Comments on: Decatur Polls Residents on Taxes

By: Steve

Steve — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 21:30:02 +0000

We’d all be interested in hearing what positions you think are excess.

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 19:51:34 +0000

Yeah, being low compared to the northeast makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. I could care less where we fall compared to another state. I know we have high taxes because we have a school system a police force, a real one and a fire department. Now all that is admirable and is a real function of government. It makes Decatur what we like, but we could cut employees. At one time we did not have a city engineer. If development is down, so should be that department. As well as inspections and zoning. Get the picture? Maybe we only need one administrator, after all we are a 4 square mile city. How many employees do we need? Think we have 10% too many, maybe 15%. Let’s find out, that is what most organizations do, cut till you can not handle the load, then you know the answer. That my friend is why productivity is so high. Everyone else is working.

By: karass

karass — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 14:00:56 +0000

Re city promotions and raises–are you sure that’s still true? It’s not happening in state government positions, in fact there’s furloughs and layoffs. I would be surprised if local government wasn’t in a similar situation.

By: decaturite16

decaturite16 — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 13:53:26 +0000

On a national scale, we’re not all that high. The South in general has low property tax rates. It can get kind of absurd in some places. When I visited Gadsden, Ala., a city of 40,000, about 15 years ago, it had an all-volunteer fire department, despite having a large tire-retreading plant in the middle of town (I suspect the plant had its own firefighters). A fair number of streets, even in the most urbanized area, were gravel, and there were no sidewalks anywhere but in the center of town. There were few streetlights. The schools were abysmal. The sole attraction in town, a waterfall overlook, was dilapidated and overgrown. And there was no sewer system — just private septic fields, which meant the creeks were a hazard. But the city was proud that its property tax rate was among the lowest in Alabama. Bradenton, Fla., bucked the rest of the state for years, rolling back its property tax rates annually until they were, likewise, among the state’s lowest. Then the water treatment plant failed after years of deferred maintenance, and water had to be trucked in for a month until the state government took over the plant and made emergency repairs. Of course, the mayor responsible for the rollback regime got re-elected a short time later to his sixth or seventh term. On the other hand, as the NYT recently noted, even the most liberal of New Jersey residents are ready to take a knife to the state’s property tax rates, which the nation’s highest — something like double ours.

By: decaturite16

decaturite16 — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 13:39:26 +0000

The state, not the city, gets the income taxes here, so that’s not a direct comparison.

By: Steve

Steve — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:27:50 +0000

I’m sure the City Commissioners and Administration would love to hear ideas. Why don’t you call and give them specifics?

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:02:57 +0000

Florida does not have an income tax. I know that is a state tax, but let’s just compare the true amounts. Now, Decatur can reduce the budget. They ran a lean budget for years, because the value of real estate did not increase. With all the development, the City should be flush. But the problem is most City employees got promotions and significant raises. Then, as always happens, the employment base increased and the piggy bank was open. Ok , that was when money was flowing. Now it is not. My advice and opinion is to tighten the budget, get rid of redundant employees and stick to public safety and essential services. Skip the niceties and concentrate on essentials.

By: taxus

taxus — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 01:53:37 +0000

Comparing Decatur to Marta is not very useful. Let’s stay focused.
Taxes can have expiration dates but party politics rule.
If Decatur taxes are comparable to Florida then they must also be comparable to any other state or jurisdiction.