Commenting on the letter of Mr. Bender March 4, I, too, find it a glaring conflict of interest when the hitherto independent Reporter is now managed by an Editor-in-Chief who at the same time controls COOCVE as its elected president.
Although I had successfully written for the Reporter for many years, a clear example is his arbitrary censoring and eliminating of my column, which apparently expressed a conflicting political point of view.
As to the late Mr. Trinchitella, as a long-time resident of Century village for over 30 years, I was actively involved in numerous programs, working closely with him for a number of years.
While I concede “Trinchie’s” autocratic style, his whole effort, however, was always dedicated to the benefit of Century Village and the betterment of its residents.
Rolf Grayson
Richmond A
Deerfield Beach
RE: Water rates spark discussion
Dear Editor:
Concerning your March 4 article, “Water rates spark discussion at District 4 meeting:” It is commendable that Commissioner Bill Ganz is seeking to “even out the rate” with his district and Century Village East.
The rates, as I understand them, for water and sewage, are based on usage. So the rule of thumb is the more you use, the more you pay.
1) In CVE, all of the more than 8,600 units are occupied by either one or two persons, whose use of water and sewage is significantly less than homes with children.
2) In CVE, a large number — estimates are more than half of the units — are unoccupied for anywhere from six to eight months a year, as many of the co-owners are either snowbirds or snowflakes, and only occupy their units for a part of the year.
So one can easily see why the CVE charge is that much lower than single-family homeowners. The figures the City has used as a lower average base rate, being lower than the nearby District 4, with owner-occupied full-time family residents is justified. It should be noted that multi-family units in District 4 also pay less than single family home-owners, presumably because of lower usage, although not nearly as low as CVE because they are predominantly year-round dwellings.
However if Mr. Ganz wants to “even things” out, would he be willing to eliminate the vast differential in property taxation between permanent residents and snowbirds and snowflakes, who pay a disproportionately higher share of city, county and hospital taxes, even though we do not use their facilities for much of the year? Now that would be real justice.
