Vanderburgh County Deputies' Organization Urges West Side Property Owners to Oppose the Annexation
| by Craig Blessinger, February 16, 2009 |
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Dear West Side Property Owner,
On behalf of the one-hundred plus Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Deputies who take great professional pride in keeping you and your property safe, we appeal to you to help us continue serving you.
As you may be aware, the City of Evansville is proceeding with plans to annex your property into the City of Evansville. If annexed into the City of Evansville, you will likely pay approximately 30% more in annual property taxes. As spelled out in the City of Evansville’s recently adopted fiscal plan for the annexation, this increase will generate approximately two million eighty four thousand new tax dollars to the city. Included in that plan, the city intends to spend approximately eight hundred eighteen thousand dollars annually providing services to this area.
Much of that proposed annual operating cost is for police protection from the Evansville Police Department. This is service you are already receiving from the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office. While the Evansville Police Department is a good agency, it by no means provides service any better or more professionally than the sheriff’s office. In essence, if the annexation plans proceed, you will essentially be paying more for the same services.
The men and women of the sheriff’s office have protected you and your property, investigated crimes, provided assistance, and worked hard to make this area safe since the inception of Vanderburgh County. Being allowed to provide your law enforcement services is a great honor to all of us. We have done this with great pride and sincerely hope to continue doing so long into the future.
We are asking for and need your help to ensure the professional deputies of the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office continue to provide you with the personal and compassionate law enforcement services you have become accustomed to.
In closing, I urge you, as a property owner in the affected area, to unite, remonstrate and oppose the City of Evansville’s proposed annexation plan. We are working with the West Siders Against Annexation (WSAA) group who is leading the remonstration and petition drive. Donald Day and Chuck Weisling head this group and can be reached at 812-401-7110. Furthermore, the web page www.westsidersagainstannexation.com has been created to provide updated information on the remonstration effort. Please contact me at 812-457-8965 if you have any questions.
Respectfully,
<signed> Craig BlessingerPresident, Vanderburgh County Deputies’ Organization
5607 N US Hwy 41 • Evansville, IN 47711 • (812) 435 - 5713
