property values to drop another 14.5%?

By Tim Middleton
MSN Money
The housing collapse led the stock market and the economy into the cellar. And this crucial sector is headed deeper still, along with the value of your home. How low? One measure suggests a further 14.5% drop.... The value of homes in Miami Springs dropped 28.3% in the past year alone, according to Zillow.com, a real estate website. The combination would result in a 42.8% drop in home values if we are in the average range. What do you think that will mean to property taxes? Tax revenues to the City? Can we really afford a Rolls Royce in the driveway when we cant afford food, utilities, gas or insurance? Residents have resorted to garage sales to keep the lights on and put food on the table! How can we afford $200,000 a year for the next twenty years in new bills? WE CANT, is the simple answer. Why wont city officials live within their budgets, like everybody else does? Have they absolutely NO COMMON SENSE ? Why are we NOT, as a city, tightening our belts, consolidating, making what cuts are necessary to survive this mess? The City Manager says last meeting he is STARTING to see some signs that we MAY be in a recession! MAY have some financial problems down the road! WHAT ??? Earth to city officials - we are IN a recession and have officially been in it for the past 14 MONTHS! When are you going to start acting like it? To do otherwise is just idiocy. Dr Mel Johnson

Council meeting recap 1-12-09

Council spent 30 minutes tonight trying to decide whether furniture actually resides in a home, or not. Tex said it is tough to decide whether furniture and goods are new, or not, which is probably true. Stuff with tags on it are new; so are stuff in cartons or boxes. A couple residents seem to be running businesses out of their house, in garage sales. 99% are following the rules altho as things get worse it wouldnt be surprising to see people do more and more garage sales to keep food on the table and the lights on. Several points were made by a resident regarding the pool and its operations. More discussion is scheduled on the zoning variances of the new gym next time. Billing quarterly for stormwater and trash will save the City 20k. Billing every 2 months will save 14k. A letter was sent to the Council regarding the Optimist connection to the swim team apparently, but wasnt revealed to the public. Thats a letter that needs to be public. The Corradino Group was hired to rework the figures and the annexation bid for 11k. The circle at Bluebird is a county project, and will include landscaping and pavers. Firefighters requested circle be stopped because its hard for their trucks to go around that circle. Dotson requested shuttle numbers. Twenty bids were received to be the Field Engineer on the new gym project. LINK is working on adjustments to the new gym project that will meet code.

clarification

Of course the major damage referred to in the prior post was to the pool supports, wiring, plumbing, pumps, etc. The retaining wall between the pool and the gym would have to be removed, and it provides structural support to the pool and pool deck. In these times of recession, unemployment, foreclosures, and an uncertain economic future, can we afford to take on MORE debt? The Council is obviously NOT concerned about ANY of the above factors and continues merrily on their way spending money like drunken sailors (apologies to the drunken sailors). They have NO concern for the longtime residents who are retired and living on fixed incomes, and cant afford repeated tax increases. Thats NOT 100% accurate, of course- they DID allow them another garage sale to get rid of their life possessions in hopes of putting food on the table and keeping the lights on! That IS an indication of exactly how out-of-touch with the everyday realities most of us face every day! Or perhaps they KNOW, but just dont CARE.

let them eat cake

The Council has decided to allow the residents three more garage sales per year. Big deal, when people are struggling to put food on the table, make their mortgage payments, and gas up their car! Do they seriously think that 3 extra yard sales will make up for the MILLIONS in additional debt City officials have burdened the residents with? Not to mention the increased taxes that are coming next year to pay for their legacies on the weary and hurting backs of the residents! The City Manager acknowledges that residents are having a hard time paying their light bills, putting food on the table, and filling up their cars so they can go to work. Instead of some tax relief we get 3 more garage sales? Incredible! Let them eat cake! Incredibly and totally insensitive and out of touch with the lives of the average residents. No clue, or apparent awareness that we are in a recession and people are losing their jobs and their homes,and little concern.