Editor,
In John Accetturo’s opinion piece, titled “Political inconsistency should inspire public reaction,” he encourages the public to react; so I will.
The premise of his piece is that politicians can say whatever they want and do something else with little to no consequence from the citizenry.
He gave several examples, but the one that caught my eye related to Carmel’s use of residential property taxes for redevelopment.
Accetturo and I disagree that residential property taxes are being used. Plain and simple. But I do not accept his assertion that because of my belief, I am wrong and he is right. Facts prove that not one cent of residential property taxes has been spent for Carmel redevelopment. Only TIF (taxes from business property) has been used.
However, in financing redevelopment debt, residential property taxes have been pledged but never used, in order to obtain a lower interest rate because of Carmel’s financial success. Significant dollars are being saved by using this smart financial strategy, which works to taxpayers’ benefit.
But without a sense of fair play from Accetturo, the public is led to believe that residential property taxes have been spent.
Just as damaging as a politician who says one thing and does another is the critic who tries to spin public opinion with half-truths and misinformation to support a specific agenda. As a politician himself, Accetturo has just proved this point.
Jeff Worrell, 46033