OPINION: Why The Arrest At The Convention & Visitor Bureau Really Matters

On the surface, the latest arrest of a public official in Bay County just looks like another day at the office in what local’s call Pay County. But is there a deeper issue here that has real life implications concerning your property taxes? 

The answer is yes, but in order to solve it, we must first discover the real problem, then vote accordingly to fix it. We must set aside the “Jerry Springer-ism” of it all and get down to the root cause.

Sure, money is the root of all evil but what’s a person to do, burn it? Well, yes, to some degree, or more like stop burning it, then problems will be easier to detect. 

The Tourist Development Council (TDC) is mandated by law to spend forty percent of their budget on marketing. This is insanity of the highest order. 

If the bed tax collects thirty-five million dollars, they must find a way to spend fourteen million on advertising. Notice how I said, “find a way.” 

Every dime spent should have a de facto Return on Investment analysis done, since it is the public’s money.

We have multiple companies submitting bids when you have a job of any size to be done with taxpayer money, so why not require the same here?

If you did, spending on “High-end Hotels, Expensive Restaurants and Airline Tickets” would be more likely to stand out. 

Let me state for the record, no one is accusing Dan Rowe, or any of his dedicated employees of malfeasance. Mr. Lee and he alone is the one with his hand in the cookie jar. 

What the citizens of Bay County need and deserve is action at the state level. 

Currently, the property tax debate is in full swing with bills flying everywhere in Tallahassee. Sadly, this is what your representative has submitted to try and relieve the burden placed on you because of wasteful spending. (HJR 213) by Rep. Philip “Griff” Griffitts, limits the growth in assessed value of non-school homestead property to 3% over three years (it’s now 3% per year) and 15% over three years for non-homestead property (it’s 10% per year now).

Let me get this straight, the landlords that invite thugs here to shoot up the beach get a 15% tax cut and the local resident that gets shot at gets a 6% tax cut. Rep. Griffitts should be representing the residents in Bay County who are trying to make ends meet by giving them the large tax break, not giving preference to non-resident landlords.

That’s why it matters to you. Every dime wasted could and should go to homestead property tax relief. The only way to make that happen is for you to make your voice heard by letting your elected representatives know they should “find a way” to stop the waste, fraud and abuse and return that money to locals.

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