Remarks made to the PBC School Board on Tax Increase Proposal
OPENING: Good evening. My name is Teri Hughes. I am a PBC tax payer and my 16-year-old daughter attends a PBC high school.
At the last PBC School Board meeting we heard from the Board members discuss placing the proposed tax hike on the ballet in November to cover the cost of the mandatory hiring of Resource Officers, as well as mental health resources in order to fulfill the mandates set forth in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act. The proposal would add $1 to every $1000.00 in taxable dollars if it’s placed on the November ballot and approved by the voters.
It is critical that every tax payer in this room familiarizes themselves with the data before any votes are cast. Hat tip to WJNO’s Brian Mudd’s Cheat Sheet and Jane Justice, one of our leaders.
OVERALL REVENUES
- Broward County: Received $74 million over last year and $152 million over two years.
- Miami-Dade County: $87 million over last year and $144 million over two years.
- Palm Beach County: $477 million over last year and $629 million over two years. This money represents 50% of the entire budget of PGC.
$ PER STUDENT
- Broward County: $8,928.00/student
- Miami-Dade: $9,116.00/student
- Palm Beach County: $15,420/student
- Average state spending per student in PBC is $8,920
Average per Student for the 2017-2018 School Year
- Broward County: +$9 or .001% higher
- Miami-Dade County: +$196 or +2.2% higher
- Palm Beach County: +$6,500 or 72.9% higher
Now Let’s take a look at Administrator’s Base Salaries which come from tax payer dollars
- Superintendent Avosa was hired at: $325,000/yr
- Avosa’s two friends were hired at $202,000/yr and $190,962 respectively.
- MB $185,657/yr
- DF $185,400/yr
- GL $175,100/yr
- LC $169,332
- WP $161,600/yr
- ST $157,996.65/yr
- TOTAL: $1,567,390
- During the 2015-2017 school calendar year, salaries over $120,000 doubled from 37 staff to 74. That’s 120,000 x 74 = $8,800,000
These salaries in my opinion are outrageous and what is even more outrageous is the CHUTZPAH of the School Board asking taxpayers in PBCC for more money.
Palm Beach County has seen a windfall from the 16.7% sales tax increase in PBC, which the PBC school district nets half of. I would argue this places Palm Beach County in a financial position that should enable it to meet all its needs, challenges, and cost increases without even blinking an eye – let alone suggesting other tax increases are necessary.
So I have just one question for each of you; where is the $629 million being allocated to if not the retention of good teachers and safe schools.
I say NO to property tax increases in PBC. Maybe you need to manage your money better.
TPP Call – 7/15/18
Welcome to the Tea Party Patriots Weekly National Leadership Call Report. Glad you stopped by.
Chris Wright’s Constitution minute featured the Department of Homeland Security’s changes to its sign-on-procedure process that will reduce the # of asylum seekers.
Bill Pascoe reported from Washington that Last week the House took up and passed several bills under suspension of the rules. The Senate floor invoked cloture and confirmed Mark J. Bennett to seat on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
FBI Agent Peter Strzok testified for nine hours before the House Judiciary Committee in an open hearing on Thursday. He came across as angry and belligerent as he refused to answer questions on grounds that the FBI instructed him not to. The highlight of the hearing was an exchange between Representative Louie Gohmert and Strzok about the 30,000 emails on her homebrew server that found to have gone to an unauthorized source. The Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) Horowitz and Strzok were notified and never followed up. Lisa Page testified behind closed doors by House Republicans on Friday afternoon with an FBI attorney present.
A group of conservative house lawmakers draft articles of impeachment against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein for failing to comply with congressional subpoena to obtain documents about FBI surveillance during the elections, intentionally stalling document production for congressional investigations into possible government misconduct and failing to enforce key law and protocols. However, there has been no indication that Speaker Paul Ryan and other House GOP leaders will act on the measure.
The Smear campaign against Jim Jordan continues. There have been no calls from GOP leaders for Jim Jordan to step down and many university officials have vouched for his contention he knew nothing of the alleged sexual abuse of the wrestlers.
President Trump traveled to Brussels and made the case to the NATO members who have been free-loading on the U.S that they need to pay their 2% or changes will be made.
President Trump will be meeting with Putin in Helsinki on Tuesday. On the Russian probe front, the Mueller probe indicted 12 Russians for conspiring to hack Democrats during the 2016 presidential campaign. There were no US citizens indicted and no evidence of collusion.
President Trump nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court Justice. Despite his support by conservatives, some have reason for concern based on his interpretation in the Susan Seven-Sky v Eric Holder Obamacare case. Kavanaugh contended that with a small tweak of the language, there is no difference between a “tax” and a “penalty.” In the end Kavanaugh used a previous held opinion allowing him to bow out of a decision since the alleged tax has not yet been put into effect.
