NORTH PORT DOLLARS

Where are your dollars being spent? Aside from the obvious, it is true that North Port as a whole spends more of its money outside of the community rather than within. This starts with you and me. It filters up through the local government and into our schools. North Port's dollars are seeping out of every crevice imaginable. The end result? Surrounding areas are profiting while our own businesses and the self employed do without. To top it off, these are OUR tax dollars at work... for everyone but us.

It is time for us all to take a look at what we are allowing to happen here and just what is happening. Until now North Port was not the consumer hub of the area. Venice and Port Charlotte had the Walmart, the Home Depot and then all the shops and stores along the way that would then profit from the overflow of traffic in those areas. From gasoline stations to food shopping. It is only natural to do your shopping where you are. And until now, where you were was Venice and Port Charlotte. The very down side of this is that those businesses profited from North Port shoppers while our own similar businesses suffer. Now that we will soon have a Walmart and Home Depot where will you be spending your North Port Dollars? At HOME of course!

Now, to the bigger problem. We have a city government that spends a considerable amount of money for products, services and contracting. Everything from who fixes their toilets, who builds a building to repairs and services, and the list is endless. Who's money are they spending? OURS! Where are they spending it? MOST ANYWHERE BUT HERE. Hello? Is anyone home? Noone has really given this any consideration in the past, but now that North Port has grown and continues to grow it is time for the city to take a fresh look at where our money is going. Bottom price contracting is not the rule, however, this will be the excuse used when an outside company who may have bid only slightly less than a local, gets the contract. Products and services cost what they cost. Wouldn't it be something if we elected our officials, school teachers and the like by which applicant will work for the least amount of pay? Instead of a job application, they submitted a proposal?

Other cities across the nation have laws in place that make it nearly impossible for the city to hire outside the city for every and any service. Companies within the city limits must be considered first. They may seek bids outside the city only after determining that there is no resident company that can handle the job or who exceeds area pricing standards greater than a certain percentage, say 5%. The premise being, if there is a local company who can supply the product or service, then using them must be a priority. These cities understand the importance of keeping their dollars at home. If North Port does not learn that lesson soon, we will be looking at much greater issues in the future as our dollars are spread far and wide outside the city limits.

Another problem exists within the school spending arena itself. There are several companies in this community who have generously donated thousands of dollars in time, products and services to our schools only to be snubbed nearly every time the school or school activity has a few dollars to actually spend. Where does the money end up? MOST ANYWHERE BUT HERE of course.

Come on folks. You need to open your mouths. You need to let our local government, the schools and the people of this community understand that keeping our dollars in North Port is vital to our economy, our own pocketbooks and to our city sense of pride. Don't be quiet. Speak up. Speak out. Act. Spend your money at home and encourage those spending your tax dollars to do the same.