Palm Coast Businesses and Their Customers (YOU) Face a New City Tax
The proposed 10% tax on commercial and solid waste haulers will raise costs for local business just when they most need a break.
Palm Coast, Florida – November 18, 2008 – The Palm Coast City Council voted today to charge a 10% franchise fee (TAX) on commercial solid waste haulers. including C & D recyclers. The franchise fee is in addition to the fee for Residential Trash Collection already paid by the citizens of Palm Coast. That fee increased residential utility bills last year and provided the city a windfall of nearly $550,000. In addition to paying an annual fee, all solid waste haulers operating within the City of Palm Coast will be required to open their books for review twice a year and give the city 10% of their gross revenue.
Don’t be fooled by the term fee, this is an additional tax that will be passed on to the business customers of these mandatory services. Any local business with a dumpster is affected; shopping centers, office buildings, restaurants, etc. The tax will ultimately be passed on to their customers, raising the cost of shopping or eating out in Palm Coast. Businesses do not pay taxes. To businesses, taxes are an expense that must be recouped from revenue. Revenue comes from us – "we the people."
The Chamber of Commerce and local radio station WNZF are promoting an initiative to shop locally. When so many local businesses need a boost, we should not be raising their taxes.
Today’s vote was the first reading of the ordinance. The next vote (second reading) will be at 6pm on December 2nd. Call to action: Concerned residents are urged to contact members of the City Council to voice their opinion.
Contact information is provided below:
Mayor Jon Netts – (386) 445-2121
Councilman Holsey Moorman – (386) 447-3860
Councilman Frank Meeker – (386) 447-0382
Councilwoman Mary DiStefano – (386) 446-5780
Councilman Bill Lewis – (386) 447-7725
New City Tax
Welcome to Obamanomics.
Palm Coast Data no tax ,Trash Haulers yes tax
Make up your mind, are we pro business or not? Give with one hand and take with the other. What does Palm Coast Data have that they don’t? Who’s going to pay for both, the people. Do the people have a say in any of this, No! We elect officials to handle the City Business, and when they can’t do the job they get the boot at election time. These actions go on our list of reason to clean house and put in a pro business and pro taxpayer strong Mayor and council.
tax and spend
I think Palm Coast is a tax and spend city. With lower assessments this year they need to find new ways to "bleed" the residents dry. Should the City of Palm Coast runs into cash problems and do not cut thier spending then this will be a tax and spend city until they do. cary casoli
10%
The near-sighted didn’t see this coming? The council is making up for the benefits given to Palm Coast Data which was good for the city. However, the 10% is over board. (Needed Council Profits. hummm) I could understand a 1 – 2% tax to make up for getting PCD here but let’s not break the bank and run the other businesses out. Highest un-employment in the state, home foreclosures left and right, and crime on the rise, what is the council thinking? Pro business for PCD and kick the rest when we are already down. The current regime needs to be booted, but you have to vote to make it happen. Stagnant water only gets more stagnant if it’s not changed.
City sitting on $56 million from Impact fees
While the fees are being justified for wear and tear on roadways, but put into general funds, at the same time they have $56 million in the road construction fund acquired from impact fees from building construction. They have interpeted the laws for these impact fees on building to be exclusive for new roads inside subdivisions. Since Palm Coast was subdivided, surveyed, utilities put in place, and roadways built in the 1970’s for a community of 200 thousand we don’t and won’t have many new subdivisions and so the fund keeps building while the city cries they don’t have enough money for repaving. The state laws for the impact fees were not passed to create an unusable bank of monies that sit idle. Those monies have to be put to the repaving cost and can be justifiably spent. The process requires the expendature to be within the definition of the intent of the law, that’s all. The City can’t keep sitting on that fund and increase "fees or taxes" for paving or any roadwork that can be funded with the already collected fund. The Trash haulers should not be paying anything in this situation. The issuance of bonds for roadways, while these monies sit unspent for roadways is a misuse of public funds. The city is full of neophyes that need to seek council and get the assests to work they are sitting on.
106,000 Acres with a Population of 750.000
Mr. Meegan et. al., this is the size and population advertised in 1970 , AD # 2531 :
Another Advertising Promotion from ITT Levitt showing Dr. J. Norman Young. The Florida Times Union Article reads:
Palm Coast Project under way in Flagler
by Roy Mills
Staff Writer
Daytona Beach, Initial Phase constrution of the ITT Levitt Development Corps multimillion dollar Palm Coast, project in Flagler County will include a variety of homes, an oceanfront motel, a series of canals, lakes, parks, marinas and a golf course.
The canals are under construction. The motel and first of the homes will be completed by the mid summer next year.
the initial phase of 20,000 acres of th;e total of 106,000 acres will involve approximately 2 billion with a potential population of 750,000.
These facts were disclsed by Dr. Norman Young, president and chief executive officer of the corporation at a luncheon and press conference in the Daytona Plaza Motel here Tuesday….Palm Coast borders on six miles of the Atlantic Ocean and on several miles on the Intracoastal. Young said the development is believed to be on of the few land parcels in Florida with access to three arterial highways, State Road A1A, U.S. Highway 1 and Interstate 95…
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Also, Palm Coast is a Community of Communities. Eleven, to be exact. …
Palm Coast Area Map:
1. Matanzas Woods
2. Indian Trails
3 Pine Lakes
4. Lehigh Woods
5. Cypress Knoll
7. Palm Harbor
8. Grand Haven (The Woodlands)
9. Belle Terre
10. Pine Grove
11. Seminole Woods
*The Palm Coaster, Spring, 1984 p.6-7.
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We share this because we note that WIKIPEDIA is incorrect. We do not know how to make the correct factual changes, can anyone help correct the errors there? Thank you.
We hope this info. better helps put things into perspective where we all live.
George Edward Chuddy
AMAZING
Amazing! When the city council first voted to "take over" negotiating a price for trash pick up about 3+ years ago, Jon Netts and Mary Distefino both bragged on how this would lesson the cost to each individual home owner and the city would not charge any "administrative" fees and
had no intention of making any money off of this "service" that they would provide the citizens, it was felt that we were already paying the administrative salaries. Amazing how council convinces themselves that we wouldn’t remember that!
This is not the same as Palm Coast Data
The Palm Coast Data decision was sound economic development policy at work. The community, including businesses, will benefit in the long run for the tax breaks given Palm Coast Data. Remember, the tax breaks are on new construction only, so if they don’t build, they don’t get the breaks. Both new and rescued jobs will bring new revenue to the area, including some that will find its way to the city through the existing tax structure.
The new fee or tax is a much different thing. It will increase revenue to the city by taking money out of the local economy without any discernable benefit to the community. It brings no new jobs. In fact, by raising the cost of doing business locally, it acts as a deterrent to economic growth.
Some would argue that by taxing the haulers, the city avoids taxing residents, but the residents end up paying the money anyway through the increase in cost to shop and dine out.