Monday, February 15, 2010

It Is And It Isn't About Real Estate!

On February 23, the voters in the City of Troy, go to the polls to vote on 1 issue in a city wide election, whether or not to raise the city's tax rate 1.9 Mills, or 29%. Now I have to admit, my property on Rhodes Drive, proudly displays a big "No" sign to a 29% tax increase and has displayed that sign for over a month. As I walk thru my subdivision daily (and I walk 2.5 miles a day, 4 or 5 days a week for health and exercise) I note the "No" signs are far out numbering the "Yes" signs, 2-1. I don't know if that means the mileage increase will lose 2-1, but it sure is interesting to see from their front lawns, how many citizens of the City of Troy are fed up. Someone has to recognize the economic turmoil the city's residents are in right now. Hundreds of Troy resident are losing or have lost their homes to foreclosures and shortsales because they can't afford their mortgages or their property taxes. And the city wants to raise those property taxes even more?????

On Friday, February 12, I received a postcard in the mail from the "Keep Troy Safe" committee. The return address listed on the postcard was that of Michael W. Hutson, who also happens to be the chair of the City of Troy Planning Commission. On this postcard, it clearly stated that the 1.9 mil increase, would actually not raise property taxes for Troy residents, but would reduce them $392.00 on the average Troy tax bill. Well, I sometimes wonder if the leaders of the city, elected and appointed, aren't so well educated and so well to do, that, like the rest of the country, who's leaders have lost touch with the public, our city leaders have lost touch too. Instead, they feel they know what's good for the city, far more than the people do.

Now I've lived in Troy on Rhodes Drive since 1984 and trust me, the City of Troy has been living high on the hog since I arrived. In 1984, the city had 60,000 people when I moved in. It now has 85,000+. It takes a lot of money to keep these city officials, elected and appointed, happy. Take the February 23 ballot for instance. On it, it talks about the 1.9 mil increase and mentions City Council will be able to use some of the tax increase in the future for "quality of life" purposes. I guess that means more bike trails, in a time of great economic hardship for the city's residents. I suppose it also means, eventually, a new city park in the south of Maple-Milverton area. Such a park would be greatly welcomed by our non resident, non tax paying, non English speaking aliens who live in the apartment complexes that line John R Road, across the street from Elder Ford. Well, we have a perfectly good city park right now, a half a mile north, called Brinston Park. Let them travel the half mile to a mile to enjoy that park like the rest of us area residents.

As a Realtor, I've seen Troy property values drop 25 to 30% in the past 3 years, after years and years of 3-6% annual increases in home values. Troy lived high on the hog on the backs of the people with those property value increases. Now it's time for the city to bite the bullet, as a majority of it's residents have. Tighten your belt Troy. Keep costs and expenses down for the next 5 or so years, while the City, the County, the State and the Nations economy recovers. No new parks, no new bike trails and please, don't insult my intelligence by telling me that 47 police employees will have to be laid off if the mileague doesn't pass. And why the picture of a fire truck on that Friday postcard, when we all know the city has an all volunteer fire department. And why the picture of the sand and salt truck, when the county takes care of our surface streets, while the city doesn't even plow in subdivisions unless there's at least a 5 inch snowfall. We've had one of those 5 inch storms thus far this year.

And why oh why, does the City of Troy own not one, but two golf courses, Sylvan Glen at Rochester Road and Square Lake and the very big, money losing, Sanctuary Lake Golf Course behind Troy Beaumont Hospital? Figures I've seen show that Sanctuary Lake is losing tens of thousands a dollars a month, 700,000 per year. Whenever I drive by, I rarely see anyone in the Sanctuary Lake parking lot, nor out on the course. Why could the city have not sold some of that land to Beaumont for their new expansion, which instead went across the street into Sterling Heights, helping that city's tax base. And as for the Troy Police Department, if there are layoffs when this 29% tax increase passes, will they be the folks who are taking care of the City of Clawson? In these tough times, why are Troy Police, now Clawson Police as well?

Basically, this proposal, as most of them do, pits the city's younger residents against the city's older residents. In my 64 years, I've heard it all from the communities I've lived in and every, single time, they insult my intelligence when they want a tax increase by threatening to cut back city fire, city police, the library, the community center and other city services to a "bare minimum." It's time for the people of the city to see what this proposed mileage increase is. An increase in our taxes when a majority of the city's residents can't even make ends meet now or pay for their homes. I urge everyone who reads this blog who is a City of Troy resident, to vote no, please, for our future, on the February 23, 29% tax increase! Come on Troy, the ladder to the top of that hog isn't as high as you think it is!