February 12, 2008
I am neither a Seer nor an Economist but.
If you have been so busy with all the other duties of Government you might have missed the headlines about the drastic and dramatic collapse of the Real Estate and Home Ownership situation.
This "Alert" is not to direct your attention to the headlines which you may have missed, but to alert you to the consequences.
Home ownership valuations are the backbone of the revenue producing capability of most cities/town/counties. The value of the homes in your area have probably decreased by 10-25% in the past 24 months. If the value of the homes have decreased, a MAJOR review of your community assessments followed by a downward adjustment of those values is the only honorable and practical course of action open to you.
A second aspect of this devaluation is that your community is just not going to get the same total revenue which has been climbing in recent years. The only solution to this is to begin plans to cut back your community budget before the revenue shortfall hits.
You must act now on both.
If both of these actions are taken now you will retain the confidence and respect of your constituents when the full impact of the revenue shortfall occurs.
Note to non-elected readers of this message. Don't sit back and let this get out of hand later. Demand a reassessment of you property today and push for planning for the revenue shortfall which will occur in your community during the next couple of years