User fees vs. property tax
A recent Mailbag writer suggested in a letter titled “Fund services with user fees” that instead of property taxes, various services such as police protection, fire service, waste collection, schools, etc., should only be paid for by those who choose to support and use them. Of course, the writer had no explanation for how this would work, but let’s see:
A call comes into the 911 call center, and the operator says, “911, what is your emergency?’ Caller: “My house is on fire. Send the fire department.” Operator: “Yes, sir, what is the address?” Caller: “123 Maple St.” Operator: “I’m sorry, sir, but we don’t have you listed as a fire service member.” Caller: “WHAT!?” Operator: “We only provide fire service to those who have signed up and paid in advance for fire service. Good luck and have a nice day.” One can only imagine how the call would go for a heart attack or a home invasion.
I noted the writer signed with the title, “PhD,” which reminded me of the two farmers chatting over the fence one day. Farmer A says, “Did you hear that Farmer C’s son just graduated from college with two degrees?” Farmer B: “Is that so? What’s his degree?” Farmer A: “First, he got a BS degree, and you know what that is.” Farmer B: “Sure do!” Farmer A: “Then he got an MS.” Farmer B: “I know, More of the Same!” Farmer A: “Yeah, but now he’s going back for a third degree.” Farmer B: “Really! What now?” Farmer A: “Now he’s getting a PhD.” Farmer B: “I know – Piled Higher and Deeper!”
Since the writer thinks we should be impressed by titles, maybe he should consider Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes’s quote: “Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society.”
Ken Brindle, Cape Coral
Rail trail debt burden
Bonita Springs taxpayers are being steered into a fiscal trap. Our City Council is pushing a $35 million bond for a railroad purchase, but the reality is a $173 million disaster that threatens our financial future.
What Bonita Springs politicians call a $35 million project is actually a $70 million debt once interest is included — a $3,400 tax increase for the average homeowner. Worse, this bond doesn’t pave a single inch of trail. Completing the project requires an additional $103 million for bridges, paving, and industrial pollution cleanup.
Lee County government refuses to participate in this, prioritizing road infrastructure instead. Chairman Cecil Pendergrass stated: “Lee County is not involved or provide any funding… We are building roads before we build paths.”
The project is also compromised by Mayor Mike Gibson’s conflict of interest. State records show the mayor operates a bicycle shop and pizza restaurant within 500 feet of the proposed trail, using his public office to orchestrate a taxpayer-funded subsidy for his own profit.
Taxpayers are signing a blank check for “as-is” industrial land, assuming perpetual liability for maintenance, security, and pollution. We are forcing our children and grandchildren to foot a $173 million bill for 6.15 miles of polluted dirt.
Visit usataxfighters.org/issues to use our tax calculator and review the documentation. Don’t let politicians hide this massive property tax increase in a low-turnout August primary. The choice is clear: Vote No on the 30-year property tax increase.
Dave Jaye, Bonita Springs
Estero Boulevard engineering
As a retired building contractor that had to try to figure out many an ill-thought-out engineering issue, I have a question. Who was the engineer of record that thought that making the rebuilt Estero Blvd. concave was a good idea? Not only is it concave but the design of putting pavers in the turn lane bordered by a curb will make the repaving of the asphalt much more difficult. As the road made its way south suddenly they changed it back to the universally accepted convex design. Hmm. So, now again the county/us are paying for the repairs of this curious design. Has The News-Press looked into this at all?
John Regina, Fort Myers Beach
Alligator Alcatraz closing
I appreciate your headline article on the final closing of Alligator Alcatraz in the June 18 edition. However, in your second headline, you stated the DHS claim of hurricane safety as the reason. The entire front page focused on the problems of the hurricane season, even though it was of no concern that the detention center had already gone through that last year with no regard then. I am so sorry and disappointed that the reporter who wrote the story and the editor did not delve more diligently into the truth of why these inhumane, ecologically disastrous, and illegal cages were even allowed in the first place. On page 5, it finally states the truth about the 42 weeks of protests. Thankfully, the people have spoken.
Lois Cohen, Naples
Homestead tax relief
At first, I was against the homestead tax relief bill; however, after further review, I have recognized it as a valuable piece of legislation that will aid the residents of Florida. Certain states and communities have successfully lowered property taxes and adapted well, with the key difference being effective management.
