For Floridians

[wan2doit 6]

We all may want to familiarize ourselves with Amendment 1 to Florida's constitution. Amendment 1 will be on Florida's November ballot.

Amendment 1 will mandate dedication of 3% of real estate doc stamp revenue for conservation land acquisition, easements and other nebulous purposes not fully understood even by state financial analysts yet.

Amendment 1 will remove 10 Billion dollars from existing programs they currently fund and more than likely cause further tax increases due to programs fighting to get dollars to replace those removed due to Amendment 1.

Amendment 1 will remove elected officials ability to weigh in on how $10,000,000,000 Billion dollars of State revenue is spent. Yes, I know some elected officials suck but we elect them and if we don't like them we need to elect better ones or run for office ourselves - that is our duty.

With Amendment 1 decisions over the 10 Billion will be made by agenda driven agency bureaucrats , Non Governmental Organizations assisted by their followers.

All of this in the name of saving us all from pending catastrophie of Florida not being able to buy as much land as Amendment 1 proponents think should be bought.

This is just my take on the subject but I have seen on this site that many folks are well spoken and enjoy learning about issues.

Personally I will vote NO on this amendment for my own reasons and have delivered the issue here so as to alert all Floridians using the site and to possibly learn from any responses.

[tkhayes 126]

I do not have a problem with tax dollars funding land conservation, especially in Florida. I disagree with the constitutional amendment process in Florida in general, but if we are conserving water, land etc, then that helps ensure the future of the ecology here.

Because right now we are fucking it all up.

[wayneflorida 0]

Haven't heard about this, but I'm on alert now. Thanks.

Don't really favor the easy Florida Constitutional amendment process.

If the money is really needed/wanted create a new tax for it. This is just a way to rob peter to pay paul and have to tax again to repay peter.

Florida doc stamps rate is 70 cents per 100 dollars of property sales price. (7 mils).

[GD64 1]

This is directly out of the UN Agenda 21 playbook (Google agenda 21). It's all about control of property (assets). Although said property has been paid for or funded by taxpayers, it's the politicos and bureaucrats who decide on usage and/or disposition. Ultimately it (A-21), is a massive redistribution scheme.

This type of operation has been going on in many states (especially the West .......tons of natural resources/assets), for many years. Probably the most recent (if I remember correctly), was the current ruling cabals gift of one million acres of Wyoming land to a native American tribe without Wyoming taxpayer input of any sort.

I also have no problem with "true conservation" projects. However, they seem to involve a lot of "crony capitalism" with an expensive "make work" and corruption attitudes.

Slightly off-topic.... (lived, worked, jumped in FL for a few years)and took a week off work one Summer and backpacked hundred or so miles of remote FL backcountry trails. I did not encounter one human in that week, but fantastic wildlife encounters daily

[Amazon 7]

So how do you feel about selling off vast tracts of public lands.. ie.. parks etc to the wealthiest families to make them private lands such as they have in say England.?

[wan2doit 6]

True "Because right now we are fucking it all up." Technically yes in some areas not ALL but currently the USA and Fla plans to spend 20-30 Billion on the Everglades in So Fl largely in part according to bureaucracies due to a perception there is too much phosphorus in the water. Well humans are still allowed currently drinking the water with no bad effects until a local water main breaks and a NO drink order is given.

Meanwhile even though I hold no malice against large Florida ranch owners and like beef, cowboys etc. this major source of phosphorous is being given Billions for conservation easements to supposedly protect water but are still allowed to have cattle everywhere pooping on the land and directly into rivers (KIssimmee) which eventually gets to the Glades via Lake Okechobee. I have actually seen herds of cattle standing in the middle of the Kissimmee River as the airboat I was on maneuvered in between them..

I know politicians are a pain sometimes but they are much more accountable for their mistakes than bureaucrats that can fuck up things for their entire 30 year career and remain under the radar screen getting away with it.

Pretty neat though a ranch can get half the value of their property for a conservation easement, still own it, keep having cows shit on it forever. What a deal - I am jealous.

Think about it - until we close the gate letting folks like us in Florida nothing can change much.

Plus down here (So Fl) we were just made aware of 2 feet of additional water to be stored in the Glades due to so called Restoration - guess what - Good Bye mammals and tree islands (hammocks) this is guaranteed. Florida's Fish and Wildlife Commission knows it and has complained to no avail so far. The Feds are hard to beat without losing your Feds funding so why hit'em with the knock out punch provided by the US Constitution.

These sorts of things have made me too skeptical to support/allow the environmental cat burglar to get this
$10,000,000,000 BiLlIoN dollars from hard working citizens and deprive programs for school kids, old folks, fire, police etc. of more necessary funding.

$100 million dollars maybe $10,000 million ='ing $10,000,000,000 Billion dollars - forget it.

That's 1,000,000,000 Billion tunnel minutes at an iFly Orlando skydive overnight camp. Now an amendment to fund that I could get behind. LOL

[wan2doit 6]

So how do you feel about selling off vast tracts of public lands.. ie.. parks etc to the wealthiest families to make them private lands such as they have in say England.?

I wouldn't support that but possible the State somewhere needs money bad to support retirement or other programs.

In Florida it is usually the opposite - State w/Fed money supports large landowners hard up for cash looking for easy money entering into conservation easements at 1/2 property value and the original owner is still the owner minus a few property rights (e.g. development of condos, apt's. etc.)

Local county tax revenue drops since the property minus the property rights given up and taxpayers are forced to make the difference up sooner or later and aren't even aware of what drove the tax increase since gov't, ain't talking about it.

Tax money pays for this land easement so public dollars are in it but the public is totally shut out of accessing the property due to land still being private.

Bottom line - all of these shenannigans happen because we the people allow it by our apathy.

Oh well so goes the New World Order, Agenda 21, The Wildlands Project, modern day environmentalism in Florida etc. etc.

[Boogers 0]

Complicated issue.

Florida is getting crowded and many places are running out of land. Like the east coast from Miami to West Palm Beach. Everything between the ocean and the Everglades is pretty much already full.

Land preservation is important. But at what cost, how much, and how to fund it?

When I lived on the east coast we did something like this at the County level, voting to approve a half-cent sales tax increase, for the purpose of buying up beach-front property for public use. Vast stretches of beach are all privately owned, leaving the general public with no place to easily get to it. So the residents were all in favor of snatching up some land to preserve it for public access into the future, before it all got into private hands and off-limits.