Stop Feeding The Pig: Vote 'Yes' On Amendment 1

As I was quoted in the Thursday, Jan. 17, edition of Hernando Today that Amendment 1 is "not going to do squat," let me also state that it is important that we vote "Yes" on Amendment 1. If we don't vote for the amendment, our state and local lawmakers will say, "The citizens have spoken and do not want their taxes lowered."

Our best bet to lower taxes is by voting in the August Hernando County primaries and the November general election to vote out our current tax-and-spend incumbent county commissioners.

Be sure to elect county commissioners and school board members who promise how they will go about reducing spending without affecting education, fire and police services.

Most taxpayers do not realize that in the past three years since the current county commissioners have held office, our general fund has increased from $59 million to $121 million with just a 10 percent increase in population. Imagine that.

Real money that amounts to $100 million taken from the pockets of taxpayers and put into the coffers of the county. The true financial effect is that if the $100 million that our Hernando County commissioners voted out of our pockets had been left in the local economy, Hernando County would have realized more than $1 billion in commerce that we do not have today. That's a lot of jobs and a lot of building that is gone because of the liberal tax-and-spend habits of our current group of county commissioners.

Greed and self-interest has killed our economy and today Hernando County finds itself in a long and protracted economic depression until we have significant local tax relief by reducing spending.

We need to "right size" our local government services. We need to keep most of the citizen's disposable income in the local economy and stop feeding the pig. For now, get out and vote on Jan. 29 or earlier and vote "Yes" for Amendment 1.

Jon Albert "JAZ" Zydenbos

Weeki Wachee