Coral Gables Historical Archive
The Coral Gables Times
Thursday, June 28, 1962, page 3 (of 24)
The page
The text of this pageRead by computer from the scan, so some words may be wrong. The page picture is the original.
Thursday, June 28, 1962 CORAL GABLES TIMES 3
-Photos by RAYMOND LANG NOW FOR MY PART, I COULDN'T CARE LESS GABLES RESIDENTS GATHER IN BLOUNT'S OFFICE TO DISCUSS THE HIKE BUT THE COMMISSION SETS THE POLICY AND IT'S MY JOB TO CARRY IT OUT LET ME EXPLAIN HOW THIS NEW SETUP WORKS
Just One Day in the Life Of Our Tax Assessor
(Continued from page 1) ing to answer phone calls and handle visitors at the same time. "But no one has really been belligerent about it," said Blount late Tuesday afternoon. "It has been fairly pleasant, considering the circumstances. "True, most of them have come in here a little upset but after they get an explanation, most of them seem to understand." GIVE FACTS Allyn reported that eight or 10 people had contacted his office, "but all we can do is give them the facts on the over-all situation and refer them to the Board of Equalization." Allyn presented the City's new budget to the Commission at their Tuesday afternoon meeting. And he wasn't the only one there. Eighty residents showed up at the meeting to protest the tax raise — but it wasn't on the agenda. For two hours the discussion raged. City Manager L. W. Robinson Jr. said he thought it was interesting to note that when the meeting started people applauded those who demanded a reduction of taxes. "But later on in the meeting a few people said they didn't want to see services cut and then they started getting the applause." MIXED AUDIENCE "It was what you might call a rather mixed audience," suggested Robinson. "I got the impresion that the majority don't mind a slight increase in taxes," he said, "but they do mind the assessment valuation — for fear that the County will pick up the same valuation and assess them accordingly." Mayor Robert Searle said that only three or four people had approached him with tax problems. And these, he said, had no objections when they understood the reasons behind it. But this wasn't exactly the attitude expressed by many of those at the Commission meeting Tuesday, and it isn't the attitude of the residents who have pelted local papers with letters to the editor. Frank. R. Olding, 16 Phoenctia Ave., said the taxes on his 24-year-old home jumped from $90 to $175. Last year his house was valued at $8,300 and this year it was brought up to $21,850. BIG JUMP Norman J. Koch, 505 Navarre Ave., said his taxes have jumped from $41.68 to $119.50. His home is 34 years old. It was valued at $6,550 but now is set at $16,950. The five-year-old home of William R. Le Jeune, at 230 Viscaya Ave., was valued at $8,600. The valuation was increased to $16,400 and his taxes went from $80 to $120. Howard C. Peterson, 410 Castonia Ave., reported that his home was valued at $12,600 and his taxes were $158.35. This year his home has been almost doubled in valuation to $24,950 and his taxes increased to $209.50. His home is five years old. These are several of the residents who, after paying their visits to City Hall, came to the Times, to register complaints. They said they had contacted the proper officials, demanded explanations, but "they laughed at us." LOW TAXES Coral Gables has been known for low taxes and high standards of service and administration. Why now, all of a sudden, has the tax revenue become insufficient, residents ask. In the words of City Manager Robinson, this city has been operating at a deficit for 15 years. And for 15 years commissions have been forced to dip into reserve funds to pay the City's bills. But now the reserves are depleted Coral Gables has no more money in the bank. Why, if we have been heading for this for 15 years, wasn't something done sooner? "Each Commission has the right to dictate the tax policy each year. The city manager presents the budget and they accept or change it as they see fit; it's as simple as that," said Robinson. So far they have chosen to draw upon the reserves, "but this year there are no appreciable reserves to draw upon," said Allyn. "There was some talk about the budget a long time ago, and it was posted and published in the papers according to the law," Robinson. "But people are apathetic — they don't think about it until they get their tax notices. "When ever they get an increase, you can rely on 'em to come to, and that's what they did today and yesterday." What will come next? If the Tax Assessor's explanations don't satisfy the residents, they can present their cases before Commissioners sitting as the Board of Equalization July 9, 10 and 11 and everyday after as long as it takes to hear all the cases. If this weeks events are any indication, those three days are going to be pretty hectic ones for the City Commission.