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Editorial: Air Boats and the Golden Rule
February 2nd, 2004

Editorial: A Year of Opportunity
January 24th, 2004

Editorial: Sports on TV
January 15th, 2004

Editorial: Mad Cow Disease in the US
December 26th, 2003

Editorial: Jeb`s Water War
November 25th, 2003

Editorial: Citizen Input Needed
October 27th, 2003

Editorial: Congrats to Our Commission, Now We Must Help
October 17th, 2003

Editorial: Remember Owens Valley
September 29th, 2003

Editorial: Gold Plating Reality, Reconstruction Chic
September 21st, 2003

Editorial: The Responsiblities of a Journalist
August 27th, 2003

Editorial: A Fable: The Great Guano Concord
July 24th, 2003

Editorial: Music for Children
May 26th, 2003

Editorial: Speak Out
May 15th, 2003

Editorial: Parking: Our Biggest Problem?
May 2nd, 2003

Editorial: Vote and Vote Well
April 22nd, 2003

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Blue Pencil Needed on Levy County Budget

Blue Pencil Needed on Levy County Budget

Editorial

The Levy County Commission held budget and millage rate hearings September 11 and 25. However, the public was not given copies of the budget, even though the millage rate is based on the budget. The result was that property taxes were increased 26 percent. That increase was approved by four commissioners, with only Commissioner Nancy Bell voting against the increase. In the absence of any significant discussion by the commissioners of the need for such a large increase, the taxpayers need to examine the budget and look for excesses, department by department.

The commissioners gave a 27 percent increase to the Administrator's Department. That is on top of a 62 percent increase the previous year. In just two years the budget for administration doubled from $179,237 to $365,000.

The commissioners gave the Building and Zoning Department a 30.6 percent increase, from $627,025 to $818,935. That increase came on top of a 37 percent budget increase for Building and Zoning the previous year. Note that Building and Zoning was given $310,000 more than the department actually spent in 2005-2006 fiscal year. This looks like padding the budget!

The Legal Department budget is not easily understood. Each of the past two years the Legal Department would appear to have spent less than was budgeted. However, and it is a big however, during the past thirty months outside attorneys from five law firms have been paid $549,320 for legal services. That may explain why the Legal Department is now being given $430,994 for the coming year. A full discussion of the Legal Department budget and past need for help from outside law firms might help taxpayers understand the increases.

There may be other department budgets that need discussion. One item in the budget that is particularly large is on page 100, where the Landfill budget jumped from $1,422,422 to $6,231,525. The taxpayers of Levy County might be interested to know the need for an increase in the budget of over $4,000,000 for landfill. One might ask, "Are our tax dollars being used in the landfill?"

The next Levy County Commission meeting starts at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, November 7, most appropriately on Election Day. Cedar Key News has been informed that a discussion of the property tax rate and the county budget will be on the agenda. We recommend that all citizens that want to know a justification for a 26 percent increase in taxes be at the November 7 meeting.

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