Numerous Villa Hills residents bitterly complain that they voted for Mike Martin because of his promise to repeal the city's $40 per car license fee, or sticker tax. They are angry that Martin has broken that campaign pledge.
Worse yet, Martin now wants those once-bitten residents to vote themselves a FORTY PER CENT REAL ESTATE TAX HIKE in November. Why? Because Martin says he needs EVEN MORE of their money to repair their streets. His promise this time? The license fee will be repealed AFTER the property tax hike is approved. Quite a choice.
As the infomercial pitchman might say, "BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!" Residents should watch a replay of the September council meeting to see what else Martin has in store for them.
The subject was broached by Martin's colleague Mike Pope. He explained that while the City Engineer believes the city needs roughly $650,000 a year for street repair - the true annual number is ONE MILLION DOLLARS! If you watch the meeting-and you should-you will see that Martin never once contradicts Pope's MILLION DOLLAR assertion.
So how do Pope and Martin plans to raise the extra money? The answer was provided at the September meeting. Pope recommended assessing the residents for repairs to their streets. In case you aren't sure what that means-the cost of repairing your street WOULD BE ADDED TO YOUR ANNUAL PROPERTY TAX BILL.
So here is what Martin and Pope want. If you want to get rid of the $40 license fee, you will have to vote yourself A FORTY PER CENT PROPERTY TAX INCREASE AND STILL PAY OUT-OF-POCKET FOR THE COST OF REPAIRING YOUR OWN STREET!
A "FRESH START" to be sure.
