EDITOR:
In the matter of the public hearings on the Consolidation of Water Utilities held March 4 and to be held March 18, three minutes time to present ideas on this important matter is an unreasonable restraint. For this reason I am filing this letter for the public record and requesting its enclosure as part of the public hearings. This will save your time for other positive contributions.
In last week's Wall Street Journal Saturday edition there is a study of the increase of property taxes illustrated by a colored drawing rating the increases in percentages of property taxes for every state in the union from years 2000 to 2006.
You are in the highest percentage along with five other states and would exceed a 50 percent increase. Even the troubled State of California's increase is lower than yours.
Your past reputation was being one of the lowest. How could there be such a change to a state which is really only a desert with few people? Your lack of integrity, competency, planning, financial knowledge, intelligence and experience have contributed to your failures. What happened?
When I returned to the United States after the end of World War II this was a fine place to live. Mining, ranching and agriculture were striving income sources. Now, like the rest of the country, the government politicians, officers and employees have failed to perform their duties to the extent Nevada has the greatest increase in property taxes and no positive successes now.
My observation in attendance of your hearings you are governing and resolving matters in the style of the 1800s and going from one crisis to another without positive results.
Your consultant from Washington has included only 55 lots of the 122 lots in the Job's Peak Ranch planned unit water rates.
This is a falsification of reality for the purpose of transferring more capital improvement costs to our development. Everything in their report is fiction without facts. The report should be rejected and you should start over from the beginning.
Why not hire a local CPA with less expense who would furnish better results based upon reality? You cannot keep fooling the county citizens much longer with your tactics. You have been arrogant, incompetent without integrity and consideration of the best interests of the citizens throughout this matter. You are trying to place blame for your mistakes on others.
It seems to me it is the appropriate time to consider a citizen's and staff advisory committee to prioritize and discover all of the future needs for this county.
It is time for you to heed the ideas of the citizens you represent and resolve them with the staff knowledge and experience to redevelop the county correctly and in a modern manner.
This would be a long period plan and include financial solutions. This is as vital to the county's best interest as is the resolution of our water needs. How about representing those interests and drop the "circus" tactics?
Harold L. Johnson
Job's Peak Ranch
