Today is Halloween. The Martin Chronicles kindly asks all commuters to return home with caution tonight. There will be children running everywhere collecting candy. Filled with Trick or Treat excitement, many of the little ones won't be paying attention to cars when they cross the street-so you have to.
Next Tuesday, November 8 will be the second round of Trick or Treat in Villa Hills. Two excited little fellows will be coming to your door. They won't be hoping for candy. They will be hoping you fall for their baloney yet again and vote to give them more of your hard-earned money.
The two excited little fellows won't be Beavis and Butthead. Although the resemblance is strong. Your visitors will be Mayor Mike Martin and Councilman Mike Pope. Their quest for a treat is a trick on you.
Martin and Pope both promised to eliminate the dreaded $40 per car "sticker tax". We now know the only way they will keep their promise is for the majority of voters to pass a FORTY PER CENT PROPERTY TAX INCREASE on themselves and everyone else. If the voters fall for yet another Martin and Pope con job, it will be the trick of the year.
All but about 200 of the more than 2,500 households in Villa Hills will see their local tax burden increase if the tax initiative is approved. In many cases, the tax increase will be significant. In actual dollars, the total tax increase on the residents will be $315,000. THAT IS AN INCREASE IN CITY REVENUES OF MORE THAN TEN PER CENT.
What kind of job has Martin done with the taxpayers' money so far?
Martin has doubled the number of clerks and spent thousand of dollars to increase the size of the city parking lot. Martin has hired at least two separate computer companies and a consultant simply to help with the city website. Attorney fees are skyrocketing. Martin has squandered your money having the city's civil service commission search for yet another clerk, and he hasn't interviewed a single candidate they have sent him. You are paying a personal friend of Martin $47.50 an hour to mind the city's finances. The result? No credible financial reports have been presented to council for their review in ten months.
Do you really want to give Martin $315,000 more? He fooled you once. You know how the saying goes if you fall for it again.
