The biggest tax cut in Florida's history

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Devil's Advocate @ Jul 25 2007, 02:34 PM) [snapback]484991[/snapback]</div>

The state has as much money as it wants - just appropriate the local tax revenues and school funding to balance your deficit. What, you mean local governments actually provide most critical services? Well, they should balance their own budgets, then....

 

If anything needs funding in CA, we just pass a bond. Poof...just like that, billions of dollars are suddenly and magically available.

It's great; no need to worry about the effect on our credit rating --not to mention, how we'll pay it back-- until sometime later...
:-(

----

Also, a bit south, wealthy Marinites (you know, the ones who wear synthetic outdoor clothing and drive Land Rovers to the yoga center) vetoed a measure that would have built a long-needed public transit system...their rationale: a small strip of environmentally sensitive land would have been impacted.

The real reason (as I see it): *everyone* knows that public transit brings in undesirables from other, less well-to-do towns. I may be wrong; hoping that I am.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MarkMN @ Jul 24 2007, 02:18 PM) [snapback]484256[/snapback]</div>

Where is the limit on this increase? $16? $30? $40/month? $250/month?

I mean.. it's for kids and medicine, how can you not just pay another $250 a month property taxes?


For us.... This year over last... our property taxes are +$500. It's only another $41.66 a month... Do I want kids dieing of bumpy sidewalks for only $41.66 a month?

This is only a 7.4% increase this year. If we do that every year for the next 9, we'll be paying double what we pay now.

Does anyone think my salary will keep up with this? Will my neighbors social security keep up with her increasing tax bill?

Maybe I can borrow on my credit cards so I can pay this. I'm sure that is what this country needs is people living on the credit cards so we can put the money into fixing the sidewalk. Why is there no call for efficient government (at any level) while there is continual call for tax hikes?

$15/month is too much. Fire some people, make the existing operations more efficient and stop asking for a tax increase. :angry: Government doesn't have the reputation of having too many people all laying around doing nothing for no reason. I can't imagine why people keep voting in tax raisers and bond issues. Spend what we got, do without some stuff and some staff...

The absolute worst example of innefficient governement is cook county (Chicago) with Todd Stroger driving the boat. If you're in chicagoland, you have to have hidden in a hole to not hear of the tragic things going on there. If you're outside the story, google it, you'll be more than amazed.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hycamguy07 @ Jul 26 2007, 09:15 AM) [snapback]485465[/snapback]</div>

You should count your blessings that you still have a job.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IsrAmeriPrius @ Jul 26 2007, 04:57 PM) [snapback]485685[/snapback]</div>

:angry: Because of our new Governor's TAX CUT, State of Florida laid off 138 STATE Workers and eliminated a couple hundred "part time" State jobs, as well as closing a few crutial Fire Departments.... all to save about $175 off of the approximate $5,000 a year homeowner's TAX Bill..............

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(FloridaWen @ Jul 26 2007, 05:02 PM) [snapback]485689[/snapback]</div>

When they could have cut salaries of over paid politicians. I know in Dania Beach, the part time assembly members get $120,000 a year! What a sad joke.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(FloridaWen @ Jul 26 2007, 02:02 PM) [snapback]485689[/snapback]</div>

Well that's a good start, 138 STATE workers, its almost an oxymoron!

I'd like to see more about the fire departmens but I bet that there are reasons other than the $175 for them being closed.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hycamguy07 @ Jul , 09:28 AM)</div>

That's cool! I haven't actually seen a hycam yet, but I haven't really been looking. Did you trade in your Prius?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Devil's Advocate @ Jul 26 2007, 07:52 PM) [snapback]485796[/snapback]</div>

Well that's a great statement with a lot of thought put into it I bet.........................
My Wife is a Florida COUNTY worker, writes software and WORKS HER nice person OFF !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They push her and others in that section of the County to constantly get certified on new computer software or lose their job, they actually have to sign paperwork stating this !! It is an ongoing process with no end in sight. THIS NEW FLORIDA TAX CUT gave the Managers two options in several of the County and State Departments.... either "cut their budget" by laying off workers -or- WAGE FREEZING, that's right, NO RAISES for the next three years, and MY WIFE is one of them..................

So before you spout your friggin' mouth off and stereotype EVERY STATE & COUNTY WORKER as a group of people by the side of the road in a State (or County) truck just smokin' cigarettes and holding a shovel, looking into a hole dug by the backhoe, THINK BEFORE YOU WRITE !!!!!!!!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(FloridaWen @ Jul 27 2007, 06:34 AM) [snapback]486016[/snapback]</div>

She may want to look around, she may be the only one working.

