Category Archives: Taxes
Emergency Services Surtax – Look Ahead
It doesn’t look like the Emergency Services Surtax (ESS) is going away any time soon. It popped up again in the state of the county presentation. County staff has supported the proposal with some questionable assertions. The ESS is being sold to … Continue reading
Posted in BOCC, Fire and Ambulance, Taxes
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Emergency Services Surtax – Monroe County
At this point in the discussion, it would probably be a good idea to revisit the map of emergency services providers. It helps to keep track of what is going on where. Monroe County serves the unincorporated Lower and Middle … Continue reading
Posted in BOCC, Bubba System, Fire and Ambulance, Taxes
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Carruthers and Her Cronies
Monroe County Commissioner Heather Carruthers is pushing the Emergency Sales Surtax (ESS). It looks to be another dishonest money grab. Just like the wastewater projects. In this case, the county is looking to take advantage of the taxpayers over a life-health-safety … Continue reading
Posted in BOCC, Bubba System, Fire and Ambulance, Monroe County, Taxes
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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
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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
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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
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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
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
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Financial Squeeze – Number of Establishments
There are numerous factors that have impacted the economy of the Florida Keys – the recession, the BP oil spill, the housing bubble. These are events that had national or regional impact. That is, everyone in the Keys and beyond was affected. Monroe … Continue reading
Monkey Math – Revenue Wrap-Up
Looking at the wastewater projects makes one thing very clear, for Key Largo there is no upside to remaining unincorporated. The county simply takes Key Largo’s tax money and squanders it elsewhere. In effect, Key Largo’s tax money enables waste and subsidizes … Continue reading
The Real Poop 