LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Losing Value?

So now we see that the prices of houses are coming down. To some, this apparently means their homes are losing value, or in other words, aren't worth as much now as they were a year or two ago.

But what is "worth?" Depends entirely on what someone is willing to pay for it. If you're looking at the TV shows and seeing the outrageous (to us) prices houses are selling for, consider these two things: First, the shows were filmed at least two years ago, and second, the featured homes were in the highest priced markets in the country. Where were they? San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, New York. Didn't see any homes featured in Spring Hill, did you? Get the picture?

Before you weep too much, ask yourself this: "Is my house on the market? Would I sell it for less than I paid for it?" If the answer to these simple questions is "No," then you haven't lost a thing except maybe the expectation of making a big profit. You might still be able to do that, if your house is actually on the market for sale, and if you find a buyer willing to pay what you're willing to take. Otherwise, you haven't gained or lost a thing.

Take heart. Don't worry about "losing" value. Sit back, relax, enjoy the nice home you have. Sure, we're all going to be slugged for property taxes based on last year's inflated appraisals, but that won't last any longer than the high prices did. Spring Hill in sunny Florida is still a great place to live!

Gail Leatherwood

Spring Hill

Tuck In Love

Gift For Sheriff

Gus and I want to quash armed robberies, home invasions, domestic violence, trespass, burglary, assault, battery, car jacks and thefts in our neighborhood, do you?

We perfected a Christmas solution. Tuck a $5 love gift inside your family's Christmas or New Year's card to Sheriff Nugent as a holiday donation to build more neighborhood police substations and hire extra deputies to patrol your block, creating decreased response time. In return, you enable yourself a better quality of life by investing in your own safety. When you are in a car accident with injuries, you need a deputy on the scene immediately.

Calculating if only 200,000 residents tuck in a total of $1,000,000, which is the figure our Hernando County commissioner's cut off from our sheriff's budget, causing serious safety concerns, that would be available for our sheriff to better provide for our increasing security needs.

Give that love gift to Sheriff Nugent this year, and since the commissioner's do not care enough about our vulnerability, we will show responsibility in caring for their's.

Gus and I tucked and wrote on our $5 Christmas check: "Sheriff's Love Gift," will you?

Gus and Cy Hollister

Brooksville

Letters policy

Editor's note: Our editorial page policy is to give priority to letters that are e-mailed to our office. Short, to-the-point letters also get special consideration. Letters of length will be considered for a guest column if they are succinct and well written.

We like to feature a variety of opinions, not the same writers all the time. Those who are writing the newspaper for the first time will be given special consideration for quicker placement.

Those who write frequently may only be published once a month to give everybody a chance to share their opinions.

This page is reserved for our readers. Elected officials often have their opinions spelled out in our news columns. At times, we allow a platform for public officials, particularly if they need more space to enunciate an issue.

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Please include your address and phone number for verification purposes. Only the author's name and hometown will be published with the letter.

Letters policy