Fiscal Rangers

Orlando Sentinel's Scott Maxwell asks that voters monitor LOCAL elections as much as National elections

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 →

Florida Government Misanagement Results in Excessive $7+million CEO income for taxpayer funded non-profit after contract abuse found

A small non-profit that received Florida taxpayer funds, the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence (FCADV), refused to disclose spending documents for over a year. Then it was found they paid REALLY excessive income to the CEO, leading to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis initiating reforms and requiring reviews and oversights over ALL non-profits receiving Florida taxpayer funding. Read more →

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis needs to fix his convoluted Appointments Process

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis needs to clean up the obtuse appointments process he inherited. I really believe it was carried from a prior Democrat and is a deep state operation to only let insiders get information on openings, criteria and appointments. Did Charlie Crist holdovers design this clutterd system? See my video and recommendations to clean up the process. Read more →

Residents living on Lake County, FL Canals - read this about funding for needed canal dredging

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 →

Tavares, FL property owners should attend this budget workshop, or open your wallet for higher taxes

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 →

Hydrilla Treatment Priorities for Lake Harris Chain of Lakes in Lake County, FL Discussed April 2, 2019

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 Process inherited by the new Florida Governor to process appointments is convoluted and non-transparent!

We created a watchdog blog video of the convoluted, confusing and non-transparent process used by the Florida Governor's Appointments office to find filled and vacant positions and apply for them. Watch it - it took us 44 minutes to explain the whole bureaucratic "we always have done it this way" process. Read more →

Transparency over local government meeting agendas, minutes, videos, etc. is being damaged by ADA compliance lawsuits

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 →

FiscalRangers.com Publisher files for the "At Large" Seat on the Lake County, FL Water District Board

Lake County, FL Fiscal Watchdog blogger Vance Jochim has filed to run for the "At Large" seat on the Lake County Water Authority Board (LCWA). Jochim has written the local Fiscal Watchdog blog, FiscalRangers.com for 12 years. Read more →

Florida Huckster State Practice #33 - $500-million South Florida Commuter Rail Contract Dispute Illustrates Poor Contracting Procedures?

Florida Huckster State Case #33 A Florida Commuter Rail Contract for $500+million was awarded using possible Crony Capitalism and Bid Manipulation politics There just seem to be weak standards for ethical contract selections procedures in Huckster Florida, especially in independent agencies in Florida. In this case, the deciding agency, the South Florida Regional Transit Authority (SFRTA - aka Tri-Rail) is also partially funded with Florida taxpayer funds. Suspicious methods were used to award a $500+million contract to a company whose bids were much higher than other competitive bidders who were deemed "ineligible". AND, back in 2011, SFRTA was tied up on a lawsuit over another $100-million contract dispute. Politico.com - Jan. 26, 2017 - " The winner of the South Florida Regional Transit Authority (SFRTA) contract operates Tri-Rail, a commuter rail service that runs on 70.9 miles of track between Jupiter and downtown Miami. The contract could be up a 10-year term." "The public authority that oversees a South Florida commuter rail service is set to award a more than $500 million contract to a company whose bid was tens of millions of dollars higher than its competitors, each of whom was deemed ineligible for the same technical flaw." "Officials... Read more →

Lake County Republicans Recommend NO on Nov. 8 Ballot Initiative to "Renew" 40 year old 1 mill North Lake County Hospital District tax

The election ballot for Nov. 8, 2016 for Lake County, FL will contain a referndum item that asks voters to vote Yes or No to continue the 1 Mill North Lake County Hospital District property tax for another 10 years. The Lake County Republican Party held a forum of proponents and opponents of the ballot issue, and members voted over 2/3 to recommend a NO vote on the ballot. This article describes the issue and forum in more detail with links to the formal resolution to vote NO, the REC press release, video links, etc. Read more →

Lake County, FL Inspector General Bob Melton speaks at North Lake County Tea Party

July 24, 2015 Tavares, FL The Inspector General for Lake County, FL, Bob Melton, was the featured speaker at a meeting of the North Lake Tea Party on July 14, 2015. He works for the Lake County Court Clerk, and can do performance audits of the Lake County Government, but not the Constitutional Officers unless they request an audit. They have never done so. But this talk focuses on his department abilities, and provides insights into the function of Guardianships and what he has seen when working at other Counties. Here is a link to the video of his 45 minute talk: https://youtu.be/jzrh2R8zw14 Here is his Powerpoint shown in his video: Download Role of the IG in Government Guardianships FINAL Here is the Inspector General's webpage on the Lake County Court Clerk website, including many performance audits of Lake County Government functions. Opinion In my view as an experienced Internal Audit Manager, Melton's group issues some very good audit reports on inefficiencies and needed performance improvements in County Departments. He just needs authority to initiate similar performance audits of all the Constitutional Officers and other local agencies like Cities or the North Lake Hospital District or the Lake County Water... Read more →

