Hillsborough County Using Consent Agenda to Hand Tampa Focused Organizations County Transportation Tax Dollars

At Wednesday's May 4, 2022 Hillsborough County Commission meeting there are 3 Consent Agenda items for the County to hand taxpayer dollars to three so-called public-private "Transportation Management Organizations" (TMO). 

Items on the Consent Agenda allow no discussion because all the items on the Consent Agenda are voted on with just one rubber stamp vote. Consent Agenda items are supposed to be used for routine, non-controversial agenda items. 

This money is flowing right after the commission voted to put the AFT 2.0 30 year ONE PERCENT (NOT ONE CENT) $18 BILLION rail tax do-over on the ballot.

All three of these TMO's are primarily Tampa focused. 

With Every Word They Say, Every Game They Play - We'll Be Watching the 5 Democrat Commissioners Focus on Tampa Rail/Transit Not Needed New Road Capacity

We are right again! 

Hillsborough County commissioners Kimberly Overman, Mariella Smith, Harry Cohen, Gwen Myers and Pat Kemp are the Tampa Centric 5 county commissioners. All five are Democrats. Overman, Kemp and Smith are countywide commissioners whose focus is the urban core of Tampa, not unincorporated Hillsborough where most of their constituents reside. 

The Tampa Bay Business Journal (TBBJ) article confirms this in their March 23rd post about the motion by Myers for a do-over AFT 2.0 30 year ONE PERCENT (NOT ONE CENT) $18 MILLION rail tax on the November ballot:

The motion was spearheaded by Commissioner Gwen Myers, who threaded the line between the commissioners looking out for unincorporated Hillsborough County's interests (Stacy White and Ken Hagan) and the Tampa-focused commissioners (Pat Kemp, Kimberly Overman, Mariella Smith and Harry Cohen).

Tampa Centric 5 Decide To Put AFT 2.0 Rail Tax on 2022 Ballot Before Any Public Meetings Held or Unlawful AFT Dollars Refunded, Kemp Falsely Claims County Has No Money for Transportation

The gaslighting on Hillsborough County's transportation issue continues with Hillsborough County commission Chair Pat Kemp. She publicly stated "there is no money" to fund transportation in Hillsborough County.

That is gaslighting rhetoric and NOT true. We're left wondering whether Kemp understands the County's budget, understands basic math or just prefers throwing tax dollars out the window.

Rebate Unlawful Transit Tax Dollars, Fix Our Roads First and Do Not Trust AFT

The All for Transportation (AFT) unlawful and egregious 2018 rail tax was thrown out by the Florida Supreme Court. 

Sharon Calvert, co-founder of this blog and No Tax For Tracks, was a guest on Saturday's AM860 BrookeTalksAmerica podcast to talk about the illegal AFT transit tax and where to go from here. Take about 15 minutes to listen as Calvert emphasized the paradigm shifts away from traditional transit and costly rail, the need to fix our roads first and stop another wasteful AFT 2.0 rail tax boondoggle.

Hillsborough County Commissioner White Responds With Facts to Tampa Bay Times Attack

Reprinting Hillsborough County commissioner Stacy White response to a recent Tampa Bay Times editorial:

After reading the Tampa Bay Times’ Feb. 23 editorial, “Leading the way on transportation,'' I was struck by how it seemed long on rhetoric but short on facts. As a commissioner who was mentioned by name, allow me to present some further comments and provide the facts surrounding the “back-up” tax plan.

The voters of the county deserve to know the structural details of this “back-up” plan, which, outside of our Board of County Commissioners meetings, have not been comprehensively discussed. As an elected official, I firmly believe the voters of this county are more than capable of analyzing the facts and making a decision on whether this is a roads investment or a mass transit investment, but they need to see the entire picture.

Much like the previous surtax, 40 cents and 1 cent of every dollar of this tax levy, respectively, would go to the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority and the Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization, with the remaining portion split between unincorporated Hillsborough County and the three cities according to a population-based formula. Accordingly, there would be – at most – 44 cents of every dollar spent on roads capacity projects (i.e., road widening or building new roads) that benefit unincorporated Hillsborough County.

