Fiscal Rangers

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 →

Lake County Board Holds the Line on Millage Rates & Lake Sentinel Cries Wolf

The Orlando Sentinel published an article today about Tuesday’s Board meeting where the Lake County Board decided 4 to 1 to NOT increase most property tax millage rates, thus causing a need to fix funding shortages. About 20 people provided public input, and all of them but one sixteen year old told the Board to NOT increase millage rates. The sixteen year old wanted the millage rates to be increased. The Board agreed with the majority by voting 4 to 1 to NOT increase millage rates, and they decided to take the needed funds from cash reserves. They also discussed the need to have public discussions early next year to put service cuts on the table for discussion for the FOLLOWING tax year of 2014. Unfortunately, today’s Orlando Sentinel article made it seem like that decision would reduce bus, library and other services this coming budget year starting Oct. 1, 2012, and in my opinion that was not true. http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-09-14/news/os-lk-lake-county-property-tax-20120914_1_taxable-value-tax-rate-rollback-rate#mod-blogs You can also watch the actual videos of the meeting here - watch the videos for the Sept. 11th meeting: http://www.lakecountyfl.gov/board_agendas/board_regular_meetings.aspx Here is my answer, as posted in their comments section, and I confirmed this today with Board Chair Leslie... Read more →

Please attend Lake County Board Meeting Tomorrow, Tuesday, to Give Public Input on Plan to RAISE property tax millage rates

Tavares, FL - Mon., Sept 10 - Updates added at 7:30 pm, with link to Ritchie posting. Please attend tomorrow’s Lake County Board of Commission EVENING meeting at 5:05 pm when they MAY Approve a Property Tax millage rate Increase. Be there to give public input or just watch government in action. Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012 at 5:05 pm (not the morning meeting) in the Lake County round administrative building , 315 W. Main St., Tavares. UPDATE: At 7pm, Monday, Lauren Ritchie, columnist fro the Lake Sentinel paper posted a blog article about tomorrow's meeting. I have no idea why she has Sean Parks in the web address, since she interviewed Leslie Campione, not Parks: http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-09-10/news/os-lk-county-budget-taxes-20120910_1_rollback-rate-county-budget-commissioner-sean-parks Some people get mad when I say a millage rate is a tax increase, but if the normal method to calculate your property tax is to multiple the property value (on your TRIM Notice) by a standard millage rate, but then government officials decide to increase the millage rate to get more revenues, that to me is an increase, even if valuations are lower. I don't see sales tax rates being increased due to lower retail sales. I said that just to make tax... 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 →

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 →

Florida Tea Party Network Members Try, but Fails to get Adam Putnam to Fight $8-billion Energy Bill

Tavares, FL - June 12, 2012 Florida Tea Party Network representatives met with Florida Agricultural Commissioner Adam Putnam to understand why he supported HB-7117, an energy bill that will cost Florida taxpayers over $8-billion to subsidize "alternative" energy sources like wind and solar. it became law on April 14, 2012 without a requested veto from Gov. Scott. Thus your energy costs will go up more in the future to subsidize more costly wind & solar energy that is not reliable. The bill shifts energy surtaxes to selected recipients of residential and commercial property owners who make retrofits desired by GOVERNMENT (not market based). This is a typical Federal objectives "green" bill that uses tax funds to subsidize gvoernment desired "sustainable development" goals. The bill should be killed. Read BOTH of the Tea Party Network reports below and remember that when you are asked to vote for Adam Putnam in the future. Here is a link to Putnam's Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services webpage: http://www.myflorida.com/agency/1/ Here is a link to the Florida Senate Info page on HB-7117 http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2012/7117 Here is the link to two reports from the Tea Party Network representatives, or read the entire text below. http://theteapartynetwork.org/2012/06/meeting-with-commissioner-putnam-on-energy-bill-hb-7117/ =========================================================================== Report... Read more →

Lake Appraiser and Lake County Tax Collector Improve Transparency over Tax Authorities

