Monroe County government (which is spending $667 million taxpayer dollars this year for just 82,000 residents!) wants more money. According to county experts, there are several absolutely “critical” infrastructure and resiliency projects in need of billions of dollars funding. Since property taxes are at the max for homeowners, the county is pushing for voter approval of the “Starter Charter” as the vehicle to
raise billions in new revenue.
First up will be increasing the county sales tax to 8.5 percent, but that only adds $55 million annually. We’ll still require billions more for the new county-wide bus system, for raising hundreds of miles of roads 6″ – 12″ (imagine thousands of rock-laden dump trucks jamming US1 daily for the next several years), and of course, for lots of “resilient” new county buildings. And that’s just the starter list.
Fortunately for Monroe County, the Starter Charter makes several new taxes possible — taxes on water and on electric bills, transportation taxes, special taxing districts, resiliency taxes, taxes on things you didn’t know could be taxed, and more.
We will soon be drowning in new taxes. The Starter Charter is a scam, and if it passes, we’ll all be riding the shiny new Keys bus system. That’s all we’ll be able to afford.