Showing posts with label Real estate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Real estate. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Where Do Your Local Tax Dollars Go?


Gloucester County, Virginia is once again entering into the annual budget building season. Last year there were folks who wanted to see a seven or more cents increase in real estate taxes. After efforts by several conservative minded Gloucester People and a lot of deliberation by the Board of Supervisors, the increase turned out to be ½ cent. Let’s review what I suggested to the Board of Supervisors during the public comment period of the meeting in which the Board voted, in a three to four split decision, to increase real estate taxes by ½ cent. I began my suggestions with: Any tax increase is unacceptable considering last year’s increase, the repeal of the boat tax and the amount of money irresponsibly spent year after year. I then made the following suggestions.

-Parks and Recreation funding should be limited to what it takes to operate and maintain our most used parks and programs and the lesser used (over half of them) should be closed. Manpower should be limited to minimum operational requirements. All parks and recreation capital projects should be frozen until financial ability and growth trigger further expansion. This will save over $250,000 annually.

-We pay over $250,000 a year to rent our libraries. The rent arrangement for the Main St. Library is an unethical back door funding mechanism for a non-profit organization (That organization is the Gloucester Main Street Preservation Trust) and is not a fair and transparent way to spend tax dollars. As a first step, the library at Hayes should be closed and funds normally appropriated for its operation and rent should be diverted to a library construction fund. Owning our libraries will save over $200,000 annually, after depositing $50,000 annually into a maintenance and expansion fund.

-Last year I called for the elimination of the Community Education Department. (Instead of eliminating it, more money was dumped into it and the name was changed to the Department of Community Engagement.) I also called for returning the department’s functions back to schools, social services, County administration, human resources, IT and the various non-profit organizations the department supports. I suggested moving the director to the planning department. (I now feel the position should be eliminated all together.) This will yield an annual savings of at least $350,000. (If the director position is eliminated the savings would be over $100,000 more than the $350,000 I suggested last year.)

-Animal Control should be reorganized into a reactionary department and patrolling should cease. This will make the department more citizen friendly. Staff should be limited to two officers. The Sheriff’s dept. dispatcher should receive incoming calls and dispatch the officers as needed. This will save over $100,000 annually.

-What to do with our bus garage and old Page properties is being considered. It has been rumored that selling all or part of the properties is the best option. Considering our substantial infrastructure needs and need for consolidation, any option to sell the properties does not seem to be fiscally responsible, in the best interest of managing our assets or taking care of our employees.

These properties afford us the ideal location to consolidate county and school functions. We should expand our bus garage and consolidate all school and county transportation functions under one fleet director employed by the County. We should consolidate all of our school and County public works, buildings and grounds and janitorial type functions under one director employed by the County. Utilities has money to purchase property for of a new yard and office. It should be used to begin the consolidation process by moving Utilities to the old Page property. (The County and our public school system continue to kick this can down the road. Someone wants the old Page and school bus garage properties and Gloucester taxpayers are going to end up on the short end of the stick if we allow the property to be sold. As it stands now, tens of thousands of dollars have been spent to do a study on where a consolidated facility should be located. The County and schools have limited the amount of land that can be used at the old Page and bus garage properties by focusing the study on using only ½ of the property. Even after imposing that restriction, the study determined that the old Page and bus garage property is the most economical location out of three locations that were considered. I have been telling them for three years for free, what they have now spent tens of thousands of our local tax dollars to learn.)  

-All IT and financial functions should also be consolidated under one director per department and employed by the County. All of the mentioned consolidations will lead to a savings of over $1 million annually. (I now believe these functions should also be consolidated on the old Page and bus garage property.)

Total potential savings from these few suggestions would be in the neighborhood of $2,000,000 annually. Unfortunately, not enough People in Gloucester are speaking out against the unnecessary spending of tax dollars. There is an ongoing effort to bring industrial and other types of businesses to Gloucester. They claim we need to generate more revenue to ease the tax burden. Generating more revenue in the manner they are attempting will result in more local government and higher taxes. Gloucester enjoys one of the lowest real estate tax rates around, but it continues to inch up. When government grows, taxes rates generally increase in feet instead of inches.