The plan allows the commission to allocate more of its share than the dedicated 40 cents of every dollar to HART. The commission could also spend a portion of its share on things like road resurfacing, bicycle lanes and sidewalks. This means that it’s possible for unincorporated Hillsborough County to receive less than 44 cents of every dollar for added road capacity. If this tax is viewed as an investment, that’s a return on investment of 44 cents on the dollar for road capacity projects in unincorporated Hillsborough County – and potentially much lower.

Plant City residents would see little more than 1 cent of every dollar of this tax go toward transportation projects within their city. That’s not a penny of every dollar spent by taxpayers, but a penny of every dollar of the tax placed into the government coffers. That equates to paying the tax on two $50 restaurant tabs for Plant City residents to see just 1 cent spent on projects in their city. It’s also important to note that Plant City does not participate in HART and, therefore, does not receive services from HART. Unless this is changed before the election, it would be unfair to definitively tell Plant City residents they will receive services from HART.

The crux of this is whether the plan is a roads investment or a mass transit investment, and, if the latter – does this mass transit investment go from Lutz to Fort Lonesome? If the citizens of this county are presented with a lawful referendum this November and express that they are happy with the returns on investment listed above by passing it, then so be it. But the citizens should be armed with the objective facts, fair and square.

Stacy R. White is a Hillsborough County commissioner representing District 4, which is comprised of east and south Hillsborough County.

Media Suppresses Information to Cheerlead for Vinik's 14% Transit Sales Tax Hike

A massive 30 year 14% sales tax hike is totally unnecessary to fund transportation needs in fast growing Hillsborough county. There is no need to take an additional $15-18 Billion out of taxpayer pockets to fund transportation.

As we posted here, Hillsborough County commissioners took action regarding an alternative transportation funding proposal. We could find no local media reported about this action taken by the commissioners or the alternative funding proposal.

Citizen and Hillsborough County resident Dr. James Davison, who presented his alternative transportation funding proposal to the county commissioners on April 4, directly contacted the Tampa Bay Times (Times) and other local media outlets regarding his funding proposal. He sent the Times and other local media a copy of his transportation funding proposal on July 4th.

Below is a copy of the letter Dr. Davison sent to the Times on July 4th that with his permission we are posting:

To the staff of the Tampa Bay Times; 

So that there is no confusion I have attached a copy of the Transportation Revenue Plan presented to the Hillsborough County BOCC on April 4th at their regular meeting. Its total revenue is $8.469 billion of which at least $6.2 billion goes to transportation including $2.014 billion in new revenues for transit. Money is also included for roads, congestion relief/safety, sidewalks/trails and other infrastructure, all without raising taxes. There is a slight increase in the sales tax, ¼ percent, from 2021 to 2026. From 2027 to 2045 the sales tax in Hillsborough county remains at 7%. The revenue plan is spread over 25 years. If you extend the plan to 30 years the numbers increase dramatically, but the tax level remains the same, 7%. These are conservative estimates and at the request of Mr. Merrill were verified for accuracy and validity. On June 6th at their regular meeting and after meeting with Ms. Wise, Mr. Fesler and Mr. Brickley the county administration did so verify to the plan’s estimates and the BOCC voted unanimously to send the plan on to the Citizen Advisory Committee for their opinion and deliberation. Copies of the plan were given to several TBT reporters, the same attached here. A unanimous vote by the BOCC on any transportation plan in Hillsborough county I think would be news. I have never seen any mention of the above in any of your columns, the editorials or in the pages of the Tampa Bay Times. On the contrary you have chosen to publish a plan put forward after the BOCC voted on the 6th, whose numbers have not been vetted nor its impact modeled. One that raises the sales tax to the highest in the state for 30 years and is knowingly regressive in its application. That is your right as a free press. 

As we celebrate the 4th of July and are all aware that American men and women are in harms way around the world I hope we can celebrate our freedoms and rights but remember our responsibilities. 

I have had the pleasure of knowing several journalists and professors of journalism. They have assured me that there is no course or curriculum at any American university school of journalism or any ethic in journalism which teaches or supports the suppression or withholding of this type of information from the public. You have therefore learned this on your own and have done so knowingly. I am a staunch supporter of a free press. Even Pravda or the Cuban Granma have a right to publish in America, but I remind you, this is America and the truth will get out whether or not you choose to live up to your responsibility. 

I hope you and yours have had a safe and happy 4th of July

Jim Davison DO.

