Death by 1000 Permits

MISLEADING TAX PAYERS .. ANY WAY YOU SLICE IT.. IT IS A TAX INCREASE .. A TAX HIKE..YOUR TAXES ARE GOING UP . YOU ARE PAYING OVER $704,000.00 .. PLUS.. NEWLY INVENTED FEES.! BAD FOR BUSINESS AND THE ECONOMY .. BAD FOR HOMEOWNERS.

Any way you slice it, it is a tax increase.. it is not a tax cap.. it is not a tax freeze.. it is a tax hike.. Brookhaven is sending a new tax bill with a whooping increase of $704,000. Less than half is earmarked to pay for a salary to a new city manager. It is a done deal in Dunwoody. The city of Dunwoody approved a tax hike of over 10%. The second during it's five year history. Sandy Springs, Johns Creek are expected to follow. Local politicians blame it on DeKalb and Fulton Counties. Brookhaven's mayor  and members of  the city council have received overwhelming number of protest over waste and calls for lower millage rate. The council, facing angry residents, is expected to take action to reduce the Mill-rate. 

Bills must be paid.  Real estate tax is not a small bill.  There are many property tax brakes to corporations. Homeowners' taxes are not treated the same. In the minds of many, real estate taxes in north Georgia are high and getting higher. It is a concern. Georgia' size taxes are on their minds!.

All small business and home owners are expecting a bigger tax bill. Many conversations are taking place around the dinner table or back yard, so close to home where new politicians, in training, of young cities do their annual tax dance and hair splitting with words.

Two new mayors to the job are leading the charge. Same last name. Davis of Brookhaven and Davis of Dunwoody. Johns Creek's mayor must go to the voters for an okay.! The county just gave him a down payment. He will not say no.

In the opinion of many tax payers, their leaders' behavior is, like  teenagers holding a credit card for the first time, out and buying stuff.! Not buying stuff was a motto of one of the three, Mayor Mike Davis of Dunwoody before he took office.

Both, are saying no change in the mill-rate. They never said no tax increases by making a carefully crafted statements via a contracted public relation firms. 

 

Do those small cities need to waste the tax funds by hiring public relation spokesmen to speak to the residents?

The first Davis is proposing a $703,000 tax hike while the second Davis is asking for additional $600,000. 

Both use smoke and mirrors and describe it as no change in the mill-rate.

Dunwoody is known for new inventions. Deferent taxes under the name of fees is a product that is costing consumers, business and home owners many millions of dollars. 

"No Change in the mill-rate ." sounded as if no money has exchanged hands and it will not cost the tax payer a penny..! 

When they are questioned further, both blamed the increase on sudden re-evaluation on the counties of Fulton and DeKalb. They blamed it on the other guys at the County. "Fixing those roads left by the respected counties.", They argue.

One spokesman claims over $2,000,000  in road repairs last year. When asked by GWP, he fails to explain where did the money go for and actual shovel ready work. He refuses to explain how much was for consulting and engineering those sidewalks. Data obtained during public discussions shows many hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent and some wasted for engineering three feet wide sidewalks and re-paving few roads.

Elected officials and their representatives  do not like to discuss waste, consulting fees, wasting tax payers earned funds with the expenditure of close to two million dollars at an intersection to invite more traffic to the heart of residential communities.  

One of the two ignores over paying a quarter of a million dollars in salary to one single individual, almost half the proposed tax hike.

To Max Davis of Brookhaven, it is an easy way out for him. He is supporting the increase and the salary of his choice as a city Manager. He blames it on the county. 

Mike Davis of Dunwoody, a former health insurance salesman, will not want disagreements among fellow members of the council.  Home and small business owners are expected to pay much more taxes to meet those obligations. This is not a tax cap. It is a tax increase. This is misleading the public. Any added taxes or fees are paid by the consumers. Many agree, it is not good for the economy.  

A notice of tax increases was published recently. Very few took notice. No fanfare. No list of supporters. In a fine print, absence  of a city logo or a sponsor, it  was hidden in the back pages of a very local publication. It did not have the splash or the spin of an invitation to meet the mayor or the city manager at a high school..  

There is public outcry, by those who noticed, over a higher tax bill of many hundreds of thousands of dollars close to home. This will cut into family budgets and business savings and will add to the cost of doing business in DeKalb and Fulton counties.

Like the annual Samba in Brazil, many local politicians danced their  tax dance at elections season. Even a newly elected official, feeling isolation during his first term in office, made a calculated decision of endorsing and supporting the tax hike.

Brookhaven has a vacant seat to fill. One of it's members resigned his post in protest.

 "Read my lips no new taxes".  Those were famous words attributed to a famous president, George H.W.Bush. The voters took him to task. he broke his promise.  Bush lost and we got the first Clinton. During his years in office, the economy went on growing through the roof and money was pouring in. That was that.

Now we are still facing another cycle of slow economy and slow growth. Jobs are outsourced. Tax revenues have suffered. Many homeowners lost their equity and many lost their homes. It is a buyer market. Many investment funds picked up those bank notes very cheep to take them off the market after default.

Those new cities did not pay the price for those defaults. Counties were left holding the bag. According to a county official, those new rich cities ran off with the premium real estate, forming their own cities. GWP was told by the official.

Voters bought into tax caps. They understood it as freeze or reduction. Perhaps they did not read the fine print or retained a lawyer for interpretation. Those, few dozen, who sold the bag of goods to the voters had plenty of that.

Now it is another event worth talking about.These days, taxes, tax reduction, increase or tax freeze are leading the conversations around the dinner table.  All options are on the table. Tax increases of this size might force homeowners to flee and move on to a less taxable municipalities. It is a first reason to remove a politician from his elected office. There is talk about recalling some of those elected.  People are tired of high taxes under any name.

There are those other newly invented taxes called fees. According to reports, they are running into the millions. "It is hurting the economy. It will be paid by the consumers. It will chase businesses away" said a local public official,  working in the medical field, as he started to list many new fees.

It is becoming a game, every year. Misleading statements by mayors and county commissioners. 

Those who voted for new cities expected a cap. "No tax increases." They were told, according to public statements made by their leaders. 

That was the motive behind those springing cities off the big spenders of the counties. The voters wanted an end to tax hikes and waste. They did not expect to spend half a million dollars to engineer a side walk of three feet in width.

"In Georgia, due to many reasons; the health of the economy and the devaluation of real estates causes lost revenues. " Said a small business owner.

"You do the natural thing, we had to cut back and we have survived." "Now we are seeing very little improvement in home's value and our elected politicians cannot wait to spend." said a homeowner.

"Those new cities and existing counties are going through the process of re-evaluation and re-calculation of taxes. Mayors, spokesmen and women, and public relation consultants are misleading the voters by claiming no change in the mill rates." GWP was told by a gas station owner.  

Few of those newly independent cities are locked into mill rate caps. One or more were able to change the rules and have the power to spend without going to the residents for a vote. "Georgia's State house and senate have failed to provide for oversight to protect the public from tax guzzlers.". Said a former senate leader to the GWP.

This is the local event of the summer, $704,000 of tax increase in Brookhaven and $600,000 of tax hike in Dunwoody and others are on the way.

Some talk have started offering a tax reduction option by lowering the mill rate by the counties. It was rebuffed and called grand standing by others.. 

Politicians are nowhere to be found around city halls, having hired spokesmen to make their case. Sending out invitations to an absent public. Making it difficult for the public to participate, according to many residents of Brookhaven and Dunwoody. Many more have complained about fuzzy math presented by proclaimed leaders.  

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