The County Administrator will eventually release his proposed budget for next year. I will let you know when he does. I bet they will be asking for seven or more cents again. In the meantime, here is the web address to the County budget that was approved last year.
http://www.gloucesterva.info/Portals/0/finance/documents/FY17AdoptedBudgetandFY17AdoptedCapitalBudget.pdf?ver=2016-08-19-125753-407

Keep following and please share with everyone you know in Gloucester County.

Comments about articles and submissions for publication on GVLN may be emailed to: Kennysr61@gmail.com
Let your voice be heard on any topic pertaining to our community.
We will publish many opinions the newspapers will not.

Kenny Hogge, Sr.
Gloucester Point, Virginia
Kennysr61@gmail.com

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Gloucester, VA Delinquent Tax Property Auction Sale List



Gloucester, VA Tax Auction, Nov 2014 from Chuck Thompson

Above is a list of properties going up for public auction for delinquent tax payments.  This only goes to show that no matter what you think, you do not own the land you think you own.  It can very quickly be taken from you for many reasons.  If any of these properties are occupied by someone who simply can not afford to pay the taxes, then it is a crime against God to take their home.  Read the bible here.  If you want to get a deal on real estate at the expense of someone else's hardship?  By participating in buying any of these properties, you are saying that you do not believe in ownership of land to yourself and everyone else as well.  You just gain control over it for a cost.

  If anyone out there has fairly deep pockets and can afford to help out a family that may need it then we recommend researching these properties and seeing if you can't pay those back taxes for a family or person in desperate need.  Where are the non profit foundations now?  Temporarily house the homeless during the winter but let's create homeless folks instead of helping prevent the crisis to begin with?  Put together a group of private individuals who can pool money to help out anyone of the people in the above list.  It may make you eligible for extra tax deductions.  You would have to check with a good accountant or lawyer who specializes in this area.

The US Constitution as well as the original state Constitution does not allow for personal property taxes.  No one can show where they are.  The 16th Amendment is not legal as it is written as a right of the Government against the people which is not what the Bill of Rights were designed for.  The Bill of Rights is the rights of the PEOPLE.  It's clear we have a criminal government even at the local level.

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Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Gloucester, VA Real Estate Investment Zone


The above picture has the Heart of Gloucester outlined which is the new hot bed area or zone for Gloucester development.  What we have done is highlighted the area that is of the highest level of importance for future real estate investments.  It's all in the area along route 17.  You want to figure the hottest investment zones along 17 are where the new Page Middle school is going up to the Short Lane road is.  Anything on either side of the road with decent amount of space is of the highest priority for investment.  Just below or above the highlighted area is also within a pretty decent area for having and or holding investments.

  If you presently own real estate in this zoned area, it is probably worth much more than you think and you may be getting approached to think about selling it if you have not already.  Do not get lowballed here.  There are plans well in the works for this area and we will be going over these plans in the upcoming months.

  We do not have any inside sources or we would be breaking the law right now.  We have just been able to put together all of this information based on paying attention to what the Board of Supervisors, School Board and certain concerns in the county have been telling us all.  You really should pay close attention, they are not hiding any of this.  They are just not putting it into black and white for you.

  Investment groups are also a good idea.  If anyone wants help starting one, let us know.  We know exactly what and where to buy based on our research and paying attention to what is going on.
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Monday, January 20, 2014

China's January 2014 Massive Bubble Burst Already Scheduled For Default?

The China Bubble is about to burst and we have a date of January 31st, 2014.  The start in an international downturn that will affect the entire globe.

  Start your research with the link below.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonchang/2014/01/19/mega-default-in-china-scheduled-for-january-31/

The fed is about to raise interest rates which will go up even higher once the Chinese bubble bursts.  If you are in the stock market in any form, it's time to get out and that time is now.  This week.  Do not wait.  Even mutual funds are at major risk.  Increased interest rates will shock the stock market which will start it's downward trend and this time just when you think you have seen bottom, you have not seen anything yet.

  We are calling for the big burst this time.  Get your holdings in nearly every investment out now.  The dollar is going to plunge as is the rest of the world's currency will so currency holdings will have no hedge.  Bond funds will not save anyone this time either.  They are going to plummet as well as no one will have the money to pay the payments.

  Real estate is also no haven.  We are on the verge of another Real Estate burst that will start in California this year and the effects will be nationwide.  So if you are flipping houses, stop and get out now or you too will be upside down in no time flat no matter how good that deal may have been.

