Mob rule?

Jun 27, 2009 2 min read

To the editor:

“Heavy handed” – that was the phrase I use to use when it came to the city government. But since receiving our water assessment (North 1-8) I feel we’ll need a new phrase… perhaps “gangsters by local ordinance.”

Here is the offer you can’t refuse:

1) Pay in full by Oct. 23, 2009 (Don’t argue about their methodology or look them in the eye.)

2) Pay over time via ad valorem taxes. Remember, you can only pay ad valorem in full, no partial payments accepted. (If you don’t pay, they steal your property)

3) Defer payment for 10 years. (If you don’t pay, they steal your property)

We own an 11-acre parcel of raw land in the northwest Cape that we paid the princely sum of $35,000 for in 2000. We built a modest 1850 square foot home for only $160,000.

(Follow me, that’s $195,000) Our assessment is $96,323.50! For one home. They are assessing us for 36.5 homesites. Never mind that zoning would only allow 22. (R1A) Never mind that four acres of wetlands on which we could never build, never mind the gopher tortoise habitat, bald eagles or magnificent pawpaw plants, etc. etc., all of which take precedent over any development order.

Short of winning the lottery, the city is going to force us off the land or steal it from us. Either way, we lose.

Fellow citizens, please attend the council meeting on July 20, at 4:30 p.m. and give your opinion to our “godfathers.”

Tom Gamso

Cape Coral