A Night in the Gardens
We DO mean night – as it was 11:15pm when we left the Palm Beach Gardens City Council chamber and there were items yet to be discussed on the agenda,with a hard stop at 11:30 pm.
Our call to action covered two 2012 budget related items and one regarding the Inspector General. Although separated on the agenda, the council decided to take up Ordinance 13, 2011 and Resolution 33, 2011 in sequence.
Ordinance 13, 2011 was a proposal to raise the Local Communications Services Tax from it’s current 1.5% on all telephone, cellphone, cable and internet services, residential and commercial, to 5.22%. The rationale was 3-fold:
1) use this ‘new’ source of revenue in lieu of increasing the millage or taking out of reserves
2) improve the city’s bond rating from AA+ to AAA – as they have been advised a more diversified revenue stream would be advisable.
3) All the other cities do it – so Palm Beach Gardens should too!
Public comment was predominately against raising this tax; about 7 folks – all ‘regulars’ (including Mel Grossman, Fred Scheibl and Iris Scheibl) made it clear that we weren’t impressed by the ‘all the other cities do it’ argument! Only one spoke on behalf of the tax and he was on the Budget Advisory Committee that came up with the solution in the first place.
Vice Mayor Bert Premuroso spoke first and surprised the council by saying that he changed his mind, based on resident comment, and was now against raising the tax at all and wanted to hold millage flat and take the balance from reserves. Council members had expected him to be for the tax and the implication was that he had originally been an advocate for it. The other 4 were strongly for the tax increase. After lengthy debate, the ‘compromise’ was to raise the tax to 3.5% (a 133% increase instead of 248%), hold millage flat and take the remainder from reserves. That was going to mean an extra $800,000 on top of the $1.2 million targetted for capital expenditures or $2 million out of $20 million+ in reserves. The council vote was unanimous in favor of the new proposal. NOTE: while millage rates go up and down – what they voted for was a permanent increase in your communications bills. You still have a chance to overturn this on 2nd reading! We will have another call to action prior to the 2nd reading on August 11th.
Resolution 33, 2011: Discussion was brief since the debate had occurred on the prior item. The resolution was passed 5:0 and the first budget hearing was scheduled for September 8th, 2011.
Ordinance 14, 2011 was to insert definitions of Waste, Fraud, Abuse, Mismanagement and Misconduct into city ordinances. As was described in the call to action – to those involved in the development of the county Inspector General Ordinance – this was the subject of very complex and detailed and arduous debate for the 5 month life of the IG Ordinance Drafting Committee. By now it was after 11pm and very few people remained in the room.
Speaking strongly against the insertion of the definitions were Iris Scheibl, Fred Scheibl, Kevin Easton and Joe Doucette of the Office of the Inspector General. Sheryl Steckler, IG, was in the audience and the Council knew it. Both Iris and Fred referenced the Palm Beach Post editorial in that morning’s paper entitled Cities Committing a Fraud. Andrew Marra, Editor, got the issue exactly in his editorial. Ms. Steckler had also sent a letter to the City Council earlier in the day. While superficially – one can say ‘what is the matter with definitions?’ – those definitions can indeed limit either the Inspector General’s ability to investigate or can hinder the need for any action by those receiving her reports. The reaction to the comment by the Council and staff was enlightening. The Council chose to take the ‘innocent’ stance – definitions can only improve things. City Attorney Lohman was incensed at the public comment and the Inspector General’s letter and called her a liar. City Manager Ferris was spitting mad at the editorial and bashed the Palm Beach Post (which others have been wont to do on occasion ;-)). He said that he’d been managing for over 30 years and that these definitions would help him in implementing improvements and educating the employees. Which begs the question – what did he use for the last 30 years? The council vote 5:0 for passage on first reading.
So – did the public win or lose Tuesday evening. I’d say – we lost. We get the government we deserve. Think about it and next time – ACT!
Call to Action: Cut, Cap, Balance Vote Tomorrow
Hello Friends and Fellow Patriots,
Tomorrow, Tuesday, July 19th, the US House of Representatives will be voting on the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011. Even though President Obama has vowed to veto this bill, it will make a statement to our country that our representatives are ready to take a stand for:
- Substantial cuts in spending
- Enforceable spending caps
- Congressional passage of a Balanced Budge Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that includes a spending limitation an a super-majority vote to raise taxes before the debit ceiling can be raised.
