Fiscal Rangers

No Lake County Board Meeting Tomorrow, but We Describe How "Pushback" delays progress

This is a piddly little comment, but the type of thing that drives the public crazy when dealing with the government. And, I have used it to provide some details on a behavior pattern that can delay positive change in government. Recently, I checked the Lake County website to see if there was a Board meeting tomorrow, August 31, which is the fifth Tuesday. Nothing is listed and the last meeting listed was last Tuesday, the 24th. If you go HERE to the Board's Agenda page, you should see what I mean. Nothing is listed past August 24, although today is August 30. I then click a link on that page to see the official list of "regular" meetings (which don't include workshops), and that page is out of date, and only shows meeting dates through June. So, I call the County offices and get a nice lady who says "this is the fifth Tuesday, and they don't have meetings". So, as an experienced business guy, I always ask that a solution be implemented so other people won't have to waste time calling because the agenda gives NO CLUE that there is no meeting. I suggested that they should enter... Read more →

NJ Schools Head Fired Over Lying About Grant Error in Race to Top Competition

In the recent "Race to the Top" funding competition for hundreds of millions of dollars initiated by the Federal Government, Florida recently won one of the top 10 spots to get about $700 million (details HERE). The State of NJ LOST about $400-million in education funds from being one of the top 10 finalists because their Education Dept team screwed up and inserted the wrong budget information in the application. Then, the head of the NJ Education Dept. lied and blamed the Obama Administration for not being flexible. HOWEVER, the Feds had a video of the meeting where the missing data was discussed, indicating that the problem was New Jersey's incomplete application, and not the Feds. So, the NJ Governor FIRED the Education Dept head. Just show, you can't ever trust the Feds to take the blame without some darned video showing up to show you are wrong. Lesson Learned" Don't lie about your mistakes to your government leaders. vj From the NY Times HERE August 27, 2010 New Jersey Schools Chief Fired After Grant Error By SHARON OTTERMAN Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey fired his education commissioner on Friday, just days after the governor said a clerical error... Read more →

Republican Victory "Party Trend" Explained by Political Consultant Dick Morris

FiscalRangers has received an exclusive email briefing from political consultant Dick Morris explaining how the Republicans may achieve a massive victory in November. Well, actually, it came in a canned email we subscribe to, but it did only show our email address, so our email must be exclusive! Morris is the political consultant and FoxNews consultant who once worked for Bill Clinton, and switched to the Republican side later. Morris Explains the theory of "Party Trend", which happens in the last 10 days of elections, when many undecided voters swing one way or another. He is forecasting a massive party trend in favor of the Republicans. So, read his article below if you local Lake County Republican candidates facing Democrats want some good news! vj ============================================================ You can see all Dick Morris's articles at DickMorris.com . PARTY TREND HAS YET TO KICK IN By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN Published on DickMorris.com on August 25, 2010 Printer-Friendly Version Don't confuse the dramatic swell of the Republican tide that is becoming increasingly evident to the pundits of the country with party trend. Right before Election Day, the numbers will get even better and presage an even larger Republican victory. Party trend... Read more →

New Facebook Page, FixLakeTaxes, Focused on North Lake County Hospital District Board Elections

A new Facebook page, FixLakeTaxes, has been setup to provide information on the three taxpayer watchdog advocates running for the Board of Trustees of the North Lake County Hospital Tax District. The District collects about $11-million in property taxes every year and splits it between two local hospitals without any required direct trail of spending, or requirements on how the funds should be spent. The three candidates, Walt Dobruck, Frances Grossi, and Richard Riker, are running a campaign organized by local tax watchdog Marilyn Bainter to replace three incumbents and three other new candidates all endorsed by the hospitals, who do not not want any oversight or accountability for how they spend the money. If you have property in North Lake County, the Hospital Tax shows up as "NL Hosp Dist" on your property tax "Trim Notice" and probably costs you $100 or more (1 mill). If you want to receive information on the lack of spending controls and efforts by Walt, Frances and Rick to improve oversight, then join their Facebook page. So, if you are a facebook user, search and find "FixLakeTaxes" and "Like" them to get updates on meetings, details, etc. Sent a notice to all your... Read more →

