Category Archives: Fire and Ambulance
Emergency Services Surtax – “Shifting” All Over Key West Locals
Updated to clean up the tables. County Commissioner George Neugent said this in our correspondence about the Emergency Services Surtax (ESS) the other day: There has been a tremendous transformation of Monroe County & municipalities. Going back to the 80s when … Continue reading
Posted in BOCC, Bubba System, Fire and Ambulance, Key West, Taxes
Leave a comment
Fact Checking the “White Paper”
County Commissioner, Heather Carruthers, has proposed a new sales tax, the Emergency Services Surtax (ESS). She describes it as a “tax shift”. Emergency services are currently paid for through property taxes. Unfortunately, this proposal is being supported with some very questionable … Continue reading
Posted in BOCC, Bubba System, Fire and Ambulance
Leave a comment
Emergency Services Surtax – Public Records
As it was with sewer, so it is with fire service. Monroe County squandered enormous amounts of taxpayer money on Big Coppitt and Cudjoe Regional. They forced taxpayers from the rest of the county to make up the difference. Now it … Continue reading
Posted in BOCC, Bubba System, Fire and Ambulance, Monroe County, Public Records
2 Comments
Emergency Services Surtax – Property Taxes
The Emergency Services Surtax (ESS) is shady right out of the gate. Immediately it’s being justified with some very questionable claims. That alone makes me very suspicious. Monroe County’s fire service is much more expensive than any other entity in the Keys. Why? And … Continue reading
Posted in BOCC, Bubba System, Fire and Ambulance, Taxes
2 Comments
Emergency Services Surtax by Income Bracket
The sales tax is a regressive tax. This has been mentioned in Keys media more than once, as a point of concern, in regards to the topic of the Emergency Services Surtax (ESS). In it’s “white paper“, Monroe County has made some … Continue reading
Posted in BOCC, Bubba System, Fire and Ambulance
2 Comments
Emergency Services Surtax – Sneaking Around?
I’ve been reading up some more on the Emergency Services Surtax. It turns out that there was a change made to the law in July 2015. From the 2015 Local Government Financial Information Handbook, page 195. Chapter 2015-169, L.O.F., (CS/CS/HB … Continue reading
Posted in BOCC, Bubba System, Fire and Ambulance, Taxes
Leave a comment
Emergency Services Surtax – It’s a Shift Alright
I want to make a brief point about the sales tax. Key West is the largest generator of the sales tax in the Keys – by far. Key Largo is second. The two areas are actually very close when it … Continue reading
Emergency Sales Surtax – “White Paper”
This Emergency Sales Surtax (ESS) proposal is pretty typical of the way Monroe County operates. They float some half-baked idea and make a bunch of vague promises about how it will reduce the burden on the locals and place it on the … Continue reading
Posted in BOCC, Fire and Ambulance, Monroe County
1 Comment
Emergency Services – Who, Where and How Much?
Commissioner Heather Carruthers has been spamming us with one idea after another lately. First it was light rail. Then it was the logo contest. Now it’s this emergency services surtax, which thankfully hasn’t gained much traction. It won’t be upon us until 2018, … Continue reading
Posted in BOCC, Fire and Ambulance, Monroe County
1 Comment
Monkey Math – Emergency Services Surtax
The Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) is considering an additional sales tax to pay for fire service. The proposal has been put forward by commissioner Heather Carruthers, who likes to call it a tax “shift”. Here is the county’s story: the county … Continue reading
Posted in BOCC, Fire and Ambulance, Monroe County, Taxes
1 Comment
The Real Poop 