LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Posted on 27 August 2015 by LeslieM

RE: Blaise Leone resigns

Dear Editor:

[On August 18] the city honored Blaise Leone with a plaque for 16 years of service to the Parks and Rec Dept.

That doesn’t touch the contribution he has given to the youth in Deerfield Beach in 16 years.

Just to mention a few things: to mention a few things:

Blaise is our resident “Elf” at the [holiday] tree lighting ceremony each year.

He is also the official “Voice of the Bucks” as the Deerfield Beach High School football game commentator.

He was the creator and instructor for the “Boot Camp” program here in Deerfield and made it so successful that it, in turn, created a position for a trainer.

I have had the opportunity to work with Blaise for the past 11 seasons at Deerfield Beach Little League (DBLL).

His attention to all of Deerfield’s youth programs is endless. He knows most of these kids by name, can tell you where they live and go to school, and he truly cares about each and every one of them.

This was never a “job’ to him. It was [about] being part of a community.

The kids, as they got to be in high school, would often stop to speak with him about college, training techniques, etc. He was part of the family.

We at DBLL wish his family great success in Satellite Beach. Their gain is most certainly our loss. Our City will never find an individual that equals the character and integrity of Blaise Leone. We will miss him forever.

Kathleen M. Williams

Deerfield Beach

Property tax notice received

Dear Editor:

Just received our TRIM notice from Broward County.

Noticed that once again the City of Deerfield Beach has raised the property tax rate — in this case from 6.2745 to 6.2949.

The good news is this is the smallest rate increase from the city in several years.

However, I’m guessing that the city officials will try to tell you that the rate is the same as last year, just as they did last year compared to the year before.

The deception in that statement is that the city officials include the mandated reduction in the Deerfield Beach debt service to get to the “no increase” statement.

Check your TRIM notice and prior tax bills and you’ll confirm what really happened.

Consider that in 2010, the last year before the Utility Tax was implemented, the property tax rate was 6.2482.

City officials promised that with implementation of the Utility Tax, property tax rates would come down.

That happened in 2011 and 2012 when the property tax rate came down to 5.1865 and 5.1856, respectively.

However, 2013 brought an increase back to the pre-Utility Tax, property tax rate to 6.2317 in 2013 (a whopping 20 percent increase in the rate alone) and it has climbed each year since then. So much for the promises about the utility tax benefit.

The utility tax just became extra funding for the commissioners to spend.

Knowing that the city commission takes more from you in property taxes through rate increases each year should be remembered at the ballot box.

Unfortunately, this year, it wasn’t.

Dave Nace

Deerfield Beach

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