Editor:
Oh Mr. Williams, you are far too kind in your assessment of our county commission. Nancy Bell is the only commissioner with the intestinal and spiritual fortitude to stand up for the people of Levy County.
At the September 25th budget hearing there was no copy of the budget available to the public. The commission did not know the amount of any department budgets, they only knew that for each full mil rate reduction it "costs us two million", stated Mr. Yearty. When Ms. Bell made motions to reduce the mil rate and to eliminate the county attorney position the other commissioners sat silent inspecting their laps like guilty children caught in a lie. Ms. Rooks could not contain herself and started to sob, and so they all should have for failing to do what is right.
On the morning of the meeting the board minutes that are supposed to be available on line were magically "unavailable" and as of yet the last one available to read is the one from July 18th. This must be the reason we need the "additional attorney and support staff" to see that the minutes are properly sanitized and made available for public consumption in a timely manner.
We can only imagine who on the commission will profit from the sale of land for the new ambulance stations and communication towers. Where are the numbers for fire calls and ambulance calls per district per year and increases or decreases and types of calls to justify this expense?
If the fire assessment was magically reduced by seventy-five percent because there was a flaw in the formula for arriving at those unrealistic figures, it is highly likely there are flaws in the other formulas for other department budget figures as well.
The office of the property appraiser appears to suffer from real estate market attention deficit disorder. If it wasn`t obvious several months ago it should be exceptionally clear even to the myopic that the real estate market is comatose. Everything is for sale, there are no buyers for the "appraised value" and insurance availability pulls the plug.
The number one increase in this obscene budget is for the salaries and benefits/insurance premiums of county employees and they have been magically handed a five percent raise and a three percent anniversary raise. How nice and bless their hearts. As long as the county continues to be the largest employer in the county the financial sodomy by that entity will continue. This type of county management ensures there will be no successful private sector business other than big box and national franchises, unless of course your family tree has no branches.
As a taxpayer and regular voter, I`d vote for a goat if they ran against any one of the Felonious Four.
Eve B. Jensen
Cedar Key | 