Upping the Ante in IRB
There were 84,000 American jobs lost in August. Unemployment rose to 6.1%--the highest in a handful of years. This is worse than even doomsaying economists predicted. The cost of nearly everything has risen including the privilege of living in Indian Rocks Beach:
EMERGENCY SERVICES
Pinellas Suncoast Fire & Rescue District increase from $190 to $260.
UTILITIES
Progress Energy has last week announced a proposed 31 percent increase for it Florida customers. This takes the average monthly bill from $144.86 per month to $110.59 beginning right after the new year. (Whose average monthly bill is that? Certainly not mine…which is THREE TIMES that amount.)
UTILITY TAXES
When utilities go up, so do the accompanying taxes on those services.
SEWER/SOLID WASTE RATES
Garbage collection and sanitary sewer up 60%.
PROPERTY TAXES
The proposed 2.15 millage rate represents a substantial increase over last year.
PERMIT FEES
IRB increased its local building fees, inspection fees, and a whole roster of other fees over the last year. Even the cost of a wedding on the beach has gone through the roof, negatively impacting one of IRB’s largest employers—Holiday Inn Harbourside.
FLOOD INSURANCE
The loss of the 10% Community Rating System Premium Discount will increase our individual insurance rates in the near future. (Here’s a link to the City’s Web site for more info about this increase: http://www.indian-rocks-beach.com/documents/FEMADiscountPolicy.htm
FUEL
The rising cost at the pump has increased the price of everything—most noticeably in the weekly grocery tab.
When all the increases in taxes and fees are tallied, you’ll be paying substantially MORE for LESS; essential services like police protection are being cut to the nubbies.
One thing that hasn’t gone up is our property values. As expected, homesteaded properties enjoying the "Save Our Homes" cap saw a tax increase anyway. For many IRB homeowners, their home is their largest asset. I read somewhere recently that we’re supposed to be celebrating because our property values haven’t gone down as much as those in some other beach communities. The truth is that there have been fewer real estate sales in our community as compared to some others, so that info is actually based on a fewer number of sales and could be statistically anemic and significantly flawed.
In poker, it’s either ante up or fold. Which will your family do? Which half of us are going to the poor house and which half is on its way to the expanded IRB Library?
Nancy Obarski
Beach Trail/Indian Rocks Beach
There were 84,000 American jobs lost in August. Unemployment rose to 6.1%--the highest in a handful of years. This is worse than even doomsaying economists predicted. The cost of nearly everything has risen including the privilege of living in Indian Rocks Beach:
EMERGENCY SERVICES
Pinellas Suncoast Fire & Rescue District increase from $190 to $260.
UTILITIES
Progress Energy has last week announced a proposed 31 percent increase for it Florida customers. This takes the average monthly bill from $144.86 per month to $110.59 beginning right after the new year. (Whose average monthly bill is that? Certainly not mine…which is THREE TIMES that amount.)
UTILITY TAXES
When utilities go up, so do the accompanying taxes on those services.
SEWER/SOLID WASTE RATES
Garbage collection and sanitary sewer up 60%.
PROPERTY TAXES
The proposed 2.15 millage rate represents a substantial increase over last year.
PERMIT FEES
IRB increased its local building fees, inspection fees, and a whole roster of other fees over the last year. Even the cost of a wedding on the beach has gone through the roof, negatively impacting one of IRB’s largest employers—Holiday Inn Harbourside.
FLOOD INSURANCE
The loss of the 10% Community Rating System Premium Discount will increase our individual insurance rates in the near future. (Here’s a link to the City’s Web site for more info about this increase: http://www.indian-rocks-beach.com/documents/FEMADiscountPolicy.htm
FUEL
The rising cost at the pump has increased the price of everything—most noticeably in the weekly grocery tab.
When all the increases in taxes and fees are tallied, you’ll be paying substantially MORE for LESS; essential services like police protection are being cut to the nubbies.
One thing that hasn’t gone up is our property values. As expected, homesteaded properties enjoying the "Save Our Homes" cap saw a tax increase anyway. For many IRB homeowners, their home is their largest asset. I read somewhere recently that we’re supposed to be celebrating because our property values haven’t gone down as much as those in some other beach communities. The truth is that there have been fewer real estate sales in our community as compared to some others, so that info is actually based on a fewer number of sales and could be statistically anemic and significantly flawed.
In poker, it’s either ante up or fold. Which will your family do? Which half of us are going to the poor house and which half is on its way to the expanded IRB Library?
Nancy Obarski
Beach Trail/Indian Rocks Beach
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