Fiscal Rangers

EPA announces new over reaching Land Grab rules to reduce property rights even more!!!

The EPA has issued a new land grab rule that reduces property rights even more. Read this to find out how. Read more →

Video of Lake County, FL debate over Nov. Referendum to Renew $800-million "penny sales tax" for another 15 years

The Lake County North Lake Tea Party and the Lake Federated Republican Women's Club hosted a panel debate on whether to renew the "penny sales tax" for another 15 years, which would collect about $800-million from consumers. Below is the link to the video. Read more →

AFFH Update: How HUD could Legally Enslave Lake County / Communities using HUD's new AFFH rule - Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing - and it allows lawsuits by third parties costing millions.

How HUD Will Legally Enslave Your Community Tavares, FL August 25, 2105 Below is text from an article (scroll down to see it) on how HUD will use the new AFFH rule to “Enslave your Community” from the major expert in Federal overreach, John Anthony. They are bypassing State government and implementing rules that directly affect local county and city agencies. Recently, I gave public input at the Lake County Board meeting on how AFFH compliance was added to the “Certifications” section of the new annual Federal CDBG grant plan.It would require the County implement compliance with AFFH to get the CDBG funds. The Board ignored my request to postpone CDBG grant acceptance until they understood the implications of AFFH. AFFH allows third party activist groups to sue agencies like Lake County if they do not implement AFFH as promised in the HUD CDBG annual grant plan approved recently by the County Board. An attorney filing such a lawsuit in Westchester County, NY won $7.5-million from the county (which is much larger than Lake County). At least the Board did discuss (well, it seems only Leslie Campione actually read my earlier email or knew what it was) AFFH briefly before... Read more →

Reminder - Sales Tax renewal panel debate is tonight at Tavares Community Center at 7pm

Be there to learn why you should vote Yes or NO in November on extending the penny sales tax for another 15 years which will collect around $450-million. Are you happy with the open ended referendum where there are no restrictions or rules for how the funds are spent. Are you happy with officials planning on a bond sales feeding frenzy to generate hundreds of millions in interest costs? Come to the debate and see for yourself (however, I will be making a video also). I am on the panel with Don Magruder (right side of the Lake blog) and School Board member Bill Mathias and County Board member Tim Sullivan. Guess which side I will speak about. Vance Jochim FiscalRangers.com Read more →

Lake County FL School Board approves $805,000 fiscal fiasco

The Lake County School Board voted 3 to 2 to GIVE AWAY a potential $805,000 in revenue from an offer to buy an old school property. Intead, they voted to NOT accept the offer, and instead explore how to let a favored after school activity non-profit use the land without competitive compensation. Read more →

Be SURE to attend tomorrow's debate on renewing the Lake County Penny Sales Tax in November

Lake County Florida voters are asked to vote no on the "penny sales tax renewal" issue on the Nov. 2015 ballot. This article includes links to pro videos and info on why the tax should be voted down until certain conditions are inserted into the ballot language. There is also a flyer and info for a panel on August 20, 2015 in Tavares to discuss the ballot issue with two for, and two against the referendum. Read more →

Obama Administration restricts investigative powers of US Inspector Generals

Obama Administration restricts investigative powers of US Inspector Generals August 15, 2015 Not good. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jul/23/obama-restricts-investigative-powers-inspectors-ge/ Vance Jochim Read more →

Analysis and recommendations regarding transparency of Lake County Board's CFAC committee meetings and inconsistent administration.

Tavares, FL August 5, 2015 To: David Heath, Lake County Manager (This was written Monday, August 3, 2015) The CFAC or Capital Facilities Advisory Committee is important because their members are appointed by the Board and review and make recommendations to the Board about impact fee levels and other taxes. Improvements are needed in the manner of notifying the public about CFAC meetings, how to get an agenda, and where attachments and post-meeting minutes and other documents are posted. My review today of the CFAC meeting notification process was kicked off when I found that Lake County Schools listed an upcoming CFAC meeting on their calendar, but no such information was anywhere on the BCC website. This situation indicates a great need for improvement to ensure transparency and credibility for the County Board and the CFAC committee. Otherwise, some observers might think there was a plan to intentionally hide information about the meeting. Saying that a single advertisement was placed in a newspaper is not sufficient anymore. It may be the only legal requirement, but who can figure out where those ads are, in which paper, etc. ? Meeting notices need to be expanded as described below. Wendy Taylor used... Read more →

Invocations in Public Meetings - Will they disappear due to a new court ruling?

A North Carolina County Board this week followed a new court ruling prohibiting "Christian only" invocations and allowed a Muslim to give the invocation. Then the Chair walked out and the remaining four Commissioners voted to replace invocations with a "moment of silence". Can this happen in Lake County, FL government agencies? Read more →

FiscalRangers Alert: Lake County Board to approve CDBG grant Tuesday morning that requires compliance with Obama's HUD AFFH program to shift poor residents into wealthier existing communities

The Lake County Board of Commissioners meeting agenda for Tuesday, August 4, 2015 contains a consent agenda item to approve a Federal CDBG grant plan. That plan contains a condition to comply with AFFH or Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing which can result in damage to existing property values of full neighborhoods. The Board should pull the agenda item and schedule it for a full staff presentation at a public workshop with public input to understand all the negative implications. The CDBG grant should be rejected due to the requirement for AFFH implementation. Read more →