- Naked Conch - Posted by Daniel R. Dombroski - June 2, 2012
Dear County Commissioners,
I read with great interest the article in this week’s News-Barometer that stated in November the homeowners within the proposed Cudjoe Regional Waste water system will be notified that they will be taxed an additional $5,700 onto their property taxes for their sewer assessment. First of all, I want to make it clear that I am for the sewers and wish that we all were doing more to protect the fragile environment in the Keys. However, I have to voice my displeasure over this assessment fee. I believe, that when the County first announced the goal of constructing sewers in the Lower Keys their claim was that the assessment fee per home would be no more than $2,500. Home owners in the Cudjoe Regional system will be paying over twice the amount of money than their fellow home owners paid in other areas built first. Why is this? How can the County justify that a owner of a multimillion dollar home on Shark Key, which was not even included in the original plan to have sewers in the Lower Keys, pay half the amount of a sewer assessment fee than a person who might own a trailer in Big Pine Key. “Come on Man”- this to me not only seems unethical but is down right immoral. Why are we being left to be responsible for the delays and underfunding issues that have hampered this project on a local and state level and that we, as homeowners, had no say in nor control of. Is there anywhere else in the Keys where there is a disproportionate tax levy for sewer assessments solely based on which homes were assessed first or last? I do not think so. Then why is this disproportionate tier level of assessment tax being considered for the Cudjoe Regional System? It just does not seem fair to me that those who were first on line, or were allowed to cut into the line, should pay less than those who had no choice other than to be placed on the back of the assessment line.
I know that when the County Commissioners were discussing the possibility of putting a toll on US 1 in Key Largo the argument against it was that it would be unfair since it would levy a disparate monetary burden on the citizens of the Upper Keys because the residents of the Upper Keys would most likely have to pay the toll more often than the residents of the Lower Keys. Well, please explain to me how this is different.
I realize the argument will be made that the majority of the current County Commissioners were not elected officials when some of the prior decisions were made about the sewers, funding and the previous assessment costs. However, the current elected County officials were involved in establishing the cost of this current assessment fee for the Cudjoe system and they also have the power to act upon and correct an inequitable financial burden being placed on the backs of residents of the Cudjoe Regional system. This could be done by reassessing areas that have already paid their assessment and make this a fair and balanced tax for all.
Thanking you in advance for your response.
Daniel R. Dombroski
29135 Camellia Lane
Big Pine Key, FL 33043
