Exercise Your Right to Vote
The Pinecrest Village Council has authorized a referendum to be held in the month of March, 2019. The referendum will ask Pinecrest voters to vote FOR or AGAINST the issuance of $15,000,000 in ad velorem bonds to pay for water line extensions to give 739 residential property owners that are currently on well water access to County water. If approved, the Village will levy a property tax increase of .23 mills for Pinecrest property owners. A vote For Bonds may increase your property tax rate and a vote Against Bonds will not change your property tax rate. Check with Village documents and officials to be sure how the rate change affects you.
This is a Special Election and will be one of the easiest for voters. The County Elections Department will mail the ballot directly to each Village registered voter and the ballot will only have one question. To cast a ballot, the voter needs to:
- Open the ballot and follow the included instructions.
- Mark the oval spot on the ballot with a black or blue pen and put it back in the stamped, self-addressed envelope. Then sign the outside of the envelope, add your residential address, and drop it in the mail or take it to the County Elections Department at 2700 NW 87th Ave, Miami, FL 33172.
- The ballot must be returned before 7:00 pm on Tuesday, March 26, 2019 for the vote to count. Results are expected to be made public later that evening.
The ballot will read as follows (according to the Elections Department):
Bond Referendum
Shall the Village of Pinecrest, issue limited ad valorem tax bonds not exceeding $15,000,000, maturing within twenty years from their issuance, bearing interest not exceeding the maximum allowable by law, and payable from a Village levy of 0.23 mills of ad valorem taxes in each year the bonds are outstanding to improve the public health and safety by constructing county-owned potable water and fire hydrant infrastructure for areas currently without access to those facilities?
- For Bonds
- Against Bonds
The ballot is controversial and has pro and con advocates. It is the voter’s responsibility to understand the question and be familiar with the issues. Florida Statute 101.031 states that each registered voter in Miami-Dade County should familiarize him or herself with the issues.
This vote may affect every property owner directly and it is your responsibility to know what you are voting for. You can find more information by going to the Village web site at https://www.pinecrest-fl.gov/ as well as attend one of the information sessions listed on the web page or visit the Pinecrest Municipal Center at 12645 Pinecrest Parkway. You can also read articles in local newspapers such as Miami’s Community Newspapers or go online at https://communitynewspapers.com/. In addition, you can go to the Facebook pages for both the Village and the Community Newspapers, speak with neighbors and friends who are knowledgeable about the subject and willing to share their thoughts and opinions and do all you can to be informed.
Ultimately, the decision will be yours. Please be sure to vote when you receive your ballot in the mail during the first week of March and return it before 7:00 pm March 26, 2019.
We have not yet received a ballot in the mail.
Have the y been sent ?
Vote no. Some people refused when the county and or state came to install public water to replace our contaminated wells in 1992. Yes we had water without electric
or generator power for thirty days after Andrew, as we were connected about two weeks before Andrew.
By the way did any one see an actual date on the balloting material for the votes to be returned in order to be counted?
Vote NO.
I attended an informational meeting this week. This is what I took away from the session
– We are all already paying from our county taxes for those that were connected about 10 years ago, there is not such thing as “they were connected for free”
– We may be affected by salt water intrusion but only God knows when!
– There may be issues in the future with our septic tank systems from water levels raising.
For full disclosure, I do not have water but I am not sure I want water since I like my water and we just invested over 15 thousand dollars in a new well, a whole house 4 stage filter system and a generator to run essential items to be ready for the next storm.
These are my issues with the propose vote
– I have an issue with giving a $15 million gift to the county for something that is the governments responsibility.
– I am concern with the precedent it will set. Are we going to tax ourselves for underground electricity and sewage/septic tank replacement when the time comes to deal with that?
– We need to demand that the county/government share the burden with us by a tax brake and an indefinite moratorium on the connection (this last will not cost them a dime)
Bottom line, I am willing to contribute to the pot, for us it will be $500 to $750 a year, and be proactive, but I need to see our elected officials fight the county so the VOP residents get some benefits.
Absolutely NO ………$15,000,000 in ad velorem bonds to pay for water line extensions to give 739 residential property owners ?. If approved, the Village will levy a property tax increase of .23 mills for Pinecrest property owners.
Every time there is a new construction they Village forces the builders to extend the water lines which cost anywhere between $30,000 to $100,000, which is driving the cost of the new house prices up.
