Council members who will address tax levies needed
To the editor:
Early voting will soon begin. If you are concerned about the fire assessment with no sunset clause and no limit up to 100 percent yearly increase, if you do not approve the public service tax on your LCEC bill, if you are tired of the tax-and-spend philosophy of this council, then you should vote for Chris Cammarota and Kirk LaGrasta.
The fire assessment was intended to cover operating costs of fire services. The current fire service increase will fund 64 percent of fire services. Does that mean you will have a 36 percent increase for 2017 to cover 100 percent of the fire service budget?
With the fire assessment paying for the operating budget, does that mean that funding of the firefighters’ pension plan will come from the General Fund?
With the city planning on five more fire stations with staff, does this mean we will have an ever-increasing, never-ending fire assessment? And a continuously rising pension debt from the General Fund? Are the citizens of Cape Coral aware that we (the taxpayers) pay 90 percent of the firefighters’ pension fund and that the firefighters pay 10 percent of their retirement fund? That means for every $1 in their fund, the taxpayer pays 90 cents. I do not know anyone else with such a generous plan!
Chris Cammarota and Kirk LaGrasta realize that these taxes and assessments are difficult for many people on fixed incomes. They know that the city’s budget problems are not due to insufficient funds, but are due to mismanagement and poor judgement between needs and wants. Chris Cammarota and Kirk LaGrasta will work to limit or stop these excessive taxes and assessments and bring more fiscal responsibility to our city.
Grace Golling
Cape Coral