Not all of the CRA Board was crying tonight but none of them were too happy when told by Mark Bates that they will more than likely have less money to work with at the start of the next budget year.Mark Rickards, Chair, said that allocating the budget is the hardest thing to do each year. It will be a whole lot harder going forward. Some of the easy decisions the Board has made in spending our money might now be much more difficult. The CRA instead of believing its mission is to spend every dime in front of them might actually prioritize and spend more wisely. It might stop citizens from ridiculous requests for wanting Grant money for certain items. The CRA should not be paying for sprinkler systems, impact glass windows, pavers and the like. The CRA is not the cookie jar for those trying to rip off the system.
We will all be asked to sacrifice if the City decides that the Fire Rescue be taken over by Palm Beach County. It is unrealistic to believe that the taxpayer will be paying the same millage overall as before. Look for taxes to go up and budgets to be trimmed. That is the reality.
