Flagler Estates Concerned Citizens, Inc.

LET LOCAL GOVERNMENT KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!!!

Flagler Estates Concerned Citizens, Inc. is a not-for-profit, grassroots organization that was formed in order to speak in a unified voice on the issues that affect our lives. The concern that prompted the formation of the F.E.C.C. is the tax increase placed upon the landowners within Flagler Estates by the Flagler Estates Road and Water Control District (F.E.R.W.C.D.).

On May 28th, the F.E.R.W.C.D. Board voted 2-1 to increase the assessment upon the residents they work for by 63%. It was an eleventh hour decision based on inconclusive information. The community was led to believe that other government agencies were waiting to partner on the project and that the Ashley Outfall / 16 Mile Creek Storm Water Treatment Facility would help eliminate flooding. According to government experts, this is not so.

To join our effort, please sign!

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This petition is aimed at collecting tangible support from the community to remediate an unreasonable tax that was passed based on inconclusive information and despite widespread community concern. The $126 per acre tax increase to be added to the $199 per acre existing tax has already occurred.  In order to protect the landowners from similar or greater tax increases in the future, it is imperative that some mechanism for accountability and oversight be established to protect the future of this community.  To that end, the Flagler Estates Concerned Citizens, Inc. have joined together to witness the decisions and, when appropriate, voice our objections to actions undertaken by FERWCD that are costly and/or of unsubstantiated merit.

In these fiscally uncertain times, a more conservative approach to government spending is required. This attitude is reflected in all areas of the public sector with the exception of the Flagler Estates Road and Water Control District.

It is the goal of the FERWCD to borrow money through a bond that will financially encumber the landowners for the next twenty years. To that end, the FERWCD has already passed a 63% tax assessment increase to build the first phase of a water treatment facility that will not address flooding. The increase will also be used to pave more roads and perform some drainage ditch fortification. We ask that the projects be held until the CRA/CRC funds have sufficient time to regenerate in order to pay for these infrastructure improvements. That is the function that the CRA/CRC was created to fulfill and we ask our elected officials follow this fiscally sound path. We ask the Board to reject the bond proposal.