VICTORY FOR TAXPAYERS!!!
400+ TURN OUT TO SHOUT DOWN COMMISSIONERS!
HUMILIATION FOR CCU AND ADMINISTRATOR RAY SANDROCK!!!
ALL SEVEN MSBUs REJECTED! ONE MODIFIED.
The Charlotte County government suffered its most stunning DEFEAT in memory Tuesday night. Angry taxpayers exposed the corrupt nature of the MSBU system and the utter incompetence of both the Charlotte County Utilities management and County Administrator Raymond Sandrock’s leadership.
One after another, for SEVEN hours, taxpayers exposed the deep flaws in CCUs’ methodology for assessing MSBU taxes and the obscene bills they received. Teachers, retirees, engineers, veterans and new residents told horror stories of opening tax bills for $32,000, $64,000, $105,000, $200,000 and one shocking bill for $332,000…for just one house!
The Charlotte County government mafia continued its attack on small business owners, who were not spared. They stepped up to the microphone to tell the commissioners the county is forcing them to leave. Many small businessmen and others owning undeveloped lots said they would simply return those lots, thereby risking tens of millions of dollars in uncollected taxes. Who will pay those taxes remains unclear and, pointedly, the commissioners did not clarify even though the issue was raised repeatedly. SBG exists to tell taxpayers the truths the commissioners and bureaucrats won’t. Since government has no money tree, that means taxpayers, one way or another, will be on the hook for those millions in unpaid taxes. Stating the obvious, one taxpayer declared, “I paid $4,500 for the lot. Why would I pay $16,000 in taxes on it? You can have it.”
Having been mismanaged for decades, CCU remains deeply in debt and has well over $160 million in repair and replacement costs pending. Basic maintenance costs have been neglected for years. Due to all these problems, CCU MUST connect new customers to have any chance of remaining financially viable. CCU Director Gary Hubbard admitted six months ago that the small area known as “Parkside” has at least $61 million in sewer replacement costs. The recent audit of CCU showed that for many years, basic repair and maintenance expenditures were no more than 1% to 2% of revenues per year, in an industry where 8% to 10% minimum is the standard. Those same auditors told the commissioners point blank that sooner or later, those basic maintenance costs must be paid. They do not go away. In fact, they get more expensive the longer they are ignored.
Despite these nearly insurmountable numbers that must be dealt with and in spite of the clearly overwhelming opposition they face, the Charlotte County commissioners vowed to return next year and once again try to force property owners into what is now the most expensive water and sewer system in the state and one of the most expensive in the country.
For now, the question must be asked who is responsible for the stunning incompetence of Tuesday night? The commissioners, who repeatedly tried to save face by claiming they were unaware of CCU’s methodology? The same methodology that citizens had repeatedly warned them about last month, yet they all voted in favor of? Or a feckless, heartless bureaucracy that can print out a $332,000 sewer bill and not even think this is a problem?
Our thanks to all of you who came out to protest. You clearly won the night. Big government bureaucrats and big government politicians hate it when you do that, so keep it up.
Stay tuned to Stop Bad Government for more insight on Tuesday night’s train wreck.
