Fiscal Rangers

Nov 2008: Lake County Fire Dept. Exceeds Overtime Budget by $600,000

I didn't cover this last year, but have added it here to help support a list of fiscal recommendations I just sent to the Lake County Board of Commissioners and my email list. I will add that memo in another blog entry tomorrow. This article describes where the Fire Rescue department overspent their overtime budget due to a "computer program" error, which is not acceptable. Well run fiscal departments use "balancing procedures" to ensure that budget limits are not exceeded and apparently the County staff don't. This is one of a number of fiscal blunders that have occurred in Lake County government, justifying a list of recommendations I will publish tomorrow. Read the Daily Commercial article at the link below. vj The Daily Commercial Commissioners want more reports on year-to-date spending BENJAMIN ROODE Staff Writer TAVARES -- County commissioners want regular spending oversight reports after Lake's fire service said it needed money from its current year reserves to cover overspending from the past year. Lake County Fire Rescue outspent its $900,000 overtime budget by about $1 million in the budget year that ended Sept. 30. Officials asked to move more than $640,000 from the current year reserves to help correct... Read more →

Comparing Lake County School Funding Between State & Local Sources

I just added this to the separate page on "statistics". Today the Orlando Sentinel published a lengthy article by Aaron Deslatte about problems funding the local school districts and efforts by teachers etc. to get an increase in sales tax to fund the schools. As of 1:30 pm, there are almost 70 comments posted to the newspaper website on the article, and some are very good. i have yet to see adequate analysis to support the need to raise sales taxes. Until I see sound, objective analysis of funding sources over several years, with both the total collections and the portions going to Lake Schools (and all schools), I tend to think that there was a big runup in school income from fast rising property valueations and resulting taxes, and schools overspent on construction, etc. without monitoring any type of historic baseline of growth in the economy. Thus, it is like building excess fire stations or schools, and thinking existing revenue will always fund the staffing and maintenance, but then taxes drop and funds drop to a historic level, not a "excess profit level". Remember when the oil companies back in the 1970's raked in profits due to increased oil... Read more →

Washington DC Fraud Investigation - Accused plans to work for Obama

So a Washington, DC "City" manager promotes the IT manager three times in a year, and isn't questioned because he gave the maximum campaign contribution to several DC Councilpeople. And, the boss who did the promoting, is planning to leave and work for the Obama Administration. And, apparently in 2007, the Federal GAO audited the IT shop and others and documented lots of problems, so the elected officials and staff must have ignored the implications. (Sounds like the Lake County Commissioners and staff ignoring an audit on the County SHIP program, which we covered here earlier). And, apparently this all happened under a City Manager named Suzanne Peck, who authorized many vendors for city work without ANY written contracts. The article below at the link goes on and on... indicating a clear problem with how some city governments "manage" and how elected officials ignore their responsibility for oversight of public funds. vj from the Washington DC Examiner No surprise here By Jonetta Rose Barras Examiner Columnist | 3/15/09 7:13 PM Yusuf Acar, the technology manager facing allegations of fraud, was consistently promoted by his boss, Vivek Kundra, receiving with each move increasing authority over sensitive information and operating with little... Read more →

Anti-American actions in California schools - Can it happen in Lake County?? And some recommendations.

FYI is an article below about what is happening to schools in California where Montebello, California high school students turned the American Flag upside down and raised the Mexican flag above it (Montebello is in LA County). I have tried to avoid much discussion about immigration issues on FiscalRangers.com but the article below clearly illustrates the results of inaction by elected officials in California over the prior 30 years. Read the short article below FIRST, then return here to read the rest of my comments. I moved from California to get away from this type of growing situation. I received this email from 3 different people. It starts by allowing teaching of topics and classes in non-english languages, and providing tutors and teachers in second languages instead of focusing on English only programs. Also, the local community didn’t establish English only regulations, or enforce immigration laws, so the town (one of several) is now mostly non-citizens or illegal immigrants, and some towns are completely controlled by non-US born residents & elected officials. A good friend of mine was a Controller of another city (El Monte) and all the council positions were filled by non-US born immigrants, and they forced all... Read more →

