Cappy's Corner

LADY BEARS-MEMORY BEARS

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BEING NEIGHBORLY CONTINUED

I guess fighting "City Hall," is not always a loosing battle. My prior story
BEING NEIGHBORLY , will explain the topic if you didn't read this post. Instead of going over the whole thing again, the great news is "My Neighbor," won her battle and they reinstated her exemptions and her assessment is back to where it needs to be. Her bill went from $4,000. to under $900. I would say that was worth fighting for. She still has more work to do.
Being Neighborly really paid off, according to the paperwork, they processed everything the same day as the hearing. This must be a miracle of some kind, it goes to show you do catch more flies with honey. I tell you what, we poured honey all over it.
When you think about it, the people we have to work with are just like me and you, working stiffs. They pay taxes just like the rest of us. I am certain they are over-worked and under-paid like the rest of us. The last year encountered a lot of problems, they took Homestead Exemptions from 90,000 people in Miami. I imagine what they were hoping for is that people would just pay the inflated bills, but that back fired on them. Most people fought the system and it ended up costing the taxpayers in mediation and court cost to re-instate all those tax bills. The people at the top of the food chain don't give the American public enough credit, we don't sit back and take it anymore. If you find yourself in this predicament, don't hesitate to shoot me a line, I am just about an expert by now. It took 10 months to resolve this problem, but in the meanwhile my neighbor was not charged late fees or penalties while her case was pending.
So, if you ever think "City Hall," is too big, just think again, and always remember they work for us not the other way around. Always be kind to the people that are helping you, it could be your neighbor!

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MEMORY BEARS BY MONICA

Mention a "Memory Bear" and not too many people know exactly what that is. Monica is starting a new business just in time for Christmas.
What is a "Memory Bear", well, it's a stuffed toy made out of a blanket your little one carried around for years and you can't seem to part with it, but it is stuffed in the closet somewhere. Well, drag it out for re-purposing, and watch the smiles. No kids, well what about Grandpa's flannel shirt he always wore when he took you fishing, you could give it to Grandpa as a memory of your time together. Maybe someone passed and you want a happy way to remember them forever. How about that christening outfit that is now so yellow and is stashed under a bunch of junk in the closet. How about that outfit you wore on your trip to the Islands on your honeymoon, your wedding dress, your kids soccer jersey they out-grew. Got a cap and gown from graduation, what a great memory, let Monica make you a cuddly memory. There are so many special times that can be remembered, what better than having a Cuddly Memory Bear by Monica.

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BEING NEIGHBORLY

My neighbors have been here since the beginning of time. I have one of my neighbors who recently left town for a time to have surgery and recovery time to N.C.. In the meantime she had her mail forwarded to her N.C. address. While home in Miami the mail arrived that had that letter about your Homestead Exemptions, you know the one, it says if these exemptions are correct do nothing. The government has this letter set up to not forward anywhere. As you might guess the letter was returned to the Exemption Board and they immediately removed her exemptions, not only did they do that but they changed her assessed value as if the home was repurchased by a new owner. The name of the deed did not change, and according to the rules, if the home is no longer your homestead they can only increase the assessed value ten percent. Lets do the math, it went from 84,000 to 172,00. My math skills may not be perfect, but that doesn't seem to add up.
In her horror, Lilly, contacted me and we began to try to fix this problem. First, we make our way to the government office to try to correct the problem. Lilly did not have enough identification to correct the problem. So, we schedule a hearing with the Adjustment Board, now that ten months has passed, the date for the hearing is here.
Time to go Downtown, I won't even get into the logistics, that's another story. At the Government Center we sit before three people, one was a magistrate, and two others with the administration of Exemption, or something like that. Before we entered the room, I had to instruct Lilly, who was in tears, to keep calm and be nice. Lilly was a wreck, trying to live on her retirement of 13,000 a year is hard enough, but to tell her that she has to pay 4,000 in taxes just sent her over the edge. I can't image what it would be like to be over 80 years old and living in her home for almost 50 years, and the government tells you "this is not your home anymore". She was devastated. Lilly started to ramble on, not realizing that the board had already restored 2 of her 3 exemptions. I got it, so we were more than half way through the process, now we had to restore the assessed value of the home back to 2008 prices. I have always believe that there are no problems without solutions. So, I had to speak up and tell the board that we don't have the identification that they require, instead of discussing why Lilly does not have it, I said lets find a solutions. The board began to brainstorm, and one of the ladies suggested a special form. We began the paperwork with the help of the board. One of ladies took us down stairs to have the forms notarized, after I filled them out, she sent us to record the documents. After hours of paperwork, I told Lilly that we are going back to the board and bringing the paperwork to the Assessment board, this completes the process. I mentioned to all who helped me and Lilly that this was "Help a Neighbor Day", the response to this was wonderful, we became know as the "Good Neighbors".
Our driver Max, and neighbor got us home, pulling up to my house Lilly turns around and says to me give me a call, I shouted "No way, its the end of Help a Neighbor Day, now Piss off a Neighbor, begins", of course I was kidding.
I was so happy to report that everyone that we encountered in our Downtown adventure was wonderful, it all started because I instructed my neighbors to be nice. The old saying you catch more flies with honey, is sooooooo true.

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