Property tax relief is coming to Elk County...

[Bullwinkle]

     I think this is clear evidence of what Ross and Patriot have been asking about for a while.

[Patriot]

     I think this is clear evidence of what Ross and Patriot have been asking about for a while.

If only some clever actor could move to the stage & pull the clear answers out of a hat.   

[Patriot]

I was sitting and pondering the pending Supreme Court decision on Obamacare and was reminded of a comment made by Democrat Nancy Pelosi regarding the bill prior to its passage... "You just need to pass the bill to see what's in it."

The details of the Act (costs, long term effects on society & economy, etc.) were never made clear to the public prior to passage.  It would seem that is the approach being taken with the Elk County Neighborhood Revitalization Plan.  Based on what other countries (or counties in this case) are doing, staffers toss it together, backroom deals are made based on it, a dominant liberal leaning majority passes it, and the public swallows it.... until somebody challenges it in the courts.  Wouldn't it have been much easier (and less costly) to put personal & politically expedient agendas aside and openly & honestly vet the pros & cons of Obamacare before rushing full steam head to passage?

[Bullwinkle]

    Nancy Pelosi, what a waste of good air. And they call Ross narcisstic. This law must be repealed. I just saw Warph's thread on the "supreme court" ruling. Disgusting.

[Patriot]

   Nancy Pelosi, what a waste of good air. And they call Ross narcisstic. This law must be repealed. I just saw Warph's thread on the "supreme court" ruling. Disgusting.

I would generally agree... but with respect to the upholding of the Act, the majority put this where it should have been all along:  It IS a tax on the citizens.  

If you think our economy is a mess now, wait till the tx aspects of paying for this mess really kicks in.  The middle class will be crushed under the debt load.  Decisions will have to be made... food or health insurance/fines, home repairs or insurance/fines, college savings or insurance/fines, electric bill or insurance/fines, new tires or insurance fines... add your own.   And for those employed where the employer will be required to pay for insurance, the employer may opt for the less costly fines which leaves employees in the position of paying for health care out of already shrinking or stagnated wages.  They, too, may be faced with the above choices.  this is the way elitists & Marxists control the masses.  Keep em poor.

You've been had... politicians said it wasn't a tax... it is.  That was a lie!  Now we have a choice to make:  Reelect a liar and his congressional puppets who are also liars or clean house and replace the congress & presidency with a new crop.  Hopefully a crop that won't continue to rape the public.  For those who choose to keep the status quo, you deserve the government you get.

This also applies to other government giveaways like the Neighborhood Revitalization Plan and the politicians/bureaucrats who push such things on the public without a full vetting.  Especially when pre-passage manipulation of the rules indicate the program is geared to special interests.  Cornhusker Kickbacks anyone?

[Ross]

Has anyone came up with hearing dates for the Neighborhood Revitalization Plan?

Or is it going to be handled like the study that wasn't done?

[Patriot]

Update:  She was against it... before she was for it... before she was unsure what to do about it... before she did nothing about it!

At the 8/27/2012 county commission meeting, the Neighborhood Revitalization Program was on the agenda... again.  Commissioner Hendricks said she thought Commissioner Ritz was right in his earlier objections about the plan start date (see my earlier post quoted below).  She made no motion on the matter after some discussion about how changing the date might upset some people who had already 'applied' for the nonexistent plan (including the giant new fish farm/RV park at 99 & 160) & had started construction.  One county employee was astute enough to inquire how anyone could apply for a program that didn't yet exist... good question!

Well, no consensus to change the date was reached.  This, in spite of adamant arguments by the Appraiser that no one had been made any promises regarding the tax rebate plan or their acceptance for participation in it and assurances by the county counselor that these folks could be 'grandfathered in' in some fashion if the date was changed.

Well to be 100% accurate, the Appraiser said that she hadn't promised anyone anything.  In all honesty, my gut tells me that the Appraiser was being totally honest.... she hadn't promised anyone anything.


