Fiscal Rangers

Tavares, FL holds update for Tavares Planning & Zoning Comm - Apr. 18, 2024

This Apr. 18, 2024, 65-minute meeting video was not a regular Tavares, FL P&Z meeting, but an apparent annual update for the P&Z Committee on Tavares commercial and residential developments, a good overview of the Planning profession history, and an overview of the Florida Live Local Act. They also provided large maps (see attachments) of pending residential and commercial developments and discussed them.  Read more →

Leesburg, FL Residents: Two upcoming meetings you need to know about

Two Leesburg, FL City Council meetings are coming up (Dec. 30, 2021 & Jan. 3, 2022) without any details on their purpose. Both may include discussions relatedd to rampant development annexations by the City Council of Leesburg without regard to traffic gridlock that may result. As of Dec. 27, 2021, there is no online agenda for the Jan. 3rd meeting, and the Dec. 30 agenda only says each side will give presentations. Read more →

Updated! Tavares City Council denied a proposed SIXTY FOOT HIGH apartment building at HWY 19 & Lane Park Cutoff

The City of Tavares, FL is planning to approve (maybe) a (A) government warehouse development that would be removed from the Tavares property tax rolls, and (B) a humongous SIXTY FOOT HIGH 165 unit apartment complex that will generate almost 1000 road trips a day when the Highway 19 is at 98% of road "volume capacity". BOTH projects would MODIFY the existing zoning and density standards for the area along Highway 19. Read more →

Our Review of the Oct. 30, 2019 Tavares, FL Comprehensive Plan 2040 Workshop - lots of Agenda 21 stuff!

The latest workshop of the Tavares, FL Comprehensive Plan 2040 Committee was held on Oct. 30, 2019.  This overview is based upon my fiscal conservative, reduced taxation philosophy.  We provide a link to a video of the meeting, the agenda, relevant documents, the Powerpoint and our opinion on the bias in the meeting. Tavares area property owners beware. Read more →

The new Lake County 2019/2020 Property Tax TRIM Notices are Out - and you need to analyze them

The 2019-20 Lake County, FL property tax TRIM notices are out. We provide an example and some analysis, and tips how to analyze YOUR rates to understand if hidden increases are included. Read more →

10+ Reasons to Vote AGAINST Lake County, Florida's $800-million "Infrastructure Sales Tax" Referendum on Nov. 3

On Nov. 3, 2015, the ballot in Lake County, FL will have a referendum asking voters to renew an existing one penny sales tax for another 15 years that will generate between $450-800-million in taxes. The funds will be for capital spending like buildings or computers or vehicles and split in thirds for each of these three groups: 1) Lake County government, the 14 cities in Lake County, and the School District. This article covers 10+ reasons to vote NO on the referendum and conditions needed to save taxpayers $100-million plus by prohibiting use of bonds to run up government debt. 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 →

Florida loses taxfunds in some "Economic Development" schemes, including "Enterprise Zones"

Tavares, FL Feb. 6, 2014 Florida state investments in some economic incentives result in ROI of less than ONE or a LOSS. A new report shows how, and that "Enterprise Zones" are one of the "investments" that LOSE money at the State level. Read the last page in this 14 page report to see the ROI for several FL state "investments", and that "Enterprise Zones" LOSE taxpayer funds. http://static-lobbytools.s3.amazonaws.com/press/76982_return_on_investment_in_florida_practice.pdf vj Read more →

Florida is SIXTH least socialist state in US. Texas is the LEAST socialist state.

