I was fortunate to see the press release from the Town of Apple Valley relative to the LAFCO approval to annex 1,365 acres in the north Apple Valley area. The property is described as prime freeway frontage,
which prime frontage
has not seen development in the 28 years that I have been in the Victor Valley. Revenues will outpace the cost of services to the area,
but no services yet exist. Common sense causes one to ask, how much
was spent by the town in its two-time annexation approval process (recall it failed in 2009) and how many years of property tax revenue (at .0475 cents of every dollar of property value) will be required before the town sees a return on its investment?
The irony of the situation is that it took a failed application plus 10 years to gain approval, yet approval was only gained because the properties of the residents in the area were carved out
so they could not vote. Do those residents know something we don’t?
The town states big promises of more revenues for the entire community WHEN development occurs, whenever that may be (which obviously takes longer than 28 years). This is just another great idea
or better stated empty promise
by the cash-strapped town to raise money to backfill its general fund. It’s a promise without a performance date at an unknown cost, just like the Hilltop house boondoggle, the golf course losses, the need to issue bonds to borrow money for operations, the improper raising of sewer rates, and the millions of dollars wasted on attempting to takeover a water company. The town can never deliver on the promise to lower water rates, don’t be fooled!
As usual, we taxpayers fund these empty promises. Elected officials move on, town managers retire with cushy pensions, we the residents just wait, and wait, and wait, for promises that don’t come true.
Diana J. Carloni, Apple Valley
Published: Daily Press