Burn Baby Burn!

BURN, BABY, BURNAbout 500 Bay County residents are mad as heck about property taxes and they’re not going to take it anymore. A local group, the Bay Tax Foundation, hosted a burning of TRIM (truth in millage) notices on Saturday at Big City Fish on 23rd Street in Panama City. The group claims more than 1,000 notices went up in smoke and more than 500 local homeowners signed a petition. County officials meet this week with the Florida Department of Revenue to discuss the problem, but property owners remain angry. One protester says he owns three properties and taxes increased by 40 percent last year. Another protester claims that his photography business doubled in value last year, and he doesn’t know how he can afford the property tax payment.Source: The News Herald, Panama City, Fla., Andy Meinen, Sept. 16, 2007© 2007 FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
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Bay County Tax Watch Meeting

I went to my first meeting on Tuesday the 11th. It was informative and focused. They are working on a plan to attack the Bay County School Board budget. This is not to cut teacher salaries or to cut important programs. It is however focused on eliminating useless spending and unnecessary overpaid positions. (ex. 4 full-time locksmiths at an annual cost of around 200K) Also, they will be having a burn your trim notice on Saturday the 15th from 10-2 at Big City Fish. I encourage anyone who is concerned about their tax bill to attend the meetings held every Tuesday at 3pm behind the downtown post office.