Tavares, FL July 27, 2014 Florida is the SIXTH LEAST socialist state in the US, according to this analysis on TheStreet.com . They performed a really simple calculation of dividing the STATE expenditures for 2013 by the State GDP (gross domestic product) and got a percent of 9.32% or sixth lowest rate of spending among states. The same website also lists the 10 worst socialist states. #6 - Florida Total State Expenditures (FY 2013): $70.0 Billion Gross Domestic Product (2013): $750.5 Billion Expenditures as Proportion of GDP: 9.32% http://www.thestreet.com/story/12820447/5/the-10-least-socialist-states-in-america.htm Texas is the Number 1 LEAST socialist state with a GDP spending rate of only 6.99%. Thus they spend only about 7% of their GDP vs Florida at 9.32%. In comparison, the most socialist state is West Virginia, with state GDP spending rates of 34.1%. (http://www.thestreet.com/story/12783796/10/the-10-most-socialist-states-in-america.html) So, if you want the lowest spending state government to emulate, it is Texas. To get government watchdog fiscal & conservative news on Lake County, FL, visit www.FiscalRangers.com and also visit and LIKE our Facebook page "FiscalRangers". Read more →

Lake County's Trout Lake Center asks City of Eustis for huge Land Grab discount

Tavares, FL June 22, 2014 You can read about it HERE in this Daily Commercial article. These ducks are from my backyard, not Trout Lake. 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... Read more →

Should a Peat Harvesting Project North of Lake Eustis be Approved or Killed by Environmentalists??

Tavares, FL June 20, 2014 - Updated Monday, June 23, 2014 - contains opinion and added documents. The short link to this page is: http://tinyurl.com/o5wr84e A Peat Harvesting project known as the Goose Prairie Peat Harvesting Project (300 out of 600 acres north of Lake Eustis by HWY 44) is in process of getting approval from the Lake County Board and is scheduled to be discussed at the Tuesday, June 24, 2014 Lake County Board meeting. It is listed on the agenda under tab 23 for Planning & Zoning issues. Unfortunately, you have to download the entire 1176 page "Packet" file to find the 300 pages on the Goose Prairie proposal. Half those pages are pro and con emails and letters to Board members. I think liberals have hijacked this issue to use it as a fund raiser for environmental issues. The Opponents are led by the former head of the Lake County Democrats, Nancy Hurlburt. They have used half truths and diversion tactics to frighten nearby residents when County staff appear to have addressed all resident concerns. I have attended a community hearing and a presentation at the Lake County Water Authority, and I believe this proposal to harvest... Read more →

How Environmentalists Abuse Private Property Rights and Get Funding via Backroom Legal Settlements

Tavares, FL - Dec. 28, 2013 Environmentalists have been abusing private property rights for years by enacting laws like the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that requires the Federal Government to enforce ludicrous regulations to "protect endangered species". Then they use a method called "sue and settle" to SUE the Federal Government because the restrictive laws are not being implemented in various locations. That is how they force the Feds to settle in backroom deals to get more funding for their causes. It also is why you hear periodically where a Federal government agency, like the Fish & Wildlife Service, slams the door on some poor property owner so he can't use the land or sell it due to the existence of some endangered lizard. Liberals use the ESA just to halt development This article is a very clear description from a US Senator of this abusive practice. Read it and understand what could happen to you if you own land that the environmentalists don't want developed. Always remember that liberals and environmentalists are behind this fund raising scam. Most of the articles below explain that many lawsuits are filed so environmentalist attorneys win, but little is done by them or... Read more →

New Technology & Entrepreneur's Group Meeting in Lake County, FL

This isn't our normal subject, but since I am running this group, I thought I would post this. NEWS|Release AbacusTech Technology & Entrepreneurs Association (ATE) Meetings: 1st & 3rd Tuesdays, 6:30 pm Northeast Lake Business Opportunity Center 1520 S. Bay St., Eustis Contact: Vance Jochim 352-638-3578 [email protected] For immediate release — Oct. 10, 2013 New group Meets Tuesday, Oct. 15 to promote technology entrepreneurship by brainstorming and sharing ideas EUSTIS, FL — A new technology-based group, the AbacusTech Technology & Entrepreneurs Association (ATE), is inviting local residents who are interested in learning and sharing ideas about understanding current technologies and creating high-tech products and businesses, to their third meeting. The meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 15 at the Northeast Lake Business Opportunity Center, 1520 S. Bay St., Eustis. Meetings will be held on the 1st & 3rd Tuesdays. The purpose of ATE is to help budding technology-minded entrepreneurs by discussing, as a group, the various parts of high-tech startups, to learn what resources are available and to hear from technology businesses as they share their success stories. “There was a need to develop this type of group because I saw very few developed high-tech industries... Read more →