Florida Septic Tank Owners Under Liberal Con Artist Assault Again - You must ACT to keep yours

Environmentalists are trying to assault septic tank owners with more junk science. They have filed a questionable Florida Senate Bill SB 1576 which needs to be stopped in its tracks. Once again, they don't provide facts to justify an assault on property rights or septic tanks. All their arguments are emotional. Read more →

Florida Water District Audit finds Complete Mis-Management of Taxpayer Funded Lands

Saturday, Sept., 15, 2012 - Tavares, FL An audit by an Inspector General found that the South Florida Water Management District, "the largest public landowner in Florida — has no detailed inventory of the 1.4 million acres it owns and no formal process to sell or lease land it no longer needs, according to an audit by the district’s inspector general. The audit was made public at the monthly meeting of the district’s governing board on Thursday. Board members were briefed before the meeting and there was no discussion or comment from the public about the findings. The audit follows 18 months of questions — from the state, media and the district’s own inspector general — about the practices used to purchase and manage $2.8 billion the district said it needed for restoration, flood control and water storage projects. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/national-govt-politics/audit-faults-water-district-for-loose-management-o/nSByH/ The results of the audit point out a constant failure I see with government - the lack of business like programs to track and react to asset management methods used by businesses. In other words, once they get the land, there is no cost to them, and they horde it and want more, regardless of whether the taxpayers are informed... Read more →

FiscalRangers Watchdog to Host Sept. 6th Public Meeting to Explain Coming LOCAL Lake County Property Tax Rate Hikes up to 72% & Understanding TRIM Notices

Tavares, FL - Sept. 2, 2012 - News and local government issues for Lake County, FL by Vance Jochim Updates Sept 4: Added section 10 to "homework" section that includes links to FL Dept of Revenue guides that most taxpayers never see. Added section 11 for email from Lake County Republican Party to Tax Authorities recommending NO increase in millage rates. This Thursday, Sept. 6, 6-8pm, FiscalRangers.com, a blog on local Lake County Florida Government Fiscal issues, will host a FREE property taxpayer public meeting at the Tavares Civic Center, 100 E. Caroline St., Tavares, FL to explain how and why your property taxes or rates are going up, and tips if you want to appeal your property valuations, lost exemptions, etc. You should have recently received your TRIM notice showing new valuations, changes in exemptions, proposed changes in millage rates, etc. Have you heard that many local Lake County tax "authorities" like cities, Lake County and various special districts are RAISING the millage rate used to calculate your property taxes? Even though your property tax valuation may be dropping, those authorities want to tax you as much or more as last year, so they are increasing your property tax... Read more →

Lake County Fails to Get Appointment to St. John's River Water Management District

Tavares, FL - Aug 20, 2012 Earlier this year, there was a vacancy on the Board of the St. John's River Water Management District (SJRWMD) for "Area 3" or the Ocklawaha River Basin area. The District controls and sets policies for River waters in five areas for 18 Florida Counties. Lake County has historically never had a representative on the Board. Earlier this year, there was a controversy and a public hearing with 500 present regarding the District's actions to turn off water flowing from Lake Apopka into the Harris Chain of Lakes, resulting in unacceptable low lake water levels. After the hearing, they adjusted the flow rate to allow some water into the Harris Chain and restrict outflows so water levels could rise. One of the big issues is that in our opinion, the District staff and Board do not measure or place a value on economic impacts of reduced water levels, and make decisions only on environmental reasons. Since the Harris Chain (Lake Dora, Eustis, Harris, etc) depends more on water levels for economic impacts (waterfront home values, waterfront marinas, businesses, tourist attractions), there is a need for Board members who ensure economic impact of water flow decisions... Read more →

Local Lake County Water Levels to Be Discussed tomorrow, May 31 in Leesburg

Updated: To add longer letter from Diane Heitman about water level issues in the Superpond. vj If you are concerned about the water levels in the "SuperPond" of Lake County, which are Lake Dora, Lake Harris, Lake Eustis, etc. then attend this 6pm Leesburg Meeting tomorrow night, May 31. As you may know, Lake water levels have been dropping, partly because the St. John's River Water Management District turned off the water flow from Lake Apopka. At the same time, until recently, dredging of Lake Beauclaire was also removing another 10 cubic feet per second (CFS) from the lakes. Here is the info from Diane Heitman, who has been monitoring this - below the initial notice is an attachment for the meeting agenda, followed by a longer letter by Diane on the water issues in the Superpond. vj ====================================================================== Harris Chain lake level management public meeting May 31 in Leesburg The St. Johns River Water Management District will hold a public meeting May 31 in Leesburg to discuss potential water level management options for the Harris Chain of Lakes. The meeting will include an update on minimum flows and levels development, and will be an opportunity for the public to... Read more →