Davison's proposal is also a citizen led funding proposal with numbers and estimates that have been vetted. But according to Davison, the Times nor any other local media he contacted, would report about his citizen proposal that county commissioners actually took an action on. Davison, disturbed by the lack of fair journalistic reporting by local media on the issue of funding transportation, told the Eye when we contacted him:

Suppression of information by the press is not part of the 1st Amendment and has always led to tragic consequences for the people in the past. It will here too for the people of Hillsborough County.

The Times and local media cannot claim ignorance. They are aware there are alternatives to the Vinik and associates funded massive 30 year 14% sales tax hike proposal.

The Times and local media must have their marching orders. They have become information gatekeepers who refuse to fairly report and inform the public of any other transportation funding proposal but Vinik's massive 30 year 14% transit sales tax hike.

It is easier for local media to suppress information and shut down healthy public debate over different transportation funding models. Because it is very difficult for anyone to defend a massive transit tax hike that is not needed.

The Times and local media are intentionally ignoring Davison's funding proposal so they can cheerlead for the special interests/astroturf funded 14% transit sales tax hike,

The financially distressed Times, who was bailed out last year by the wealthy transit tax hike donors Jeff Vinik and Frank Morsani, is the transit tax hike's biggest cheerleader accomplice. The wealthy downtown special interests bought their media megaphone to do the cheerleading for them. 

The media is now part of the storyline not reporters.

The Times latest pro Vinik tax hike cheerleader is Sue Carlton, who the Times never discloses is the wife of Times editor John Hill. Carlton's Times article about the proposed 14% transit sales tax hike in Hillsborough County uses a picture showing traffic congestion in Clearwater. 

Cannot make such nonsense up but it does fuel the fire that the Times has no credibility when it comes to the transportation issue in Tampa Bay. They cannot figure out that Clearwater is in Pinellas County not Hillsborough.

Information is key to public debate, especially regarding transportation funding and contentious tax hikes. But the Times and local media refuse to acknowledge or report about another citizen's transportation funding proposal.

Instead the Times and local media have instituted a media blackout of reporting on any transportation funding proposal except Vinik's 30 year 14% transit sales tax hike - that will greatly benefit him.

And it's called media bias.

The Crony Phony Baloney Go Hillsborough Campaign

As I reported here, Go Hillsborough and Hillsborough County intentionally refused to provide timely information I requested regarding how our tax dollars were being spent. They refused to release information about focus groups they conducted last year to create the Go Hillsborough campaign.

They did not want the public to know what they were doing with our taxpayer dollars.

Why? 

Because they were busy manipulating the process by selectively micro-targeting voters more likely to oppose a sales tax hike to figure out the right campaign "message" to flip them.

So much for the "good faith" community outreach by a "transportation expert" to create a transportation plan. 

At the October 21, 2014 Policy Leadership Group meeting, Parsons Brinckerhoff told us they would use this 4 phase process of understanding needs, exploring options, making choices and finding consensus to create a transportation plan. The discussion of funding was to be at the end.

Parsons Brinckerhoff process presented at
October 21, 2014 Policy Leadership Group

Instead, Parsons immediately turned "their" process over to the politically well connected PR lobbyist Beth Leytham. She went directly to funding and a sales tax FIRST by micro-targeting focus groups at the beginning of last November. She specifically targeted voters most likely to oppose a sales tax.

Leytham conducted these focus groups at the same time she was rail cheerleader Mayor Buckhorn's campaign PR consultant and as Buckhorn sat on the Policy Leadership Group. We already knew Buckhorn wanted a huge sales tax hike.  Another boatload of money he would get could bail out his streetcar and help him build rail from the airport to Westshore to downtown. 

Leytham is also closely associated with County Commissioner Ken Hagan. As we posted here, Hagan jumped out early months before the proposal was announced June 11th supporting a tax increase. How coincidental is it that Hagan comes out for another huge tax increase right after Leytham conducted her poll in April?

Leytham's role was to get that tax passed and she is receiving $300K of our tax dollars to do it.

Leytham used the same pollster, Frederick Polls of Arlington, VA that she used for Buckhorn's campaign, to conduct Go Hillsborough polling and focus groups. Frederick Polls called the poll he conducted for Go Hillsborough "Hillsborough Co (FLA) transportation sales tax".

