Thursday, January 26, 2012

Commissioners on repealing the fire assessment

Comment Up
On Tuesday night, the Lake Worth Commission repealed the fire assessment. By implementing the Department reductions, elimination of certain positions and deferred starting date of certain positions and the elimination of the costs related to the Fire Services and Street Lights assessments will generate an estimated General Fund savings of $1,443,797.

If we continue along the the same lines, by 2016 our budget deficit is projected at $7 million according to the Office of Budget & Management. Bad Union contracts, the overall recession and the loss in the market caused this financial crisis. Pensions are escalating out of control. The City has promised to pay approximately $67 million in future benefits to past and current employees yet does not currently have that amount in its various pension funds with no means to get the revenue.

You can expect a lower quality of life and a lower quality of services. I don't think that I was elected into office to take this city backwards.

Commissioner Mulvehill, as well as Commissioner McVoy, had guts to stand up for their principles. Compromise, by the Visionaries, was not in the cards. I have always claimed that the fire assessment was nothing more than a money grab. However, it does not negate the fact that Lake Worth, because of past mis-management, has a financial picture that is anything but stellar. The questions to answer are, should the property owners of Lake Worth continue to bail out the City for this run-away train...for all the cash reserves spent by past city managers Boyer and Baldwin...how do we solve our problem...for all the waste of millions by former commissions. Will it ever end? What should we do? Something has to give. If taxing is not the answer, what is?

It seems that we always find a boogy-man...someone or something to demonize...let's not start demonizing that our level of service will decrease...I didn't see anything in these recommendations tonight that spoke to directly to a cut in any services...it's time to start paying attention to what's going on.

The proof is in the pudding when the PBSO and Susan Stanton negotiated a reduction in cost of $1.2 million from the PBSO reducing the man power by 9 people but keeping the level of service the same. However, some services will be directly affected. We already know that staff is thin and many doing multiple jobs.

Don't confuse efforts with results...It's priorities and how we handle what's next for the city and the immediate needs of the city.

The Finance Department looks at financial projects well into the future, not just the immediate and are basing their projections on departmental budgets and Union pension costs. We always should have been looking at cutting costs but the real culprit here are union costs of which we have no control.

Very soon, this Commission will be going through the exact same problems in the upcoming Budget workshops for the next budget cycle. Although we cut some fat on expenses in various operating budgets and deferred some positions, campaign promises were fulfilled. The special assessment has only been eradicated short term. What will we expect in months down the road when we all will finally have to admit that we are in big trouble, that the Unions really don't give a hoot, and we are facing the exact same estimated financial short-falls. We will no longer be able to take the Scarlet O'Hara approach to doing business.

11 comments:

  1. Ah Ha - You have the quote where Commissioner Maxwell actually smiled and was pleasant. It was surprising to here him say …we always find a boogy-man...someone or something to demonize... let's not start demonizing… as this is remarkably similar to his own modus operandi. I wonder if the commissioner knows how he sounds.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Why WAS Mulvehill elected to office?

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'll give you a couple of guesses. Whatever is your problem? You must have a very short memory or a wise guy.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Actualy, Maxwell looks a bit constapaited in the above picture. Or its killing him to smile.

    ReplyDelete
  5. First you blog incessantly and negatively for months about the fire assessment, then you commend Mulvehill and Mcoy for voting to keep the fire assessment. What gives? Can you explain this, while you're providing any good reason Mulvehill was elected? We've been seeing a reduced level of service and lower quality of life since she's been in office, she's had plenty of time to help turn things around and she couldn't do it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lynn, how about throwing some optimism and support toward the new commission? If they had not come through on their campaign promise, you would have had some choice words for that I'll guess.
    They did come through - why can't we try to believe in them and be positive about the direction they're taking?

    ReplyDelete
  7. I said that they got one right. Is that optimistic? To tell you the truth, I have NO idea what direction they are taking. Why not clue us in?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Just think when they start talking about assessments next year, you will have more to write, and bitch about...

    ReplyDelete
  9. I don't think that we will have to wait until NEXT year to hear that we NEED money. And true, there is always something to write about. You call it "bitching," I call it blogging and politics. Any elected official is fair game. It would be great if we could get some good politicians elected but I don't see that happening now for years--not after the tusanami that happened in our last election and those behind the majority. Just like the Post said, we have been set-back for years. Time will tell but I think LW goes in cycles. We have had extremes here that were detrimental to LW. One extreme is out (an anarchist who wanted open borders), another before that is out, the commision that made multi-millions in mistakes and another now took its place. There is never any happy medium. Our way or the highway is the motto of the day.

    ReplyDelete
  10. No politician should get off the hook.

    ReplyDelete