Another Florida Special "District" Incurs Excessive Costs Without Oversight

Jan. 16, 2012 - A Mosquito "Control District" in Lee County, FL with a $22-million budget has run up such high expenses that a Florida Representative has filed a bill to abolish the district and shift its responsibilities to the Lee County government. A retired executive director is the 11th highest paid retiree in the Florida State retiree system. He is collecting over $170,000 in retirement income, which is more than any Lake County staff earns working full time. Here is their website. The original article from SunshineStateNews.com is below. FiscalRangers.com has consistently reported how the state of Florida does not provide adequate business controls or spending guidelines for about 2000 special local government agencies in Florida, including water districts, hospital districts, county and constitutional officer agencies, CRA's ( and now here is a mosquito district that overspends all others in Florida. We have periodically reported fiscal fiascos in Lake County operations, mismanagement or questionable practices in local agencies like the North Lake County Hospital District, and also reported problems found in other Florida Districts, including voter fraud allowed by Election Supervisors, CRA's and hospital districts. However, this article doesn't provide much information indicating serious problems, other than one legislator... Read more →

Gov. Scott Issues Executive Order to "Examine" all 1600 Florida Special Districts

YAHOO!!!! We found today that Florida Gov. Scott has issued an Executive Order 12-10 "Review of Special Districts" which assigns his Office of Policy & Budget (OPB) to perform an “examination” of ALL 1600 Florida special districts. The Executive Order is HERE. FiscalRangers.com will publish another article later this week on just this Executive Order after I interview some people. HERE is the press release on this OPB assignment. The press release and the EO are similar to the earlier one establishing a Commission to Review Hospital Districts. Last year I sent that commission numerous emails and articles about oversight weaknesses in not only Hospital Districts but other Florida Districts. They just recently issued their final report of recommendations, including a number I agree with. As our readers know, FiscalRangers.com has published numerous articles on weaknesses and problems in the various types of special districts, including CRA’s, But, this is not a Commission to STUDY the issue, but a task order to the OPB to start a program to “Examine” ALL 1600 districts in Florida for performance, etc. The objectives are in the EO and shortened versions are in the press release. These are not the routine CPA type financial... Read more →

Controversial Lake County Water Level Settings for Lakes to Remain Stable for Now.

Jan. 15th, 2012 - Tavares, FL By Vance Jochim, FiscalRangers.com The water levels in Lake County Lakes Dora, Beauclaire, Harris, Eustis & Griffin should now cease dropping due to a new Florida State water district policy demanded by many Lake County residents, boaters and FiscalRangers.com readers at recent public hearings. The St. Johns River Water Management District Board ( "St. Johns District" ) is a Florida STATE agency which controls lake and river waters in about 15 Florida Counties including Lake County. They have the legal authority to control and set water flow between lakes. They held a Board meeting at their headquarters in Palatka, FL on January 10th and approved a revision of a previous controversial staff policy to shutoff water flows from the headwaters source of Lake Apopka to Lake Dora, Eustis, Harris & Griffin. That policy had been implemented in early December, and lake water levels in Lake County had dropped 3-6 inches in four weeks due to the policy. This was after a public hearing on January 5th in Howey-in-the-Hills was attended by 300-500 citizens supporting different alternatives to the shutoff policy. You can read a lot of earlier background details HERE in our previous blog... Read more →

Updated Jan 15th: Lake Dora water flow from Lake Apopka shut off by CAT People at St. Johns River Water Management District

Updated Jan. 15, 2012 to include Fox Orlando interview link to their website. Updated Jan 9, 2012 after the meeting: The Lake County public hearing of the St. Johns River Water Management District meeting was held Jan. 5th to discuss water level management practices affecting Lake County lakes. Our update with conclusions and our recommendations are in section PS8 at the bottom of this document. (Several updates added to section PS8 with the latest on Jan 9th). Links to local media articles on this meeting also added to section PS8 thru 1/9. The ST. John's Board is having a Baord meeting in Palatka on Jan. 10th to decide their actions, and we will post a NEW article. Tavares, FL - Dec. 27, 2011 (Updated 4pm, Jan. 4th) - Water levels in Lake Dora & downstream lakes are dropping due to actions to completely shutoff water flow to them from Lake Apopka. Alien CAT People working at the St. Johns River Water Management District started shutting off water on Dec. 8th from Lake Apopka to Lake Dora and all Lake Countians should get organized. (True, except for the CAT reference (:-)) ) A public hearing for Lake Countians has been scheduled... Read more →