How much clearer can it be that Go Hillsborough was orchestrated for another sales tax hike? The poll was named transportation sales tax.

The County practically told us that themselves last September when they handed crony Parsons Brinckerhoff a million dollar taxpayer funded no bid blank check for work titled, "Hillsborough County Transportation Referendum Support".

County hands Parsons a million dollar blank check for
 "Hillsborough County Transportation Referendum Support"

The Leytham focus group information I finally received last week, 3 months after I began requesting it can be found in a folder titled "GoHillsborough Focus Groups".  Please check out the Screener.doc files and the Focus Group Final Report.

This information confirms Leytham's focus groups was a micro-targeting effort. The first activity this so-called public engagement process did was micro-target specific voters. 

Leytham's focus groups totally eliminated millennials. Why? Perhaps because Leytham already knew they had them or they did not vote in sufficient numbers to affect an outcome.

Those who lived in the city of Tampa urban core were not targeted.  Why? Because the rail tax in 2010 got most of its support in the city of Tampa, specifically along the rail lines.

Leytham specifically targeted voters in the parts of the county that rejected the 2010 rail referendum. She focused on conservative Republicans who were likely to oppose a sales tax increase. Moderate or liberal Republicans were ignored. She conducted no focus groups that specifically targeted any Democrats.

It is obvious that Leytham's micro-targeting voters was to find out what type of "messaging" campaign was needed to flip those voters most likely to oppose a sales tax hike. The County/Leytham/Parsons knew they needed these voters support for another 30 year sales tax referendum to pass.

Many change their minds and move to supporting (or at least considering) a one-cent sales tax increase when confronted with a stark choice -- vote NO and learn to live with an ever-deteriorating/worsening traffic experience or vote YES for a well-conceived plan that works to make things better.

Tax Time Limit. As might be expected, the concept of a limit or sunset on any sales tax increase is more popular than no-limit. However, from the group discussions, it is not clear how much additional “YES vote” support such a limit would ultimately generate. Most want a very short -- 5 year or even 10 year -- limit. Others refer to the C.I.T. and the stadium deal as their proof such promises are not kept (emphasis mine).

This likely means successful messaging has to be more directed toward INDIVIDUAL BENEFIT (“what’s in it for me?”) rather than COMMUNITY BENEFIT (how an upgraded modern transportation system makes Hillsborough stronger and better).

Leytham targeted these voters with doom and gloom, either or scenarios to deceptively make "their" case that another huge sales tax increase is the only option for funding our transportation.

Again at the June 11, 2014 Policy Leadership Group meeting, the process went backwards. Merrill/Parsons/Go Hillsborough's proposal focused on funding not a transportation plan. They proposed another huge 30 year $3.5 Billion sales tax increase as the ONLY option to fund our roads and transportation but no details for what was to be funded. Go Hillsborough had to propose the tax before they had a transportation plan. Sound eerily familiar?

The Eye has posted tirelessly about the cronyism associated with the Go Hillsborough campaign. The County went around any transparent process to hand Parsons the work knowing they would select crony PR lobbyist Leytham to run the campaign.

The Final Report document includes some interesting information

Go Hillsborough Focus Groups voters are
 highly resistant to higher taxes

The Final Report also includes:

Those more critical of local government cite inefficiency, waste, bad planning, and and isolated examples of cronyism described as “the old boy network.”

Proponents of a transportation-tax referendum must be careful not to present “a solution in search of a problem.” Whatever plan is presented to voters, it must work within existing experiences and offer a “better” transportation experience. Otherwise, voters in Hillsborough are poised to reject a sales tax increase just as Pinellas voters recently did. 

Go Hillsborough campaign is no different than the taxpayer funded Greenlight Pinellas campaign conducted by the ethically challenged PSTA. Go Hillsborough could be worse. The County has tried to hide behind the consultant Parsons Brinckerhoff and Parsons' crony PR sidekick to cover up what our tax dollars were being used for. The County consistently gave excuses they did not know or did not have information about what Go Hillsborough was spending our tax dollars on. 

Cover ups are worse than the actual "dirty deeds".

What is astonishing is that both the focus groups and polling details confirm there is no desire for another huge 30 year CIT-like sales tax increase. Yet that is the only proposal Go Hillsborough presented because that decision had already been made orchestrated long ago.

