President's Report

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

 A couple of weeks ago you all got a letter from the city

saying that your taxes were going up. The letter was very

official and also confusing and somewhat harsh. The

increase was for the Tuscawilla Light and Beautification

Distrct. In order for it go into effect, it needed a favorable

vote from the City Commissioners. The meeting was on

September 9th and discussion on this issue lasted almost

three hours. 

The following is a statement that I read to the

audience and the Commissioners.

My name is Dr. Kurt Miericke. I am president of the

Tuscawilla Homeowners Association. Our Board of

Directors is in favor of the increased assessment for the

Tuscawilla Light and Beautification District. We not only

are in favor of it, but we feel that it is necessary to keep

Tuscawilla one of the most beautiful, planned communities

in Seminole County.

“My family moved to Tuscawilla in July of 1997. The

community was developed twenty years prior. By 1997 the

area was showing some wear. Numerous homes were for sale,

the landscaping was in poor condition, and the Tuscawilla

Country Club was in trouble. In 1998, with the help of

the city, the Tuscawilla Light and Beautification District

was formed. The Tuscawilla residents voted favorably to

add $120 annually to their tax bill. This amount was later

increased to $128. The money was used for upgrading and

maintaining the common areas in the community. Through

the years the District advisory Committee oversaw countless

improvements including the streetlights, the landscaping,

the fountains, and the entrances.

I would attend some of the District’s meetings, and I learned

that the fund established in 1998 was no longer adequate

to cover expenses. An increase would soon be needed.

Twenty-seven years later the dollar

value of $120 in 1998 does not cover

current expenses. With an average

yearly inflation rate of three percent

compounded annually, the proposed

increase can only be viewed as a cost

adjustment rather than a tax increase.

The proposed assessment is only to be

levied on Tuscawilla homeowners, and our Board asks that

the City Commissioners vote favorably for the change.”

The increase barely passed with the stipulation that the

increase would be spread over four years in twenty-five

percent increments. I can’t tell you how important it is to

keep Tuscawilla , Tuscawilla. There were so many questions

at the meeting that could have been answered by our

residents just coming out and attending the quarterly TLBD

meetings. We can’t take our neighborhood for granted. We

need to be involved and keep this wonderful place one of the

most beautiful, planned communities in Seminole County.

Dr. Kurt Miericke

THOA President

Publisher, Tuscawilla Today

Email: THOAws20@gmail.com