Power vacuum and round-up

Miami-Dade commissioners keep taxes flat Bizjournals.com During their first budget hearing, Miami-Dade County commissioners voted early Friday morning to cap property taxes at last year's rate, creating a $444 ... Most programs, not all, get their county funding Gainesville Sun Among the agencies that did not qualify was Easter Seals of Florida for the Altrusa House, a day-care center for frail seniors and adults with disabilities ... Tax battle leaves residents, officials weary Daytona Beach News-Journal Volusia is the only Florida county with three separate hospital taxing authorities, and the rates in East Volusia rival what many Central Florida residents ... Florida Lacks Clout in Congress The Ledger Lawton Chiles chaired the Senate Budget Committee. Today, several members of Florida's delegation, including Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, ... In the House of Representatives, where constant turnover has depleted the state's seniority, not one of the 25-member Florida delegation is in a major leadership position or chairs a single committee from which legislation such as health care reform is being constructed. The lack of seniority exists for three reasons: The first might best be described as wanderlust. Like the state's transient population, Florida's political leaders are known as much for moving on as they are for moving up. An even bigger factor in Florida's high turnover is that the state's rapid population growth has weakened the power of incumbency. Finally, Florida may have suffered as much as anything by placing its bets on the wrong partisan horse. Through redistricting, Florida's Republican-dominated Legislature has created Republican districts.

Around the State

Fla. expected to face more financial woes
MiamiHerald.com
Florida's current budget of $66.5 billion is about $5 billion less than the one Gov. Charlie Crist signed into law two years ago. ...

Clerks of court deal with budget cuts
Bradenton Herald
By CARL MARIO NUDI - cnudi@bradenton.com MANATEE — Just as the other 66 Florida countyclerks of the court, Mana- tee County Clerk of the Court RB “Chips” ...

Tight budget, higher property tax rate for Broward schools
MiamiHerald.com
About 15 people attended the hearing, though only a few spoke -- mostly about the worst-case-scenario notices they received from the Broward County property ...

Commissioners to ask state to cut tax collector's budget
The Northwest Florida Daily News
Okaloosa County commissioners will send a letter detailing their objections to Tax Collector Chris Hughes' budget to the state Department of Revenue, ...

Brevard school budget OK'd
Florida Today
BY MEGAN DOWNS • FLORIDA TODAY • September 4, 2009 The Brevard County School Board approved an operating budget Thursday night that's down about 6 percent ...

Tax appeals coming

In Miami Dade: More than 4,100 people have visited the county property appraiser’s office to discuss their notices. An additional 10,600 calls have been logged with the county regarding preliminary tax notices. Property owners in Miami-Dade have until Sept. 18 to file appeals. Thousands appeal property taxes as budget hearings near Bizjournals.com In Broward County, which is facing a $23 million budget deficit, 5291 petitions for appeal have been filed with the value adjustment board. ... Cut, cut, cut MiamiHerald.com 24: Florida's jobless rate hit 8.1 percent in December, the highest since September 1992. Today, as the County Commission takes up Mr. Alvarez's budget Top 20 execs at Jackson to volunteer for pay cuts MiamiHerald.com Jackson leaders seek a solution to budget woes as county commissioners question why the hospital system needs more than 100 highly paid executives. ...

As Florida goes, so goes the Nation

States across the nation pinch their pennies to save athletics USA Today Nearby Loudoun County, with 10 high schools, instituted a $100 fee to play sports. Money is for general budget shortfall not specific to athletic budget. ... Behind Florida's Exodus: Rising Taxes, Political Ineptitude TIME One thing, for instance, would be to give a dozen top aides hefty raises while urging a rise in property taxes, as the Mayor of Miami-Dade County recently ... Schools look to teacher furloughs to trim budgets The Associated Press But furloughs are happening in individual districts in states such as New Mexico,Florida and California, said Ed Muir, deputy director of research and ... License and registration, PLEASE! Ocala Higher tag fees, raised by the Florida Legislature to address a budget deficit, take effect today. The Associated Press TALLAHASSEE - Driver license, ...

Music Programs Cut

The three-week June music festival will be on hiatus in 2010 "as we re-evaluate its mission, format and structure in light of the current economy," Orchestra Board Chairman Virginia Toulmin said in a statement.

The 45-year-old Sarasota Music Festival has temporarily fallen victim to the economy as its parent organization, the Sarasota Orchestra, looks for ways to cut costs while protecting its core programming and local educational outreach.

The suspension of the festival is one of several cost-cutting measures announced Monday by the orchestra. More...

Sarasota Orchestra cuts popular programs, salaries to stay afloat

With the economy squeezing grants, government funding and corporate and individual gifts, the orchestra had to rely on almost half of its emergency reserves — a total of $515,000 — just to get through last season, McKenna said. This has been the first time during his nearly nine years with the organization that he’s had to tap into reserves.

Downsizing the Sunshine State

...the Sunshine State is shrinking.

Choked by a record level of foreclosures and unemployment, along with a helping of disillusionment, the state's population declined by 58,000 people from April 2008 to April 2009, according to the University of Florida's Bureau of Economic and Business Research. Except for the years around World Wars I and II, it was the state's first population loss since at least 1900.

"It's dramatic," said Stanley K. Smith, an economics professor at the University of Florida who compiled the report. "You have a state that was booming and has been a leader in population growth for the last 100 years that suddenly has seen a substantial shift."

The loss is more than a data point. Growth gave Florida its notorious flip-flop and flower-print swagger. Life could be carefree under the sun because, as a famous state tourism advertisement put it in 1986, "The rules are different here."

But what if they are not?

more.

"They are going beserk"

Broward, Dade property owners `flipping out' over tax notices
MiamiHerald.com

The proposed tax notices arriving in Miami-Dade and Broward mailboxes in recent days have stirred a wave of protest, with dozens of homeowners taking to the streets Thursday and thousands of others dialing their property appraiser's office.