Our county commissioners should have had all this information if they are making BILLION dollar decisions. Why didn't they? Why did Parsons deceive the county commissioners by only giving them selected filtered information?

Who knew what when? 

Will anyone in the media ask these questions?

Micro-targeting voters is a campaign strategy not a process to create a fiscally responsible transportation plan.

Engineers do not micro-target focus groups to create campaigns to flip them, crony PR lobbyists do.

Electioneering is using tax dollars against the taxpayer. Isn't using our tax dollars to micro-target voters to create a campaign pushing another 30 year sales tax hike considered a form of electioneering? 

Electioneering is illegal and certainly unethical. The legal bar may be much lower than the ethical bar but the county should be hurdling the ethical bar when using our tax dollars.

Go Hillsborough is an orchestrated crony phony baloney PR and marketing campaign. It has been tainted from the start and is on the way to becoming toxic. A bad, corrupted process creates a bad, corrupted product.

If we cannot trust the County when they are trying to get our money, why should anyone trust them when they have more of our money?

Not one more taxpayer dime should go to Parsons Brinckerhoff, Beth Leytham or anyone else associated with Go Hillsborough.

Our county commissioners are ultimately responsible for oversight.

Demand our county commissioners shut down Go Hillsborough now!

Who Are the Sales Tax Hike Cheerleaders?

Yesterdays Tribune had a front page article titled, "Hillsborough businesses ready to cheer sales tax hike".

What businesses?

The problem with that title is the article does not identify any Hillsborough businesses saying they are "ready to cheer sales tax hike".  The only person quoted representing the business community is Mickey Jacob, co-chair of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce transportation council. And quoting him, the Tribune refused to disclose that Jacob is also a member of the HART (our local transit agency) board. 

“I think we’re looking at how we build a coalition of organizations like ourselves to be out there and talking about this,” said Mickey Jacob, co-chairman of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce transportation council. “We want to be right in the middle of the debate and the discussion.”

The Tribune also quotes Rick Homans, CEO of our Economic Development Corporation that has been heavily taxpayer funded to the tune of hundreds of thousands of our county tax dollars. It was Rick Homans and County Administrator Mike Merrill who invited the rail cartel to the very first Policy Leadership Group meeting in July 2013 as we reported back then.

“From my perspective, the issue that keeps coming up over and over is transportation,” said Rick Homans, president and CEO of the Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corporation. “And it’s critical we respond and be able to say, ‘Look: We’re doing something about it.’ ”

Is it good policy just throwing a huge 30 year sales tax hike out there and then saying "hey look we're doing something about transportation"? 

Is it good policy to propose a 30 year $3.5 Billion sales tax increase BEFORE identifying what it will pay for? 

Does Homans think that with a new huge 30 year sales tax hike, we can tax ourselves into prosperity?

Back to all those "business leaders ready to cheer for a huge 30 year tax hike. Where are they and who are they?

Only three other people from Hillsborough County are quoted in this entire article, a current county commissioner, a former county commissioner and our county administrator. County Commissioner Ken Hagan who has thrown his hat in to support the huge 30 year tax.

“I do not envision the county or HART being involved in any manner regarding the private-sector campaign; I think that’s dangerous ground,” Hagan said. “I think PSTA ended up making fatal flaw. We want to avoid the self-inflicted grenade even getting remotely close.”

Hagan said he expects a private-sector campaign committee will be formed after the first of the year to raise money and provide oversight. Merrill said the group will likely “organize themselves.”

Hagan said he wants to see a citizens advisory committee that includes some neighborhood leaders to advise the campaign’s executive committee.

“That’s how I envision we can dig down to the grass roots,” he said.

Did Hagan catch the quote from Jacob before his comments. Certainly he knows Jacob is a HART board member because he probably voted to put him on HART. 

Citizen oversight committees are not a simple answer to overseeing a huge long term $3.5 Billion tax. In 2002, Miami-Dade County, after a similar big public outreach campaign, voters passed a half-cent transportation sales tax called (literally) "The People's Plan" or TPT. A 15 member Citizens Independent Transportation Trust (CITT) committee was created as a mandate to provide oversight to the implementation of the TPT. Even with a citizen oversight committee, Miami-Dade transit misused funds and the FTA came in and suspended their federal funding. That will be a post for another day.

