Century Link attempts illegal underground fiber optic cable installation in my neighborhood but we caught them. Read more →
After a contentious Leesburg, FL City Commissioner meeting last night (Apr. 14, 2025), four of five commissioners voted against perhaps 300 citizens there to support a resolution to limit residential annexations for 1+ years. Read more →
This Apr. 18, 2024, 65-minute meeting video was not a regular Tavares, FL P&Z meeting, but an apparent annual update for the P&Z Committee on Tavares commercial and residential developments, a good overview of the Planning profession history, and an overview of the Florida Live Local Act. They also provided large maps (see attachments) of pending residential and commercial developments and discussed them. Read more →
Tomorrow, Monday, Aug. 8th, 2022 and on Tuesday, Aug. 9th, there are two election "Hob Nobs" run by local Chambers of Commerce to let the public meet and greet all local election candidates and to vote for them in a straw poll that is administered by the Lake County Supv. of Elections. We provide details and encourage Lake County, FL voters to attend and "vote" in a straw poll to support their favored candidates. Read more →
Got Septic? If you have a septic tank or considering a replacement, or buying a new home outside city limits, you need water and sewage connections. A new "Septic to Distributed System" method for new homes and small developments (50 homes per system) that do not have direct access to city sewage systems was discussed at yesterday's (Mar. 22, 2022) Lake County Board meeting. You can watch the tab 30 agenda item meeting video by going to the Lake County website, clicking and scrolling to about 1 hour, 55 minutes and watch it, plus you can click the agenda tab and scroll to tab 30 to see the agenda documents. This new system was solicited by the Lake County Board to reduce pressure for developers to annex into cities and approve HIGH-density homes to justify costs for city proviced sewer pipelines. Instead, they found a vendor ( http://www.onsyte.com/ ) that can provide small, stand-alone, more advanced community septic systems. They also had an earlier presentation by the vendor several months ago. They were the only ones to respond to a request for proposal. They are not discussing mandating these for older homes with septic tanks (at this time). Both Lake... Read more →
Two Leesburg, FL City Council meetings are coming up (Dec. 30, 2021 & Jan. 3, 2022) without any details on their purpose. Both may include discussions relatedd to rampant development annexations by the City Council of Leesburg without regard to traffic gridlock that may result. As of Dec. 27, 2021, there is no online agenda for the Jan. 3rd meeting, and the Dec. 30 agenda only says each side will give presentations. Read more →
The City of Tavares, FL is planning to approve (maybe) a (A) government warehouse development that would be removed from the Tavares property tax rolls, and (B) a humongous SIXTY FOOT HIGH 165 unit apartment complex that will generate almost 1000 road trips a day when the Highway 19 is at 98% of road "volume capacity". BOTH projects would MODIFY the existing zoning and density standards for the area along Highway 19. Read more →
The City Council of Tavares, FL does not allow citizens to provide public input on "First Readings" of agenda items on Planning & Zoning or other issues, thus they cannot provide input until the next meeting and the FINAL "Second Reading". No other city in Lake County has this restriction, so citizens should demand that public input be accepted at First Readings. Read more →
Many cities are creating their onw municipal internet broadband utilities, and even Federal funds can pay for it as we explain.' Read more →
Most cities in Lake County, FL keep escalating wage, benefit and pension costs each year, Thus this Lake County, FL fiscal watchdog is launching an initiative to demand cities start outsourcing various functions to control escalating costs. The day of constantly passing through 10% benefit costs and wages twice the CPI need to stop because increasing house valuations, plus high millage rates may cause some residents to lose homes due to excessive property tax bills. Most cities don't use performance metrics like businesses to identify excess spending, and that is needed also. Read more →
The City of Tavares, Florida's City Council met yesterday, April 7, 2021. We describe how they are leaving important details related to Council decisions out of the online agenda packet, and they need to provide that online in the future. This is one of several Tavares practices that result in lower transparency than other Lake County, FL cities. Read more →
The Tavares, FL City Council discussed "Broad Budget Priorities" for the upcoming 2021-2022 budget cycle, and three of them won't go to the rollback rate, indicating taxes will most likely go up again. Read more →
Buyers of residential, rental or commercial property in Lake County, FL can SAVE 50% on property taxes if they pick the right, low millage rate city in Lake County. This article describes the 2020 millage rates for all 14 cities plus the unincorporated Lake County areas so you can decide to buy in a LOW or HIGH property tax location. Read more →
The Federal Government and many states like Florida have created a mechanism for "green" construction builders and remodelers to offer residential and commercial property owners low-interest loans for desirable "Green" energy-efficient construction designs and products ranging from solar roof panels to high-efficiency air conditioners. We provide a fiscal watchdog overview of the PACE Commercial and PACE Residential loan programs and their risks and our opinion for Florida projects. Before viewing this, you might also do a search on "PACE Lawsuits" to see the results of such loan programs around the US. Read more →
