Tavares, FL June 22, 2014
You can read about it HERE in this Daily Commercial article.
I posted my comment to the proposed giveaway of taxpayer assets:
It has not appeared yet, but here is an overview of my comments:
Trout Lake is a great nature preserve and fun to visit for lectures and nature displays.
http://www.troutlakenature.org/
However, they are asking the City of Eustis to sell them nearby land for $400,000, about 35% of market value, which is $1.4-million after the Property Tax appraiser update values. And that is just their TAX appraisal, and not the result of a true, independent property value appraisal. If the City of Eustis agreed to the lowball offer, they would essentially be giving away City of Eustis assets to subsidize this non-profit operation. That is a land grab and not acceptable for taxpayers.
They also have not discussed if they even have funding for developing the land for human access and funds for maintenance, staffing, etc.
And, as a non-profit, they are proposing offering cabins and other commercial activities that would compete with TAX paying businesses.
One final possibility is to have a City of Eustis referendum to see if taxpayers will approve the transfer of taxpayer assets at a discount to Trout Lake. If the VOTERS agree, then I don't have a problem with it.
My recommendation is the City of Eustis NOT sell the land at less than market value to Trout Lake, and since it would be removed from property tax rolls, insist that funds and a plan be in place to develop the land for human access rather than sit unused for years like some public lands in Lake County.
The Lake County Tax Appraiser issued a study showing that 39% of land in Lake County is already owned by government, and Eustis should seriously sell it to tax paying entities to get the land back on the tax rolls.
Vance Jochim