Tavares, FL - Oct. 2, 2011 - FiscalRangers has achieved an improvement in transparency over tax authorities listed on property tax notices. We recently heard at a meeting of the North Lake County Hospital District that a taxpayer had a terrible time finding out what that Hospital tax on their property was about. She looked at her Tax Trim notice from the County Appraiser, Ed Havil, and the Tax Notice from County Tax Collector Bob McKee, and the only information for the Hospital District tax was the location and date of the final hearing to approve next year's taxes. No phone, no email, no address and no website was provided. Sure, she could call either office and they could provide a phone number, but no info on what the tax was or phone number listed on the notices or on the two agency websites (we thought). In contrast, if you look at THIS Wisconsin based website, it focuses on improved transparency over taxes there. And, if you visit THIS website from Milwaukee County, you find they have provided a "Milwaukee County Accountability Portal" which "allows the publci to view detaild data on SPENDING by Milwaukee County Government. And, look at... Read more →

UN's Agenda 21 is Taking over Florida Public Lands in Lake County & Other Actions

Updated July 28 to add section at bottom on Agenda 21 foreign aid projects on DEVEX website. Tavares, FL - July 25, 2011 - The UN has an initiative called Agenda 21 which is really aimed at reducing property rights and increasing socialism around the world. Agenda 21 has affected Florida as well as Lake County. Keep on reading... But first, if you don't know much about Agenda 21, WATCH this 9-minute "Agenda 21 Video for Dummies" explaining it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzEEgtOFFlM&feature=youtu.be This article link below clearly explains one part, which is the encouragement of "wildlife" corridors which then prohibit access by humans. The article says now that 28% of Florida land is now taken up by such programs, and all of it funded with taxpayer money because no one challenged the concept. Recently, last year, two environmentalists on the Lake County Board (now no longer on the Board) pushed through modifications to the Lake County "comp plan" which laid out land usage plans, so that property rights were taken aways from owners by tactics such as limiting the size of roads in their area, which then controls traffic, which then reduces the value of land that could have been used for... Read more →

Channel 9 TV Quotes FiscalRangers in Report on Impact Fee Waivers by Lake County Governments

Tavares, FL - July 20, 2009 - Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose. Here is a Channel 9 report by Bernt Petersen on the issue of the value of waiving impact fees by local Lake County Governments. They got me questioning the value of the waivers, and they have quotes from local officials and staff supporting the waivers. http://www.wftv.com/news/28601741/detail.html What this all comes down to is whether you believe developers of new homes and business buildings should contribute impact fees EARLY towards the roads, schools and other infrastructure growth needs caused by that construction. Or should there be no impact fees attached to new construction, and ALL existing taxpayers keep getting taxed via sales taxes, property taxes and fuel taxes to pay for additional infrastructure needed by residents of the newly constructed buildings. Keep in mind that "new Infrastructure" is not the same as maintenance costs on existing roads, etc. which SHOULD be paid by property taxes, fuel taxes and sales taxes. Developers don't want to pay for any of those upfront costs, they want you to pay for it. Read it and post a comment. The video clip would not work on my computer, but the text is there... Read more →

108 Miles of Lake County Roads Belong to the Cities - so who pays for Maintenance?

Tavares, FL - June 25, 2011 - Yup - here is another stupid Lake County government Fiscal Fiasco. If you are a County resident, would you be mad if you found the County was using YOUR tax funds (mostly sales taxes, not property taxes) to repair and maintain ROADS within city limits, and city resident taxes are not being used for the repairs, even though they LIVE or WORK on the street? Are you in a city, paying city property taxes, and the nearby road and sidewalks are not repaired because the City tells you "that is up to the County". The CITY should be doing the repairs using your property taxes or sales tax revenues they get (or other sources). It seems that a number of cities keep growing by annexing neighborhoods and businesses. That means the CITY gets the property tax at CITY tax rates (usually higher than the County), and the properties go off the tax rolls of the County Government, reducing their revenues. That is normal. Note: I if you know someone who should read this, please forward this to them, and ask them to LIKE our "FiscalRangers" Facebook page. But, what came out at recent... Read more →

Why Don't the Chambers of Commerce Host Panels of Elected Officials to Answer Questions from the Public?

