Fort Wayne property taxes may skyrocket!

Kevin Leininger has a "must read" article in the News-Sentinel entitled "Fancy schools must justify financial impact."

Please read the article:
<http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/fortwayne/news/local/16366629.htm>

I grew up in FWCS. I graduated from Snider High School in 1985. Late last year I sold my mother's house in Walden. Walden is a very nice middle classed neighborhood near Georgetown Square. My mother's house was 33 years old, had a two car garage, was 1800 square feet, and had four bedrooms. I have always thought that my Mother's house was the very definition of "Middle Classed."

My mother lives on a fixed income. This year my mother's property taxes would have been about $1200 per year.

I did some number crunching and estimated what her property taxes would have increased once all factors are considered. Please remember that property taxes are expected to increase significantly this year WITHOUT any new bonds.

I estimate that her property taxes would increase to about $2300 a year depending on what the State legislature does this year if FWCS asks for 995 million dollars in bonds...

WOW...

Note her house sold for about $102,000 three months ago...

Fort Wayne MUST fix the Combined Sewer Overflow problem in the near future due to Federal mandates. This will certainly increase property taxes even more!

I feel sorry for all of those people living in FWCS who live on a fixed income! A property tax "tornado" is headed your way!

A tax increase of this type would have many effects that must be considered carefully:
1. It will drain a lot of money from area consumers. This will have a profound impact on the
local economy.
2. Property values in Fort Wayne would possibly DECREASE due to the property tax increase.
3. Many residents would consider moving out of Fort Wayne, especially those on a fixed income.
This would have a negative impact on Fort Wayne, it might flood NACS, SACS, and EACS
with new students. It also might cause the FWCS school population to DROP after spending
almost a billion dollars!
4. The bankruptcy rate in this area has been one of the highest in the nation for many years. A
property tax increase of this magnitude might cause it to increase further.
5. Fort Wayne has lost a lot of major employers and is strggling to attract new businesses.
One of the most important considerations for new businesses are the taxes they have to pay.
It would be much harder to draw new businesses to Fort Wayne with a tax increase of this
magnitude.

This issue needs to be looked at long and hard by the taxpayers!

Mike Sylvester