The Cape Coral mayor, many Lee County officials and most news media outlets across Florida are attempting to instill fear in you about the homestead tax relief bill to be voted on in November because municipalities are reluctant to curtail their excessive and unwarranted expenditures. Take Cape Coral as an example. They allocate tens of millions for desires rather than necessities. For instance, they are investing tens of millions in medians that will soon need to be removed to create additional lanes for the growing traffic. They are also designing the yacht club to feature an unnecessary resort-style pool, along with an unattractive and superfluous four-story garage. Furthermore, they purchased over 18 acres for $40 million, despite the fact that we can only sell it for $20 million, and there are no interested buyers. Additionally, consider the outrageous salaries being paid to our city manager, city attorney, and the two assistant city managers, whose combined salaries (excluding the generous benefits we can only dream of) exceed $1 million annually. These are individuals we do not elect. It is time for local governments to begin reducing expenditure instead of lamenting the need to halt spending. They must be held accountable. By eliminating wasteful spending from our local government budget, we would not feel the financial strain. Most budgets are inflated with unnecessary expenses and blatant overspending. This governor is heading in the right direction. No essential services should be affected. By cutting out unnecessary pet projects, we can ensure that elite country club members and mayors with personal interests are left out, making this approach work. If you continue to vote for tax increases and spending, it will not be long before Florida resembles the West Coast and many other blue states and cities. They cannot continue to spend everyone’s money as if it were limitless, this bill also addresses that issue. Perhaps we should contemplate imposing taxes on apartment owners for each unit; this could deter the excessive construction of these buildings on every corner or look at the impact fee structure, and this could protect middle-class homeowners while still generating some revenue from high-value properties.
One of the alarming claims made by officials regarding the homestead exemption is that it might adversely affect renters and the education system. Why should individuals who pay property taxes but do not have children bear the weight of school taxes? It’s essential for the education system and other important services to handle their finances wisely. Spending millions on student education while seeing minimal returns is wrong. I feel that my tax responsibilities shouldn’t be equivalent to those of parents. Although I support government funding for education, I fail to see why my contribution is linked to the value of my property. I’m open to assisting in ensuring our community has educated individuals, as that benefits everyone. However, it’s disheartening to observe that despite my financial support, the education system appears to be struggling, with many young people wasting their time on useless degrees and lacking the fundamental knowledge (like who we fought against in the American Revolutionary War or who our 16th President was) while demanding more free resources. This raises questions about the overall intelligence of our young adults. Most older Americans are increasingly losing faith in our education system.
Lou Walker, Cape Coral
What aboutisms and TDS
I have been reading for several years various LTE about how some of us have TDS. Perhaps you should look at what we’re actually talking about and why we are not happy with this person as pres. Let’s take the Iran War. February 28 T in the middle of the night when we were all sleeping announced the beginning of the bombing campaign along with Israel on Iran. The purpose was obliterate their military, their navy, their missile, regime change, unconditional surrender and no more nuclear weapons ever. T was advised by several expert advisors one of which was Nate Swanson, 2 decades on Iran strategy and policy from the State Dept. He was succinctly fired as Laura Loomer tweeted that he was not good. On Feb 24th Nate wrote that Iran would not capitulate after a bombing campaign but rather escalate “target global; oil flows and international shipping, sending energy prices up and creating a serious political liability for T”. Should I say Nate was prescient. Fast forward into mid June and we have a MOU for 60 days and Israel was not part of the MOU. I’m not going into the deets as we know that basically Iran got sanctions waived so they can get not $30 B yearly in oil but now closer to $60 B yearly. Then they will control the Strait of Hormuz and after 60 days, Iran has talked about charging fees to go through the strait. Iran says leave my proxies alone. $300 B will be released for “reparations” if Iran complies… sure, 60 days is not long to wait. The nuclear question is very much up in air. No mention of missile stockpiles. Somehow I think Iran got the better deal from us. So you say… the Obama JCPOA gave Iran $1.7 B of OUR money in cash on palettes. SO…instead $1.7 B let’s add up what it has the cost the taxpayer… SO FAR. $132 B and counting for military expenses (and Hegseth is asking for extra $80 B more from Congress), $2.2 TRILLION global economic cost, higher gas prices, higher food costs, farmers struggling to get fertilizer and going bankrupt, transportation costs to go to work, diesel up for trucks to transport our goods, and lest we forget angst and worry over whether we can pay for everything that keeps getting higher and higher. And the WORST cost … 13 service people lost their lives. In the JCPOA (previous Iran nuclear agreement), not one person lost their life in the U.S., in Iran, in Lebanon, in Israel. So for those of you have Obama Derangement Syndrome let’s just stop with the “what aboutisms” and look at what this Iran War has really cost us. That’s why we write these letters. T had no business going to war with Iran as every single president before him understood that the Strait of Hormuz would be shut down and create havoc with the global economy. And T’s negotiators, Kushner and Witkoff real estate moguls (not really experts on negotiations with Iran) at least were in talks with Iran for several months. T just became impatient. That’s no way to be a president, no way to lead a country into war. Period.
