Lake Worth wants to sell off assets to afford Union costs

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24 City of Lake Worth properties are up for sale worth approximately $544,000 and the reason why we want to sell them off is to be able to afford pension costs that are expected to rise in the 2013/2014 budget, so said the Mayor.

Some of those City-owned lots and homes that could be offered for sale:

• 711 N. L St, a lot.
• 416 Third Ave. S., a lot
• 313 N. M St. a lot
• 1203 18th Ave. N, adjacent lots
• 1506 S. J St., a lot
• 624 Highland Ave., a lot
• 1756 14th Ave. S., a lot
• 1101 S. E. St., a lot
• 626 Latona Ave., a lot
• 628 N. K St., a lot
• 629 S. H St., a lot
• 605 Fifth Ave. N., a house
• 902 N. C St., a house
• 304 S. F St., a lot

We have all these ambitious goals--developing the Park of Commerce, as well as developing a robust housing/property rehabilitation program for Lake Worth and the overall improvement of our quality of life.

The main source of our consternation, that no one really wants to address, is the unions.  I'm not sure that we have a top union professional with the expertise and mechanics to bargain with the Unions that are holding our city, as well as many others, hostage. We need to hire a top union negotiator. With the rising cost of healthcare and all employee pension costs, the city's mission of creating a viable and healthy community is impossible unless Unions stop taking the biggest piece of the pie.

In 2013/2014 it was estimated that police costs would rise to $15,551,758 and fire protection to 2,781,542 or $18.3 million out of a total budget of $29.3 million.  The estimated increased  costs for policing would be $770 thousand over this year in a city where property values are expected to go down once again. We can't continue to operate this way. Selling off our assets is not the solution.