RE: Utility tax
Dear Editor:
The registered voters who signed the petitions circulated by the Rescind Unfair Taxes committee knew they were being offered 2 options. Either the commission rescinded the action taken on June 7 or voted to send it to referendum. Whose brilliant idea was it to give a 1 mil ad valorem tax reduction to the big businesses and the owners of plush real estate on the backs of the elderly, the city’s worker bees, and the poor with the introduction of this new tax.
If the goal is millage reduction and since the 5.7688 total millage rate has been advertised and passed on first reading, then the rate can still be reached without the public service tax. The administration admitted at the Sept. 6 meeting that the $2.9 million saved with the BSO merger was not included in this budget. That money, plus $500,000 from the undesignated reserve and an increase in the tax-deductible fire assessment fee, would reduce the millage by 1 mil and still leave $10,000,000 in the undesignated reserve. Then there would be no need to nickel and dime the residents with a non-deductible tax increase.
On Sept. 6, the Rescind UnfairTaxes committee presented the city clerk with petitions with 6,200 signatures and paid 10 cents to have each signature verified. In reality, we had until Sept. 28 to complete our mission. By then, we could have had 10,000 signatures, but we wanted the commission to take action while the budget hearings were being held, and a decision on the tax had to be made by Sept. 20. Once again, we shall be there on the 20th to watch what action the commission chooses to take.
Jean Robb
Deerfield Beach
Dear Editor:
I am appalled at the conduct of one of the commissioners at the Sept. 6 commission meeting. He chastised a resident who misspelled a word and then stated, “This is the person I should be listening to about the economic welfare of Deerfield Beach?” This is another example of the arrogance of this commissioner who thinks he is superior to the people he is elected to represent. He also claimed that there were renters who paid nothing in taxes. I am a landlord, and I pay the taxes for these people while they pay for water and electric usage. I was also disappointed in the mayor’s attitude, as I felt she was abrupt and condescending. I can sympathize with the speaker who claimed you were taxing the very air we breathe. My mother’s electric bill for her oxygen usage was well over $300 a month, and, even with the fuel adjustment charge subtracted, the tax would have been much more than the $12 or $15 a month you claim.
The vice mayor claims he will not apologize to Century Village for his vote to approve this tax. He is supposed to represent them and not himself. If he can’t represent them, he should move out or resign. Let’s hope that everyone turns out on the 20th, to let these commissioners know what we think of their performances thus far.
Martha J. Mckee, RN
Deerfield Beach, District 2
