No Government seems to ever have a surplus. If they do, the first thing they do is fight over how to spend it as soon as possible. That is why in years when WE are having a hard time making ends meet, THEY ask for more. The answer should always be NO.
The $27M Gainesville budget shows that 16% or $4,320,000 is administrative overhead. 55% of the budget is public safety. I’m all for police and fire protection at any cost but…..
….it is time to consider unified fire and law enforcement in Gainesville / Hall County. Each operation now has its own administration which could be cut on half. Chief Hooper is doing a great job, but a unified law enforcement under Sheriff Cronic would bring the illegal alien capture-and-deport program to the City (where it is a huge loophole now). Gainesville is almost a sanctuary city for illegal aliens. Recently I was told that one rating company has rated Hall County down because of the illegal alien issue. Any certified officer can run radar and write speeding tickets on the bridges (no matter the color of the uniform).
What is the importance about the property tax being steady (about $4.9M)? It means that there is no reason to increase taxes because the City’s income is the same.
Thanks to Kristen Morales at The Times for this information.
No matter how you word it, and no matter the justification, taking more money from citizens is an increase in taxes. I’m all for pay-as-you go, but I suspect that many governments take “profit” from one area to subsidize other areas. Pay-as-you go only works for “extras” so they break even, not become a cash cow for wasteful spending. Those extras are probably not something that should be a priority (like curbside organic refuse pickup the City of Gainesville has, multi-million dollar libraries, and water parks). You can make a argument that anything is related to health, safety, and welfare of the residents. But picking up leaves? Read The Times article here–>Residents get chance to comment on Gainesville’s $27.9 million budget plans. Also notice how the City Council will try to ignore the City School Board mess in their budget talks. However the money for both comes out of the same pockets. And those pockets don’t have to move far to get out of reach of the pickpockets. Of course, it goes without saying that the huge illegal immigration problem in Gainesville is the root cause of most of the budget problems. When a large portion of your population does not pay taxes, but takes advantage of every service, it shifts the burden to the taxpayers.
Read the paper about the effects of the Sheriff’s new immigration efforts. He tells me that crime involving illegal aliens is down by a large percentage already! Way to go Sheriff! Vendors who rely on illegal aliens are already whining (and threatening) too.
Now it is time for the County Commission and City Council to start refuse to issue permits to illegal aliens. Business permits, building permits, licenses of all sorts (e.g. licenses to sell liquor). A town in Virginia is doing that and the results have been dramatic.
Keep in mind that while illegal aliens are living in Hall County they occasionally have children. Those children are U.S. Citizens and when they turn 18 they can vote. Last report I read says that Hispanic births at the NEGMC outpace all others. That means in 2026 the children of illegal aliens might be able to vote our elected officials out of office and put in their open border radical stooges in their place.
Republicans are normally too busy working (and paying taxes) to plan ahead. For a very long time I was only in support of deporting illegal aliens that committed felony criminal offenses and some more severe misdemeanor offenses where public safety is at risk (e.g. DUI, battery, family violence, etc.) However now I understand that the costs to lawful citizens of the illegal aliens far outpace the utility of their being here. Every sector of our local economy is negatively affected by illegal aliens. Yes it means that some very nice, hard-working, talented, God-fearing people will be deported. However the will be deported TO THEIR HOME NOT TO A CONCENTRATION CAMP. That is like me being deported to Athens. It is not really mean spirited or unfair to give someone a free trip home so they can follow the rules to return lawfully.