Frugality (waste not, want not a la Ben Franklin) wisely gets more value for less money:
Had the below-listed cities voted as prudent Jacksonville, their similar successes and lower property taxes likely
would have spurred others into countywide consolidations. Less governments equals less elected officials
and highly paid stuffed shirts essentially repeating the same job, city by city. Fewer, but better
qualified individuals drawn from a larger professional pool, who certainly would refrain from the sin of omission
not to roll back millage to reduce property tax problems.
Searching unconstitutional “save our homes” finds many pursuing legal aspects of tax reform
and arguing for school tax rollbacks. Yet, the Internet indicates not one comment about reducing the need
for property taxes by consolidating wall-to-wall duplicated governments into one. Floridians are unable
to maintain excessive property taxation a problem because they emotionally have preferred to pay the useless duplication costs
of obsolete municipal parasites:
WHEN … it becomes necessary for One People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another and to assume … Laws of Nature and Nature’s
God entitle them … whenever any Form
of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right
of the People to alter or abolish it, and institute new Government …
UShistory.org/declaration/document/index.htm
No reference is found to local elected officials’ residences fully vested under Save Our Homes and therefore
scarcely pay personally for their irresponsible Santa Claus fiscal orgy of taxation/spending. Nor
do the voting majority, likewise protected. Without unbiased decision making under normal democratic processes,
these vested do not vote to protect victimized others.
Often quoted is “the best government is the least government.”
Inherent in property tax reduction is the lowest cost government is one government, per the
attached open letters. Where public records require the permanency of Florida counties, no rational justification
exists for the wasteful andexpensive continuance of Florida’s inferior municipal corporations.
Most I talk with have no idea what consolidation, or merger, is all about.
They do not know of the success of Jacksonville-Duval. They are not aware Miami-Dade has
35 jammed-together small cities and Broward County likewise 31, as found from the online encyclopedia Wikipedia
using these search words. There it will be found that Miami et al did not consolidate into Dade
County, but merely created a federation of cities still existing cities. This appears to be a sham to inhibit
elimination of these wall-to-wall ancient cities by bona-fide city/county consolidation. The only way for
government to provide the same services with less money is by eliminating highly paid duplicated much ado about nothing
“big shots” who continue to gorge themselves from within and from under the public trough long after eliminating
those performing services:
In private industry we have to tighten our belts and make the funds go a longer way, in government they simply cut the services and keep the inefficiencies. If you keep feeding the monster, the monster continues
to grow.
VolusiaTaxReform.com
The enemies of consolidation are legion. When Daytona Beach attempted
1985 consolidation of NE Volusia County, county employees in charge of the polls cleverly disguised the ballot information
as to confuse any voter into not voting. The voting booth instruction was whether to vote for an Act of
Florida by number only, such act not locally published and not yet shelved in the law library. The referendum
lost. Current propaganda is governments provide services. Government’s
primary responsibility is for public protection, thence to police itself. Such terminology leads one to
believe government is a benevolent friend, providing services it doesn’t have to and cannot be made to.
Any student of political history well knows government is a necessary evil that absolutely must be kept under control,
else runaway power builds upon itself.
Perhaps the snowbirds.org Canadians will pursue Florida city/county consolidation, which at home they refer to
as amalgamation. Anyone can, and be appreciated for doing so, forward this linked essay to others
and encourage them to do likewise. There are none more effective than local newspapers. As
seen below, consolidation needs all the help it can get – no better time has ever existed and may not again.
The Internet, wisely and vigorously used, can achieve this goal:
AOL search words
Jacksonville/Duval consolidation
Voting dates: 1935, 1967 WON 1967
Miami/Dade consolidation
Voting dates: 1948, 1953 Failed
Tampa/Hillsborough
consolidation
Voting dates: 1968, 1970, 1971, 1972
Failed
Pensacola/Escambia consolidation
Voting date: 1970 Failed
Tallahassee/Leon
consolidation
Voting dates: 1971, 1973 Failed
Ft. Pierce/St. Lucie consolidation
Voting date: 1972 Failed
Okeechobee/Okeechobee consolidation
Voting date: 1979 Failed
Gainesville/Alachua consolidation
Voting date: 1990 Failed
Note:
Above referendums
list Briem.com/frag/CityCountyReferenda.htm
Bold New Jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/022199/cel_1p17cons.html
Bold New City ...photo Jacksonville.com/images/070305/80376_400.jpg
30th
Anniv Jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/101298/opl_Monleadl.html
Low
taxes Jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/031206/opl_21322539.shtml
Learn
SmartGrowth.org/news/article.asp?art=4012&state=10&res=1280
How to win consolidation vote Post-Gazette.com/pg/pp/04275/388541.stm
Surf the net FloridaTaxWatch.org
For further information search:
jacksonville-duval
florida
tax reform
florida city/county consolidation
Thanx for keeping the enemy at bay.
James Law, 662 Hand Avenue, Daytona Beach, FL 3217
JLAW0@aol.com