Will your local city or county government agency get hit with ransomware like Baltimore, MD and then their School District a year later? Read this and pass it on to your local government council or board to educate them and ask for a public hearing on whether they are vulnerable or not. Read more →
Owning a mobile home in Florida on leased or rented lots is dangerous and we describe some reasons why. The industry and the Florida legislators need to take action against mobile home park owners who are bullies and harass and threaten mobile home owners so they give up and leave so the park owner can take over the home and sell or rent it for a profit. Read more →
The Lake County, FL Board is having the final State required meeting to approve millage rates and budgets which will result in higher property taxes due to higher valuations. We provide the meeting details and discuss the issue. Read more →
AAAGH!! Mascotte, FL City Council members, in Lake County, voted for the full millage rate rollback for property taxes. I was going to give them kudos for doing so. Then I read the details in their budget introduction. The property appraiser VALUATIONS leaped by 25%, thus the rollback was minuscule vs the TAX INCREASE that will be faced by Mascotte residents due to the very high valuations. So, they should have reduced their millage MORE than the rollback rate like Minneola did. Why aren't more Lake County taxpayers getting angry at all the local governments like cities and the County and School Board raking in the extra dollars due to high valuations, and some giving out 3% raises and not setting at least a rollback rate in this Pandemic economy? All the subsidies end by December, and then evictions and foreclosures will show just how out of touch the elected officials are. Taxpaying voters need to throw out incumbents if they voted to support anything other than rollback rates. Vance Jochim FiscalRangers.com Read more →
City Councils in Lake County, FL are RAISING taxes while claiming credit for reducing tax RATES. The problem is property valuations are leaping, and multiply them by barely reduced millage tax rates equals TAX INCREASES. We discuss this manipulation of public information by elected officials. Read more →
The Tavares, FL City Council had their August 19, 2020 meeting and we posted a video link and comments on the agenda items, which included shootings, crime, annexations, city budget, and a Pickleball Court. Read more →
A commentary in the Orlando Sentinel blasted most local City Councils and the County Board for trying to say they reduced property tax millage rates, but since they did not reduce them to the rollback rate, total actual taxes will go up significantly once those officials vote in September to NOT approve rollback rates. Confusing? Yes, so read my article and the linked commentary by Lauren Ritchie. Read more →
Lake County, FL County officials and staff are preparing for an expected Florida Governor announcement to let businesses open again. But Leftist counties nearby are pressuring the conservative counties not to do so. Watch the Lake County, FL website for news and a new Business Guide for re-0pening ( I have seen the mockup web page). Read more →
An Orlando Weekly article cites a study saying Lake County, FL is one of the 10 Florida Counties that may suffer the most bankruptcies from the Covid-19 crisis. Read more →
Orlando Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell encouraged taxpayers to attend local city council and other local agency meetings to monitor what they are doing, and also monitor who are the best candidates for their local government agencies. Here are my additional ideas for reform of City Councils and policies. Read more →
Tavares, FL City Council - We just uploaded our video of the Dec. 4, 2019 meeting and provided an overview of the meeting in the video description on YouTube. Topics included banning of plastic straws, a new public input policy, and approval for the Lake County Folk Music Festival to move from Eustis to Tavares next year. AND, a local Fruitland Park plastic straw activist provided excitement during several public input sessions. https://youtu.be/-77Iov0D7e8 Spoiler alert - results of the meeting: - The City Council voted to deny the request to ban plastic straws, fearing plastic cups would be next, and the cost of enforcement might be too high. The city depends on drawing customers for entertainment events, and plastic cups are used by them while walking around the city. (And, some Council members receive contributions from local restaurants and developers.) - The public input policy was expanded to include requirements from a recent state law, but public input still will be limited to 3-minutes at the discretion of the Mayor. - The leaders of the annual Folk Music Festival requested to move to Tavares from Eustis (after 22 years) because Tavares has more venues and restaurants for folk music groups... Read more →
Residents on private canals in Lake County, FL need to read this. A new funding process is being considered by the Lake County Board to allow residents to tax themselves over 10 years to fund needed dredging of their canals. Read more →
The latest workshop of the Tavares, FL Comprehensive Plan 2040 Committee was held on Oct. 30, 2019. This overview is based upon my fiscal conservative, reduced taxation philosophy. We provide a link to a video of the meeting, the agenda, relevant documents, the Powerpoint and our opinion on the bias in the meeting. Tavares area property owners beware. Read more →
