Great News; Great Decision

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On many occasions we get "great" news from City Hall. Last night's approval of the millage for 2011 is one of them. We will be paying $5.39 (up 9 cents) per $1,000 of taxable value on our property including debt service plus PB Fire/Rescue for an overall millage of 8.85. Commissioner Jennings was the sole dissenting vote because she wanted the increase higher??

This augments the Commission's decision to not incorporate downtown parking pay stations that would have brought in revenue of approximately $246,000. This Commission considered the merchants as well as visitors to our downtown and made the right decision for Lake Worth. We can now market our City as a place to enjoy without the hassle of paying for parking..like it's been for years. There are major cuts in the Budget and the General Fund has been reduced by 13%.

As far as the Budget goes, Commissioner Scott Maxwell has been the biggest and most out-spoken opponent of the City Manager's aggressive and revolutionary Budget suggesting that it is full of "problems." It is no surprise, therefore, that he voted against it. He said it was full of "land-mines"...lots of places in which you need to be wary...but never giving a specific or offering any alternatives. In spite of his concerns, the Budget was passed on a 3/2 vote with Maxwell and Jennings voting Nay. Again, Jennings voted against it because she felt the millage should have been higher???

The Finance Advisory Board approved this Budget and Chair Exline, laughingly said, "He (Maxwell) wouldn't know a land-mine if he stepped on one."

On another note, Cara Jennings said that former Mayor Jeff Clemens was the worst and weakest Mayor we have ever had and that he was dead wrong regarding going with PBSO when he said that it would get rid of the Pension problem here in the City. Commissioner Jennings, if you recall, was one of the Commissioners who originally voted against PBSO.

Mayor Varela suggested that people have taken his "bankruptcy" statement out of context and said that we are not going bankrupt and we will never go bankrupt.