Impact Fees.... who needs em!

While we're at it, who needs schools either. That's pretty much the stance the Hillsborough County commission took last night when it voted not to raise impact fees on new homes from a mere $196.00 to $1,000.00. Their reasoning is that it would cause the cost of a home to raise where you're average person couldn't afford it. Well I hate to break it to them but the cost of homes are beyond the point where average people can afford them. When a community gets built with homes starting at $350K or greater, do tell what average people can afford them? Teachers, Firemen, Police, your service workers, can these groups afford these homes? No! They would be hard pressed to afford a home at $150K let alone the exorbatant amounts these developers are charging for their wood shack homes they build.

The county of course wants to see what the state is going to do which is typical of Hillsborough. This current commission has always had the mentality of wait and see what the state gives us. Well if their projections are correct and the state gives hillsborough county $140 million, where is the additional $250 million going to come up to make up the $390 million shortfall the school district is facing. One proposal is add a 1/2 cent to the sales tax. I don't agree with that. Why should I be taxed for schools when I have no children. It's one thing if I were to buy a new home that is adding to stress on our roads and schools but when I may not live in hillsborough but end up having to pay for their schools, how does that benefit me? It's time the buck is passed along to the people who causing the problems, the new home owners. They are moving here in droves so they should foot the extra money for the new schools that are required for their children. Hillsborough needs to raise its impact fees and stop rubberstamping new construction. At the pace of growth in this county it'll be so overcrowded their will be no room for new schools, roads, or transit alternatives. What we need is a new commission!

City, Museum of Art settle feud.... We'll See.

So apparently according to the St. Pete Times City, art museum end feud with deal the city and the Tampa Museum of Art have ended their feud over the museums future location. The original plan the museum had was for a grand new building designed by Rafael Vinoly.

Instead now the deal with the city and museum calls for the museum to move into the Pavilion at Rivergate Tower. These buildings are commonly referred to the cubes.


The deal calls for the city to purchase the cubes from the owners of Rivergate Tower for $5.7 million dollars, then spend $10 million to renovate them. The museum will also be looking to construct a new building just north of this site for future expansion.

I thought the whole point was to move the museum away from the water, which will be done if they vacate their current building, but if they're going to construct a new building north of the cubes they will still be building on the waterfront in a sense. I guess only time will tell what the museum plans to do and how well it will be received. I would like to hope though that Dan Kiley Park just north of Rivergate Tower is preserved and fixed up to what it should be. More about the park can be found here, Kiley Gardens website.

The park is a true masterpiece and should be restored to its original state and preserved for the future. The city should also use it to their advantage more. The fact that it has an abundance of trees to provide shade as well as it's location on the Hillsborough river along with the future Riverwalk could be a great selling point for a city looking to grow.

As for the museum I like the plan to move into the cubes but we'll see how I feel when the expansion is announced. I'm sure it won't be cheap but if they are able spare the waterfront and still have an exciting new structure then I'm all for it.

Wachovia SUCKS!

So lately since Southtrust Bank was taken over by Wachovia I have had nothing but problems. I continually get attacked with $10.00 overdraft protection fees for overdrafts under a 1.00. I mean come on, they're going to take $11.00 out of my savings and put it in my checking account to cover the say $.93 cent overdraft and their $10.00 fee. My most recent hassle took place over an ATM transaction. I went to a Wachovia to withdraw 100.00 but when it came time to dispense the cash I get a message saying cannot process at this time. I tried again, this time $60.00, same message. I ended up having to go to an AmSouth to get the $100.00 and was charged a $2.50 fee. I get home to find out that it's showing $160.00 missing from my account. I immediately called Wachovia and they placed a dispute. Did they refund the money to my account? No! That night after I placed the call I transferred $160.00 from my savings to cover the $160.00 until they figured it out. In the process a transaction I had made was now considered overdrawn so they moved money to my account and slapped me with a fee. I called and they refused to refund the fee, even though they screwed up. I detailed the explanation of how had I originally got my $100.00 I would have had more than enough to cover the transaction. Still refused to give me the fee back. I've decided that enough is enough and I'm switching banks.

Today though I read in the Tampa Tribune about a group of nuns whose account was frozen under the Patriot Act because they didn't have a social security number or picture ID on file. Which bank did the freezing? None other than Wachovia. Here's the story.
Frozen Account Ruffles Nuns

Cut dependence on foreign oil.

I read this clip on CNN.com and had a laugh.

President Bush takes his State of the Union message on the road today, traveling to Tennessee to tout his plans to cut U.S. dependence on imported oil. "Here we have a serious problem," Bush said. "America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world."

What I found most humorous is that the president says this as he heads to Tennessee on his gas guzzling 747. Yes lets cut dependence on foreign oil but first let my 747 whisk me off to exotic locations.... Ok so Tennessee isn't so exotic but you get my drift right.

Lets cut the number of times Air Force One runs the prez back and forth to Crawford or to campaign for another politico. I think if you're going to suggest to people to conserve you should practice what you preach. It's not that hard, really it's not.