Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Greenacres still pursuing John Prince Park

Comment Up

Greenacres just won't quit. Neither will Lake Worth and Scott Maxwell and crew.

On their Monday night's agenda was Resolution No. 2014-11

Supporting the continued exploration and development of John Prince Park as a location for a Major League Baseball franchise spring training camp, pursuant to Staff Memo.

The vote was 4/0 with Commissioner Peter Noble absent.

RESOLUTION NO. 2014-11
A RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GREENACRES, FLORIDA, SUPPORTING A MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL TRAINING CAMP AT JOHN PRINCE PARK; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, Palm Beach County owns and maintains John Prince Park as a public park; and
WHEREAS, the City of Lake Worth is currently exploring an interest expressed by a Major League Baseball franchise(s) in locating its spring training camp at John Prince Park; and,
WHEREAS, the City of Lake Worth has requested support of its efforts to continue to explore such interest and work diligently with Palm Beach County to develop such interest; and
WHEREAS, Palm Beach County and municipalities in and around John Prince Park would realize economic benefits by the location of a Major League Baseball franchise(s) spring training camp at John Prince Park.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GREENACRES, FLORIDA, that:
Section 1. The foregoing recitals are incorporated into this Resolution by reference as true and correct statements.
Section 2. The City Council of the City of Greenacres hereby supports the continued exploration and development of John Prince Park as a location for a Major League Baseball franchise(s) spring training camp.
Section 3. This Resolution shall take effect immediately upon its passage and adoption.
Resolution No. 2014-11 Page 2
RESOLVED AND ADOPTED this 19th day of May, 2014.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well said, Jack above. It's strange that they would really think that we would trust them with $63 MILLION after the heights thing, that sign on the Gulfstream thing, after the John Prince Park thing...basically thumbing their nose at the people again and again and again and again.

Anonymous said...

They are MUCH more trustworthy than many of the preceding commissions. They are not accepting that Lake Worth MUST only be for poor people.

That was the anarchist, anti-gentrification theory. And it will be prevalent in the decision to invest in our infrastructure.

The tax assessor has stated that one of the reasons Lake Worth lags behind other cities is because we have neglected our infrastructure for decades. THIS commission at least is addressing it. If it fails, then what?

Anonymous said...

Especially b/c they make comments like the bond will only equate to the cost of a cup of coffee. Um, for the 30% of property owners that pay city of lw taxes (who will be responsible for this 80 million dollar project) that will be one expensive, thousands of dollars a year cup of coffee.

Lynn Anderson said...

@1:10--As stated last night, Lake Worth's population is comprised of 32.6% of poor folks. The majority of people are working class folks who have property values less than $100,000. So, we ARE a city of poor people whether this commission wants to 'accept' it or not.

We all would love to see property values rise but when you have a city attracting MORE poor and allowing developers to build for lower income, that's what you will get.

Anonymous said...

When you have many residents that don't pay any city taxes at all it makes it tough to manage the city. It gets really difficult when the people that DON'T PAY ANY TAXES AT ALL SCREECH THE LOUDEST.

Lynn Anderson said...

Stop your class warfare. All citizens have a right to "screech." If it is more affective than yours, so be it. Truth should prevail but unfortunately we have to deal with sneaky and corrupt politicians. We believe that a ballfield would bring down property values even further that are nearby, not raise them. We are entitled to our opinion. But even more importantly, we don't want to see a county park used in this purpose for some politician's pipe-dream.

Weetha Peebull said...

Since RENTING our Property from the government isn't working so well, here's another idea we might want to discuss...

Many people are very excited about my 100% Homestead Tax Exemption plan, but have questions about how it will work. Knowing that property tax funds local government, they ask, "how can they afford it?"

Here's the plan in a nutshell:

First, it requires that we cut state budget by 30%. That won't be hard to do. We can cut that by simply eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and crony/sweetheart state contracts. Rick Scott has already increased our state budget by about 12% (roughly $9-billion) in just the last three years.

Once we cut the state budget, we can provide a 100% Homestead exemption for everyone's primary residence. Industrial, agricultural, commercial, and investment property would still be taxed normally...for now.

Then, we will change how sales tax revenue is distributed, with more going to the counties and less to the state. Currently, the state charges 6% sales tax on most purchases. Many counties add another 0.5 - 2% sales tax on top of that.

With a 30% reduction in the state budget, we no longer need the full 6% of sales tax. The state would receive about 4% instead. We would reappropriate the additional 2% to the counties/municipalities, which would offset the loss of the homestead property tax revenue. Counties that currently get 1% from sales taxes would now get 3%, tripling their sales tax revenue.

Based on 2013 taxable sales, that's an additional $7 billion to be distributed to the counties, in addition to their existing sales tax revenue and their non-homestead property tax revenue.

For example, Miami-Dade county would receive about $900-million annually in additional sales tax revenue, Orange would see an extra $800-million, and Duval would see an extra $300-million.

Based on our initial analysis, most counties will be revenue neutral with this plan, +/- 5%. Some counties will see additional revenue, while some will have to make some slight budget cuts, depending on the ratio of homestead vs. non-homestead property within their county. The state average for properties with an existing homestead exemption is 33.6%, but those properties are already being taxed at a lower value, with $25K to $50K exemptions deducted from their assessed value.

Florida homeowners would see their mortgage payments drop by an average of $125 per month or $1,500 per year. And, the taxpayers would not pay any additional sales tax at all. Floridians and visitors will still pay the same sales tax we are paying now.

I believe our plan will stimulate the economy in ways no big government program ever could.

Our plan will make home ownership more affordable. It will reduce all mortgage payments which currently include property tax escrow, provide a free-market incentive to own a home, and create many new jobs in the housing sector of Florida's economy.

We're still in the process of fine-tuning this plan, but so far the numbers work extremely well.

http://wyllieforgovernor.com/issues-2/property_taxes/

Weetha Peebull said...

The rich thinking because they pay more property taxes, they get a vote and we don't! That's tyrannical and so old an argument we have an amendment to prevent it at the fed level!!! Sales Tax is something we all pay. Stop the gov from renting me my property and cast a realistic net to have some money to run the city. FBI Forensic Audit the Electric Dept too!

AMENDMENT XXIV
Passed by Congress August 27, 1962. Ratified January 23, 1964.
Section 1.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay poll tax or other tax.
Section 2.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

tyrannical
ruling unjustly: ruling with absolute power over a population cruelly kept submissive and fearful
authoritarian: cruelly or irrationally insisting on complete obedience and giving harsh punishment to those who disobey