HomeMy WebLinkAbout4/18/2017 Item 1, Pinard
Gardner, Erica
From: Peg Pinard \[ ]
Sent: Monday, April 17, 2017 4:06 PM
To: Harmon, Heidi <hharmon@slocity.org>; Rivoire, Dan <DRivoire@slocity.org>; Christianson, Carlyn
<cchristianson@slocity.org>; Gomez, Aaron <agomez@slocity.org>; Pease, Andy <apease@slocity.org>
Cc: E-mail Council Website <emailcouncil@slocity.org>
Subject: Appeal Fees
City Council
re: Appeal Fees
I think you are forgetting that residents already pay taxes for the operation of their city
government. So, the real question should be “Do the fees encourage or discourage resident
involvement?” The current fees are a write-off for the developers and most often a hardship for
residents. It’s already unrealistic to think that families have an extra $300 sitting around that they can
just throw at frivolous appeals. Raise the rates and you are effectively cutting residents out of the
democratic process as surely as the states that closed polling places to make it even harder, if
not impossible for people to vote!
It is especially egregious to have just given away tax payer monies as a spontaneous ‘bonus’ to
yourselves and then go back to the very same taxpayers and tell them that the city “doesn't have
enough" and that residents will have to pay more for a current city function!. It’s an insult to residents
to raise the appeal fees.
Our local democracy includes the right to file an appeal to the council - but then having the council
charge such an additional hefty ‘recovery’ fee absolutely goes against encouraging residents to care
about where they live. You’re already creating an "Isla Vista-north" and have darn few owner-
occupied family housing left. Keep increasing this trend of separating out functions of local
government and charging residents an additional fee for each function (that they already pay for
through their taxes) and you will soon have no one left who will even care enough to file an appeal.
Peg PInard
former SLO Mayor
former SLO County Board of Supervisors Chairperson
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