FL Gov. Scott signs HB-4001 to REPEAL Ethanol requirement in gasoline

Tavares, FL - June 3, 2013 FL Gov. Scott signed FL bill HB-4001 on Friday to REPEAL a prior law enabled by former Gov. Charlie Crist that required ETHANOL in gasoline. Ethanol DAMAGES engines. Below is the email I received from the Governor’s office. He has signed bill HB 4001 last Friday, which will repeal the existing bill requiring ethanol in fuel, and it takes affect ONE MONTH from now, on July 1, 2013 You can read the bill summary and confirm his signing here: http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2013/4001 Happy Days are here for all those people whose engines are being damaged by that stupid law implemented by Charlie Crist. The people won over the lobbyists for once, and all the supporters and Gov. Scott should be commended for getting the Ethanol requirement removed. CAVEAT: This only applies to Florida. And according to local Lake County activist Jerry Cichon, who fought the Ethanol requirement for two years, the old fuel tanks at gas stations will still be contaminated with "black ooze" collected at the bottom of tanks. Jerry has a classic car seen at Eustis and other car shows and has worked hard, including trips to Tallahassee, etc to reverse the Ethanol requirement.... Read more →

Upcoming Lake County Impact Fee Decisions Could Result in NEW Taxes for YOU!

Tavares, FL - Lake County, FL - Monday, Nov. 26, 2012 After taking a 3-week period to recover from the election results, we are back at it! Your taxes could be raised next year if the Lake County Board decides to continue waiving local Impact Fees on new construction. By waiving the impact fees, the Board is giving up tax revenues that will need to be provided by another source, like property taxes, sales taxes, etc. The Lake County Board and the Lake County School District Board are in the process of deciding whether to renew suspension of impact fees for County transportation (roads) and Schools on new construction of homes and commercial buildings. If you read about or see Lake County (not city) roads being overcrowded, or schools not being able to buy new buildings, computers or school buses, one reason is that impact fees for them were waived by the County Board the last 2-3 years. The resulting County & School Board impact fee decisions in the next 1-2 months could re-enact transportation and school impact fees on new construction waived by the Lake County Board for the last 2 years. The homebuilders and commercial construction firms don't... Read more →

Lake County FL Republicans Request County Officials to NOT Increase Property Tax Millage Rates

Tavares, FL - Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2012 We recently wrote how many Lake County, FL government agencies are planning to increase property tax millage rates even though property values have dropped about 5.9% in Lake County according to the Lake County Property Tax Appraiser (see earlier article about our planned community meeting on Sept. 6th). Lake County Republicans voted on August 28th to have the Chairman, Mike Levine, write & send a letter to Lake County tax authorities, including the Lake County Board, with the recommendation NOT to increase millage rates as proposed by many entitites. However, the Chairman in my opinion added several personal requests not discussed at the meeting, such as tax abatements. The original emphasis approved by members was to have the Chair write a straightforward request not to increase property tax millage rates. Normally the Republican Executive Committee (REC) would process a written resolution and approve a written document, but time was short, so they authorized the Chair to write and send a request. So, in my opinion, the purpose of this letter was to only request that millage rates not be increased, thus the government agencies would live within the revenues received from the current,... Read more →

Forbes ranks 650 Colleges based on "Results" and UF is top Florida College at 80th

You can also go to a link to look up any college. http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/uf-80th-florida%E2%80%99s-top-school-forbes vj Read more →

FiscalRangers Opinion on the $1.2-million Lake County Investment in Regional Marketing Group