Beth Summer, Naples
Empty promises from far left
When I was in middle school, I ran for president. My campaign consisted of one main issue. I would make sure that an elevator would be installed so that those of us on the 4th floor would not have to walk up and down the steps when entering school and when leaving. This promise struck a note with all the students on the 4th floor and I won by a landslide. Unfortunately, I lost the following year because, alas, no elevator.
My promise then had as much credence as the far left candidates running in NYC, Long Island and elsewhere. Free this and free that. No rules for this and no rules for that. No more police, no more restraints on illegals. Laissez-faire. Crime will blossom out of control. Unfortunately, for these candidates, these broken promises will be remembered and as Margaret Thatcher said, “Socialism works until you run out of other peoples’ money.”
Hopefully, these candidates like Lander will have lost and their mistaken promises will be treated as just that: mistakes and that the voters will return to reality. Hochul and her genderless parental adjectives will be gone as well. Mamdani will not be reelected and the greatest city in the world will shine again as it once did, most recently under the direction of moderate Democrat Michael Bloomberg. Jobs will return, people will return to the Empire State.
Michael Zubrow, Naples
Guns or behavior
This past weekend in Chicago was sadly a typical weekend. 28 citizens were randomly shot and 8 were killed. Mayor Brandon Johnson had his customary news conference. He stated that this is unfortunately another case of “Gun violence.“ Let’s be serious and establish that guns are an inanimate object. Maybe it would be time to admit and face the harsh reality. Let’s establish that human behavior is the culprit. Gun ownership exists throughout the country. North and South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and most other states and major U.S. cities do not experience this level of random violence. So the question should be what makes Chicago so violent week after week, year after year? For those honest with themselves it’s not a legal weapon. You can easily decide the true and legitimate reason. The factual data says it all and the statistics are readily available. Google it!
John McWilliams, Fort Myers
Coal not the answer
Coal??!! You’re kidding! Please say you’re kidding. He’s not really going to give hundreds of millions to start up coal mines again. He’s not really going to condemn hundreds of men to black lung disease again. He wants to bring back pollution in Manhattan and Los Angeles to choke us all? Doesn’t he remember when you couldn’t wear white outdoors in New York City or you would be covered in grime from all the coal being burnt as fuel? He and I are about the same age and I remember it well. I also remember visiting Los Angeles where there was never a blue sky to see, just a kind of yellowy hazy atmosphere that, on the worst days of smog, you could barely see your hand in front of your face. And to turn to coal when our global competitor, China, is turning away from it in order to corner the market on renewables, just doesn’t make any sense even for this president. I really thought my country was at the forefront of technology advances. But we’re being outstripped even by small European countries, let alone China, who’ve mastered ways to create energy from the sun and wind and tides so that their peoples don’t have to choke on fossil fuel fumes anymore.
Jennifer Walker, Naples
New York vs. Florida
The letter writer from New York (6/21 Mailbag) doesn’t seem to like Florida. The feeling may be mutual. He seemed upset that Florida’s gun laws reflect the Constitution, where the laws in New York don’t and in fact they are defying a decision from the Supreme Court as we speak. He threw around the racist word but the fact is we are on the verge of electing a Black governor, something New York has never done. Perhaps the reality is that, if he plans to visit Florida, the East Coast would be a better choice, where more people think like him. If he is thinking about moving south, I would suggest being a “Half Back” and settle in Maryland or Virginia where his views are more closely mirrored in the legislature. Don’t “New York” my Florida.
Greg Fretwell, Estero
Dark money, bad policy
Since when have our elections been only about who can raise the most money and not about policy or matters of humankind like health, children, good jobs, education, or minimal subsistence support for the elderly? Except for Substack, those critical issues get pushed out of the media by Trump’s latest stupid decision. But the dark money keeps flowing in for him because his Supreme Court made the most outrageous ruling in my memory — Citizens United, whereby the super-wealthy can make unlimited political contributions through their corporations.
If you care about the continuation of our democracy, please ignore the tidal wave of negative and libelous campaign lies (from either side), do your research from truthful sources, and vote on policy, not for the deepest pockets filled with the darkest money. Under Trump, America has quickly established a new image before the world as an erratic and declining power, led by unserious people, supported by a largely uninformed electorate. If we can stop this disastrous administration by winning in Congress and replacing him and the last MAGA in 2028, then we — responsible Republicans and Democrats, together — will still have decades of repair work to do.
We can be better than this.
Cliff Welles, Bonita Springs
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Readers debate proposal for property tax relief | Opinion letters
Reporting by Letter writers / Fort Myers News-Press
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By Letter writers | USA TODAY Network
