Letter: Vote for change – Vote for Shaver

Patricia Reilly
St Augustine, FL

Dear Editor:

This election season, with its endless number of candidate forums, has made one thing clear. All of the new folks running for office seem to agree on many things.

Our streets are a mess and we need to fix our pipes; our approach to zoning is reactive; we have zoning crises in our neighborhoods, think 7-11 and the castle; our budget lacks detail, so who knows where our money goes; 450th too expensive; we need to prioritize our spending based on our goals; elected officials should reach out to the people who live here and invest here, not wait for them to call.

Others spoke about the city’s hard times. What numbers are they looking at? More than half of our budget is financed by you and me through our water bills and other fees we pay for services. Our Utility fund next year is budgeted to bring in over $17 of the $56 million budget total. Water rates kept going up even during the recession. Our trash bills generate almost $4 million, those charges have increased too. You get the picture; just those two fees represent $21 of the $56 million. Add to that your property taxes. Our property tax rates are some of the highest in the state, even when you look at cities our size.

Since Joe Boles became Mayor in 2006, our operating fund that pays the day-to-day bills for the city has been the highest in the city’s history. It went from $17 million in 2004 to about $25 million by 2010. The height of the recession was 2008. Don’t you wish your income had that kind of increase?

So get all the facts and then vote for change. Nancy Shaver can make a difference.