As a side note, one of the 'applicants' whose 'application' was originally used to justify the 1/1/2012 plan start date, as I understand it, claimed to be totally unaware of their 'application' or involvement in this new plan nor had any county official talked with them about it... as recently as Thursday or Friday before this commission meeting (let alone the meeting referred to below)... but I could be wrong... I guess.  Speaking of fish & things that are beginning to smell of fish!

There were some other minor draft changes agreed to (no, not the $20,000 minimum investment to play), but those can wait for another day...

Side note:  Is anybody else getting the feeling that the 'minutes' we read in the newspaper or the unsigned minutes we see on the county website just don't quite paint the whole picture?  More fish?  I dunno.

Two of our county commissioners, Hendricks & Liebau, our economic development director and our county appraiser have been working feverishly to adopt a tax rebate neighborhood revitalization plan for Elk County.  Today's commission meeting, provided the answer to a couple of troubling questions.  Why was the open application start date in the new plan set to January 1, 2012?  Is it because the plan is being developed to serve some special interest?  Commissioner Ritz asked these very questions.  Here is a summary of the answers presented in the public meeting...

The appraiser provided the following:
1.  A former Enterprise Zone development incentive program was cancelled by the state last year.
2.  There was a citizen who, because of delays in construction, failed to qualify for incentives in that program before it closed.
3.  A 'replacement' incentive program (Neighborhood Revitalization Plan) was proposed locally.
4.  The proposed program has yet to be finalized by the county commission or approved by the state attorney general.
5.  Nothing in the plan was designed to provide special treatment to anyone.
6.  The proposed program was drafted & presented by our economic development director & our appraiser and they set the application start date in the new plan back to Jan 1, 2012 specifically so the person mentioned in 2 above could participate.
7.  There may have been other premature applications taken as well.


Read that date again... 1/1/2012.  Commissioner Ritz pointed out that it's darned difficult to apply for a program that hasn't been adopted or approved as required state law.  Ritz observed that the fact the date was admittedly set so the person in 2 above (and perhaps others) could participate & allowed to apply before the program existed and without paying the proposed application fee upon application made it appear the plan was, in fact, being structured to provide some special benefit to one or more persons.  In spite of the facts reported by the appraiser above & Ritz' observations, the appraiser vigorously defended her statement that the program had not been configured to benefit any particular person.

At the urging of Commissioners Hendricks & Liebau, Ritz moved to change the open application period start date to January 1, 2013.  Neither Commissioner Liebau nor Hendricks would second the motion.  The motion failed.  Apparently fair treatment of all our citizens did too.

Is this kind of back door special treatment that the citizens of Elk County deserve or expect?  Wouldn't it be more fair and equitable for the start date to begin AFTER the program has been clearly presented to the public and legally adopted & approved.  Let's hope the public can see the game being played, makes their distaste for such things in Elk County well known, and calls for change.


Next time we'll look at how this tax rebate program is to be funded and who is really paying for it.

[Ross]

Grandfather clause - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandfather_clause
Grandfather clause is a situation in which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations, while a new rule will apply to all future situations. This extends the idea of a rule not being retroactively applied.

There is no old rules involved with this New Proposed Program, so how can you grandfather something in?
You can't!
You can lie!
You can cheat!
But you just can't grandfather-in something that does not exist.

And it appears to me that is exactly what they are trying to do by back dating the program.
Which indicates to me to some behind the court house dealings.

Show me otherwise?

Where are the morals and ethics?

[Patriot]

...I wonder... how many average citizens in Elk County will be able to afford to build & take advantage of this new government program..... I'm sure the owners of the old bank building in Howard, operators of trail ride operations or RV parks/fish farms will be able to....

Well by golly!  Darned if the RV park/fish farm wasn't mentioned at a recent commission meeting as an 'applicant' for the (as yet non-existent) program.  Now who didn't see that coming down the pike.  Any interest in any of the other backroom promises made over this deal?

[Diane Amberg]

  Be careful Pat, you're talking to yourself.