It isn't often an old cat like me agrees with the School Board AND the Volusia County Council.
This is one of those exceptions. Victoria Gardens needs to ante up and pay the school-impact fees. Why? There should be no protected classes or groups of people who can say, "Schools aren't my responsibility."
Schools are the responsibility of everyone. I don't care if there aren't gonna be any kiddies in the gated, senior-citizen enclave. Nor do I care if there weren't any kids in the Ormond Beach mobile-home park case.
The fact is, taxes helped pay for those seniors to get an education, and helped them become the fine, property-owning folks they are. Saying, "I've got mine, now, get yours," isn't the way it should work.
Schools are everybody's responsibility.
And, if you want to get into the technical arguments, Victoria Park doesn't have a good legal reason to avoid paying the fees. The developer agreed to pay school-impact fees on the development as a part of the master development plan for the area. Now, the developer wants to wiggle out of it.
Paugh!
Of course, if the county wants to exempt EVERYBODY from paying the fees, that's fine.
I totally agree.
ReplyDeleteVictoria Gardens does not ban all persons who have children from working on their property. They live in the community of DeLand, which includes persons from birth to retirement. They should pay their taxes.
Right on!
ReplyDeleteVictoria Gardens could not be built in a wetlands area without being connected to DeLand's sewer or use DeLand's reclaimed water for irrigation. They are a part of the DeLand community and should pay their taxes.