Here is an idea for an event that each of the local Lake County chambers could hold. It is an open meeting hosted by the Chambers to have the public ask direct questions of elected officials (as opposed to candidates). Right now, there is nothing like this in Lake County, but the one below is held by the Chamber of Commerce in Fountain Valley, CA where I used to live. They do it just for State and Federal officials, but I think the local one should include elected officials from County Government, the School Board and local cities. So what if it goes 3 hours - I think they would get a big crowd. Since Welton Cadwell hardly ever lets the public provide public input at County Commissioner meetings, maybe this type of meeting may provide an alternate version of transparency. How about it, Chambers? OR, what about the TEA Party or the local Republican Executive Committee (they are planning several for current candidates, but not incumbents who are not up for re-election) vj In the Local section of the OC Register, in the “Our Towns – Central” column, you find the following announcement. This is a fun annual event.... Read more →

Election for Florida State Agriculture Commissioner Heats Up Right in Lake County

The Orlando Sentinel blogger, Lauren Ritchie, posted a blog describing how one candidate for FL State Ag Commissioner, Congressman Adam Putnam, made a speech at a local Republican Women's Federation lunch (I was there), and also announced endorsements from three GOP groups. The article basically said the meeting and announcement was a slam to his opponent, local Lake County resident Carey Baker, who is currently a State Senator. READ her blog here (also added at the bottom of this posting). Also read the comments, which contained some more issues related to Baker. I wrote this response to Ritchie's column on her blog, but the Orlando Sentinel gave the following message, and would not accept my response: So, here is my response - I decided to stop waffling and come out against Baker - he doesn't do anything that supports local taxpayers...unless they are gun owners or have "Bull's Balls" hanging from their trailer hitch. Baker has also angered the volunteers who were trying to get more oversight and voter approval for the North Lake County Hospital tax district that costs local property owners 1-mill in taxes without ANY specific conditions on how the funds are to be spent by the... Read more →

Volusia County Taxpayers Start Local Government Tax Cap Reform Movement

For your info - regarding Volusia County citizens Tax Reform movement. After sitting in the recent Lake County Hospital District meeting where the Board refused to consider tax transparency advocate requests, I can see why this movement might come to Lake County. I was amazed at the smirks, and head shaking by the Board members and supporting consultants when asked to initiate an effort to allow flexible tax rates for the District, and they refused to consider a website or other means to provide full transparency on the spending. In my two years of attending Lake County School District Meetings, the Board there was very sensitive to voter comments, and spent time to educate them. But it was clear the Hospital District Board wasn't open to public concerns about excess taxes, and it will be interesting how the Board and the Hospitals react next. vj From: Margie [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2009 10:54 AM To: Undisclosed-Recipient:; Subject: Volusia Tax Reform - Call To Action I hope you will join us, and thousands of other Floridians, in a grassroots campaign to place a cap on local government spending that is breakable only by voter approval. The cap would tie local... Read more →

Comments about Florida Homeowner's Insurance

State Representative Alan Hays just sent out a newsletter to Lake County constituents, and on the front page focused two articles on two information websites related to Homeowner's insurance. Below is the letter I wrote to him. The legislature are scoundrels, along with Charlie Crist, for approving house insurance rates that increase fees to inland homeowners to subsidize the rates paid by coastal homeowners who have the highest risk of storm damage. ====================================== To Alan Hays at [email protected] The front page of your newsletter that was just sent out has two sections on “Ways You can save now on Homeowner’s Insurance premiums” but they both discriminate against owner’s of manufactured or mobile homes when there are some 1.4 million such homes in Florida. Why doesn’t the My Safe Florida Home inspection program cover manufactured homes, AND WHY DON’T THEY DISCLOSE THAT ON THEIR WEBSITE’S TOP PAGE? Why does the ShopandCompareRates.com website (that lists insurance companies ) only give examples for a block home and not manufactured homes. As an experienced corporate auditor, I think this website is a joke, and you should not portray it as being that useful, since it doesn’t cover other types of homes, and doesn’t include... Read more →

