Fees are not the way for the town to raise revenue. You pay a fee to do something you choose to do, not just because someone mails you a bill/fee. You pay a fee in a state park to use a campsite. Don’t want to camp, you don’t pay the fee and they can’t chase you down to collect it.

Raising money with a tax on peoples’ homes, while it probably will never change, makes as much sense as splitting a restaurant check based on what you drive. Cadillac drivers should pay twice as much as Chevy drivers, right? After the money the town council has spent on a lagoon study and the Fountain Park lights, among other things, the residents aren’t likely to trust the town very far with their money.

A specific project might be another story. Why not try submitting not more than one project per election to the voters for approval with every resident getting a vote and every resident paying the same amount? This is the only way to know exactly what it will cost you. Require approval by a majority of the registered voters, not just whoever happened to show up on voting day. There is nothing wrong with a resident not voting and counting that as a no vote.

Let the town really sell the project to the voters. Present it on the ballot as “you currently pay $$ in fees, do you want to add $$ for this project?” I have been told the town can’t do this at this time because the law won’t allow it. If so, let’s work on changing the law so that the residents can directly approve worthwhile projects this way. This just might work and generate support for truly worthwhile projects.