Our Causes
National Debt
The U.S. national debt is the number one problem today. Not just for America, but the world. Because if America ever defaults, all those who have become dependent on us will be affected.
The national debt is a hard number to comprehend because we’re talking about
trillions of dollars. How big is a trillion dollars? Well, if you spent $1 million every day, it would take you 2,740 years to run out of money. And we’re adding $1 trillion to our debt every hundred days or so. To measure our ability to pay down the debt, we use Debt/GDP (Debt divided by GDP). Think of it as the percentage on a credit card. Back when I started tracking this ratio in 1981, it was about 30%. By 2000, it rose to 56%. In 2015, it hit 100%, and today, it’s about 125%. This is not only unsustainable, but also mathematically impossible to correct the way our government currently conducts business. The book “The Destruction of America through Taxation” talks about the reasons for the debt in detail. It describes what is broken, why it’s broken, and how to fix it.
Truth in Accounting
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Sheila Weinberg founded this organization because of the way governments are incorrectly reporting their financial positions each year. Without getting too technical, governments generally report on a cash basis rather than an accrual basis. In other words, they are saying “we paid the bills this year that needed paid”, so we’ve done our job. However, they’re not reporting all the pensions, bonds, loans and other liabilities that are crippling every level of government in America today. That’s like your family saying that you paid your bills but never mention that you have a mortgage you can barely afford, have high credit card balances and within 5 years you will have 3 kids in college. Thus, the name – ‘TRUTH’ in Accounting. They point out that when you include all the liabilities that are coming due, the national debt is not approaching $40 trillion, it’s closer to $175 trillion. And you should be petrified, because America can’t ever come close to paying that down. I’m honored to have been named to their Board of Directors and assisting them in making the necessary changes in government reporting.
Florida's Homestead Tax
When my wife and I were looking to relocate to Florida in February 2020, I made a phone call to the Nassau County Assessor’s office to inquire about the tax implications of a possible purchase. I was told 3% for homestead, 10% if not homesteaded. We purchased the home in February 2022, and the following year, the property tax was increased by 46%. I questioned why this was not made aware. I was told it should be the role of the real estate agent. Anyone in sales understands why that didn’t happen.
After renting the home the first year, the tax increased by 10%, which was my understanding. When I moved here permanently in August 2022, I applied for the homestead exemption. At that point, I was told not only would it be limited to 3% moving forward, I would also receive a $50,000 exemption. So, I filed the necessary forms to become homesteaded. The following year, my assessed value was raised another 27%. When I called the office, I was told that applying for homestead causes a reassessment. Nowhere was this stated. And this was not what I was told.
I did meet with the elected Nassau County Appraiser and our County Councilman. Today, we are working our way up the ladder, having no luck with our state representative or state senator. We are at the Florida CFO level. I will not quit until the ‘Homestead Tax’ is eliminated. Those moving to the state of Florida and buying a home once should never be reassessed twice, especially to the point where within three years of purchase the property taxes are 211% of what they originally were at purchase.
If something similar has happened to you, please reach out to me. With the thousands of homestead filings in each Florida county every year, I’m quite certain I’m not the only one.
Government Auditing
Having worked with auditors throughout my 30+ years in the corporate world, I can tell you there needs to be a change on the government side. There are 3 types: compilations, reviews, and audits–the latter being a comprehensive, peel the onion back and examine the underlying processes. I’m very familiar with P&L statements, Chart of Accounts, etc. And regardless of what auditors' expectations are, I will tell you that any auditor I worked with would make recommendations on how we could improve a process or reduce costs if they had suggestions. Otherwise, what’s the real purpose? Are they accomplishing their objectives within our governments? Not really. Something is amiss.
What I’ve found in working with governments is that they tend to stick with the same auditors, who, year after year, say nothing while the government keeps borrowing, maintains inefficient processes, and has no restrictions on hiring. And with no restrictions on hiring, you’re setting the government up for fiscal failure years down the road when pensions take effect, and the only options are to increase fees and taxes.
Efficient government requires auditors to be an integral, yet independent voice in the mix.