Six Tavares, FL City Council candidates are running for two separate District seats in the Nov. 5, 2019 election. This is a 75 minute video of a candidate forum with all six candidates held on Oct. 17 and organized by the Tavares Chamber of Commerce. Read more →
The Developer, D.R. Horton, of a proposed 200 unit development on Dead River Road in Tavares, FL, has canceled the development plans and their planned improvements to the intersection of HWY 19 and Dead River Road. Thus hoped for intersection improvements are canceled. Read more →
The Groveland, FL City Council met on Sept. 16, 2019, approved a new budget and millage rate, and covered routine issues. We provide an overview of the covered issues and a link to our video of the main City Council meeting. No riots or public demonstrations occurred! Read more →
September is when Lake County, FL cities discuss and approve new millage and budget figures after property tax valuation reports are out. Most cities except two of 14 in Lake County are increasing millage rates above the "roll-back" rate, thus increasing tax bills to property owners. Read more →
The City Council of Tavares, FL is having their City Council meeting tomorrow, Friday, Sept. 6, 2019 and they will discuss proposed millage and budget figures. If they continue, should they rename the city Spendalot City or Camelot? Residents need to attend the 4pm meeting and provide input. Read more →
The 2019-20 Lake County, FL property tax TRIM notices are out. We provide an example and some analysis, and tips how to analyze YOUR rates to understand if hidden increases are included. Read more →
The Tavares, FL City Council may approve "primitive camping" in a city park at an August, 21, 2019 City Council meeting that some believe will attract homeless people. Other negative issues are also discussed. Read more →
Tavares, FL residents need to read this about pending millage rate tax hikes at a City Council workshop on July 24, 2019 at 4pm. These issues of escalating taxes are affecting ALL city and county residents in Lake County and the rest of Florida. If you don't act now, then hold out your wallet for tax day. Read more →
Local cities and government agencies in Florida, including Lake County, FL, are reducing public transparency by removing most published documents, even for upcoming meeting agendas and staff packets, or annual financial reports or budgets. They are doing it to avoid nuisance lawsuits by roving bands of attorneys suing them for not spending thousands of taxpayer dollars to comply with Federal ADA laws related to "accessibility" for sight and hearing limited users. Read more →
The over-55 retirement community, BayTree, in Tavares, FL has erupted in anger over a plan to demolish an old golf course surrounding many homes and add many new, smaller homes on the old golf course land. We provide a video to our overview of the issue plus an April 29, 2019 meeting between residents and the Tavares, FL City Manager, Attorney and Director of Planning. Read more →
Florida homeowners may be blindsided by developer requests for questionable projects next to them like the proposed 4-story rental apartment complex on the shores of Lake Saunders near Tavares, FL next to the single story, single family residences. So we created a 36 minute Florida Homeowners guide to the land development process to understand how to make your voice heard or oppose outlandish land use developments. Read more →
The Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission (FWC) held a public meeting on April 2, 2019, in Tavares, FL for citizens to "vote" on areas to receive priority treatment to control Hydrilla in the Harris Chain of Lakes in Lake County, FL. Citizens added colored dots to maps of the lakes to indicate priority treatment areas. This video includes the full meeting and we listed all the questions and answers during the Q&A session. Read more →
The Clermont City Council lost a legal action to allow a charter school to build on a five acre lot with terrible traffic issues and neighbor complaints. Neither city staff or the Lake County School District wanted the project approved. Now the City attorney convinced the clearly vague Council to approve an expensive appeal of the legal decision. Neighbor opposition leader Dani Page made a video of that meeting which you can watch. The saga continues at taxpayer expense. Read more →
This is just a friendly reminder from our Watchdog keyboard that Lake County, FL and other elected officials need to ensure they make ethical and objective decisions, and don't practice favoritism, bribery, etc. Read more →
Tavares, FL March 11, 2019 Federal and Florida regulations on compliance with the American Disabilities Act (ADA) are causing excess costs and reduced public transparency over local government meeting videos, agendas, budgets and even annual financial reports (CAFR's). Essentially, some scummy lawyers found that ADA requirements can be interpreted to require that any local government has to provide online information in a format that can be read by ADA software tools used by the disabled, such as vision limited or hearing limited. Apparently, the tools use screen "scanning" to find text or picture captions that can then be converted to audio so the disabled can "read" or "hear" the online information. We wrote an earlier story about this in January 2019 HERE, after the Orlando Sentinel published a story about it. It contains more about the scummy lawsuits, so I did not repeat it here. The Jan. 6, 2019 Orlando Sentinel story is here. And very few local governments have the funds to revamp their websites and file systems to comply with the lawsuit demands. Now, a city like Orlando could afford to get the software and modify all their files so they can be read by the ADA tools,... Read more →
