As I knew it would, 2015 is starting out with a Griping BANG! No, it's not the mysterious bangs that people heard in several parts of our area. I did not hear "The Bang" myself, but one of our faithful Gripers, Bob W. and his daughter Grace did. They said it was so loud that it shook their house. I am not sure why I didn't hear it, but it may have been due to 3 Kingston Police Cruisers flying up my street at warp speed. Maybe the bang was from these jabronies breaking the sound barrier. It appears that they were in hot pursuit of guy who kidnapped his girlfriend and kids. And you thought I was going to say in pursuit of hot donuts! This high speed chase ended up with the car crashing and one person taken into custody. No one was injured in this high speed affair.
Yep, 2015 has started off with a wallop. A wallop to our pocketbooks. On New Years Eve Luzerne County Judge Richard M. Hughes issued a 42 page decision upholding the County Levee Fee stemming from a trial back in September. I guess his secretary must have been hand writing this decision with a colonial feather pen. This trial goes all the way back to 2009 when the Municipality of Kingston along with 6 of its residents filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of this bogus fee. Their argument, and a valid one I must say, is that all residents of Luzerne County should be taxed and not just people who live in the Agnes Flood Zone. They contest that in 2011 the levee held back 42.66 feet of water which was higher than the 40.91 feet in 1972. They argue that more areas would have been flooded which makes sense to me. They also argue that higher elevation properties generate storm water and should be taxed as well. Again, I agree. As we build more houses and pave roads on the mountains, rain and snow melt run down to the storm drainage system in the valley at a faster pace. These storm drains and catch basins were not made to handle this high volume of water. The result is more localized street flooding along with faster storm drainage into the Susquehanna River.
The Bottom Line here is the mindless idiot County Commissioners at the time from Luzerne County Petrilla, Skrepenak And Urban decided to stop funding flood protection back in 2009. Maybe one of the dumbest moves they have ever made. Instead they laid the burden of protection squarely on the backs of the taxpayers with this bogus Levee Fee. To top it off, this Moron Judge upholds the Counties decision. What else did you think he was going to do. I have voiced my opinion on the R2G many a time on the Levy Fee. IT STINKS! It is a selective tax forced onto the people who lived in the Agnes Flood area. What about the people that live outside the flood zone who come to work in the flood area? They benefit from the levee. What about the people who shop within the flood zone? They benefit from the levee. Before you know it the county will impose a fee on everyone that has the number 2 in their house number. This fee just plain STINKS! What we all should do is simply refuse to pay it. What would the county do then? I'll tell you....NOTHING! They couldn't put us all in the slammer. They could not get Rob Mericle to build jails fast enough.
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