Letters to the editor: Say ‘yes’ to park plan; watch automatic tax hikes

Vote ‘yes’ for the future

Our family moved to Lake Wylie eight years ago. I set out to find the local libraries and parks. Thankfully, I found the libraries, but the parks were a different story.

I want to thank the people who sacrificed and envisioned bringing a library to Lake Wylie years ago.

Our children joined the local baseball association. My husband became a coach, and also had to care for the fields.

In 2014, I learned a group had been working 10 years to get a park. Tom Smith invited me to join the park initiative group. I did.

Since then, we have gone to countless York County Council meetings. We presented three revisions to the initial plan to finance the park. It finally passed Dec. 21, 2015.

Councilman Bruce Henderson has gone over and above countless times for the sake of the park.

In February, a miracle happened. We were charged by Council to get 15 percent voter registration signatures of the population to get on the ballot. From the 11 precincts, we collected the required 2,700 signatures.

This fall, our community will be honored to vote on the park. There will be a tax hike of $16 or less a year per $100,000 home value with a 10-year cap. For many families, that is one meal through a fast-food line on any given night.

Our sacrifice today is worth the future of children tomorrow! Not only will this finance the initial park, it will ensure greenspace in Lake Wylie for years to come with walking trails, playgrounds, picnic space, dog parks, kayak launches, and not to mention baseball, softball, football, soccer, lacrosse and Frisbee golf fields with the bonus of lights, scoreboards, restrooms and concession stands.

Together we can make a difference for a brighter future! Please vote “yes” for the children and families who are the future of Lake Wylie.

Be aware of automatic tax increases

The June 21 issue, the Lake Wylie Pilot reported a property tax increase to accommodate the 2016-17 (Clover) school budget. The increase amounts to $28.80 in taxes for each $100,000 of assessed value for businesses and owners of second homes, including rentals.

Many people don’t realize that rental real estate is taxed at a much higher rate than residential. Rental real estate is not a luxury, it is a business, and often the only income opportunity available to senior citizens since the Federal Reserve set interest rates on savings at zero many years ago.

The total tax on a residence that is assessed at $200,000 would be $2,857 at the current mill rate. If that same house is rented, the tax jumps to $6,806! A residence is taxed at 4 percent of assessed value, vs. 6 percent for a rental. But the real kicker is the additional “school operations” tax of 1.26 percent that is charged on rentals. Taxes on industrial properties are even worse, coming in at a whopping 10.5 percent plus the school operations tax.

When property taxes increase, landlords have no choice but to raise the rent or operate on less income. The concept of less income is foreign to government employees and officials, who always expect increases in tax revenue. The article quoted Superintendent Marc Sosne, who boasted, “The tax increase is lower than in previous years.” To the government, a smaller increase is viewed as a draconian cut.

It’s easy to justify tax increases by pointing out the most egregious problems, such as underpaid bus drivers, even if they are a small portion of the budget. As a former school board trustee, I can promise you – if taxpayers saw the budget details, check by check, line by line, they would not be so dismissive of these automatic tax increases.

This story was originally published July 5, 2016 at 12:16 PM with the headline "Letters to the editor: Say ‘yes’ to park plan; watch automatic tax hikes."