The other person from Hillsborough quoted is former County Commissioner Ed Turanchik, who drew similarities of this new 30 year sales tax to the Community Investment Tax.

Former Hillsborough Commissioner Ed Turanchik said a similar parallel can be drawn between the Go Hillsborough plan for specific projects and the Community Investment Tax passed by Hills­borough voters in 1996. The half-penny tax is best known for building Raymond James Stadium, helping keep the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in town.

We are not sure that comparing this new huge 30 year tax with the CIT tax is a complement. The CIT was blown out within 11 years when voters were promised the tax would be there for the life of the 30 year tax. However, a real good question is where was all that CIT tax money spent? Does anyone know?

The Tribune then felt compelled to jump over the bridge to Pinellas County with a quote from Joe Farrell, campaign manager for the pro Greenlight Pinellas PAC, Friends of Greenlight. 

“I think there were some people opposed to (rail) but they were opposed to it because they didn’t understand the value of it,” said Joe Farrell, campaign manager for Friends of Greenlight, a private-sector group that raised money for that campaign. Farrell said voters figured if the rail didn’t run near their job or home, it had no value to them.

The Tribune has Pinellas County Commissioner and PSTA board member Ken Welch weigh in who tries to compare the 10 year Penny for Pinellas with this new huge 30 year sales tax.

Why is the Tribune going to the head cheerleaders of the losing team in Pinellas?

Isn't it arrogant that the same people over and over keep telling us, the taxpayers/voters, that we just are not educated enough on the issue?  The problem with that argument is exactly the opposite. The public has gotten better educated and more skeptical of huge,  comprehensive, long term "something for everyone" tax hikes.

We are in a very different economic time than 1996 when the CIT barely passed 53-47. There is healthy skepticism and perhaps not a lot of desire for another 30 year sales tax hike.

The Tribune article continues with this vague description of supporters of the Go Hillsborough 30 year $3.5 Billion sales tax hike:

Despite the challenges in passing any new tax, Go Hillsborough proponents feel they will benefit from mistakes made by the failed referendums in Pinellas last year and in Hills­borough in 2010.

Here's more from the Tribune article

Another reason Go Hillsborough supporters think they can win is because of the county’s extensive public outreach campaign, something that many observers said was lacking in the 2010 referendum. The county held 36 public workshops during the spring and summer, as well as two telephone town halls. At least 56 more workshops, two at every county public library, will be held late this summer.

Why doesn't the Tribune tell us who these "Go Hillsborough proponents" and supporters are? 

Then our County Administrator Mike Merrill weighs in. 

“That’s the one thing that everyone has made a lot of is that we’re out there talking to the public and asking the public to get engaged,” Merrill said. “Just the fact that the people want me to come talk to them about it, it’s a good sign. They want to learn.”

Here's a clue. Merrill (in his newly empowered role as an unelected County Mayor) identified early on a list of stakeholders he planned to evangelize with on this issue. 

Key Stakeholder list, source Hillsborough County staff 

Tampa Bay Partnership, who led the 2010 pro rail PAC Moving Hillsborough Forward campaign and also contributed greatly to the Greenlight Pinellas campaign, is right at the top. SunTrust, who gave the very first donation of $50K to Moving Hillsborough Forward is on the list too. Do these look like grassroots?

Perhaps a better title for this Tribune article would have been "Commissioner Hagan ready to cheer sales tax hike".

Next time the Tribune makes vague statements about Hillsborough County businesses are ready to cheer a new huge 30 year, $3.5 Billion sales tax increase, we suggest they report who those business cheerleaders are.

Otherwise, are they just making this stuff up?

Another 30 Year Sales Tax Increase? No Surprise, Nothing But Blue Skies....

Were there any surprises at the Transportation Policy Leadership Group (PLG) meeting?

No.


Another 30 year tax hike is totally unnecessary, especially after we experienced the CIT tax.

County Administrator Mike Merrill admitted they can plan well up to 5 years and only plan fairly well up to 10 years. HART's Transportation Development Plan is 10 years.Technology is emerging quickly and transportation and transit may look quite different in 10-15 years. The private sector, technology driven consumer to consumer economy, the sharing economy that benefits us all is fast emerging.  

So why tax us for 30 years for "stuff" they can't plan for?

Must be Nothing but Blue Skies.....From Now On....