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October 4, 2010
YOU ARE NUMBER:
DOLLARS AND CENTS: PROPERTY VALUE 13.79% DECREASE IN 2010
A. The roll back rate $3.9412 per $1000 of taxable value would have yielded $9,853,702.
B. Last year the $3.6431 millage rate per $1000 of taxable value yielded $9,137,974 in taxes adjusted
advalorem taxes to the City.
C. This year the proposed millage rate of $3.6431 of taxable value per $1000 yields $9,178,919 in advalorem taxes.
D. No tax increase this year would require a millage rate of $3.4793 per $1000 taxable value to yield $698,870 in ad valorem taxes, a $480,049 tax increase.
They only need to cut about $480,049 not to have a tax increase. They could start by not throwing away $130,000 to the Marine Discovery Center, $25,000 for a study to dredge a tidal flat, etc., etc. Or how about a 10% pay cut for all City Employees paid more than $50,000 and make the employees pay for a part of the health care premiums? What ever happened to the $50,000 that the fire chief said he would get for selling old equipment not needed as a result of buying the new probably unneeded fire truck? Did we forget to tell you that they just wrote off $213,000 of bad debt (uncollectible) at the airport? How absent minded we have become. We only were looking at the $4 million write off of the Municipal Golf Course “loan”.
AT WHAT AND TO WHOM SHOULD THE SHADOW DIRECT ITS COMMENTARY?
The Shadow has written extensively on what the City Commission did on taxes this year. The Shadow thinks the failure to seriously address pensions and benefits is deplorable. Tax hikes so that that the government employees of New Smyrna Beach, can avoid pay cuts or pink slips. But enough. No more until the next tax season. Next summer the Shadow will return to the Commission’s failures to cut expenses, the unabated spending spree ( think of putting up City money to dredge a tidal flat for the third time in less than 10 years or of the under the table efforts to give money away to the Marine Discovery Center), and the abject failure to charge a fair rental for City property (Angler’s Club, Chamber of Commerce, etc.). The Shadow does not believe that nagging on taxes or the pension mess is over kill. But others say they are tired of the issue. So, for now and until the next budget season, the Shadow will move on to the other glaring problems that confront the City.
BERT FISH HOSPITAL: DISGRACEFUL BEHAVIOR THE BOARD SHOULD KNOW BETTER AND THEY VIOLATED ALMOST EVERY VALUE OF A FAIR SYSTEM
A. The players:
1. Bert Fish Foundation: Original owner of Bert Fish Hospital and it retains a reversion provision that the hospital, if sold, be returned to it if it does not agree to waive reversion clause;
2. Bert Fish Hospital Board: Given control of Bert Fish Hospital by Foundation. Board appointed by Florida Governor
3. Bert Fish Tax structure: Separate appointment process of same Bert Fish Hospital Board that has control of tax district for indigent care funds.
B. Review of current effort to sell Bert Fish Hospital:
It would seem that well over 16 months ago the Bert Fish Board decided to sell itself to Florida Hospital and put in motion both a process of how to negotiate in secret and to frustrate others who might have been interested from fairly participating. The process, which is required to be done openly, was hidden from the public. It is not clear when the original decision was made, but before anything commenced apparently the Hospital CEO, Robert Williams, employed a Tallahassee lobbyist to advise the hospital how to neutralize what was purported to be the significant political power by Halifax Hospital. Then the hospital
Board “obtained” a legal opinion that 21 meetings, engineered it appears to grease a sale to Florida Hospital, could be held in secret. In fact the sale is
a five year lease, with a sale to be accomplished when the Foundation issues a letter releasing the reversion clause. [READ MORE]
BLOGGERS SUM IT UP
Date: 10/1/2010, 9:41 am
Name: A Poster
A visitor posts that the Chamber is in the hole $20K and is down to 500 business-members. The kind poster then wishes the new ED good luck.
Having walked away from the SEV COC some 5-years ago (and being immediately besmirched and then repeatedly harassed to rejoin – they just want my money) I am compelled to opine:
1. Luck will not help Ms. Bishop. The matter before her was not all Mr. Dennis’ doing, he had a lot of help from the Chamber Board.
2. This “catastrophic” shortfall indicates that the Chamber has been lying about its health and successes. This was not all Mr. Dennis’ doing, he had a lot of help from the Chamber Board.
3. While most of the Chamber’s business-members have/are struggled/ing with real business costs and real business decisions the Chamber did not, including enjoying “free” office space from the City and no expenses related to the wear and tear of the City property. This was not just Mr. Dennis’ doing, the Chamber Board and membership enjoyed the free ride as a business league.
4. The Chamber has not been an advocate for its members. It does not stand up against government for fear its benefactors will strike back. This is troubling, as the board of the Chamber is made up of “businesspersons”. Again, this was not all Mr. Dennis’ doing, he had a lot of help from the Chamber Board.
5. Some say the board of the Chamber has been trying to protect its turf and has
been in fact anti-economic growth. It is easy to agree with this opinion with a quick look at the condition of the physical and business environment/infrastructure in SEV. Unfortunately, protectionism always leads to isolation and economic decline. Again, this was not all Mr. Dennis’ doing, he had a lot of help from the Chamber Board.