Lake School District Better Get Ready for Obama Speech to Kids 2

Today's paper says Obama is going to give another online video speech to "the nation's students" on Sept. 14, so be ready for the controversy over allowing him to do so within school grounds, and the ground rules. He is so untrusted by more than 50% of the population, that this will be a controversy again. Since Obama normally doesn't care what other people think, look for the School Board to notify parents of the issue, and get caught in the middle. Will Obama's local supporters be more organized and try to force lesson plans on teachers to brainwash the kids? I don't know, but Obama opponents should be prepared, and not be surprised if the Democrats try to follow Saul Alinsky's Guide for Radicals and use this as a crisis to demand change in something they want. Just remember, Obama is the one that has not solved any economic issues, pushes funding for rebuilding mosques, pushed through Obamacare without letting people read it, and pushed funding for immigration of Hamas radicals into the US. Do you really believe he should be a role model for students? At the very least, concerned parents should educate their students with FACTS about... Read more →

Dirty Politics Strikes Lake County

Today I received an attack political flyer in the mail from a stealth "527" attack group in Tallahassee. Their name is "Florida First Forever, Inc" and it is one of several front corporations apparently setup to attack election candidates without easily being able to find out who did it. There are three people as officers in the group, Daniel Burns, Tom Wheeler & Jonathan Andrews. THIS link shows you a diagram of various corporations connected to Andrews, including FFF. Scroll down on that website to see the diagram showing the connections. It is a Florida 527 Political Filing organization, as described HERE. The group was setup in 2008, and the above website indicates they have received no contributions or spent any funds, so the website must be out of date, or funds were received just recently before required reports. We will follow up on this. The flyer attacked Larry Metz, candidate for Florida State Representative, District 25. His only opponent is Rick Joyce, but we have no evidence to show if Joyce is involved, which may be the point of the stealth 527 organization. The flyer attacks Metz, who I support, on three issues. Metz is currently on the Lake... Read more →

Tomorrow, Tuesday, is Voting Day - Get out and vote. Get your friends to vote. See our recommendations posted this last weekend. Read more →

Roadside Snipe Signs & Political Sign Capers Abound in Lake County, and our Cheerleader Solution

Aren't you tired of all the advertising signs on roadsides? We have some sign caper stories and a proposed solution involving CHEERLEADERS. City or County ordnances define what is legal regarding business signs, and what is not, but it seems more and more businesses, and even politicians, are ignoring the rules. There are usually separate ordnances defining when political signs can be posted and where. We will describe the two types of signs, and some capers going on, and maybe a possible solution involving CHEERLEADERS (which increases our readership also! We could not find pictures of local Cheerleader car washes). 1 Commercial business signs - posted illegally Lake County towns like Tavares are infested with "snipe" roadside signs... you see them sprout like mushrooms on corners, medians and anyplace where drivers might see them. They are placed there by businesses that would rather trash the roadsides with signs selling printing, medicine, real estate, or signups to private kids sports programs. My understanding is that such signs are illegal if placed in roadside medians, which are usually defined as the space between roads (median strips), or in the grass between sidewalks and curbs. On some highways, like State roads, the state... Read more →

FiscalRangers Recommendations for August 24 Primaries in Lake County, Florida - Sullivan, Metz, Campione, Parks, Miller, Howard, Fischer need your vote

Below are my recommendations for local Lake County elections (not cities) for: - Lake County Commissioner - Dist 2 and Dist 4 - Lake County School Board - three openings - Congressional Dist. 8 (Alan Grayson is the Dem. incumbent) - Florida State Rep. Dist 25 - Judges - nope - I don't have enough information because it is really hard to find information on Judges, and, they don't really affect most fiscal issues of local government. However, Hodges & Miller are incumbents, and if you don't want incumbents, then go for Lyn & Odette. I have written various postings on specific candidate recommendations, but now need to summarize them and make recommendations on all the positions up for local voters in Lake County to decide. I have attended most School District Board meetings AND workshops (i.e. for budgets) in the last four years, and I have attended most County Commission meetings in the last 18 months. I ran for a while for Lake County Commissioner, District 4, until I realized I didn't have the funds or "army" of supporters like Leslie Campione. My principle guidelines on selecting a candidate are: - They aren't naive or inexperienced in intelligently evaluating... Read more →

