volume came down appropriately. Only the too big budged for the fire department has not come down. I believe that was and is a mayor fault.
The question for me is, do we really need such a big fire department with such high costs as we have today. One is sure: If we would like to have such a big fire department as we have today we have to pay for it additional, perhaps with double taxation with ending up in higher living costs.
But are higher costs for the fire department with higher living costs for all really that what Lehigh Acres need? I want to remind that the catastrophic loss of property value was also a result that the people was not able to afford the high taxes any more what were accompanied with the high property values. People moved away or didn`t buy the new houmes at all. Just now, as it starts that the lower prices for the properties fills up the huge number of unused homes in Lehigh, it may be that it is counterproductive to rise the costs for owning property, which will result in higher renting costs as well.
May be we reduce the chances for a further positive development in Lehigh in the future by rising the costs for the fire department in form of an additional required payment.
I would say: The financing of the fire department should stay so as it is related to the property tax at the current level without additional costs. When the property tax rises in the future the fire department will get more money. And when additional homes are built in Lehigh the tax volume is bigger and the fire department gets more funds as well. In the meantime the fire department should downsize to the financial possibilities.
From my view it is very simple: The costs for the fire department should be reduced and not the costs for owning, and living in a home in Lehigh should be risen.
In your article you misquoted me.Chairman Becker did not tell me he was
holding a Special Meeting to fix a so called “mistake.”
I spoke with Attorney Richard Pringle and he has informed
me that I have not broken any Sunshine Laws.I hope you will
inform your readers that the Lehigh Acres Gazette will correct
the misstatements and print the facts.
Editor comment – Gazette reporter was at the meeting and the Gazette has a copy of the verbal minutes to the meeting. If anyone would like to listen to mp3 of the meeting feel free to contact the Lehigh Acres Gazette lehighacresgazette@gmail.com
This is my input to the Gazette mailbag:
Lehigh Fire Dept. getting greedy
Finally the Lehigh Fire district board understands that the
current ad-valorem tax fee is inadequate for a stable fire department operation. With the help of Mat Caldwell the board voted for a fix assessment fee based on housing square feet and vacant land acres starting with the budget 2015/2016. However, the numbers they picked are totally inacceptable. It would summarize to a total of $13.4 million which is 80% above the current budget. Since the amendment language doesn’t specify on
what kind of the house square feet the calculation is based there is still a backdoor to use the TOTAL square feet instead of “living area” square feet. This would drive up the total tax revenue to $15.8 million (= 113% above today’s budget).
And most important the amendment language doesn’t mention that this new fee is INSTEAD of the current ad-valorem tax. The special attorney recommended to not add this into the ballot because “you may need the income one day”. That’s a backdoor for double taxation.
Obviously the board has still surplus money to pay for such an incomplete deceiving addendum on the November ballot which the voters will for sure disapprove.
Harry Kloppert
Lehigh Acres