- April 25, 2024
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Dear Editor:
I attended a recent City Council meeting when elected officials were discussing property taxes. City Councilman Nick Klufas brought up the fact that the approved millage rate would mean that taxes would only increase about $15 per household; and, in the same breath, he also made the point that the city employees need a pay raise and some bonuses.
I feel that he’s a little out of touch with the citizens of Palm Coast.
Quite a few of us here are on fixed incomes. Fifteen dollars doesn’t sound like much, but the cost of living is going up. The water bill just went up, and taxes just went up because of the increase in value of homes, while other things like the roads and swales lacked funding.
I currently spend $20.59 a month on stormwater. If I’m not mistaken, some of that money should be going toward the swales! Pay raises or bonuses will offset tax increases for the city employees but won’t help those who are on fixed incomes in the city.
Until they start doing the job that they were asked to fill, with the budget at hand, all pay raises and bonuses should come to a halt. After all, if we don’t have the funding to fix all our problems, why are we giving the money away in pay raises and bonuses?
Terry Webb
Palm Coast
Dear Editor:
This is in response to a previous letter titled, “People values over property values.” First, if you don’t like the city’s “little rules.” You and the others who are against the restrictions shouldn’t have moved here.
Second, the city’s 12-page booklet of the Top Code Violations has been around since the days of ITT. The real estate agents had to hand these booklets out to every home buyer up until 2005. For some reason, they stopped. Big mistake.
Many real estate agents won’t tell the buyers so as not to lose a sale, so who is to blame?
Palm Coast is not a homeowners association with fees, which is great, but it always had covenants and restrictions in the form of city codes. I don’t fight for these codes because of property values; my sole reason is to keep Palm Coast beautiful.
I know business owners who rent spaces in Bunnell, and they park their commercial vehicles there. If people wouldn’t use their garages for items they haven’t used in years, maybe they could fit a vehicle in them.
Some of the problem stems from renters, who have no idea about the codes. I have spoken to many real estate agents who have been here for 32 years and new home buyers themselves.
Mayor David Alfin has come up with two wonderful ideas for informing people about these codes; one is to have the title companies give out the booklets. I would like to see it mandatory for real estate agents to hand them out; renters don’t deal with title companies.
What will Palm Coast look like in two years if the codes aren’t enforced? It will not be beautiful for long.
Pat Barile
Palm Coast
Dear Editor:
When were the current members of the Palm Coast City Council elected to office?
Some members of the current council have demonstrated poor leadership and outright childish, rude behavior.
Can someone be removed from the Palm Coast City Council? What is the process?
Robert Branin
Palm Coast
Editor’s Note: David Alfin was elected mayor through a special election in July 2021 to fill the vacant mayoral seat. The term runs through 2024. Ed Danko was elected in 2020; his term runs through 2024. Victor Barbosa was elected in 2020 to fill out the last two years of a term, ending in 2022. Nick Klufas is in his second term, which ends in 2024 (he will be termed out). Eddie Branquinho was elected in 2018; his term runs through 2022.
The process for a recall is outlined in Florida Statute 100.361.
