They say that we are an active city with progressive ideas. I really have to wonder about that. We do have some activists here, people who take an interest in our city government and the direction it takes to provide us with a better standard. To overlook or to support what is “wrong” is ridiculous and I will continue to speak out about it no matter who is in office; I don’t care if it were my brother--Commissioner Jennings actions are not an exception. Her actions were not about the right to free speech. Yes, she did protest on her own time, her right, but she should have moved when asked. Instead, now the City of Lake Worth gets another black eye. Wrong is wrong.
Have you ever gotten the feeling the Mayor is hell bent on giving our city away to the county? I am talking about giving it ALL away, not just one little segment because, as he said, “we won’t have to worry about unions and retirement benefits.” To me, this “deal,” as well as several in the past, did not pass the “smell test.” There was just something about it. Last night there were several things totally “wrong,” but I will only speak on the main one, of course, that of the Fire/Rescue deal with Palm Beach County.
I am skeptical especially when a projection is built on false data to begin with. Take the annual city property value change estimate, as an example. This calculation was used to convince the city commission that we were going to save money. The city projects a drop of 3% in value over the next few years, then in year three it only drops to 3%, year four stays at no depreciation and then it starts to rise. This part of the deal was barely explained.
Palm Beach County Property Appraiser’s Office has already predicted a 12% drop in property value. The County Administrator, Bob Weisman, says this: “Because of the slumping housing market, property values are expected to decrease about 12 percent -- more than double the drop originally estimated. That results in a bigger drop in property tax revenues, which would require a higher tax rate than previously expected to cover county expenses,” according to Weisman. The County is considering raising its taxes by 8%. If this is the case, we will be paying much more than staff’s spreadsheet has indicated because of lower property values. So where did our Finance Department come up with a 3%?
The very fact that this was on the Agenda, with no notice to the public, is concern enough. The City Commission should never vote on a contract of this magnitude without understanding every facet of the agreement and how it will affect us. We continue to get into horrible contracts for Lake Worth. And what about that supplement that the County wants us to pay? Why do we have to pay that? Is the City afraid to say "no?" The County, as usual, just had to have an answer by Friday, or else! We, of course, want to believe in staff and that they are not leading us astray. It is the obligation and duty of each Commissioner, however, never to vote on something for which they have little or no understanding or even one unanswered question. That is irresponsible. We should have had an attorney with expertise in these types of contracts, go over it, line by line. It would have been worth the cost.
For some reason Mayor Clemens has decided to give our entire city away to the County on a silver platter. We even are in the hole with the PB County Sheriff deal; it appears that we will not be much better off with the Fire/Rescue deal either. Again, just like the police, half of our firemen have elected to stay in our pension fund. We will still be paying for pension costs as before although the Mayor stated that we would no longer have that cost. He has given the County our valuable waste water; has given the citizens of Lake Worth a horrible deal on potable water by contracting with the County, still insisting last night that we are going to increase our water rate to pay for an “unnecessary plant” when the Reverse Osmosis was mentioned. The cost projected for that was offered by Staff and we know that it will cost much less now, per Mock Roos, because of economic conditions that prevail today. It is cheaper to build than it was previously. The Mayor advocated for a 99 year lease on Snook Islands to the County and convinced the voters that it was a great idea to give a long term lease to PB County because we would not have to maintain our own property. Let daddy do it.
The County will take everything we own regarding our fire department. We will never be able to have our own Fire Department again. That is the bottom line. What an awesome decision the Commission made for the stakeholders of this City on information they just received minutes before the meeting. The PB County Fire argument was that we have been talking about this deal for a year. Yes, that is true, but we did not have a Contract before us to analyze.
Now, to hold onto our city, we increase recreational fees for our residents…nickel and dime the residents to death. Well, you have to generate revenue somewhere, right? Watch what happens at the budget meeting. Do you really think our millage will be reduced by 2.95%, the amount that it will cost us on our tax bill to go to Palm Beach County? Do you still think that our CRA will be crying and begging to get off the hook for any reduction in its budget? And that 2.95% is at the will of PB County. It is not fixed and can be increased down the line and trust me when I say, taxes rarely decrease.
We have been a city for nearly 100 years. We have had our own police and fire departments, something a city has when it is Chartered. It is at the point now that there is no need to be a city any longer.