Lake County Commission Still Plans $95-million Judicial Center Boondoggle

Lake County Commissioners Got a blast today from the "Right Side of the Lake" ezine on their plans to blow another $95-million in this economy on a NEW, FANCY building, when they could easily find a vacant shopping center and buy and use it for much less. I will let you read this rather than write more, but it is amazing the four Commissioners who want this dodo project in the current economy have not killed it yet. Better yet, LEASE some vacant buildings elsewhere for the expanded space needed, and they will have their own parking, reducing the need to expand parking by the courthouse. And, why not use that fancy new 7 story parking structure across the street? In this economy, drop the project. vj To view this newsletter in full-color: http://www.enewsbuilder.net/lakecountygov/index000350330.cfm?x=bfggGRV,bbvPTG4T THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE LAKE ----------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, March 12, 2009 $95 Million Judicial Center a Crime VOLUME 1 ISSUE 86 ----------------------------------------------------------------- IN THIS ISSUE ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1. $95 MILLION JUDICIAL CENTER A CRIME ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- $95 Million Judicial Center a Crime http://www.enewsbuilder.net/eletra/go.cfm?z=lakecountygov%2C350330%2CbbvPTG4T%2C2490069%2CbfggGRV ----------------------------------------------------------------- Lake County is facing the worst economic conditions since The Great Depression. Daily, working families are faced with hard choices, such as moving... Read more →

How have we changed since Cicero's day in 55 BC??

from Chris White: So what have we learned in 2 millennia??? "The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance." - Cicero - 55 BC Evidently, nothing. Read more →

Property Tax Cheats Caught in Florida's Broward County

This is a pretty clear cut issue of tax cheating by homeowners in Florida who do not live in the home enough to earn the homestead exemption. 237 home owners falsely claimed a homestead exemption when a review by the Appraiser's office compared city utility bills (in just one city, Sunrise) to homestead roles and uncovered the false filings. And, the schools could use the extra income. vj Homestead exemption cheaters targeted in Sunrise 237 owners kept $22 million off tax rolls by claiming exemption illegally By Susannah Bryan |South Florida Sun Sentinel March 10, 2009 SUNRISE - Look out, tax cheats. Investigators with the Broward County Property Appraiser's Office have uncovered 237 homeowners in Sunrise who were illegally claiming homestead tax breaks. Next stop: Pompano Beach. The crackdown will add nearly $22 million in property value to the county's tax rolls. That translates to $726,000 in tax money that will be shared among the Broward County School District, Sunrise and other taxing authorities, Property Appraiser Lori Parrish said Monday. Sunrise will receive more than $181,000. Sunrise officials worked with Parrish's office to uncover the fraud by cross-checking city utility bills and tax records. "We will continue to do this... Read more →

Lake School District Board Needs to Control Excessive Health Benefit Costs in Economic Downturn

The March 8th article below describes the upcoming decision by the Lake County School Board to establish budget priorities, and it seems they may not move to control excess increases (my opinion) in health insurance costs. Last year, the staff ran a 17% increase in health insurance costs by the Board, which approved it. At a recent meeting, staff said this year costs would be up 12%. Employees do, however, pay quite a bit for family health coverage, so we are just talking here about the health insurance coverage over actual employees. At a Board meeting tonight, the Board approved a long overdue negotiation with the health insurance broker to move to a self funded health insurance program, which should save them up to $2.5-million according the article below. The Lake County government already has a self funded program. Although the Board has been acting to control various cost centers, this is not one of them. No business I ever worked at would have approved an increase much more than for cost of living, and approving 17% or 12% increases is ludicrous. The suggested cost increases could be considered to be the result of employees not controlling their demands on... Read more →

A Proper Guiding Principal for Government - Efficiency & Effectiveness

While reviewing a website of a unit of the US Treasury, I came across their five "cross-cutting principles" and this was number 1. It would be nice if local government agencies also included that, and the expectation that everyone is responsible for ways to improve the efficiency" of the unit. Principle 1: Efficiency and Effectiveness ( from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network - FinCen) FinCEN seeks to ensure maximum efficiency and effectiveness in both internal operations and external impact. Everyone in the organization is responsible for identifying ways to improve the efficiency of the BSA regulatory structure, ensure the best possible service for our customers, and make wise use of time, budget, and other resources. Externally, FinCEN strives to ensure that its regulatory framework enables the financial industry, law enforcement agencies, and regulators to focus resources efficiently on areas of greatest risk. At times, pursuing efficiency and effectiveness may require re-prioritizing or eliminating activities that are no longer of value or that other entities are already performing well.vj Read more →

Villages Caught with Possible Tax Bill on Bonds - Could Result in Higher Charges to Village Residents

