The commissioners must think us naive to accept their blaming of the property tax appraisal process and saying they have served us by decreasing homestead owners' tax an average of $15. The enormous increases in property taxes coupled with soaring property insurance rates are locking people in their existing homes and making it more unaffordable for buyers to move here.

The only variable the real estate market has left in order to rebound from the tax and insurance cost increases is through more freefall of property values. Locally, property values have already dropped at least 10 percent from highs last year and the bottom is nowhere in sight. Owners are losing huge equity in their homes.

There are people who need to move who can't because they can't find anyone to buy their homes. Many are trying to leave the state and those not coming here are teachers and public servants.

I applaud the many good things the commissioners have done. In this case, the commissioners are lacking vision and leadership at a time when it is critical to the local economy. This isn't the time to increase spending and squirrel away $1.3 billion in reserves for a future rainy day. That rainy day is today. Some of the windfall reserves the commssioners have should be used to provide tax relief in order to ease the crisis that is killing the real estate market and local economy.

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