Jenny Beth Martin’s Call to Action for the week of July 16-July 20.
There are three distinct call to action activities for this week. We need each and every Tea Party member to visit the Tea Party Patriots website and sign the petition for swift nomination of Brett Kavanaugh and to sign the Pledge to Vote and share with friends on social media in the midterm election.
Finally, there is still time to register to secure your spot for the Tea Party Patriots national fly-in conference, July 24-25 in Washington, D.C. Conference speakers include Representative Jim Jordan, Senator Ted Cruz, Senator David Perdue, Representative Mark Meadows and many, many, more.
That’s all for this week.
Thank you for tuning in.
Keep fighting for Liberty and God Bless.
Teri Hughes
FreedomWorks Fly-In
TPP Call – 6/10/18
TPP Call – 6/3/18
Lots going on in Washington Team. We start off with Chris Wright’s rapid fire Constitution Minute.
1. Chris returned to the discussion of whether or not the Mueller appointment is constitutional. Two weeks ago he said it was constitutional but tonight he talked about Mark Levin who argued the contrary on his radio show and Levintv. Levin provides a compelling argument as to why the Mueller appointment is unconstitutional based on the Constitution, scholarly legal opinions and court opinions.
TPP Call – 5/6/18
Agenda: Guest Speaker: Senator David Perdue
Constitution Minute: Chris Wright
Washington Report: Bill Pascoe
Update: Jenny Beth Martin
1. Guest Speaker: Senator David Purdue (R Georgia), elected in 2014, provided more information
on the proposed Honest Government Pledge. Senator Purdue will be holding a press conference
on Tuesday 5/8 to introduce the Honest Government pledge. He asks that we not go public with
this pledge until after Wednesday’s press release. Purdue reminded us that right now there are
42 working days left before August recess and reiterated the crisis we are facing with in with
these federal circuit court judge confirmations. The goal is to avoid another massive continuing
resolution in September like the one that just passed and to get in the budget the 12
appropriations bills for review with amendments and an opportunity for the American people to
review what is being debated on the floor. Following Wednesdays announcement Purdue
encourages all Tea Party Patriots to send a letter to McConnell and email and/or tweet your
Senators urging them to stay in session until these issues are resolved…..
TPP Call – 4/29/18
1. Guest Speaker: Senator Jim DeMint
Jim DeMint discussed a new project he founded with the Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI). The
CPI is dedicated to providing a platform for citizen leaders, the conservative movement, members of
Congress, congressional staff and scholars to get connected. CPI works to provide conservative leaders
with the tools, tactics, resources and strategies to help make them be successful in advancing
conservative policy solutions. One such project is the Honest Government Pledge. The goal of the
Honest Government Pledge calls for the House to remain in session until a sufficient number of
appropriation bills are passed and for the Senate to remain in session until a sufficient number of the
Trump’s federal circuit court nominees are confirmed. DeMint states the Senate is essentially working
essentially two days a week right now and nominees are being voted on one at a time instead of the
traditional block voting. Senator James Lankford proposed a bill to reduce debate time for non-cabinet
nominees from 30 hours to 8. Passing of the bill will requires 51 votes in the Senate. The Honest
Government Pledge will be available on the Tea Party Patriot website by Monday afternoon….
TPP Call – 4/22/18
1. Guest Speaker: Philip Haney, author of the best-selling book “See Something Say Nothing” was
the guest speaker on Sunday’s TPP call. Haney’s book exposes the US governments submission
to Jihad. Mr. Haney studied Arabic culture and language while working as a scientist in the
Middle East before becoming a founding member of Homeland Security in 2002 as a Customs
and Boarder Protection agriculture officer. He was promoted to the Advanced Targeting Team
(ATT) of the National Targeting Center. He won numerous awards and commendations from his
superiors for meticulously compiling information and producing actionable reports that led to
the identification of hundreds of terrorists. He specialized in Islamic theology and the strategy
and tactics of the global Islamic movement. Haney retired in July 2015. He now and spends his
time doing public speaking and educating about differences between the United States concept
of sovereignty and the Islamic attempt to impose their definition of sovereignty in this country.
Haney touched on the role of the Hillary Clinton’s State Department officials in shutting down
his investigations into Islamist terrorism during his tenure with Homeland Security. During his
tenure he was investigated multiple times by the Obama Administration because of the
information he was entering into the ATT database about the Muslim Brotherhood based on
allegations he was violating their privacy and civil liberties by implying they were part of a
terrorist group. Finally, Haney strongly encourages everyone to become fluent in our
Constitutional language, especially Article VI, clause 2 which in essence makes the
implementation of any aspects of Sharia law illegal in this country. Contact Jenny Beth Martin if
you are interested in contacting Philip Haney for a speaking engagement…..
