Peyton has announced his intentions to implement monthly fees for residential garbage pickup and stormwater runoff. These combined with a new JEA franchise fee are expected to raise about $26.5 million a year.
full article: http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/071207/met_183927103.shtml (http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/071207/met_183927103.shtml)
Does it seem strange to anyone that Peyton announces these new taxes and does very little to explain or educate the public about the taxes or how they will be used? What the heck is a franchise fee anyway? I know what stormwater is, but I am not sure that on average the general public does. Also, I would like to have specific information about how this tax revenue will be utilized.
I do have to hand it to Peyton for having the courage to raise taxes if necessary. I get sick of politicians unwilling to change course or to adapt to changing and unforseen conditions. Also, we do need a stormwater tax to help address this problem. Just about every county and city in Florida already has this type of tax.
However, when Peyton rolls out a new initiative or plan, he needs to do a better job of selling his ideas and engage the public in the process. It is critical that he has buy in from us taxpayers.
When has Peyton ever bothered to really explain and/or sell his ideas to the public? Have you already forgotten his Big Idea fiasco? :)
Quote from: riverkeepered on July 14, 2007, 08:10:28 AM
Does it seem strange to anyone that Peyton announces these new taxes and does very little to explain or educate the public about the taxes or how they will be used? What the heck is a franchise fee anyway? I know what stormwater is, but I am not sure that on average the general public does. Also, I would like to have specific information about how this tax revenue will be utilized.
I do have to hand it to Peyton for having the courage to raise taxes if necessary. I get sick of politicians unwilling to change course or to adapt to changing and unforseen conditions. Also, we do need a stormwater tax to help address this problem. Just about every county and city in Florida already has this type of tax.
However, when Peyton rolls out a new initiative or plan, he needs to do a better job of selling his ideas and engage the public in the process. It is critical that he has buy in from us taxpayers.
A franchise fee, as I have known it, is a fee charged to users of the city's right of way. Users would be Cable companies, Power utilities, etc. that lay there lines above or under the city's right of way. These charges are usually passed onto the bills of the end users.
SInce JEA is city-owned (which is not the norm), I assume it has not added this charge to it's customers bills heretofore.