  Cash holdings will be better than stock or bond holdings but with the dollar about to be seriously devalued, it's still a bad bet but better than the stock crashes everyone else will have to put up with.

  Where do you put your money?  For the short term, we see two places as being sound bets.  E-gold and Bitcoins.  Bitcoins are worrisome to us as there is no market history in this type of scenario we are about to go through.  What we do like is the fact that Bitcoin is decentralized and therefore can not be controlled by any government.  That is what makes it more sound than any other investment.  It does not mean that it will not suffer being devalued the same as all other currencies, but we do not see that happening.

  E-Gold is a sound short term bet for the preservation of capital until it gets outlawed.  What, you don't think that time is coming?  Better look at your history.  There is also the concern of fraud charges that may come up in the future with some of the brokerage houses on e-gold.  (How else do you take down those types of exchanges?)

  Looking at E-Gold holdings at this present time is not so hot.  The requirements to hold an account and it's accounting fees are starting to go up.  The future of grabbing a percentage of personal holdings for whatever reason are becoming a serious liability.  Bitcoin is looking to be a safer bet each day.  It's not privacy that we are concerned about here.  It's the ability of governments to confiscate assets for any reason they may feel like is what we are concerned about here.  E-Gold is presently being put under the confiscation grab ability, yet Bitcoin is not subject to these same conditions.

  Expect the New World Order to start stepping up with solutions that will not work, but you will be told that their solutions are the only ones available and that they will work.  Don't bet on it.  
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Thursday, January 16, 2014

Gloucester Main Street Preservation Trust Assets Located

Digging through public records we have the information regarding the real estate listed on the 2011 tax forms of the Main Street Gloucester Preservation Trust also known as the Gloucester Main Street Preservation Trust.  The following is what we have dug up from public records.

  This is the majority of the property we believe to be under the Trust.  So what we see is that the Trust receives payments from Gloucester County under a lease agreement for space used by the public library.  Your tax dollars funding a part of the secret shadow government infiltrating Gloucester county government.  Gloucester County pays out about 20 thousand dollars a month for leased space in both locations in the county as found on the county's own yearly budget information.  The Main Street location being much larger of the two, we are sure that the majority of the lease payments under the 20 thousand goes to the GMSPT, a non profit, Trust,  fraternity according to their own records.


The library shopping center on Main Street
                                                                                           
Map#          Last Name        First Name     RPC    Land Value   Improvements   Value
32A2(9)-1A GREGORY YVONNE          33565  $500.00            $0.00         $104,500.00
32A2(9)-2A GREGORY YVONNE          41228 $1,023,200    $255,100       $1,278,300
32A2(9)-2A THE MAIN ST. TRUST        41227      00             $1,201,500    $1,201,500
32A2(9)-3A GREGORY YVONNE          41229 $10,600          $0.00             $10,600

Map              Last Name        First Name     RPC    Land Value   Improvements   Value
32A2(9)-2A GREGORY YVONNE            41228 $1,023,200    $255,100       $1,278,300
32A2(9)-2A THE MAIN ST. TRUST          41227     00             $1,201,500    $1,201,500
32A2(9)-3A GREGORY YVONNE            41229  $10,600          $0.00             $10,600
32A2(1)BK A-3A THE MAIN ST. TRUST 42949  $58,500          $0.00              $58,500
32A2(1)BK A-3G THE MAIN ST TRUST 13876   $760,600      $2,459,000      $3,219,600
32A2(1)BK A-3J THE MAIN ST TRUST   42950    $22,000         $0.00            $22,000
32A2(12)-1 THE MAIN STREET TRUST  35133   $1,800            $0.00              $1,800
 -Map 32A2(9)-2A is the parking lot area of the library, health dept., etc.
-Map 32A2(1)BK A-3A is a corner lot located in proximity to the grass area between Main Street and the library
-Map 32A2(1)BK A-3G is the property the buildings sits on. The property is much larger than the building.
-Map 32A2(1)BK A-3J is a property behind the meeting place building
-Map 32A2(12)-1 is a very narrow property between Map 32A2(1)BK A-3A and Main Street.

The above numbers would seem to agree with yesterday's posting information and tax returns information.  The link on yesterday's post shows 2012 figures but no tax returns.  The above figures are right in line with 2012's information.

