Item Q03
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KEY LARGO
Chamber of Commerce
106000 Overseas Highway' Key Largo' FL' 33037' 3051451-1414' Fax: 3051451-4726' key/argochamber.org
Sept. 24, 2008
Mr. Mayor, commissioners, thank you for allowing me to speak today. My name is
Jackie Harder and as president of the Key Largo Chamber of Commerce, I represent
374 member businesses from Key Largo to Key West.
I can summarize my presentation today in 3 words: You're killing us! With ~
commercial property values increasing between 26% and 110% this Year, and taxes
averaging 50% higher than last year, you're killing the business community as surely
as if you'd stuck a knife in our hearts.
Many people in the Keys are worried about losing our community character. This
budget does more to damage community character than anything else I can think of.
The small, local businesses that give the Keys their unique flavor are going to die.
They will to be forced to sell out to the national corporations that can afford to pay
the taxes. The problem is, people don't come to the Keys to do business with big
national corporations. They come here for the laid-back community character that
small, local businesses help provide.
The county's rental housing stock is also affected by this budget. You think housing
is unaffordable now? What will happen when rents have to go up 50% to cover just
the cost of taxes?
Your only public speaker Monday night said, "You'll have a ghost town if you continue
to place the [tax] burden on commercial properties." He is absolutely correct.
And none of us want that.
Please, keep cutting this budget before the business community is bled to death.
Mission statement of the Kev Laroo Chamber of Commerce
To develop and actively market a vibrant political, social and economic business
environment by using the individual and collective power
of its membership.
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