The Orlando Sentinel's Lauren Ritchie wrote a two part commentary on how the Villages were financed that could result in a hefty IRS bill to the developer which could be passed on to the Villages residents. Basically, the developers of the Villages floated tax exempt bonds to pay themselves for future services and might be liable for a huge tax bill (millions) because most of the funds were not spent on real stuff that is considered deductible. This all reminds me of the periodic tax fines from the IRS for investors who purchase investments with "tax deduction" programs setup by CPA firms and marketed to clients. Then, the IRS catches on, gets the customer list, and goes after everyone who took unjustified (according to the IRS) tax write offs. Below are the two parts of Ritchie's commentary. It is an EXCELLENT example of investigative reporting. Now, if she would only write about the North Lake County Hospital District!!! vj PART 1 - published March 1, followed by Part 2, published March 4th (this posting was not made active until March 4th). orlandosentinel.com/news/local/lake/orl-irs-villages-bonds-richie-030109,0,1221224.column OrlandoSentinel.com IRS, Villages tangling over maze of bonds Lauren Ritchie COMMENTARY March 1, 2009 Perverted is a word... Read more →

Kudos to Lake County Government Agencies for Procurement Fair

Local government agencies are finally starting to practice a business technique used 20-30 years ago. It is called CONSOLIDATION and COLLABORATION. As the following article explains, the Lake County government (actually at least 3 separate agencies), the School District, and several cities organized a "vendor" fair at the Round County admin building last Friday for various suppliers of goods and services to meet and greet the purchasing managers or staff of about 10+ local government agencies. The sponsoring group is called the Procurement Officials of Lake (County - "POOL"), Our good buddy and radio commentator Ralph Smith reminded me in a phone call, and I went over, amazingly finding a parking spot nearby. (Another issue). The line wasn't too bad to move around all the different agency tables, get business cards and talk procurement. However, those arriving after 10 am had a 30+ minute wait in line. Naturally, I also interviewed some vendor reps (usually sales people) around me in line, and got some inside info. One vendor rep said one local government agency specifies a particular brand of parts, thus they never get competing bids from suppliers with more cost effective part brands. "It has been going on for... Read more →

Lake County Commission Drops Niagara Water Lawsuit - Finally!!

We have talked about the ludicrous lawsuit pushed by Lake County Commissioner Elaine Renick & Welton Cadwell which has cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars, and they finally dropped it. vj Read the article below: orlandosentinel.com/news/local/lake/orl-lake-county-niagara-030309,0,3552895.story OrlandoSentinel.com Lake drops litigation against Niagara Bottling By Stephen Hudak Sentinel Staff Writer 11:00 AM EST, March 3, 2009 TAVARES Lake County commissioners this morning voted unanimously to drop their costly legal battle aimed at plugging a plan by Niagara Bottling, the California-based water-bottling company seeking permission to pump 177 million gallons a year from the Floridan Aquifer. Commissioner Elaine Renick fought back tears when she read a statement endorsing an end to the litigation: "I hate to have to utter these words. Due to budget constraints the county can no longer continue its legal challenge …" Recent invoices provided by the county and the city showed that the county and Groveland had paid a total of $350,000 to Foley & Lardner LLP in Orlando to prevent Niagara from pumping water to purify, bottle and resell water from the aquifer near Groveland to consumers. The two governments contended that a controversial water-use permit being considered by the St. Johns River Water Management District... Read more →

Volusia & Orlando Tax Reform Tea Party Planned in Orlando Sat. Mar 21

This was sent to leaders in the Lake County School District, County Commission, and our growing email list. From Vance Jochim, www.FiscalRangers.com The Volusia Tax Reform group is having a Boston tea party in Eola park. They say others are scheduled around the country over “accountability & transparency in government”. Notice the group is also “auditing” the budget of the Volusia County School District. This is a VERY active group. Unlike Lake County papers, this reform group gets coverage in their local papers. Lake County government wages don’t look so bad compared to Orange County, but of course the salary levels and organization size vary by County and function. Realistically, I would prefer looking at an objective salary survey to determine if these are off base for a major metropolitan area, especially for the technical positions. And, I would compare these to large corporation salary (with benefits) surveys via sites like Monster’s salary survey and others. In a down market like this, salaries should not be getting automatic cost of living or step increases either. My FiscalRangers.com focus is more on transparency, and evaluating the quality of management and budget reporting in comparison to techniques used in business. If the... Read more →