Stanton's Shell Sticks Like Glue- The Budget and Lake Worth Taxes

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Realizing that our property values fell again under 4%, we have to raise money to maintain the level of services that we need or cut back on spending and waste. My problem is, however, the superfluous--the travel, the conferences, the memberships, the free lunch that they all want on taxpayer dimes. It is all the unnecessary spending--the contract change-orders, the no bid deals, the bad contracts and all the rest that gets us into so much trouble. Has anyone counted up the amount of money that we pay Mock Roos on a yearly basis? It is staggering.

Before the budget meeting began, Ed Fry, Director of OMB asked me how I was. I told him okay but I could be better. "How so," he asked. I said, "Don't raise taxes." He said that could happen. So I took the bait and asked, "How so?" His reply, close the library and cut all recreation in half. This is the game--threaten to take away something everyone wants. The other part of the game is to "prove" and to tell us over and over and over again that they will literally go down the tubes if we don't cough up another $10 million dollars or so. Actually they never tell you the figure.

We know that the sub-regional sewer cities are not paying. We have to make up that. We know that fire/rescue retirement is costing us $1.72 in pension costs for every $1 in salary. We know that we have to make up over $50 million in pension costs. We know that we have big problems that we the citizens never caused. But we are the only piggy-bank they have. They can't print money like the Feds. And they have the damn nerve to threaten closing the library if we don't cough it up.

They don't have to spend all the unnecessary capital improvements for 2012. Why not wait until real property values have turned around? Everyone in the world waits until you have the money before they spend UNLESS it is a government. They have that piggy bank from which to draw. We have 25,923,439 budgeted. This is bull.

There was no back-up for this meeting. I was told that the Budget itself was the back-up. Ed Fry had power point slides explaining last night's agendaed points. Although I was only there for one hour and only one of two from the public, I am sure that there were plenty of residents at home who would have liked to have had back-up. Having no back-up for the public, the people who pay these taxes, is unacceptable. And why weren't there more there from the public? We have given up. We know that this Budget will stick like glue just the way it is.

This is the Stanton deal. No one on the dais asked how much money the city manager is raising from all of this money or even how much she needs. She had already told them that she needs ALL of it.

• Keep the PB County MSTU. Negotiate to eliminate the supplement. Lock into a 10 year contract with the County with a $5 million cancellation fee (the County trusts us not to break contracts) that would start to diminish after the 5th year. There are no guarantees that the MSTU rate will not go up or go up immediately just like it did two years ago when we entered the contract. The CM is still working on this "deal" and should know next week. "They are close," she said.
  

• Taxes for this year--7% over the roll-back rate or 5.4945. “Rollback rate” means the previous year’s millage rate minus the millage equivalent of the total net assessed value added by reassessments of existing real property. I did not hear this well so I can't explain it and--THERE IS NO BACK-UP.
  

Items that have been mentioned before:

• Lien & Building Permit Search Fees -- $70 increase per permit

• Commercial Demand Rates -- $100 Cost of Service Fee every month

• Water Rate Increase -- 5.25% per month

• Regional Sewer Rate Increase -- 30%

• Local Sewer Rate Increase -- 13% from the current 9%

• Refuse Rate Increase (Residential) -- $42/year

• Refuse Rate Increase (Commercial) -- 10% monthly

Special Assessments:

• Fire Rescue $60 per household. The assessment has been tested in the Courts, per Ed Fry. Commercial establishments will be taxed at 13 cents per s.f. Industrial at 2 cents per s.f. Institutional properties at 9 cents per s.f. This tax covers Fire Pensions and Ancillary Costs (not identified) of approximately $1.4 mil. The County said that funding the entire MSTU was unacceptable. So that huge pension that is 172% of payroll, will be funded by all the residents here in Lake Worth. The CM does not want to hear any objections. This is a regressive tax no matter the amount, a tax that takes a larger percentage from low-income people than from high-income people. Makes you feel warm and fuzzy, doesn't it? Actually it is paying for our budget shortfall. Thank God property values only went down a small amount this year otherwise they might have to give up that free lunch.
  

• Street Lights--$30 per household. This is an estimate. It could be higher.
  

• Other--Undetermined at this time as I only stayed for one hour. However, other fees were discussed such as parking pay stations down town. Stanton wants this and she will probably get it even though we have already said "no." That word is not in the CM's dictionary. Now that red-light cameras have been judged legal, look for that to pop up again.

The internal auditor was discussed and I still don't understand why this cost is so much. Waterman said perhaps the level of service will be different. The only level of service that will be different will be because he will now be an employee, a conflict with our Charter--an employee reports to the CM whereas the Internal Auditor is supposed to report to the Commission. We, the public, should get LESS transparency.

It was announced that there will be the first Public Hearing on Tuesday on this matter to adopt the final millage rate of 5.4945. I am assuming that the County charge for MSTU will be noticed as it was not mentioned last night, not once, not at all. Look for that to go up another mil and we will be right at 10 mils.