Lake County School District Candidate, JoAnn Jones, Has Not Paid Property Taxes since 2008

Updated Sunday, Aug 22 - See details at bottom. So today, there was another Orlando Sentinel article HERE about Lake County School District candidate JoAnn Jones and her not listing overdue property taxes of $65,000 on several properties on her candidate financial disclosure forms, and she has not made property tax payments on their $700k house since 2008. Her husband told them he would pay the fees today. Jones is a very nice lady and teacher who has consistently claimed she had sound business experience, but this doesn't sound good, especially one week before elections. I had been getting emails with links to "proof" on this issue for the last week, but it appears the Sentinel verified the information. Update Aug. 22: The Orlando Sentinel said that Mr. Jones paid $195,000 in overdue back taxes to the County tax collector, leaving only $4200 due on "seven parcels in a sub-division." vj Below is the article, or use the link above... Candidate didn't list $180K in back taxes By Denise-Marie Balona - Orlando Sentinel August 19, 2010 TAVARES — School Board candidate JoAnn Jones and her husband owe about $180,000 in back taxes on several properties they own in Lake, records... Read more →

Candidate Larry Metz Responds to Another Attack by Local Blog

Ok, class, remember these facts about local Lake County elections: - The local blog, "Right Side of the Lake" is written and supported by the CEO of Romac lumber, Don Magruder, and they "don't endorse" political candidates, but they DO attack the opponents of the people they want to be elected. Think of the blog as the voice of the Lake County Homebuilders and Land Developers. (and not all of them agree with his tactics) - Larry Metz is a local attorney who is on the Board of the Lake County School District, and he is running for the office of Florida State Rep for District 25. I have previously written that I support Metz because I have attended most School District Board meetings over the last 4 years and Metz has done a lot to provide direction to reduce costs, shift emotional decision making to fact based decisions, etc. But Metz is now running for Florida State Rep. for District 25, and his opponent is Rick Joyce. Joyce is supported by Magruder. Get the picture? So Right Side has been attacking Metz periodically to help Joyce. The developers want to do several things related to growth, and also shift... Read more →

Announcing the Tavares Business Incubator for Lake County Entrepreneurs

Tavares, FL August 16, 2010 Not long ago, I established a new business, Sunshine Medical Tourism, LLC. I actually formed it in 2008 after six months of research, but shelved it due to the economy. Anyway, I started it up two months ago, and I am in a new office at 921 West Main in Tavares, at the corner of HWY 19. We are just down the street from the County Admin Building. Separately, I had been following the UCF-run business incubator in Leesburg, and had talked to them and the City of Tavares about forming one in Tavares using the spare offices in the building I rent. I even proposed we could be a branch office for the Leesburg Incubator, since their offices are full. Incubators are office facilities with experienced business coaches for new, startup businesses. The emphasis is on growth, then they move into their own offices in 18 months. These are common in California. UCF has established a number of them around Central Florida and Orlando. It turns out that UCF charges for running incubators, and normally the local City provides an empty building for new business startups and also provides funds to pay for an... Read more →

Lake County Commissioners Could Learn About Sustainability from this Example

Maybe the Lake County Commissioners can learn some leadership skills by studying lighthouse keepers and reviewing these examples of "sustainability", then implementing "sustainability" in local Lake County government programs. Sustainability is a liberal buzzword used by the State Dept and other government and even local liberal groups to describe the process of ensuring that a desired outcome "sustains" itself and continues without much assistance. The cartoon shows an extreme liberal's idea of sustainable personal transportation. Don't use much materials for wheels, eliminate any gas powered system, without considering the extra human effort and time to get anywhere. Humans come last. One definition is that "sustainable societies are ones that meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Harvesting wood is sustainable if you plant more trees than you cut so the forest is always being replenished for future generations. Sustainable fishing is to ensure the fishing stock is not depleted, and fishing is limited so that desired outcomes (fish populations) are replenished back to pre-human fishing levels. Sustainable housing is that which is designed to be repairable and reduces uses of energy, etc. to limit need for increased resource... Read more →

