Action Item! Public Hearing on Property Taxes & County Budget
There will be a public hearing on May 19th. Register and make your voice heard over our property revaluation and a host of other fiscal issues that our county has handled so poorly.
The hearing will be held in the Meeting Chamber of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center (CMGC) located at 600 East Fourth Street.
A copy of the proposed budget will be available for public inspection online beginning Tuesday, May 17, 2011 or in person during the hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at the Commissioners/Manager’s Office, CMGC, 600 East Fourth Street, 11th Floor, starting Wednesday, May 18, 2011.
You may register to speak about the recommended budget from May 9th through May 18th.
Please complete the following form or call 704-336-2086 and leave the information the message asks for.
Here is the registration form
There are many declaring local conservatism/tea party activism dead. I’d love to have a HUGE turnout on Thursday. Please share with your lists and lets get people motivated to show up and let their voices be heard.
Will the BOCC listen? With this crop, most likely not. What we can do, however, is be vocal and encourage our fellow citizens to step up and be involved. If no one is trumping their message, they get lackadaisical. Let’s encourage fellow believers to take action!
Thanks for the heads up Christian.
I would encourage all citizens to come to the meeting prepared with the statistics that show the effect of policy….such as job growth, status as the most taxed county in the state, etc.
Here’s one way to look at the effect of local county policy….population growth….Union County has grown twice as fast as Mecklenburg over the past decade as people have moved out of the county to avoid taxes, schools, etc.
Union County 2000 123,667 2010 208,292 +68%
Meck County 2000 695,378 2010 919,628 +32%
York County 2000 164,614 2010 226,073 +37%
Cabarrus Cty 2000 131,063 2010 181,407 +31%
I think the time limit for comments is 3 minutes per citizen…so being prepared is the most important thing.
Thanks,
Mike
Not only should folks speak against this unprecedented tax increase during an undisputed period of deep recession and record unemployment, but every concerned citizen who speaks should use the opportunity to also call for Harry Jones’ immediate resignation!
In truth, this has been a done deal since last fall, when the local GOP refused to make a property tax hike THE defining issue of the commissioners campaign.
The only question was the extend to which Harry and Jennifer would be held responsible for the hike. The answer? Not at all. The massive spin and obfuscation machine has performed flawlessly. Charlotte is well and truly on the way to Detroit-on-the-Catawba.
Nothing can stop it.
Friends,
I will be speaking tonight at the hearing and I want to ask your help.
I am going to point out about 3 or 4 justifications for no tax increase…we’ve lost tens of thousands of jobs in Mecklenburg County during the recession….unemployment is rampant…many of us have seen dramatic decreases in our income during the recession….and lastly, that Mecklenburg County is Number 1….
Mecklenburg County and Charlotte are Number One in taxes and fees per capita in the state…in a John Locke Foundation study, based on 2009 combined county and municapal revenue by municipality, Mecklenburg County is at the top of the list in the taking from citizens. You can find the study on the John Locke Foundation web site under “Research.” Don’t you know that cities that we compete with for jobs(Raleigh #7) and cities who are close by and growing rapidly due to the high cost of government in Mecklenburg(Monroe #11) will salivate at the prospect of Mecklenburg raising taxes and putting more distance between them and us…what a great marketing tool when selling their advantages over us.
Please join me in chanting “We’re Number One” “We’re Number One” We’re Number One” as we make the point that there’s no need or justification to take more from us when “We’re Number One!”
Thanks,
Mike
[…] glad to hear it. So I’m certain all of the chamber chieftains will be at the Government Center tonight to strongly encourage commissioners to scuttle the county manager’s recommended budget, which […]