To The Editor:

After a non productive year ECWCD Board Chairman Desmond Barrett (he raised our Taxes 17 percent)relinquished the chairman’s seat toNeal Horrom at the East County Water Control District and within the hour he supported a grandiose $8.5 million plan to build an office building and additional water control structurespaid for by getting a loan or sellingrisky bonds or a gift from Lee countyand increasing your taxes again (20 percent)over the next 20 years.

He insisted onagreeing on a contract this year but not putting the tax increase on the public until 2011 (because he is running for reelection and will be opposed by a tax cutter).

A new office building was opposed by Commissioner Mike Welsh if it included raising taxes to pay for it. That was the how Welch defeated this extravagant proposal last year.

Thetax income to the board is about $5 million and with the projected lower taxrevenue by the county thisyear, it creates a further hardship on the taxpayers and the other four members of the ECWCD board do not seem to digest that information.

The current debt service is $432,000 per year and this would raise to what we owe to over three quarters of a million dollars every year. Mr. Horrom just failed in an attempt with Mr. Winslow, the orange grove seller to get the ECWCD to buy water retention pond orange groveland for $4 million of taxpayers’ money, and then lease the land back to the grove four seven years and the grove can sell the produce and not have to paytaxes toHendry County.

Of course Hendry said no deal and that endedthat wheeling and dealing. Mr Horrom also sells pesticides and fertilizer to orange groves.

That is also as bad as the chairman of the advisory budget committee, Matt Caldwell, who is employed by the appraisal company hired by the board and he recommended in the committee report that they raise taxes 20 percent this past year (in which they did raise taxes 17 percent).

This ison top of the proposal by ECWCD board member John Boardman last year proposing theraise taxes in one year to cover the next seven years so as he put it “we will not have to go through this bother of discussing taxes each year.”

We wonder will this new $8.5 million proposal and the $4 million land purchase deal be covered by Commission Boardman’s fuzzy taxing proposal.

Yes, Mr. Boardman will also have a tax cutting opponent along with Mr.Horrom when they run for reelection thisNovember.

Hey Mr. attorney general or Mr. state’s Attorney or candidates for state attorney generalSen.Aronberg andLt. Gov. Kottkamp wake up and take a look at what is going on at the East County Water Control DistrictofLehigh Acres Frank Lohlein

President CAIT

Lehigh Acres