Please contact your Representative today to ask for him to co-sponsor and vote Yes on the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011.
Here are some facts that you can use to support this stance:
- The debt held by the public has more than doubled in just the past five years. Interest paid on the national debt is expected to more than triple over the next ten years.
- Many economists believe the US faces a Greek-style debt crisis within the next five years if we do not get our fiscal house in order very soon.
- The federal government has hit the $14.292 trillion debt limit set in February 2010. Raising the debt ceiling without significant spending cuts is simply a tax increase on future generations.
- Moody’s Investors Services has said the AAA rating of US government bonds is in jeopardy unless Congress passes “a budget that includes long-term deficit reduction.”
- Standard & Poor’s has said it will downgrade US debt if the US doesn’t 1) cut spending substantially and 2) REFORM the way it budgets, to control future spending.
- The Cut Cap and Balance Act (CCB) would meet the tests set forth by Moody’s and S&P, so we never again face this kind of debt problem. In short, “CCB=AAA.”
- The Cut, Cap, and Balance Act is a long-term deficit reduction package that will ensure we get back on the path of fiscal sanity and are not downgraded from our AAA bond rating.
For your convenience, here are the US Congressmen from Palm Beach County and their contact information. To email them directly, just click on the link after their name.
Tom Rooney (R-16)
https://forms.house.gov/rooney/webforms/issue_subscribe.html
Washington Office Tel: (202) 225-5792 Fax: (202) 225-3132
Stuart Office (772) 288-4668 Fax: (772) 288-4631
Ted Deutch (D-19)
https://teddeutch.house.gov/Forms/WriteYourRep/default.aspx
Washington Office Tel: (202) 225-3001 Fax: (202) 225-5974
Boca Raton Office Tel: (561) 988-6302 or (561) 732-4000
Allen West (R-22)
https://forms.house.gov/west/webforms/contact-form.shtml
Washington Office Tel: (202) 225-3026 Fax: (202) 225-8398
West Palm Beach Office Tel: (561) 655-1943 Fax: (561) 655-8018
Alcee Hastings (D-23)
https://forms.house.gov/alceehastings/webforms/issue_subscribe.htm
Washington Office Tel: (202) 225-131 Fax: (202) 225-1171
Delray Beach City Hall Tel: (561) 243-7042 Fax: (561) 243-7327
Thank you for taking this action TODAY!
Redistricting affects you – come to the sole PBC legislative redistricting mtg
As a result of the census, reformulation of voting districts are underway from the municipality level up to Congressional districts. Various criteria are used to determine the size and makeup of all of those districts and readjust them based on the changes that occurred in population and demographics over the last 10 years.
This may mean that your current Congressional Representative no longer has a district, or you no longer live in his/her district. It may mean the same for your state Senator or Representative. There are redistricting public hearings in process throughout the state. The sole redistricting meeting for Palm Beach County Citizens will be at FAU Boca Raton on August 16 at 10am.
For the latest information check the calendar with meeting details at on the public hearing schedule. You can RSVP on their calendar, but it isn’t required.
You can use a tool on the same website to create your own districts and see how difficult it is to do at: the Florida Redistricting main website.
Here’s a Post on Politics article on potential impacts locally – both Allen West’s Congressional District 22 and Lizbeth Benacquisto’s Fl Senate District 27 are at risk. (note that the article says the meeting begins at 8am, however the Redistricting website says 10am). Check the redistricting website prior to going for schedule changes.
Palm Beach Gardens City Council Mtg 7/19 – a Call to Action
Palm Beach Gardens residents should be aware of several items on the Agenda (and one that no longer is):
Ordinance 11, 2011 – not on Agenda:
Second reading of Ordinance 11, 2011 was removed from the agenda. This was the ordinance that made the change, among other things, to the election run-off process – essentially eliminating run-off except in the case of a tie. Purportedly this would save between $10000 and $40000 or so per run-off. Changes to the charter require a referendum – and so too would this change. According to Max Lohman, City Attorney – this change will be considered for the upcoming charter review, changes to which will require citizen votes. Had it been on the agenda – it would have passed and parts of it would have not have been valid without referendum. What would that have cost the city?