If she's workin that hard, got those skills and no raise in sight... might I suggest Monster.com, Careerbuilder.com, Dice... Unless she's into doing charity work for the govt... find a better gig, anything would surely pay more... If she's workin this hard and has these skills.. There are a lot of people working real hard at Burger King every day who aren't getting raises either.

I hope the software she's writing is necessary. It's hard to watch the govt pay huge bucks for people working on projects that everyone involved knows will never benefit anyone.

I'm in the IT field as well. I work for a major national company as a full time employee and am gig to gig by them to deliver the goods for whatever is needed IT wise.

I've had 1 gig at a governmental agency. The layers of waste (people wise, space wise, supply wise) is the most amazing thing I've ever seen. The mentality "we have to spend it, or our budget will be cut next year, so stack another 1000 boxes of paper in that back room over there" is depressing at best. We were tasked to clean up a database over a 9 month period. To do something like that, you copy the existing database and go make a plan to clean up the real one. You write code and document the clean up plan.

On the friday we were to deliver our big plan, code is done, we will pull the trigger on this next week on the real database... They rolled all the consulting firms out the door because of a budget cut. 10 minutes notice, not even time to tell someone on staff there what to do with our progress thus far. 9 months of consultanting work (* 8 of us) completely out the window just as they were about to hand them the goods. As consultants, we had a good laugh that this was happening and then on to the next gig. As a taxpayer, what an incredible injustice to my dollars, and yours...

I work with other consultants all the time that have been in and out of other agencys and the stories are crazy with the waste.

Not all govt offices are like this.. Yours may not be.. but, more than likely it is... the whole "Government Job Hahahaaha..." mentality is not born out of thin air, it's rare at best to find well run efficient government full of hard working people.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(FiftyOneMPG @ Jul 27 2007, 10:00 AM) [snapback]486067[/snapback]</div>

This is FLORIDA COUNTY and not US GOVERNMENT. Everyone is breaking their asses in her division, The Clerk of Circuit Courts. The "Clerk" made to decision to freeze wages and NOT lay off -vs.- lay off a few good workers. If YOU don't live in Florida, don't WORK in Florida than be very careful what you say or write by comparing the present situation in the County to other states Government agencies. As far as what my Wife does, she writes software. The software written is usually related to past or present court cases and criminal records, etc. that's all I am allowed to say. She used to "like" her job very much but this past year has been a sweatshop for all under the "new Clerk" !! She does what she is told (or asked) because at 55 years old, technology jobs are NOT that easy to find........ like a Burger King job or such !!

I too am in I.T., or at least I was....... the "hardware" end of it. I am also 55 and have been going to agency after agency, interview after interview, coming in number TWO but NOT the NUMBER ONE getting the job !! I am Certified up the azz and 25+ years experience with an A.S.E.E. and what am I doing.... an occasional one week computer migration project for $15.00 an hour. AGE DISCRIMINATION in the Florida I.T. (and probably everywhere else?) is running rampid down here. The average I.T. person is between 20 - 30 years old...... and what is Windows 3.1 they ask me ?? What is DOS ????

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hycamguy07 @ Jul 27 2007, 11:56 AM) [snapback]486131[/snapback]</div>

Hello hycamguy07,
I bet YOU, my Wife, me (and Charlie Crist) are the only ones here on PriusChat that genuinely understand what this "great Tax Cut" is doing to State, County and local municipalities of Florida :angry: :angry: !!

............ and for WHAT.............. to save approx. $175 off of a $5,000 yearly TAX Bill sent to each Florida homeowner ?? :blink:

[ by the way, gotta drive to Maitland tomorrow morning..... we'll be goin' right past ya I bet !! ]

 

I've taken the difficult work path and been self-employed most of my life. Couldn't stand to have bosses stupider than me telling me what to do and how inefficiently to do it. I've built up the ability to multi-task. My personal goal has been to live comfortably, but my goal is not wealth accumulation for wealth's sake. I closed my office and now work from home, where I can both work at my computer, garden, kayak and hike all during business hours. No commute. My 2004 Prius just had her 35,000 service which shows how little I drive (and therefore, how little stress I have had to endure).

I tell you this to suggest that, perhaps in these changing times, those who are feeling the edge of the employment ax at their neck, perhaps it may be time to find different working parameters, especially now that you have developed a skill set. It's great to know if I choose to work really hard and long my paycheck will grow exponentially, and conversely, when I want to take time off I can without fear of job stability.

Being an employee of a private company is different than being an employee of a government is different than being self-employed. It takes a certain temperament for each work scenario. One thing is for certain. When you are self-employed there is no such thing as 'wasting time'. You're either working or playing, treading water is not an option.

I feel very lucky in life to have found a climate which suits my clothes, a community of people with who I can work for social change, and a way of earning money which suits my temperament.