  So the income for the trust, from what we can gather, comes in the form of lease payments from the ownership of the property known as the Gloucester Main Street Shopping Center.  This is the same property that they depreciated over 1.7 million dollars on for 2011 as seen in their tax form filing.  How they did that we have no idea.  How they get away with not following what other business owners must now follow thanks to the GMSPT involvement with the county is also highly questionable.  How is it that they have not been forced to tear up their parking lot to put in flower beds?  

  Also, according to the 2011 tax form from the Main Street Gloucester Preservation Trust, they did not pay out any grant money to any businesses.  So where did the money come from that the local paper keeps reporting that the GMSPT has awarded?  State or Federal funds that the GMSPT brokered on behalf of those local businesses and take credit for?  We don't know and there is no way to tell.  The 2011 tax form left it blank where the GMSPT or the MSGPT is supposed to show grants held and then paid out.

  Does anyone find this suspicious?  And we want these people promoting Gloucester why?  Are they pocketing fees for brokering services and farming those jobs to themselves through their own businesses not shown to be in connection with them?  Legal fees to Ingles law firm maybe?  Again, we do not know.  We can only ask the questions based on what we see.  According to the GMSPT website, they seem to be brokering commercial real estate.  We have no problem with them brokering real estate unless of course they are collecting extra fees and sending business to certain buddies of the GMSPT and they are the only ones who can handle the business.  Even then it may be okay as long as they are not purposely playing interested parties and milking extra fees from them.  But again, there is where questions come into play.  Are certain people using the GMSPT as a front for other activities?  As a non profit Trust fraternity that has no other source of income other than real estate lease payments, it looks very strange at best.

  And why does a Gloucester County Board of Supervisor need to sit on the Board of this organization?  Again, based on what we see, there is no real reason for that.  And we must continue to ask, why is this Trust Fraternity so interested in making plans that affect taxpayers and businesses within the county?  They are not a charitable corporation like others in other areas are.  So again, this makes no sense.  You have to ask a lot of questions based on the public information of this and it's sister organizations, The Gloucester Main Street Association, supported in part by the GMSPT, and the Cook Foundation.  The folks who brought us the Beehives that polluted the county landscape then the landfills.

  Anyone know how that Beehive deal worked?  We found out.  Here was the deal as it was explained to us.  You had to buy the Beehive and decorate it yourself  at your expense.  You then had to give it back to the Cook Foundation once it was decorated.  If you wanted it back, you had to pay for it again.  No joke.  They pulled that off and had those Beehives everywhere for a year.  But hey, it was for charity.  Who's benefit is the question however.  You can still buy the Beehive posters at the county Welcome Center located in the historic Courthouse Circle, if you are so inclined though.  A reminder of those fun times and the landfill deposits.  


This is an inverted image of one of those Beehives mentioned above.  They were about 4 feet tall if memory serves correctly.  There were hundreds of them around the county and now there are hundreds of them in the local landfill still waiting to decay.  How green was that move?   
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Saturday, December 28, 2013

The Wake Up Call – The HELOC Horror Revisited 10 Years Later

U.S. Subprime lending expanded dramatically 20...
U.S. Subprime lending expanded dramatically 2004-2006 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)



Richard Martin

HELOCs from before the financial crisis are about to reset to fully amortizing loans. The figures are astronomical and many – if not most – of those with HELOCs are probably unaware of the huge hikes in monthly payments which await them. The real estate nightmare takes on a new lease of life on January 1. Many will simply stop paying and continue to pay the first mortgage. These loans cannot be written down, they must be written off. What’s so terrible about deflation? Why do governments in a time of crisis always seem to want you to pay higher prices? Not to worry, though. They can never win that game. Some choice words on the Federal Reserve, 100 years old last Monday. End-of-year spending continues to drop. Young Americans are certain to enjoy lower living standards than their parents. America has lost its moral compass and with it its credibility. More on Las Vegas real estate.
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Sunday, July 15, 2012

Gloucester, VA Real Estate Issues To Watch Out For




Some information that may not be considered when either buying or selling real estate whether in Gloucester, VA of in any other area of the nation for that matter.  When you look at laws like this you realize that the US Constitution has been scrapped and that our present leaders could care less about it.  The words of our founding fathers have been deleted from relevant history in modern times.  Is this the type of government we really want for both the present and the future?  You really need to be watching everything from anyone who would claim leadership roles or are they really trolls?


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