I spent more than $30,000 to get the water connected to my house recently. Is it fair for me to pay for the people who have been sitting there and waiting for others to pay their connection. I am definitely voting NO.
Vote yes. I have city water and it is the best decision ever made!!! No more salt delivery, no more weird tasting water, no more hurricanes without water. It is unbelieveable that a community as pinecrest has to rely on well water. And then there is also the issue of salty water getting in the acquifier. VOTE YES for healthy water.
Absolutely I will vote YES! It is a blemish on the reputation of Pinecrest as an upscale
community that it is not providing access to water and fire hydrants–the most basic services–to all residents. Saying it’s Miami-Dade County’s responsibility does not solve the problem. We as Pinecrest taxpayers have paid for soccer fields and a community center to improve our community– whether we have benefited personally or not. Surely water for all is even more essential.
Vote YES. It is the county’s responsibility but you will end up paying for it anyway in your taxes at a much higher rate then if we tax ourselves and get the job done.
It seems that our city’s elected officials are pushing hard for a yes vote. Why? I would love to know if any of our elected officials would be getting their houses connected by this process. I recently read that in the past the few years the number of houses without city water has dropped from 2500 to currently 750. How was this done? If anyone knows how this was accomplished please post here, so we all can understand. Until we know the answers to these questions I for one will vote NO!
Vote NO
I would be one of those paid already to have water brought to my street.
Whoever cannot wait for the county to bring water to their property should pay for it. It is not like they invested in a property with a promise that someday their neighbors will finance their access to city water.
I do not see the equities in favoring 700+ owners at the expense of the rest of us. Sorry but I will vote NO.
Vote yes! Did everyone get trees when they were planted? Did everyone get sidewalks? Did everyone’s street get resurfaced? Does everyone use the Pinecrest Community Center? Did you get a traffic circle? Do you use all the parks? Does your child attend our local schools who enjoy some extra funding from our taxes thanks to our commissioners vote to support some of their programs?
Of course not! But we all share in those expenses. It is a small amount for fixed amount of time. It is fair to vote yes.
We got no trees, no sidewalk (which we really need), no traffic circle (which we really need), none of my kids attended the local schools, but I have supported every improvement in Pinecrest. Help get water to everyone.
I already pay for my water and my connection, why should I pay for yours?
Vote no
Against Bond
This is the Country’s Responsabiliy
Vote NO!!!
No more taxes
Taxes Enough Already
I believe that the bonds would be illegal. There are property owners who paid to have public water brought to their homes. Others paid more for properties which were already supplied by the public water supply. Those people will have to pay this assessment, a tax, for a second time. I do not find that legal. It facially smacks of double taxation. It is confiscatory and possibly violates equal protection. There is no further benefit to property owners who have public water which would make the double taxation arguably a government taking. It is a mess. Legal challenges should be made. The only fair solution would be for those not connected to public water to bear their own burden. Further, few are aware that Miami Dade County has installed free public water in the North of Sunset Drive behind Dadeland Mall due to groundwater contamination, in the Colonial Park area South of Dadeland Mall due to contamination, south of Colonial Park to 124 Street due to contamination, South of that to 152 Street the County is now installing new water service and South of that there is a huge water service installation in South Miami Heights. The County has installed free public water service all the way around Pinecrest and simply skipped over the Village. Our County Commissioner needs to be asked why Pinecrest as a community that pays significantly more taxes than other communities, have simply been ignored. I am not paying for public water for a second time.
Yes
Completes the water infrastructure of the community just like our neighbors in Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, and South Miami.
If not for one lawyer this would have been accomplished ten years ago
Vote no! I don’t want city water.
We need all people in the village to have the right to connect to water. For the 30 years I have lived on Pinecrest there has been arguments. I feel this proposal is the best I have seen. For $100 a year and my connection fee I will have running water that is not dependent on power from FPL . I am tired of hurricanes taking that away from me. Pinecrest will never get attention from FPL because of our large properties. So this time I am voting yes.
I am voting yes. Though I do have citi water. I am putting myself in the other people condition, I would want citi water for me. 1- its our civic duty to one another in the Village of Pinecrest. 2- If everyone in the Village have access to city water it will elevate the value of each and everyone’s home value. A definite YES vote.
Vote NO! The Village was not incorporated to bring water to its residents. This is the county’s responsibility.
Vote no! Enough taxes in Pincrest already.
Vote Against Bonds
No Tax Increase!