Lately the town seems to be approving residential land development with minimal resistance and driving away commercial ventures. At a recent meeting in Fortville, local legislators were invited to speak to the public about topics including property taxes. Sen Beverly Gard, herself , stated that in western Hancock County, a home needs to have an assessed value of 165,000 to generate the tax revenue to cover the burden that the home and occupants put on the local government and schools.
The town has been approving subdivisions with maximum home values below this level. This means that you and I will be making up the difference in our tax levies. Property taxes are set to rise another 14 1/2 % this year as well as school tax increases form the latest 75mil expansion.
Please do not get me wrong. the schools need help but with homes coming in to fill the schools this fast and the owners not paying their share, the burden falls on us.
The town will say that Hancock County as a home market can not support upper level housing. To this I say look at the development on 200w north of 100n. The homes there start at 375,000 and go up and they are filling up so fast that the developers are looking to open the next phase soon. Many economists and assessors have also said that 1 home worth 400,000 on 1 acre will bring in more tax revenue than four 100,000 homes on the same acre due to homestead credits and such.
The town needs to work with zoning, building codes and fines, impact fees, etc. to help promote responsible growth. They need to be willing to work with home owner associations to help them enforce the covenants for the neighborhood. The town usually has less restrictive rules and codes than HOA's. There needs to be communication with the schools as to how the impact of more students will effect them.
I propose doing this easily, with out putting extra work on the town officials by requiring home owners who want to build or add on to get approval, in writing, from their HOA before permits are approved. Also, we should require developers to get a statement, in writing, from the school board as to the impact more students will have and if they can support it. Then the schools are not growing at a rate faster than they can respond and home owners associations, have support locally. I believe these can and should be done.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Monday, February 5, 2007
commercial base
Hello, I would like to convey my position on the commercial aspect of Cumberland. I have been quoted as saying we pay Carmel taxes but have none of the commercial benefits. In reality, I can say that my taxes are more than what they would be on the same value home in Carmel. I feel that our lack of commercial tax base has to be part of the cause.
We have vacant buildings, buildings in need of repair and little to define what Cumberland is. We have a streetscape project coming in the future and I feel it is time to start adding more commercial tax base.
I know that myself and my family would like to have some more restaurants to choose from. We have a local owned restaurant and a few local/national chains of pizza and sandwiches. These establishments have been a part of the town for a while and are great assets but I feel we need some new businesses to bring others to our town and give local residents more choices.
Here is where you come in. I need to know just what kinds of businesses you like to frequent. Would you like to have more choices rather than driving to another town to spend money and contribute tax dollars. I have been told by some residents who have lived here a while that the town ends up chasing away business, sometimes just be dragging things out to long. We live along the "Old National Road" and I believe that as part of the town council I can help bring Cumberland into it's own.
You can help make Cumberland an even better place just by voicing your opinion and helping the town council move our town in the right direction.
Some people say that the property along US40 is all owned by investors waitng to make money from their deal but that is true for every aspect of our lives. Our homes are an investment. Everything, including land is owned by someone but it is the towns job to see that it is developed reasonably and with regards to the citizens who live here.
Thanks for your time.
Joe
We have vacant buildings, buildings in need of repair and little to define what Cumberland is. We have a streetscape project coming in the future and I feel it is time to start adding more commercial tax base.
I know that myself and my family would like to have some more restaurants to choose from. We have a local owned restaurant and a few local/national chains of pizza and sandwiches. These establishments have been a part of the town for a while and are great assets but I feel we need some new businesses to bring others to our town and give local residents more choices.
Here is where you come in. I need to know just what kinds of businesses you like to frequent. Would you like to have more choices rather than driving to another town to spend money and contribute tax dollars. I have been told by some residents who have lived here a while that the town ends up chasing away business, sometimes just be dragging things out to long. We live along the "Old National Road" and I believe that as part of the town council I can help bring Cumberland into it's own.
You can help make Cumberland an even better place just by voicing your opinion and helping the town council move our town in the right direction.
Some people say that the property along US40 is all owned by investors waitng to make money from their deal but that is true for every aspect of our lives. Our homes are an investment. Everything, including land is owned by someone but it is the towns job to see that it is developed reasonably and with regards to the citizens who live here.
Thanks for your time.
Joe
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