Ordinance 13, 2011, Increasing the Local Communications Service Tax Rate – First Reading:
This 2012 budget related item would increase the Local Communications Service Tax from its current rate of 1.5% to the maximum allowed by state statutes to 5.22% effective January 1, 2012, “on all sales of communications services within the City. These services include telephone (including cellular), cable TV, and internet fees, both residential and commercial.” This is technically a 248% increase! But it will probably be described as ‘pennies a day’!
The effects of the proposed change on two sample residents with annual communication charges of $2,400 and $3,600 are illustrated in the table below:
| Average Annual Bill | Increase in Rate | Annual Increase | Monthly Increase |
| $2400 | 3.72% | $90 | $7.50 |
| $3600 | 3.72% | $135 | $11.25 |
The adoption of the 5.22% Local Communications Services Tax is an integral component of the fiscal year 2012 budget plan, and, if approved, will allow the City to maintain the same operating ad valorem tax rate of 5.7404 mills.
This TAX is expected to bring in $1.8 million in the next budget cycle and $2.4 million thereafter. Note that if your phone, cellular, internet and cable charges go up – so too will the city’s revenue be enhanced.
While I have not reviewed the proposed 2012 budget in detail, “The total budget for all funds of $108,580,228 is $3,140,160, or 3% more than the current year’s total of $105,440,068.”
Ordinance 14, 2011 -Amending Chapter 1, General Provisions, Section 1-2, Definitions of the City Code of Ordinances to Add Five (5) Definitions to be Compatible with the New Inspector General (IG) Ordinance. – First Reading
“The drafting committee failed to include certain crucial definitions within the IG ordinance. The City Attorney has advised that without defining the following terms it will be impossible to properly evaluate any potential findings of an Inspector General investigation. Accordingly, the City Attorney has drafted Ordinance 14,201 1 in order to adopt definitions for “abuse”, “fraud”, “misconduct”, “mismanagement”, and “waste” into the City’s Code of Ordinances. Clear and unambiguous definitions are an absolute necessity in order to preserve an objective standard for evaluating any potential wrongdoing. These definitions are being recommended to each of the other 38 municipalities in the county.”
Having attended each of the drafting committee meetings – these so called ‘crucial’ definitions were intentionally left out and the subject of several months of intense debate. I consulted with the Inspector General, Sheryl Steckler about the attempt by municipalities to insert these definitions into their city codes. She replied that it has no impact or relevance on her activities as Inspector General.
Why are we adding irrelevant definitions to our ordinance and what is it costing the taxpayer in staff time and effort if it is for nothing?
Resolution 33, 2011 Adopting a Proposed Maximum Millage Rate for Fiscal Year 2011/2012 and Setting the Date, Time, and Place for the First Budget Hearing.
I read this resolution first and was going to praise the City Council on holding the millage rate flat at 5.7404, 2.719% below the roll-back rate of 5.9008 mills. NOT. They should be holding the millage flat, cut spending and NOT implement the increase in the Communications TAX.
I have not studied the 2012 budget in detail yet – however:
“Please note the following significant items related to the use of reserves:
• The planned use of $1.1 million is less than total General Fund capital expenditures of $1.2 million, and adheres to the City’s policy of using reserves for one-time expenditures.
• The planned use of $1.1 million is predicated on the increase in the Local Communications Services Tax from 1.5% to 5.22%. This will generate approximately $1.9 million next fiscal year. Without this alternative revenue, or an equivalent tax increase, the reduction in reserves would be approximately $3 million.”
We are in bad economic times – this is the time for using reserves and NOT increasing a tax (the Communications tax) that will never go down. Hold the millage flat, do NOT approve Ordinance 13,2011 and cut spending further to minimize the hits to reserves!
Additional materials can be found:
Complete 7/19 Agenda with backup documents
Cover Letter to 2012 Proposed Budget
Call to Action – PBC 2012 maximum tax rate to be set on July 11th.
The newly formed Palm Beach County Tea Party has become a coalition partner with Palm Beach County Taxpayer Action Board. Now it’s time to act. Read the details about the budget and background here, and then go to the Tips and Talking Points for details on emails and speaking up at Commission meeting.
Time: 9:30 on July 11th with public comment to begin around 10am.
Place: 301 N. Olive, West Palm Beach Fl – County Commission Chambers
It’s time to act!
(note: the entire budget details can be found on the county site here.)
