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Community Corner

Government greed is killing us

Code enforcement drives through our neighborhood at least once a month, so we get notices of violations all the time. We've gotten them for having the trash cans at the side of the house instead of the back, for toys in the back yard, for bikes in the back yard (considered "illegal outdoor storage") for a bike on the front deck (you couldn't see it from the street), for our compost being too tall, for a branch in the yard (that had just fallen) and my favorite, plants on the front deck. Plants are "illegal outdoor storage." IT's ILLEGAL TO KEEP YOUR PLANTS OUTSIDE. They couldn't be seen from the street. We put rails around our front deck, no one can see anything on it. 
I've saved a lot of the notices, I swear there was one that called our swingset "illegal outdoor storage" but I couldn't find it. I blogged about it so it exists, but I can't prove it. Or maybe I'm nuts.
Anyway, we're trying to get our mini-van fixed, and code enforcement told us we have to get rid of it, if it doesn't run we can't keep it. We have until Aug 5th. I looked up the code, and it says you can't keep a junk car unless you're rehabilitating it for personal use. I called and told them we were rehabilitating it for personal use but they said "get rid of it.". 
We're going to leave off all the bills and buy the wood to put up an eight foot fence in the back, the front is almost always perfect, but the JBT peered over our six foot fence and cited us for toys and recyclables in the back yard. No more recycling for us, we can't afford it.
I feel like they're harassing us, nobody I know has them drive by that often. They must know we have a lot of kids and toys and bikes so we're always good for a notice of violation. I say it's none of their freaking business what we do with our paid-for property. America was founded on the right to private property. If the government and my neighbors can decide what I can do with my paid-for property and I have absolutely no say, then how far have we strayed? When the economy was good, we could let it slide, but now losing our van is a very big deal. Having to put up another, taller fence to hopefully forestall future visits is a very big deal. We'll have to spend what we had saved to pay our soul-destroying, back breaking property taxes as well as the kids' Christmas yet again. Now, when the government goes blithely reaching into our pockets for more more more, it is starting to HURT. When the economy was good we could complain and go on about our business. Now it's a matter of feeding the kids macaroni or spaghetti for a month every time a government employee sticks their hand in our pocket.Why are they targeting us? Why can't our kids leave their bikes in the backyard without the government having a hissy fit? Why can't I have plants on my front deck without a code nazi telling me I can't? It's wrong to treat people this way. We're not just wallets, we're families trying to struggle and get by. Did you know it's illegal to sleep in your kitchen in Gwinnett? Better lay off the tryptophan!That if you move your basketball hoop a little to the left or right you'll get a ticket? If your car stops working and you can't immediately repair you have to get rid of it?  That your compost might be too tall, or that might be an illegal ranch somewhere on your property?Our property taxes went up another $200-300 this year. Groceries went up a lot, I stopped buying meat to use up what was in the freezer because it was starting to act up, a new fridge was our huge unexpected expense last month, and when I went back to buying  meat, beef and steak had almost doubled. Well, It was 70% higher in just a month and a halfI couldn't afford ground beef anymore. I had to buy little tubes of ground turkey that now cost what ground beef used to cost, and I feel blessed to be able to get that. We can't afford to eat out or order pizza or buy red meat. Some people have already experienced this, bless them, and some haven't yet but they will.Inflation is a lot higher than the government says, but only if you buy food, fuel and gas. We only run the heat on cold days, six cold days made our bill go up over $100 more than usual. Same with the air conditioning, we only run it on really hot days and I see window fans all over the neighborhood so we're not the only ones.So all this has gone up, guess what my husband's raise was? 1%. Hey, does that make us one of the one percent? They just started back giving raises, so we're grateful to have that extra.Guess what his bonus was? $0. Yep no bonus, but healthcare and insurance went up, food went up, gas went up, utilities went up. We are drowning and the government is holding us under. On August 5th we lose our mini van. The kids won't all fit in the car. Family outings are a thing of the past. We'll do things in shifts from here on out. All because the government decided that our mini van, parked facing forward and looking exactly like it did before it broke down, can no longer sit in our driveway. They know best, after all, it might...well, there's nothing it would do, no harm it could cause anyone. They're just turning the screws and letting us know who is in charge. The effect on us is devastating, but for them it's just another day, another dollar of our tax money. 

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