Dear Editor,
Recently, I attended a Town Hall commission meeting where residents were to be introduced and educated about a planned development project near Harmony Road.
This is the first Town Hall meeting that I have seen the commission hold in the five years I’ve lived in Putnam County. This project includes a 20-year tax abatement that the developer is seeking for about 350 short-term rentals they will operate. So, it is not the entire development.
There will be two more town halls regarding this issue, and I strongly encourage everyone to attend.
As Putnam County experiences rapid growth and an influx of retirees and newcomers drawn to lake life, we must acknowledge both the economic benefits and the challenges.
Longtime residents, especially seniors, are seeing rising property values and potentially increased taxes. Many of us new residents moved here from areas where taxes were much higher — my own property taxes on my Lake Sinclair home are significantly lower than what I paid in Miami for a house less than half the size.
Fortunately, Putnam County residents made considerable progress in the last election by electing Richard Garrett and Tom McElhenney to the commission. With these changes, we hope to move away from a majority of the board that simply rubber-stamps anything that Chairman Sharp and County Manager Van Haute put on the agenda!
Hopefully, we are quickly moving past the days when Chair Sharp, our county manager, and our county attorney respond to taxpayers' concerns with blank stares. They don’t seem to understand that answering questions and engaging with the public are fundamental responsibilities of their roles.
While we must continue fostering growth and economic opportunities, Putnam County residents deserve a government that is transparent, open, ethical, and accountable. Citizens must be fully informed about this and all other critical issues affecting our community.
Don Sadler, Putnam County