This is a not-for-profit building registered with the State in 1965 and sponsored by the Nazarene Church on a 99 year government loan. It is non-profit housing for Seniors.
According to a source, the city has come up with a scheme for more revenue--it is going to inspect each apartment looking for code violations starting this morning. They expect the inspections to be finished by Thursday. According to the source, those residing there are not under a lease so the city, along with the building manager, can just knock and enter their living quarters and look for violations. Tell me it ain't so. This is the first time ever Lake Worth has gone after Lake Worth Towers in its nearly 50 years existence. Is it about income generation for this desperate city? Also I have been told that the city was looking to implement a rental license fee on the building, taxing each unit...as well as sending in the ADA to ensure they are in compliance. As one person said, this is "Government Creep."
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Lake Worth Towers consists of 195 units of various sizes. Each unit is charged based on its square footage and on the total expenses. The Towers is tax exempt. In 2014, it paid: $19,500 for solid waste and $3,391.42 for stormwater.
HUD rent subsidies apply and some are subsidized by the Florida Housing Finance Corporation. It is considered affordable housing for the elderly.
According to LWT’s bylaws, the affairs of the Corporation are managed by a Board of Directors, consisting of eleven directors. The membership in the Corporation is personal and not transferable. No compensation is paid to the directors for their services.
I guess the city feels if we can't get it (money) legitimately by the vote of the people, we will get it any way that we can? In this case it will be from the most poor and vulnerable in our city, the elderly. Who or what is next? Churches? You just can't stop government creep once it begins.
Mr. Timm said it best.
ReplyDeleteThe city see's US as
"Walking Wallets". Going after the elderly is a big poker tell of the morality of the elected! I wish they get the exact same treatment so they know how it feels!
Code compliance Manager, mark Woods, states:
ReplyDeleteThat information is not exactly accurate. We will be conducting the regular Use and Occupancy inspections that we do for all rental properties in the City. While we do make note of any violations found, that is not the purpose of the inspection. The purpose is to insure that the units are fit for occupancy based on the Minimum Housing code. As it relates to the charging of the rental license, yes they are charged a fee based on the number of units that they rent. I don’t have any information about it affecting the residents because that would be based on the Towers management and how they charge for the units. I also don’t have any information about ADA being called in. If they are, it is not on behalf of the City. Let me know if there are any more questions.
Nearly 200 units times $146.47 (rental license and inspections) equals 1/3 of the annual salaries for our State and Federal lobbyists.
ReplyDeleteMaybe one of the two will earn back the money we give them to pay the rest of their salaries.
I heard that the management told the City "NO way" on paying rental license fees on each individual apt. So I went down there today. They were talking over several months and the city has agreed to charge them ONE rental license only. The inspections are going on as we speak. I was told this is the first time EVER for code inspections in the building.
ReplyDeleteThe building is nearly 50 years old and houses seniors. I'd think you'd be belly aching about the height of the building instead of the city trying to make sure the building is safe for our most vulnerable.
ReplyDeleteLOL @ 4:12. Have you ever flown a kite?
ReplyDeleteI can't fly a kite because the building blocks the breeze and blots out the sunlight.
ReplyDeleteWhy should that building be exempt from what every other property owner has to go through. If there is a cost, the seniors don't pay, it's HUD that pays. Not too shabby. The rest of us have to pass it along to the renters.
You're wrong but I'm not going to argue with you.
ReplyDeleteThose living there in this NOT-FOR-PROFIT building pay ALL the expenses relative to the building.
Lake Worth is changing the rules. It is very obvious that their intent is to make money any way they can. As far as the building paying what everyone else pays, I think it was explained here why they should not have to. Ask the city how they messed up on every business license in the city and they have to re-send them because they were all wrong, all 7,000 of them or whatever number there are..
ReplyDeleteIt is ironic that they have the time to inspect all those apartments in LWT, but they cannot even enforce codes for all the blight and rundown conditions of so many properties in this city. The Code Dept. just is not effective, we have way too much blight and despair and the city is not doing enough. All this blight keeps breeding more crime.
ReplyDeleteThe Towers is an easy target. And this commission can justify just about anything. "Oh, we're making sure that these poor old folks are safe."
ReplyDeleteThe BEST Code enforcement officer they had just recently quit. She said that they gave her way too many cases to handle.
ReplyDeleteAs a landlord myself, I've run up against the rental inspection process in this fine city. I do what I am supposed to do (by the City ordinances). I do obtain a rental license and a business license for each of my rental properties. I also make sure the tenants keep the utilities in their name (this is really how the City tracks rentals and a lot of landlords and slumlords stay under the radar by keeping utilities in their name). I have no problem with my rental units, which are pristine, well tended, lovely cottages, being inspected.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the City sees people like me, those that already follow the rules, as chumps. Rather than focus on actual safety, blight and real code issues, they have demanded to inspect my rental units each time they turn over. Meaning if I have a tenant that moves out, for whatever reason, and the utilities change names they demand inspection regardless of when they last inspected. The Ordinance is crystal clear that Code only gets to inspect residential units once a year, it does not get to inspect them (and of course charge for the inspection) whenever the utilities change names.
The last time around, I fought the inspection. What did they do, issued me a code violation. Luckily, I happen to be an attorney and I crushed them at the hearing, but most people would just let them inspect again.
These code inspections, while serving a reasonable purpose, seem to me to be an improper use of our meager code resources. Having a code officer reinspect my already inspected and licensed rental unit when they could be addressing real problem properties is, of course, a waste. But code prefers the easy work and not the tough work, and they know someone like me, a rule follower, will pay the fee and acquiesce (in most instances) so they prefer to keep focus on the low hanging fruit.