Visioning Work session Lake Worth

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Tomorrow at Noon, the Visionaries will meet for a workshop on a "visioning plan."  This is the same commission that believes development, any kind of development in any place, is a cure all for all ills. It is a date scheduled for more budget discussions, discussions that never once talked about serious issues we have in our city such as--

Unfunded liabilities in the union pensions
Cost of public safety (PBSO) that will rise by 2.45% to $14,781,834
Cost of Fire services that is going up by 12.64%

What they describe as "non-controllable" costs, take 70% of our operating revenues which include healthcare and employee costs.  The remaining 30% is spent on fixing pot holes, etc.

These won't be discussed...they can't control them or can't/won't negotiate them...someone else holds the strings here or it's all too much of a hassle. Instead, the commission will be discussing the Roadway/Utilities Master Plan and the Park of Commerce, both tremendous and exorbitant expenses for a city with NO money. They won't be talking about pot holes that are driving everyone crazy throughout the city and something the city can't even afford to repair right--but huge future capital costs. The Park of Commerce is a campaign promise of Scott Maxwell's and anything that might bring jobs is good for the mayor.

City government is one big beauracracy that has managed to arrive at unsustainable union pensions and medical benefit costs with other restrictive elements of union contracts. No discussion about them but plenty of talk about spending tens of millions, perhaps a hundred million, down the road that ad-valorem can't handle and never will.

This should be an interesting meeting.

“unsustainable” union pension and medical benefits costs and other restrictive elements of their SEIU labor agreements. - See more at: http://hcmatters.com/2013/02/seiu-labor-agreements-called-out-as-unsustainable/#sthash.eeuRaS36.dpuf

“unsustainable” union pension and medical benefits costs and other restrictive elements of their SEIU labor agreements. - See more at: http://hcmatters.com/2013/02/seiu-labor-agreements-called-out-as-unsustainable/#sthash.eeuRaS36.dpuf

“unsustainable” union pension and medical benefits costs and other restrictive elements of their SEIU labor agreements. - See more at: http://hcmatters.com/2013/02/seiu-labor-agreements-called-out-as-unsustainable/#sthash.eeuRaS36.dpuf