South Lake Tea Party/912 Candidate Survey Matches my Own Perceptions

I think maybe the South Lake Tea Party siphoned off some of my candidate recommendations. They just had an online survey of their members HERE and seemed to agree with me on just about all Lake County election candidates. I don't know how they did that, because I don't go to their meetings, but we agree about 100% on their survey results. Maybe we are both drinking Niagara water? Go look at the results. Watch this blog for some of the reasons why I made my choices later this week. I do NOT agree with many candidate recommendations from the liberal Orlando Sentinel, but you can also see videos of their interviews of candidates, including the local ones for County Commission HERE (scroll down and look at the right column for the videos). Those are very instructive. But, I have had a problem viewing them because Adobe Flash CRASHES in the middle, then the stupid video player software they use won't let you fast forward back to where the crash occurred, so you have to sit through the entire first part of the interview again to get back to where you were in the video. But, unlike most candidate forums,... Read more →

Lake County School District to Spend $275,000 without any specific performance criteria or "deliverables"

At tomorrow's (Monday) 2pm School Board Workshop, the agenda item #2 HERE is a request for the Board to approve $275,000 for a grant to provide "Mentoring and Student Assistance Initiatives" services to poor performing elementary students over a 9-month period. But, like similar programs in the past, there are no required performance metrics that are measurable. There are no before and after stated goals that are measurable. Instead, there are vague "goals" like these: Goal #1 - Provide mentoring that will impact social development and reading and math achievement for 3rd, 4th and 5th grade most at-risk students. Goal #2 - Provide mentoring that will impact social development and reading and math achievement for 6th to 8th grade students who have been retained one or more years. Goal #3 - Provide mentoring that ensures middle-performing 6-12 students will succeed in rigorous curriculum, participate in school activities, enroll in advanced courses, graduate and be college-ready. Goal #4 - Create a collaborative vision of a community school framework that supports the social emotional development and academic achievement of children from the cradle to career. Goal #5 - Evaluate Mentoring for Success project to inform current and future practice. None of the... Read more →

Fiscal Rangers Alert: I give up on improving management of the Lake County School District

For four years I have gone to Board meetings and workshops of the School District, and given public input, sent emails, and posted ideas on this blog how the School District and the Board could improve management systems to ensure better efficiency, economy and effectiveness using techniques used by much smaller businesses. For the last few weeks, I have made recommendations ignored by the CFO and the Superintendent to provide transparency over budget discussions by providing online or printed copies of the specific budget documents to be discussed at workshops. CFO MacLeod, with or without the knowledge of Superintendent Moxley, has consistently ignored my requests, and she is known for never responding to public records requests from others. Last week, I gave them half a hurray for posting online documents in the "Board Docs" section for some agenda items, but the CFO once again did not provide requested links to the specific department documents to be discussed in the budget updates during workshops. I even sent more specific details to one Board member, who said the links would be provided. But, today I looked at the Board Docs online agenda system HERE for the April 9th School Board Workshop and... Read more →

Fiscal Rangers Alert: I give up on improving management of the Lake County School District

For four years I have gone to Board meetings and workshops of the School District, and given public input, sent emails, and posted ideas on this blog how the School District and the Board could improve management systems to ensure better efficiency, economy and effectiveness using techniques used by much smaller businesses. For the last few weeks, I have made recommendations ignored by the CFO and the Superintendent to provide transparency over budget discussions by providing online or printed copies of the specific budget documents to be discussed at workshops. CFO MacLeod, with or without the knowledge of Superintendent Moxley, has consistently ignored my requests, and she is known for never responding to public records requests from others. Last week, I gave them half a hurray for posting online documents in the "Board Docs" section for some agenda items, but the CFO once again did not provide requested links to the specific department documents to be discussed in the budget updates during workshops. I even sent more specific details to one Board member, who said the links would be provided. But, today I looked at the Board Docs online agenda system HERE for the April 9th School Board Workshop and... Read more →

More on "Non-Profit" hospitals that are not...

