Tallahassee's hidden tax

[Tallahassee.S]

The joys of a natural monopoly. It's no secrets that Tallahassee's electric rates are high. Does anyone know how much of a windfall this provides the City of Tallahassee?

[Florida]

enough to support the operations of the Airport, StarMetro, Police Department, Fire Department, Storm Water System... I wouldn't call it a hidden tax, because they do release a report yearly, usualy with the new budget showing where excess revenues go. Since Tallahasseeans Own "Your Own Utilities" many don't mind the subsidies, some have even taken the liberty of using the $1, $5, $__ option to help lower income families offset higher cost of utilities.

Our utility system, is probably one of the most unique things about this community. It is full service providing some of Florida's cleanest water, most reliable power (although expensive at the moment), gas service, and awesome waste services.

[celebrated]

Tallahassee has the most unrealiable power of any city I have ever lived in. I have only been here 8 months and have experienced 4 major power outages. Prior to moving here I spent 4 years in central Florida and never lost power once, even through 3 major hurricanes.

[Florida]

I've only lost my power once in the past 2 years. That was during a hurricane, and it was restored within hours of going off.

I know of people who live in places where every raindrop makes the power go off... I think our crews do a great job in not only providing the relaible service, but restoring that service quickly when it goes out.

[celebrated]

The city is building a new sub-station in Southwood and once that goes online our power here (in Southwood) should be much more reliable. I suspect some of our outages may be due to the Capital Circle SE widening.

[poonther]

I lost my power tons more when I lived in Ft. Lauderdale than I do now in downtown Tally. In Lauderdale, we'd have a power surge about everyday. It got so bad that we stopped resetting our VCR and microwave clocks because the next day when we'd come home again, they'd be blinking from the surge. Our power there was provided by FP&L. These surges never happen to us here in Tally. Plus I'll take the tree cover and canopy for the price of a few power outages because of the trees. I find it a positive trade-off.

[psycuda]

The high electric bills also allow the city to keep property taxes low. Still, the City of Tallahassee's electricy is dirt cheap compared to NYSEG in upstate NY

[jpl02]

I lost my power tons more when I lived in Ft. Lauderdale than I do now in downtown Tally. In Lauderdale, we'd have a power surge about everyday. It got so bad that we stopped resetting our VCR and microwave clocks because the next day when we'd come home again, they'd be blinking from the surge. Our power there was provided by FP&L. These surges never happen to us here in Tally. Plus I'll take the tree cover and canopy for the price of a few power outages because of the trees. I find it a positive trade-off.

So very true! Every time it would freaking rain, however light it was, our electricity would go out at home. We live in North Dade and have FPL too. They stink......and I've heard they're trying to charge residents down in South Florida for power during the dates that they didn't have it due to the storms. Can anyone say horrible business practices?

[Tallahassee.S]

The high electric bills also allow the city to keep property taxes low. Still, the City of Tallahassee's electricy is dirt cheap compared to NYSEG in upstate NY

Doesn't suprise me one bit regarding upstate New York. The economy up there is a joke.

As for Tallahassee, the property taxes here are not that low.

[Florida]

Doesn't suprise me one bit regarding upstate New York. The economy up there is a joke.

As for Tallahassee, the property taxes here are not that low.

The major cause of our high property taxes is our excellent school system recieving nearly half of what you pay in property taxes... 9.25 mills or something along those lines.

We've discussed how Tallahassee is in the unique position of not having much taxable land due to state and government ownership, which is why our rates must be higher than your standard city. Yet I still maintain, Tallahassee's ~3.00 Millage is still low for a city of its size.

[poonther]

Doesn't suprise me one bit regarding upstate New York. The economy up there is a joke.

As for Tallahassee, the property taxes here are not that low.

I'm not in disagreement w/that statement, but can you provide us with some info. or a cite to back up your calm? Especially with cities that are about the same size as Tally. Also keep in mind when comparing property taxes in other states, they might have cheaper property taxes, but they pay a state income tax that we don't.

[Florida]

Good point with the state income tax... I often over look that.