Will Cost South Lake $3.1 Million in Property Taxes
During last Thursday’s Lake County Conservative Founders Club meeting, Lake County Commissioner Elaine Renick boasted, “I haven’t changed”, and then she stated that her main issues of concern are the environment, stopping urban sprawl, and water. In fact, she called herself “The Water Lady.” At no time during her presentation or subsequent discussions, did Elaine Renick ever mention senior citizens as a priority. Renick barely mentioned job creation, only saying everyone wants to bring more jobs to Lake County, and she didn’t offer any economic plans or ideas for job creation. Her entire focus and plans dealt with environmental platitudes, not human sufferings or challenges. Citizens for Better Government, L.L.C. has searched the record, and we have been unable to find a time in which Commissioner Renick expresses any concern for seniors or working people.
Renick’s plans and actions seem to be totally focused on quasi environmental issues, which will have devastating results on Lake County’s senior citizen population. Lake County has one of the largest demographics of seniors in the country and due to their fixed incomes, seniors rely more on government services. Here are some undisputable facts:
- Lake County is projected to collect almost $11 million dollars less in property taxes, and citizens cannot afford a property tax increase. Money will be very short without growth.
- The proposed Lake County Budget calls for 45 more employees to be laid off and the county will have to tap $11 million in emergency cash reserves. These reserves are meant for real emergencies, not the failure of politicians to manage a budget.
- The U.S. federal government is broke. Lake County cannot expect anymore bailout money; we are on our own.
- As the U.S. government cuts services to senior citizens it will be up to the local communities to either serve their needs or ignore them.
Hard economic times are here for Lake County government, and Renick’s only solution is cutting expenses because she doesn’t believe in growth. Renick often brags about how good she is at cutting budgets, and the cutting is about to get worse, especially for seniors.
Renick’s policies will dramatically affect Lake County’s revenues, and here are some of the issues many people are unaware of:
- Renick’s South Lake Strategic Land Plan and Rural Protection Area are going to decrease the value of 9,000 acres of land in South Lake County. Citizens for Better Government, L.L.C. asked a professional in finance to calculate the lost property tax revenues from Renick’s land schemes. He estimated conservatively that South Lake County will lose $3.1 million in property tax revenues. Since it is South Lake’s reduction in revenues, the other County Commissioners will be in no mood to share the burden. At that point, where will $3.1 million in service cuts be made and who will be affected? It will most likely be South Lake County’s senior citizens.
- Because Renick failed to give proper notice and forced a vote on the new Comprehensive Plan, while Chairman Cadwell was hospitalized, landowners in South Lake County have filed an injunction against the Comprehensive Plan for an administrative hearing. There’s a good chance her scheme will backfire, and the county will lose hundreds of thousands of dollars on another frivolous lawsuit. Grandma and grandpa, guess who will pay those bills?
- Renick’s anti-growth/anti-business positions are crippling Lake County economically, and no one is predicting growth for the county as long as she’s in charge. If there are no new revenues coming, where do we cut? Lake County has cut most of its non-essential personnel, leaving fire, police, and services to seniors. Without growth, seniors will have to shoulder a much larger percentage of the burden for operating Lake County.
- Elaine Renick proudly says she supports Amendment #4, a measure which will require voters to cast votes on every land use change in the state. Amendment #4 is opposed by every candidate running for Lake County Commissioner, except Elaine Renick. (Linda Stewart says she can’t make up her mind on Amendment #4, which is sad for any leader, but that’s for another day.) In addition, the Florida environmental group 1000 Friends of Florida is opposed to it along with every Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO. From environmentalists to unions, they are all in opposition to Amendment #4 because it will cost the state an estimated 267,247 jobs or $34 billion in revenue. If Elaine Renick gets her way, where is this huge money shortfall coming from? Who is going to pay for all of the costs associated for these special land elections? It will be the senior citizens of Lake County.
The environmental community will quickly come out to tell the senior citizens that this issue of The Right Side of the Lake is a scare tactic, and that Commissioner Renick supports senior citizens. To that, we say look at Renick’s own website. There are discussions about environmental issues, growth, urban sprawl, and water, but not one darn word about senior citizens. The reason she doesn’t mention senior citizens is because she doesn’t want them moving to Lake County. Senior citizens, like those living in King Ridge, meet her definition of urban sprawl.
Renick talks about a made-up boogeyman that doesn’t exist. She said the other night that Lake County is run by special interests and large developers. There are no more big developers and there aren’t any special interests. These folks are gone, bankrupt, and out of business. The majority of local builders have lost everything. What Elaine Renick calls special interests are working people. If special interests ran Lake County, how did Renick and Stewart get elected? Renick is taking a page out of Saul Alinsky’s book Rules for Radicals, in which extremists are told to make up a boogeyman to deceive the masses. Renick is a radical who puts environmental issues above people.
Unless the policies of Renick are reversed, every senior citizen in Lake County will soon start to see reduced services and higher taxes because if the county can’t grow, there’s only so much cutting that can be done without affecting people’s lives. Clearly, Renick puts environmental concerns over that of senior citizens.
Citizens for Better Government, L.L.C. urges its members to print, email, or hand out this newsletter to every senior citizen in Lake County. Renick’s policies will make the lives seniors more difficult, and they need to be aware of what’s about to happen to them.
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SHAME on YOU for being a SHEEPLE…YOU should READ the FACTS instead of following this BIAS site…
Elaine Renick….you should be ashamed to take land owners property rights without paying for them….This is America not Cuba…and to believe you’re one of our county leaders….SHAME ON YOU
Elaine Renick, you should hang your head in shame… What right do you have to take a land owners use without pay. SHAME ON YOU
Interesting that most of Elaines defenders stay right on the surface. Don’t they understand that her no growth stance means the pie gets smaller and smaller with no way to pick up the slack except raising tax rates. That’s just fact, If the shoe fits-
Lake County largest demographic is older so who is gong to foot more of the bill if there is less money coming in?
This is just plain silly and not a reflection of Renick’s voting record nor her opinions.
And she is looking out for us all with regard to water conservation without which water and sewer bills will sky rocket for all.
Future price of water is something that every senior citizen ought to be very concerned about.
Check into what folks down south are paying now. Most of our citizens would be unable to afford those bills.
Without conservation, miles of pipeline and desalinization will have to be utilized and for that we would have to pay very dearly — billions and billions.
So Renick is against senior citizens now? I like that one. It has a good blend of nonsense and inflamatory statement that make a scare tactic effective. Next time I suggest using “Elaine Renick is against God,” or maybe “Elaine Renick is trying to take your oxygen.”
At a recent candidate forum in Sorrento, Linda Stewart said she supports Amendment 4. Some people seem to think nothing of interest happens in Sorrento, but this community bears watching.
This is just plain wrong and a bunch of hogwash.
If you will look at Commissioner Renick’s voting record it proves that she supports assistance and services for our senior citizens.
Her “smarter growth” policies will keep taxes down for all of us and her focus on water issues will greatly influence how much we all pay for water and sewer bills. Without conservation efforts many seniors would not be able to afford the anticipated increased costs for water when we all have to start paying for the huge miles long piping system to export our water so growth doesn’t have to stop in counties where they have none and/or for desalinization.