Here is a letter to the editor in the Orlando Sentinel about their recent article on how local "non-profit" hospitals are NOT really non-profit, but are being run like profit oriented organizations. We post this because in Lake County, two "non-profit" hospitals, Waterman & Leesburg, act the same way, but still want to continue taxing local residents 1 mill of tax for vague, undefined uses at the hospitals. A total of about $11-million of tax funds are split between the two hospitals for a vague "continued Hospital Services" objective. Favorite quote: "We keep hearing how our tax revenues have declined sharply, and how our police, firefighter and teacher jobs are in jeopardy. Our local officials need to realize that Florida Hospital and all the other nonprofits are running their businesses like a profit entity. They should be paying business taxes like all the other businesses do. " The letter writer makes the point that they should be paying business tax. We also think the Hospital tax should be dropped in Lake County, or at least beefed up substantially with defined performance requirements (called deliverables in contracts) and specific audit trail requirements. vj Nonprofits that act like businesses should pay tax... Read more →

More on "Non-Profit" hospitals that are not...

Here is a letter to the editor in the Orlando Sentinel about their recent article on how local "non-profit" hospitals are NOT really non-profit, but are being run like profit oriented organizations. We post this because in Lake County, two "non-profit" hospitals, Waterman & Leesburg, act the same way, but still want to continue taxing local residents 1 mill of tax for vague, undefined uses at the hospitals. A total of about $11-million of tax funds are split between the two hospitals for a vague "continued Hospital Services" objective. Favorite quote: "We keep hearing how our tax revenues have declined sharply, and how our police, firefighter and teacher jobs are in jeopardy. Our local officials need to realize that Florida Hospital and all the other nonprofits are running their businesses like a profit entity. They should be paying business taxes like all the other businesses do. " The letter writer makes the point that they should be paying business tax. We also think the Hospital tax should be dropped in Lake County, or at least beefed up substantially with defined performance requirements (called deliverables in contracts) and specific audit trail requirements. vj Nonprofits that act like businesses should pay tax... Read more →

Lake County Board to Defer Discussions on Pending Impact Fee Increases

We have written earlier that the Lake County Impact Fee Committee had two meetings (May 20 & June 17) where they heard recommendations from a consultant to raise current impact fees for Transportation (Roads), Libraries, Fire District, and Parks. School impact fees are decided separately by the School District Board, so are not part of this issue. The committee voted to forward the consultant recommendations to the Board for approval. However, I asked Lake County Commissioner Jennifer Hill, the Board's liaison to the Committee, when the proposed fee hikes will be discussed by the Board for approval. She said the State law mandating periodic fee studies didn't require the decision until early 2011, so the Board will not review the proposed fees until late 2010. We can't help noticing that is also after the November elections for the two Commissioners that are up for re-election. The Board is also deferring a separate recommendation from the Impact Fee committee that was spearheaded by the Lake County Homebuilder's Association to shift impact fee costs to ALL taxpayers by increasing gas and other taxes. Since incumbents Elaine Renick and Linda Stewart are running for re-election, and they would probably vote against any shift... Read more →

FiscalRangers Facebook Alert - Look at this absolutely hilarious Ad spoof about Facebook

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iROYzrm5SBM If you use Facebook, you will really enjoy this 1940's Facebook ad spoof from an advertising agency. Apparently there are others about YouTube and Skype by the same firm - Brazilian Ad agency Moma. Vance Read more →

