Is it the best of times, or the worst of times?This is a tale of two Central Florida communities. Both knew that they would be impacted by property tax reforms and took various reactive measures to minimize the impact.
The property tax reforms came and went, and budget time approached. Elected officials from the first community appeared in the press, saying that they had planned well, and along with expected development and growth, their budget would virtually remain the same. Not only would it remain the same, but this community was going to build large entertainment venues for the residents that lived there.
The second community, in spite of such things as creating a new "revenue neutral" fire fee, an increase in the storm water fee, increased impact fees, a hiring freeze, and discussions of raising the county gas tax to fund various projects, continued to wring their hands. Standards began to slip, and residents became increasingly confused as to why they were paying more for less. Frustration was at hand.
Certainly the messenger can have many intentions when delivering the message. The first community certainly understands that if they deliver a message of doom and gloom, there would be no community support for various entertainment venues the community leaders wish to build. But if a positive message is intended to support further growth and development, what is a negative message intended to do? Good leaders usually understand how to deliver a message to motivate those they lead and we have to ask ourselves which set of leaders is leading, and which is reacting? Only time will tell.
Budget meetings have begun in the second community. They should be interesting to watch. If only there was a potential new stadium to serve as a motivator. Or maybe a.... wait for it... a new "Expo Center" that could be built with the thirty million dollars that is just collecting dust in the Visitor Bureaus coffers and that can not be used for anything else. Just a thought.
12 comments:
Why don't they use the $30 million to pay for this stupid light rail instead of raising my taxes again. I have to commute an hour a day because there no jobs in Osceola. So no I am going to be penalized with a gas tax because of their incompetence. Just great.
Word on the street is that they are going to get rid of 19 people at the city. I guess "Revenue Neutral" didn't work. What's next? Maybe we can come up with a new terms like "Alternating Revenue" or "Revenue Biased" that mean nothing. The only term I know righ now is "Campaign Donation neutral!"
I think to get more people out to the budget meeting, they should have the Kissimmee and School Board Puppet Characters there to sign autographs. And I do mean the popsicle stick puppets, not the actual elected puppets.
I heard that the school board is looking to raise impact fees again?? Is this true?? And what do they need this money for, a new Dance Hall?
What $30 million??? Where did that come from?
I love that little character from the Ice Age movies. He is just the cutest little thing.
I am not sure you can really compare the two cities. As goofy as their politicians are in Orange/Orlando, I just don't think they hold a candle to what we are stuck with here in Osceola. I figure if I can not be happy in Osceola, then I am not sure Central Florida is the place for me.
19 people??? Have to wonder how many of those will be police and fire personnel considering they are the ones with contract talks going on.
my friend has a brother at the fire dept and he said they were losing three firefighters and their arson investigator. i have not heard of any other fire department losing fire positions. funny, tampa is letting go of 219 employees and their mayor in an open letter said no public safety positions (police or fire). That first city will be adding firefighters. you can see tampa's mayors letter at tampa.gov.
Thanks for the great research and information. The actual link is www.tampagov.net. For those who don't want to search for the letter, the mayor of Tampa's actual words to the citzens were as follows:
"Our first and top priority in city government is public safety.
My message to the Police and Fire Chiefs has been clear – no cuts that reduce the number of
police officers or firefighters on the street."
That is really great to know. Thanks anonymous for the info. It will be interesting to see how the second city can defend why they are cutting not only services but public safety services as well when larger cities who are looking at bigger budget cuts are standing by their safety officials and not cutting their pay or stifling union talks when we need them the most. The second city has a big storm coming on the horizon and its called an election.
Yo ho! Yo ho! A commissioner's life for me. They plunder and pillage and ransack the village, a commissioner's life for me!
Wow... what a nice letter from the Mayor of Tampa! Our FIRST PRIORITY is Public Saftey! What a great concept... one unfamiliar in the second city. If there are twelve depts in the city, why is the fire dept cutting four of the eighteen positions? That's almost 25% of the cuts. Again no other fire department in the area is "taking firefighters off the street." So much for public safety for the second city!
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