A government spending watchdog, OpenTheBooks.org, tracks wasteful government programs and also tracks local, state and Federal employee wages over $100k. We examined their reports for local cities in the Lake County area, and found 60 employees working in the Tavares, FL area for government that earned over $100k. OpenTheBooks.org also launched an initiative to encourage the Congress to launch a "War on Waste" by listing wasteful, stupid Federal programs and asking the government to publish budget details for transparency, and then eliminate the uncovered, wasteful programs. Read more →
Local governments like cities are being sued because their websites are not completely designed to comply with ADA requirements that were written before the internet was created. For instance, cities cannot post meeting videos if they don't incur the expense to provide captions that software for the blind or deaf can read and translate so they can understand it. Thus the benefit of transparency for 97% of the populations are shut down for 3% who complain. Read more →
Tavares, FL Oct. 26, 2018 A shorter version of this opinion commentary by Vance Jochim was also posted on CityGrader.com. Updated Oct. 27, 2018 with more facts. The opinions in this commentary are all my own, based upon observations at meetings and my research. Will Eustis, FL, controlled by liberal or RINO (Republican in Name Only) City Council members, become the first Sanctuary City in Lake County, FL? As an active Republican and fiscal watchdog blogger in Lake County, FL, I rate this City a C due to the Democrat or liberal sympathizers on the City Council. I live in nearby Tavares and the contrast of "vision" is quite strong. The City staff are quite competent, and the historic ambiance is great, but the elected leaders with a liberal bias are not helpful. I am a watchdog blogger in Lake County, and have been monitoring Eustis politics for years. They keep electing liberal or do nothing Council members under the cover of "non-partisan" elections, leading to disputes with residents. Under the right circumstances, they could become Lake County's first Sanctuary City. City Elections for City Council candidates are now in progress for the Nov. 6, 2018 elections. The positions are... Read more →
Howey-in-the-Hills, FL Sept. 29, 2018 The Howey-in-the-Hills, FL City Council approved their 2018-2019 millage rate at 9.275, on Sept. 24, 2018. It is the highest property tax millage rate in Lake County, FL of 14 cities due to lack of a commercial or industrial tax base. They also approved a budget of $2.7-million, which is one of the smallest city budgets in Lake County, with only 600 homes. See our meeting video at https://youtu.be/CVmzWHuGt1U . This video covers the short discussion and approval of the millage and budget, followed by the routine City business agenda. Video by Vance Jochim, of the fiscal watchdog blog FiscalRangers.com. Short link to the meeting video: https://youtu.be/CVmzWHuGt1U Read more →
Fed up with bad roads or traffic jams in Lake County or your city while officials spend mega-millions on: - new buildings, - splash parks, - interest payments to pay for non-infrastructure projects, - bike trails, - brick roads, - huge benefit increases including massive retiree benefits, - employee raises costing more than the cost of living, - staff time on private projects like Wellness Way, - "lifestyle" projects, - spending on downtown city projects more than road repairs, - social welfare programs, - free buses that lose money on every trip, - police radios ($18-million), - bureaucratic "required" studies, - huge parks, - trails, - lawsuits, - events and - local charities? Instead of cutting back on those, the Lake County Board (and cities) plan to hike your fuel taxes (it is coming). Everything else, it seems, is a priority over roads. In Colorado, citizens have formed a tax rebellion movement called #FixOurDamnRoads" and collected over 150,000 signatures provided to the Secretary of State. They demand the roads be fixed WITHOUT ANY TAX INCREASES Perhaps we need such a #FixOurDamnRoads program for Lake County. If you see a Lake Country traffic jam or bad road problems, take a picture... Read more →
Tavares, FL July 10, 2018 Today, I was at the Lake County Board meeting, and tab 39 was a big discussion about whether the St. John's River Water Management District would be allowed to start moving sand from a conservation area they own in Lake County resulting an estimated 330,000 truck trips over 5 years or 200-250 truckloads a day on two minor road used by residents. After many public comments by affected residents, the Board voted to decide on an ordinance at a future meeting that would NOT allow trucks over 10 tons to traverse either of the two rural roads which are not designed for such heavy traffic. Lots of cheering. This whole fiasco came up because the SJRWMD Board decided to authorize selling the sand to make $1.4-million while (according to residents) decimating wildlife, quiet, road safety, etc. I gave public input about the little known fact that the LJRWMD is a multi-county regional system where Board members are appointed by the Governor (not elected) and Lake County has NOT had a representative on their board since the 1970's. Two insiders told me it was because high political contributors got the positions and apparently no one in... Read more →
Traffic and road conditions are getting worse in Lake County. We talk about some of the issues, and how some more funding may be on the way if the Lake County Board starts the process to increase road impact fees on new construction. Read more →
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