Fiscal Rangers Endorses Larry Metz for Florida State Representative, Dist. 25

Yesterday, the main editorial board of the Orlando Sentinel endorsed Metz. Then today, the Lake Section had a "front page" article reviewing Metz and his opponent Rick Joyce. My endorsement is based not on what they said, but my observations of Metz as School Board member and Chairman while I have been attending School Board meetings for four years. The guy has a steel trap for a mind. He is able to mentally organize facts (just like an attorney, which he is), and describe the factors to make a decision in a logical manner, then make a recommendation based on those factors. Emotional reasons without substance don't get past him. I have also met and know Rick Joyce through the Republican Executive Committee, and his appearance at some candidate forums, although Metz attends many more REC meetings than Joyce. I have not been able to observe Joyce in leadership positions like Metz. Both Metz and Joyce have their own law firms and specialize in mediation. At Lake County School District Board meetings, I have watched as he Metz championed the creation of an internal audit function AND wrote the policies for both it and the related audit committee (which I... Read more →

Fiscal Rangers Endorses Larry Metz for Florida State Representative, Dist. 25

Yesterday, the main editorial board of the Orlando Sentinel endorsed Metz. Then today, the Lake Section had a "front page" article reviewing Metz and his opponent Rick Joyce. My endorsement is based not on what they said, but my observations of Metz as School Board member and Chairman while I have been attending School Board meetings for four years. The guy has a steel trap for a mind. He is able to mentally organize facts (just like an attorney, which he is), and describe the factors to make a decision in a logical manner, then make a recommendation based on those factors. Emotional reasons without substance don't get past him. I have also met and know Rick Joyce through the Republican Executive Committee, and his appearance at some candidate forums, although Metz attends many more REC meetings than Joyce. I have not been able to observe Joyce in leadership positions like Metz. Both Metz and Joyce have their own law firms and specialize in mediation. At Lake County School District Board meetings, I have watched as he Metz championed the creation of an internal audit function AND wrote the policies for both it and the related audit committee (which I... Read more →

New Government Method to Solve Budget Woes - Rollback Salaries

Until now, governments either laid off workers or gave them furloughs to reduce costs, but now, as major economic indicators drop, some are shifting to salary rollbacks. I mean, if property dropped in value, local salaries in business have dropped to 2000 levels, doesn't that mean government workers are overpaid in the current economy and should also be rolled back? And maybe the same tactic for other institutions like Hospitals? This is the next step to consider - salary rollbacks - to balance government budgets, and bring them in line with the private sector that has to pay taxes. vj from the NY Times HERE August 3, 2010 More Workers Face Pay Cuts, Not Furloughs By STEVEN GREENHOUSE The furloughs that popped up during the recession are being replaced by a highly unusual tactic: actual cuts in pay. Local and state governments, as well as some companies, are squeezing their employees to work the same amount for less money in cost-saving measures that are often described as a last-ditch effort to avoid layoffs. A new report on Tuesday showed a slight dip in overall wages and salaries in June, caused partly by employees working fewer hours. Though average hourly pay... Read more →

Half a Hooray! Lake County School District Provides Workshop Agenda and Supporting Documents Online

The Lake County School District staff has provided supporting documents for "regular" evening Board meetings by using the "Board Docs" link which is on both the Board Members webpage and the District's Homepage HERE. But now, they are posting the agenda and supporting documents for workshops also, starting with today's meeting. Hooray...but wait... You can see today's workshop agenda here:http://www.boarddocs.com/fla/lake/Board.nsf/Public But, after looking at it, there were no supporting documents in the Board Docs for the agenda item 3 for the Budget Update. So, half a hooray for now...because the CFO will tell you to go to HER Finance Page for the draft budget HERE, but she doesn't tell you which section will be discussed in the workshop. When Board Docs includes the FULL package of documentation given to the Board, AND the CFO starts including the documents to be discussed for Finance and Budgets in the specific agenda pages in Board Docs, the District will start getting a full Transparency Hooray for meeting transparency. Not until then. Anyone running for Board member positions should keep this in mind if they want to claim they support transparency of spending issues for taxpayers. vj Read more →

Tuesday's Lake County Board Expected to Approve Two Land Purchases for $600,000 EACH