Florida Property Tax Cut Proposal to be on November Ballot

Amazingly, another tax cut proposal will be on the November ballot that could reduce property taxes up to 25% but increase sales taxes to offset the cuts. Local government agencies better start tightening their belts now! vj ======================================== from the Ft. Meyer News-Press at: http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080317/NEWS0120/80317038/1075 March 17, 2008 Property tax cut proposal to be in voters’ hands By Jim Ash news-press.com Tallahassee bureau TALLAHASSEE — Voters will decide in November whether they want to cut their property taxes by an average of 25 percent, and make up for the nearly $8 billion in lost government revenue with a penny sales tax increase and a combination of budget cuts and other state savings. The powerful Taxation and Budget Reform Commission voted 21-4 this afternoon to approve the measure by former Senate President John McKay over the objections of critics ranging from retailers to the Florida Catholic Conference, speaking on behalf of the poor. The vote was a personal victory for McKay, who was first rebuffed in the Legislature in 2003 and who has been pursuing it ever since. "The only opponents of this proposal are the special interests," McKay said. "The voters of Florida are going to make this decision. It's... Read more →

Lauren Ritchie on the upcoming Jan. 29 Property Tax Vote

Below is Orlando Sentinel columnist Lauren Ritchie's take on the upcoming Jan. 29 vote on Florida Amendment 1 on property tax changes which has four sections that confuse everyone. Recently, I attended a meeting of the League of Women Voter's in Lake County, which had a panel of elected officials and a lobbyist. Everyone agrees the ballot issue is confusing and fragmented, and then they separate into two camps: 1) Don't pass it because it will "cost" the local governments funds, and they will get the money through another alternative. (Have you seen the video on Channel 22 from the League of Cities - the guy says "government will always get there money" so the only result would be a tax shift.). Notice no press or official ever says "the taxpayer will save..." - instead they always say a vote will "cost" some agency. 2) If you are a residential owner, you will save a few hundred dollars, but there is a risk that a Federal lawsuit could be filed about increased differences between local home owners, and those from another state - which is a equal rights Federal issue. The best, fiery speaker was Ed Havill, who basically countered... Read more →

Conference of Mayors Forecasts 2008 $80-billion Florida Real Estate Value drop

I am including this article here because it discusses falling real estate prices, including Florida, and is from the Conference of Mayors. Falling Real Estate prices = lower property taxes which means less income for local governments, which is another reason to practice sound management in government. This article is similar to research appearing in Business Week. Next year will be worse than 2007. I lived through three of these real estate downturns in California, and this one will be worse because of all the flimsy sub-prime loans that are resetting thru mid-2008 to higher payments, plus all the speculative buyers that were in the market that can't carry the extra inventory. vj ==================================================== Nov. 27, 2007 - from http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=atgFG_y3hGqY&refer=home U.S. Mortgage Crisis Slams Property Values, State Tax Receipts By Michael B. Marois Enlarge Image/Details Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The worst U.S. housing recession in 16 years will drive down property values by $1.2 trillion next year and slash tax revenue by more than $6.6 billion, according to a report by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. California, the hardest-hit state, will suffer a $630.6 billion decrease in property values that will cut property tax revenue to local governments by almost... Read more →

Florida Tax Watch Issues New Report on FL Property Tax Problems

This website focuses on improving resource management of Lake County, Florida local government spending. Tax issues are a concern because if government resources are not professionally managed, then there is pressure to increase taxes to offset the resulting inefficiencies. ALSO, see the links at the bottom of this post. vj from the Orlando Business Journal http://orlando.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2006/12/18/daily4.html Report: Crisis looming for state's property tax system Orlando Business Journal - 10:05 AM EST Monday Florida's property tax system faces a crisis due to rising levies and local government spending that exceeds the taxpayers' ability to pay, a new report released by Florida TaxWatch finds. Dominic M. Calabro, president and CEO of the nonprofit, nonpartisan government watchdog group, notes that his organization has seen a big increase in the volume of calls and e-mails from upset taxpayers, who believe the property tax system is "unfair and unaffordable." The report partially blames the state's Save Our Homes amendment to the state constitution. Since it took effect in 1995, it has limited annual increases in homesteaded property to 3 percent or the increase in inflation, whichever is less, Florida TaxWatch says. The report says that while holding down taxes for many homeowners, the amendment has... Read more →