I think I have the same opinion as most everyone else in Lee County. Our taxes are too high!
We are taxed on our land and houses (property tax), on our fuel (fuel tax at the pump), and just about everything we buy (sales tax) with our wages left over after taxes (income taxes).
My goal is to keep taxes as low as possible, and the best way to do that is to scrutinize the county’s spending to make sure we are operating as efficiently as possible.
Providing county services like roadways, government offices and public safety are certainly not cheap, but we don’t want to needlessly burden taxpayers with higher taxes with overspending. Planning will also help with this endeavor so we won’t be responding to unforeseen expenditures that should have been anticipated.
I will work with all elected officials in the county in an attempt to get them what they need but maybe not necessarily all they are asking for. There is only so much tax money to go around.
Developing the county budget is not only up to the County Judge. It is done by the four county commissioners, working with the Judge, the appraisal district, the treasurer, and the auditor. The County Judge’s vote only counts if there is a tie vote with two commissioners voting “for” and two commissioner voting “against” any particular item, including the county budget.
So, the notion that the County Judge alone can somehow raise taxes is false.