Yes, they consider this routine to buy "strips of land for right of way and easements" for over $600,000 each. It is routine enough the Interim County Manager lists the items in the "consent" agenda, which means unless a Board member pulls the item for discussion, it is automatically approved for payment. Just like that... $600,000 times 2 = $1.2-million. Do you know how many antique wood boats I could buy with that amount of money? All the boats in the nearby picture. I could even hire attorneys to paint my boat dock to match the boat's varnished finish! Here are copies of the actual "Public Works" agenda sections: Tab 13Approve and execute a purchase agreement with Rocky Mount Development Co., Inc. for the purchase of strips of land to be used for right of way and easements for the Hooks St. Phase IV Segment B Project in the Clermont area. Fiscal impact is $616,500.00 Commission District 2 Tab 14Approve and execute a purchase agreement with Fox Hill Builders, Inc. for the purchase of strips of land to be used for right of way and easements for the Hooks St. Phase IV Segment B Project in the Clermont area. Fiscal... Read more →

How Lake County School District Could Save Millions

Lake County School District still buys printed, expensive textbooks for kids. And, for those that went to college, or their kids are, you KNOW how expensive those constantly updated textbooks cost. In this age of the internet and very inexpensive laptops, why haven't School District staff moved faster to start using cheap laptops, rather than 5,000 desktop computers, for students to use not only for computer projects, but to read ELECTRONIC versions of textbooks? Why haven't they created incentives to get kids who have laptops bring them to school for use, rather than buying desktops for the schools. Amazon.com now says they sell about 150 electronic books for their Kindle reader for every 100 printed copies. And, they just announced a new Kindle that is under $150. And, you don't even have to have a Kindle to read their books - you can download a version for Windows that works on home or work computers and laptops. And, there are thousands of older books past their copyright date and are in the public domain and FREE from several sources. The entire Tarzan series is available to download for free. There probably are some books used in classes today that are... Read more →

Re North Lake County Hospital Tax District (FL): Are Hospitals REALLY Non-Profits?

We have periodically posted articles about the issue of why Lake County taxpayers should still be required, after 40 years, to be taxed to give about $11-million to the two major, local Hospitals, including Florida Hospital Waterman, owned by Adventist Health System. You can see all our articles on the North Lake County Hospital District by clicking HERE. One of the arguments for stopping the tax is that both "non-profit" hospitals are now making serious profits, spending millions on optional marketing programs, and why should taxpayers continue to be subsidizing them when they are not really "non-profits" anymore. Well, today the Orlando Sentinel had a front page article asking a similar question "Are nonprofit hospitals truly not for profit?" You can find it HERE, or below. Favorite quote: But in the high-dollar world of health care, what does it mean to be a nonprofit hospital that makes big profits? "If you go back 100 years, these were charity hospitals. They took care of the poor," said Frank Sloan, a professor of health-care economics at Duke University. "But as health care has grown, they've become commercial. Now these nonprofits are in a big business." And, here is another quote: In 2008,... Read more →

Re North Lake County Hospital Tax District (FL): Are Hospitals REALLY Non-Profits?

We have periodically posted articles about the issue of why Lake County taxpayers should still be required, after 40 years, to be taxed to give about $11-million to the two major, local Hospitals, including Florida Hospital Waterman, owned by Adventist Health System. You can see all our articles on the North Lake County Hospital District by clicking HERE. One of the arguments for stopping the tax is that both "non-profit" hospitals are now making serious profits, spending millions on optional marketing programs, and why should taxpayers continue to be subsidizing them when they are not really "non-profits" anymore. Well, today the Orlando Sentinel had a front page article asking a similar question "Are nonprofit hospitals truly not for profit?" You can find it HERE, or below. Favorite quote: But in the high-dollar world of health care, what does it mean to be a nonprofit hospital that makes big profits? "If you go back 100 years, these were charity hospitals. They took care of the poor," said Frank Sloan, a professor of health-care economics at Duke University. "But as health care has grown, they've become commercial. Now these nonprofits are in a big business." And, here is another quote: In 2008,... Read more →