6. Having a $20,000 deficit is just the beginning. The Chamber is by definition bankrupt. By the way how does that happen, with a large board of “businesspersons” and 500 members, you blow through $100,000 in memberships,
$50,000 in Ad Authority money and another $50,000 in contributions from local munis? Why haven’t the members kicked in another $50 each to avoid the short fall. Again, this was not all Mr. Dennis’ doing, he had a lot of help from the
Chamber Board. [READ MORE]
BLOG
Date: 9/27/2010, 7:48 am
Name: LT
About time tourism office gets a second look. They are wasting million dollars a year. Shadow look at cost of cleaning supplies are we buying paper towels and toilet paper for everyone that works there or just top management? NICE WORK
Date: 9/25/2010, 1:38 PM
Name: Dream On Liz
City of Maitland tried to charge to use the boat ramps 25 years ago...They lost..They tried to charge to park they lost, they had accepted tax dollars for
the project. I told grace bark this and showed her the story 3 years ago, NSB boat ramps have gobs of find money and Ponce inlet port money in them.. Now if they want to build a new ramp with NO tax money then the can charge to use & park, so be it but in won't be on the north causeway. Do they charge to park at the SOS building ?? Do we charge Pam a carpet bagger fee ??
Date: 9/26/2010, 12:34 PM
Name: Bob
The situation with our firemen and their early retirements is crazy....We are now on the hook for the early retiree, his replacement who retires after 25
years and now the replacements replacement who is just starting . Very soon, the city will be paying three for Fire Departments, the current one, the one that just retired and the one that retired 26 years ago. Insane. Unsustainable. Nuts!
Go Mr. Ed!
Date: 9/26/2010, 6:53 PM
Name: NSB Concerned
Wow! What a wide divergence of discussions here. But the immediate problem is the taxes the dysfunctional city commission is about to levy on us as opposed to cutting the salaries of the pampered city employees, address the excessive
pensions of our fire department, or address the collection of market value for all city properties. In fact, they hold nobody accountable.
Case in point. I just read the survey report on the two water taxies in the agenda minutes for next Tues. These two boats, that were left in the hands of
Fielding Cooley and the MDC crowd, while not derelict, show signs of lack of care and need of repairs. And the survey did not include a haul out to check the bottom of the pontoons for deterioration; one would think that would be essential for an aluminum pontoon boat cared for the by MDC, since their own boat, (we just gave them for scrap; another taxpayer paid for item) was trashed
and unserviceable and removed from service for safety reasons according by the Coast Guard. So why do we not make these MDC eco-nuts pay for the repairs to bring these boats back into appropriate condition so we can sell them or make
them available to contractor who may want to run the taxi service at no cost to the City? Because Judy and Jack protect these people and just keep giving them more and more, while they run legitimate businesses out of business. What a joke these MDC goofballs are.
NOTES
WASTING MORE MONEY C0LLECTED FOR INDIGENT CARE. TELL ME IT ISN'T SO!
The Bert Fish Hospital Board is spending indigent care taxes on fancy new digs, including offices and personnel for its Board. The cost will be at least $800,000 this year for a bunch that meets maybe once a month, unless they are gaming the system like secret meetings designed to deliver Bert Fish to Florida Hospital. They have not had any such need for the last 20 some years. The excuse we are told is that Florida Hospital is denying them meeting space. The amount they intend to spend is just slightly less than the old Community Development Agency contribution which they are no longer paying. But this new budget payment remains in the tax base and you are paying for it. It is not going to indigent care as promised by the hospital CEO. They need to be
investigated. Where are the State auditors, or perhaps the Florida Department of Legal Enforcement. They can rent an office on Canal for a couple hundred a month, pay $35 a month to clean it, and put in a call forwarding telephone to the chairman’s office. How about using the Chamber of Commerce space for the
once a month meeting?
1. DOWN SIZING THE NSB FIRE DEPARTMENT
Volusia County is now operating most of its stations with two to a shift. No one has claimed any loss in public safety. In fact the Shadow believes the deal cut by the County this year was to keep all 35 fireman who were affected by the reduction in a pay status through fiscal 2010. No public attack that public safety was affected was made because seven County stations already had been operating with two to a shift and there was loss of service at any of them when compared to stations with three to a shift. Be that as it may, there is no excuse for New Smyrna Beach to keep three to a station. Reduction would match what the County now will do we are told for all but six of its stations in 2011.
In New Smyrna Beach this would permit a decrease of roughly 15 fireman from the current level. But the City is demanding that two nearby County Stations near
NSB be turned over to the City----- Station 21 in Silver Sands and Station 23 on Willard Ave. If that should occur, that would shift the need for further reduction of personnel to the County and keep the needless personnel on the City payroll. We are told it will not happen. As stated above, the County is already
committed we are told to reduce its fire department staff by another 17 or so personnel this fiscal year. The Shadow does not believe the County would like to have to dismiss another 15 fireman to protect waste by the City.
2. RESUSCITATING THE NEW SMYRNA BEACH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
It is time for the business community to get involved if it wants to keep the Chamber from drowning. The Chamber is broke. Its efforts over the last decades has been an uncritical clapping gallery for all lousy Commission actions. It has not uttered one word about the abject failure of the City or County to pile tax on taxes. It has not said one word in the past in an effort to stop wasteful spending. That , we hope, is about to change. But it needs new life, a new board of directors, and new members. And it needs them now before the Utilities Commission shuts off the power.
We hope it will arise as a Phoenix from the ashes.
Dear Pam
As we have stated in the past, we realize that various City officials have limited resources available for pursuing cost reduction projects, so we have decided to help them out and provide draft letters for review. As we have said, this will free them up for important things, like dealing with all the serious problems of the police and fire department pensions.
Dear Mayor Barringer,
The fire Department has voted me DROP Queen for life. It is an honor that I am recognized as the one of the guys. But why drop Queen all I did was protect their salaries, pensions and perks in these bad times when the City does not have the money to waste. Maybe I just don't understand?
PAM
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