Many homeowners, already feeling pressures from high unemployment, a tumbling stock market and dwindling property values, were angry to open their TRIM -- Truth In Millage -- notices and see a property tax increase awaiting them, too.

``They are going berserk,'' said Charlotte Greenbarg, a Hollywood resident and president of the Broward Coalition, which represents homeowners. ``People are absolutely flipping out.''

Palm Beach County arts groups chase dwindling public funds
Sun-Sentinel.com
Other governments may have to cut arts funding entirely due to budget shortfalls. While some small cities don't contribute to the arts, county governments ...

Costs go up as resources dry up

Free school lunches drop as parents' income audited
Tampa Tribune
Only 24 percent of parents in that South Florida school district responded. Hillsborough's Student Nutrition Services had an $87 million budget last year. ...

Driving in Florida getting costlier Tallahassee Democrat By Jim Ash • Florida Capital Bureau Chief • August 27, 2009 The reality of a $7 billion state budgetshortfall is about to come crashing down on Florida's ... Although fees vary, the cost of registering a medium-sized sedan will skyrocket 54 percent, rising from $46.80 to $71.85.

Miami Dade Budget Cuts Leave Needy Families to Fend for Themselves PR Newswire (press release) (press release) The proposed would mean the total elimination of over $31 million in grants to community-based organizations in Miami-Dade County. A significant portion of ...

This we know about Sarasota

The data here is supposed to be current:

• There are 17 Factories (within 9 mi.) tweet this
• 325,016 pounds of 5 Pollutants were released (within 9 mi.) tweet this
• 16 Officials reported on 17 Factories (within 9 mi.) tweet this
• 4,571 Violent Crimes occured (in this CBSA) tweet this
• Demographics: 11,218 people were Hispanic, 12,132 were African American,1,704 were Asian, 150,901 were White, 81,468 were Male, and 88,672 wereFemale (in this town)
• 17,054 people are Unemployed, while 127,563 have jobs (in this county) tweet this
• There are 55,581 Home Owners and 19,993 Renters (in this town) tweet this
• 49% of people Relocated in the past 15 years (in this town) tweet this
• 1 Bill have been introduced about this location by 1 Member of Congress since 1993 tweet this

via this we know

Adjustments around the state

Roll back outrageous pay raises
MiamiHerald.com
County commissioners are about to do the heavy lifting on the 2009-10 budget, holding a series of public hearings that will be full of cries of genuine pain ...

City Council weighs lean budget, may hook itself up with laptops ...
Destin Log
At Monday's council workshop on the budget, Councilor Jim Bagby said that cities throughout Floridaare buying laptops for elected officials to use on city ...

Metro report
Palm Beach Post
MANALAPAN - The town commission praised its staff Tuesday for delivering a lean budget for fiscal year 2009-10, though the proposed budget would be balanced ...

Real Healthcare Systems

In this blogger's opinion, T.R. Reid's The Healing of America is the single most useful description of healthcare models available today -- the book describes four systems in use around the world, and how they compare.

Hear an interview with Reid here.

Full transcript of interview here.

Don't bother joining in the healthcare discussion without the information here.

See also: 5 Myths About Health Care Around the World

If you're a Native American or a veteran you live in Britain. They get government health care and government hospitals from government doctors and they never get a bill.

If you're an employed person sharing your health insurance premium with your employer, you live in Germany. That's the Bismarck model that was invented in Germany and used in many countries.

If you're a senior and you buy Medicare insurance from the government and go to private doctors, you live in Canada. That's the Canadian model. As a matter of fact, the Canadian health care system is called Medicare, and when Lyndon Johnson provided it for our seniors in 1965 he borrowed both the model and the name from Canada.

And if you're one of the tens of millions of Americans who can't get health insurance, well, you live in Malawi or Madagascar or Mali or something...

Another interview with Reid here.

Cascading impacts

In affluent Naples:

More hungry students could be starting school Monday

In Sarasota:

Sarasota County schools cut $40 million from this year's budget. In the past two years Manatee has cut $43 million in spending. Fewer data and reading coaches, assistant principals and media specialists means more work for teachers and less help for students. link

Breaking a condominium death spiral

Few of the Southwest Florida’s condominiums are untouched by the housing bust, with experts claiming anywhere from a single unit to 40 percent of any given building’s units abandoned, in foreclosure or having residents who can no longer afford to pay their association dues.

In Osceola:

Fire Rescue station and library hours could be among county budget cuts

Regional bank failures reflect underlying problems

Bank failures heavy in region

Eight Florida banks have failed in the past 13 months. Four of them were community banks based in Sarasota or Manatee counties.

"Taking matters into their own hands"

Citizens in Coral Gables, Miami take on budget woes

Property owners, upset about budget woes at the city, county and school board levels, meet to try to tackle the government budgets themselves.

Similar Stories:

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Coral Gables leaders want more budget updates

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In Gables, balancing budget a painful puzzle

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Coral Gables residents go on e-mail blitz over taxes

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Longtime homeowners face big tax hikes

•

Letter: Newly elected official facing witch hunt

BY ELAINE DE VALLE

EDEVALLE@GMAIL.COM

More than a dozen concerned -- some downright angry -- taxpayers met last week to discuss the different budgets proposed by Miami-Dade County, the school board and the cities of Miami and Coral Gables.

And they are taking matters into their own hands.

The residents -- young and old, Democrats and Republicans -- said they want to pore over the upcoming budgets of the city of Coral Gables, the city of Miami, the school board and the county to target wasteful spending amid declining income. South Florida municipalities are cutting services and raising taxes to contend with decreased property tax revenues from the economic downturn.