Everything is still going up!
Greetings my friends with our year-end update from the Concerned Citizens of Franklin County (CCFC). Like all of us, it was a busy and fast year with the CCFC.
Taxes are up only slightly this year, but up just the same. Assessments are made in arrears and values in 2024 were up significantly. We predict there will be a lower tax base from sales in 2025. The rental market this year is also down, and in some areas as much as 30%. And the County Commission is discussing raising the Bed Tax to 5%.
What does all this mean? It means the constant need to be vigilant in our city and county governments. We are the Concerned Citizens of Franklin County. Our group acts as the eyes and ears for the people to ensure that our Franklin County governments are more open and efficient. Our approach is to stay behind the scenes and feed public officials information so they can ask questions and challenge those who present to them. Our group has brought on a CPA to our Board. This allows us to review budgets and see where there are deficiencies and areas to consider cutting costs. Exactly what other things does the CCFC do?
Throughout the year the CCFC monitors all meetings of the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC). As we get interested volunteer members, we also plan to attend School Board and Weems Hospital Board meetings. If you’d like to volunteer to do this, please immediately contact us!
Through emails and Facebook posts we share Key Highlights from BOCC and other government meetings to keep the public informed on what is happening in their county government. We believe that an informed constituency makes for better government.
On September 30th the CCFC hosted a SGI Special Zoning District Town Hall meeting and invited County Chairman Ricky Jones. The purpose was for Chairman Jones to tell the public why he wanted to make SGI a Special Zoning District and give the public the opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback on whether they supported this idea. The vast majority of people saw no need for a SGI Special Zoning District since the issues to be addressed apply to all areas of the county. The meeting room was full and over 40 people attended by Zoom. At the bottom of this letter are some photos of this Town Hall Meeting.
We engage professionals to help in our efforts towards open, honest, representative government.
The CCFC maintains and operates this independent and informative website.
We will continue to ask that some meetings be held in the evenings and moved around the County so more people can attend.
We encourage the Commissioners to relax the rule of the “Speaker Card” and encourage more public comments.
We reach out through emails and to the Apalachicola Times and Oyster Radio frequently when taxpayer voices need to be heard.
Now it’s YOUR turn! Annually, we reach out to the community for help to meet the financial challenges to continue our work.
Please support the CCFC with your membership dues to help ensure our continued success. Please invest $50, $100 or more in our watchdog group to allow our work to continue. Only through your continued support will we be able to work towards and ensure good government in Franklin County.
Make your check payable to the CCFC and mail it to P.O. Box 990, Eastpoint, FL 32328. Please print out the attached Membership Form and mail it with your check. Remember to include your email address on your check and/or form so you’re sure to receive all of our informative email communications. (Dues are not tax deductible)
Please also share this message and the CCFC website with others who want good county government.