Update: We updated the link to the Fox Orlando interview of our opinion, also wrote more on this issue and were interviewed by Channel 9 two days later - look for a later July 2 article on this blog. But read this one first. Tavares, FL - June 29, 2012 by Vance Jochim, FiscalRangers.com I believe that the Lake County Board needs to sever relations with the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission (MOEDC) and spend the $288,000 budget on more productive areas. I am not against Economic Development funding, but I am against a taxpayer funded regional agency that uses, for example, a marketing program that only gets 138% return based upon projected TEN year data for Lake County when the total projected (not real) returns for all four covered counties gets an average of 457% return. And, then you find Lake County is paying MORE per capita than other counties, and that the "return on investment" calculation is not based on real data. Read below and see what I mean. Fox Orlando 35 had a short video segment Wednesday where reporter Tracy Jacim interviewed me about thisissue. You can find it here: http://www.myfoxorlando.com/video?clipId=7449297&autostart=true But it is hard to explain... 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 →

Broward County, FL Inspector General Issues First Report and blasts County Economic & Small Biz Development

The new Broward County Inspector General just issued a report blasting the total mis-management of a County run small business certification program designed to give County contracts a local preference. Only local government could create a $750,000 fiscal fiasco like this (or State or Federal Government.). I can't stop - there is a basic management rule cited by Ronald Reagan - "Trust but verify", but these county managers trusted, but didn't verify the vendors' true eligibility for local government contracts. Best quotes: “The OIG determined that at least $750,000 in public funds, and in all probability a lot more has been misspent as a result of gross mismanagement by the OESBD,’’ Scott said Friday. “Our office is going to work with county government to make sure this doesn’t happen.’’ In one instance, the Inspector General found that a county vendor, Everytrade International Company, was awarded 37 county contracts worth nearly $750,000 since June 2007. At least 35 of those contracts required the vendor to be certified as a Small Business Enterprise, which gives the designated company exclusive access to certain county contracts and preference in the procurement process. But according to the Inspector General, Everytrade International is actually a brokerage... Read more →

Reduced Foreclosure Data for Florida and Lake County IS Misleading

Tavares, FL - July 29, 2011 - The press has been reporting reduced foreclosures for Florida and Lake County. For instance, the article below from the local "Right Side of the Lake" blog talked about an improving economy, and cited the following: According to RealyTrac, one out of every 167 homes in Lake County is in some form of foreclosure procedure, which is still too high, but foreclosure activity is down 59 percent in the four county Orlando metro area from the previous six months. You can read the entire article here: http://lakecountygov.info/2011/07/21/lake-county%E2%80%99s-economy-may-be-turning/ The problem with using statistics or economic data, is that you have to understand how it is calculated. For instance, some US economic data showing improvements have been reported to be modified and manipulated by the White House to distort what is really going on. But in this case of Foreclosure statistics for Florida and the US, you need to know that due to former Attorney General Bill McCollum's investigations earlier last year, they found that foreclosure processing firms were LYING about conditions they approved in writing as support for foreclosures. As a consequence, the main processors were accused of falsifiying records for banks and owners of... Read more →

What Should Local Voters do When their Elected Officials Have no Initiative?

Tavares, FL - June 24, 2011 - I went to a meeting recently where about 20 concerned local residents (not the Tea Party) were gathered to discuss why their area was not improving economically. Their businesses were slowly declining and nothing much was happening. There was a lot of griping about the lack of action by the local elected officials and the manager of their local area (not the County). After lots of discussion, they came to the conclusion their elected officials were part of the problem by not pushing the manager to establish measurable economic development objectives and implement them. It seems that one local high flying city does that, and their success is aggravating others without positive economic leadership. As always, I threw in my suggestion that foreclosures were a big part of the problem. Since I have not been able (yet) to get the Lake County County Commissioners to set up an action plan, I suggested this group add it to their list. I think it got lost somewhere during the discussion about trees. But, there were some heavy hitters from local bigger businesses, and the consensus resulted in the plan to do a survey and get... Read more →

US Federal Reserve Prints Money - Here is YouTube Video Explaining this Fiasco

This is a great, but depressing video cartoon that explains "Quantitative Easing" which is liberal speak for "printing money" which will cause inflation. You may have read that the US Federal Reserve will "print" $600-million dollars in new money to buy bonds...which is a practice known for causing inflation. This video explains this messy technique and the problems it causes... Here is the URL on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTUY16CkS-k 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 →