BCC 7/20 - Hal Valeche

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July 22, 2010

Hal Valeche from the Taxpayer Action Network. I’m very happy to say that we will be working closely with TAB and I believe we really are achieving critical mass.

I am disappointed that the Board seems likely to recommend collecting approximately the same amount of ad valorem revenue this year as last year, requiring a substantial rate increase once again.

Given that property values are likely to continue to decline over the short term, your action sends a signal to homesteaded taxpayers that they can expect to continue paying more every year. In addition to all the other local taxing authorities who are planning an increase this year, a massive increase in federal taxes will happen on January 1st.

A real recovery has yet to take hold here in South Florida, and we’re certainly not going to speed up its arrival by increasing the burden on our most productive citizens.

I think it’s clear that we’ve gotten to the point where the taxpayers just cannot afford the level of government we’ve been given. I think it’s become mandatory for us to step back from this current cycle of ever-increasing tax rates and seriously re-evaluate everything we do as a government, and by that I mean every program, every department – everything we do. We can’t afford the government we had five years ago, and asking taxpayers to continue to dig deeper to support it is economically self-defeating.