Smoke and mirrors
After attending one of the POA meetings and visiting with several people, I am amazed at the number of people who do not have the foresight or are simply unwilling to separate the assessment issue from the proposed fee schedule.
I have heard numerous comments that "the new golf fee structure is going to save me a lot of money." Yes, it might save you some money this year, but if there is anyone out there that believes these fees will not increase, and very soon, I have a vintage 1982 Mercury Marquis that gets 87 miles per gallon that I would like to sell you.
I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around the fact that we need to increase revenue while at the same time reducing revenue by cutting fees. I guess I don't understand the concept of increasing revenue by reducing revenue.
The assessment increase and the fee structure are two completely separate issues. One we can control and one we can't.
Our vote should be concerned with the one issue that we can control. The POA Board is using this smoke-and-mirrors tactic because they know the assessment increase cannot stand on its own.
A couple of years ago, the patrons of the Bentonville Public Schools District were presented with a bond issue that was exorbitant and they rejected it. Recently, a more realistic proposal was presented and it passed quite easily.
Maybe the POA Board should learn from the Bentonville Public Schools District and present a realistic proposal.
I believe that the residents of Bella Vista would pass a reasonable assessment increase, for example, $5 a month, if the smoke-and-mirrors provisions were eliminated. In fact, an increase would likely have passed several years ago if a realistic proposal had been presented.
When in college, I worked a few days at a carnival stand at a large regional fair. I asked the owner why he charged less for his stand than did the other stands. His reply was, "Young man, when you get a little older, wiser and more experienced, you will understand that a fast nickel is better than a slow dime any day."
This might be good advice for the POA Board because we likely could have had that fast nickel several years ago.
Larry Dillinger
Bella Vista
Editorial on 04/16/2014