The heavy lifting has just begun on Pasco County's 2009-10 budget, but commissioners are already thinking about the budget year that comes next.
That budget could have a shortfall equal to or larger than the $36 million deficit commissioners are confronting now. Given the cuts and tax increases on the agenda for 2010, commissioners are already wondering how they will make up another large deficit in 2011.
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Broward and Palm Beach counties are taking different paths to deal with similar budget crunches blamed on the struggling economy.
While both plan spending cuts, Palm Beach County also proposes raising property tax rates as much as 15 percent to limit layoffs and save valued government services.
Broward County, on the other hand, is considering forgoing a potential tax rate increase in favor of requiring deeper spending cuts by the Sheriff's Office.from:
Palm Beach County proposes raising property taxes as much as 15 percent
===Benderson decided to put University Town Center — featuring Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Macy’s — on hold until the economy turns around. #$
Monday, August 10, 2009
The future might be dimmer still
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Teeth, please
Slow-to-no mortgage fixes
Banks and other mortgage lenders have been slow so far to modify struggling homeowners' loans, but they now face a deadline. Congress and the White House should hold them strictly to it.
Obama administration officials recently gave the lenders until November to record 500,000 mortgage loan modifications under a voluntary federal program designed to avoid foreclosures.
So far, the results of the federal program, called Making Home Affordable, are not encouraging. A report issued Tuesday by the Treasury Department showed that only 9 percent of the 2.7 million delinquent borrowers eligible for loan modifications have received help. Those homeowners have missed at least two mortgage payments.
Meanwhile, the number of foreclosures continues to rise. More...
Under new management and shareholders wiped out
Two banks in region are seized and sold
Regulators on Friday shut down First State Bank of Sarasota and Community National Bank of Sarasota County, two institutions that played in risky loans during the real estate boom and crumbled when the bubble burst. More...
East Coast Squeeze
Rising debt, sheriff's costs squeeze Palm Beach County budget
Palm Beach County's property tax revenue has more than doubled in the past decade.
But despite the windfall, the county faces its tightest budget year in ages. It's proposing double-digit tax rate increases and preparing to lay off employees, slash bus service and leave some beaches without lifeguards.
"There are certain level of services that the county residents have come to expect," [Sheriff] Bradshaw said. "Those have continually gotten more expensive over the years." More...
To ease the pain, county commissioners last month tentatively signed off on a 14.9 percent rise in the countywide property tax rate.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Ballfields, Libraries and Siesta Key Beachfront Condos
MIAMI, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Parks, ball fields and libraries are prime targets for local-government budget cutters in Florida, one of the dozens of U.S. states where fiscal crises playing out in state capitals are now rattling neighborhoods.
Hyatt opens Siesta resort
SIESTA KEY - The Carlyle Group has opened its $100 million Hyatt Siesta Key Beach, billed as the first "purpose-built luxury fractional beachfront residences in the Sarasota area."
Opening at a time when housing of all shapes and sizes is struggling, Carlyle has dropped the prices at the resort to a starting price of $135,700 for a share of one-sixteenth (three weeks).
The Hyatt property initially began selling six-week segments last year ranging from $250,000 to $750,000.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
County budget issues around Florida
Lee County fears recession could skew census
Homeless, minorities hard to find
M-D Commissioners Want Public Opinion On Budget
Miami-Dade County Commissioners must decide which programs and departments to spare from the budget axe, and they say they want to hear your concerns before they make the decisions that will have a serious impact on the future of everything in the County, from parks and libraries to police and fire services.
Rising tide sinks homeowners
Survey: 'Underwater' Mortgages To Hit 48 Percent
A new study indicates that by 2011 nearly half of American homeowners will have a house worth less than what they owe on the mortgage. When more is owed, than what the house is worth, it's called being under water. One-fourth of U.S. homeowners are estimated to be under water on their mortgages already. NPR
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Towards a more normal Florida
Fitzgerald: Florida must do 360
- LAKEWOOD RANCH — The Florida of 1946, known for its pristine beaches, East Coast tourist traps, cheap, plentiful real estate and magic carpet-like roads, is a model that won’t work in the future.
The Florida of 2046, if it is to rank among the nation’s successful states, must “become that cool place” where major cities are interconnected by rail and autos are no longer king, where “the Silicon Valley of the 2000s” is the unofficial state motto and “living green with renewable energy” is the official one.
In a word, Florida must do a 360-degree “pivot,” said state Rep. Keith Fitzgerald, D-Sarasota, who spoke before about 50 who attended the Tampa Bay Partnership’s Chair’s Leadership Breakfast at Northern Trust Bank Tuesday. more...
Holding Steady in Highlands
SEBRING - The Highlands County Board of County Commissioners unanimously voted Tuesday to keep the 2009-10 county tax rate the same as last year even though it expects to collect less tax money from dropping property values.
Property owners will be assessed 7.1 mils for every $1,000 of assessed value. more...
Monday, August 3, 2009
"The well has run dry"
Imperiled South Florida arts groups fight over funding
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez has proposed eliminating nearly all grants for cultural groups next year. Arts leaders have launched a campaign to save their funding. more...
Comp Plan Public Hearing Aug. 6
Sarasota County Planning Services invites you to attend the second of three public hearings about proposed amendments to the county’s comprehensive plan before the Sarasota County Planning Commission. The public hearing will take place at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 6, in the commission chamber at the Sarasota County Administration Center, 1660 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota.
At this public hearing, the Planning Commission will take testimony on the following amendments, which will affect several chapters of the comprehensive plan:
· Adding a policy and map recognizing the Lemon Bay/Myakka Trail Scenic Highway and the Tamiami Trail Scenic Highway.
· Adding new policies and amending existing policy to address nonconforming residential densities. The purpose of this amendment is to deal with situations where the density permitted within existing zoning districts exceeds the density allowed by future land use designations on the future land use map.
· Amending policies to limit residential densities as allowed by affordable housing policies in the comprehensive plan in the Light Office land use designation.
We hope to see you there and please forward this message along to your friends and acquaintances who may have an interest in these proposed changes. If you aren't able to attend, but would like to send in your comments, e-mail them to planner@scgov.net. More information about these amendments can be found on the county’s Web site at www.scgov.net.
At this public hearing, the Planning Commission will take testimony on the following amendments, which will affect several chapters of the comprehensive plan:
· Adding a policy and map recognizing the Lemon Bay/Myakka Trail Scenic Highway and the Tamiami Trail Scenic Highway.
· Adding new policies and amending existing policy to address nonconforming residential densities. The purpose of this amendment is to deal with situations where the density permitted within existing zoning districts exceeds the density allowed by future land use designations on the future land use map.
· Amending policies to limit residential densities as allowed by affordable housing policies in the comprehensive plan in the Light Office land use designation.
We hope to see you there and please forward this message along to your friends and acquaintances who may have an interest in these proposed changes. If you aren't able to attend, but would like to send in your comments, e-mail them to planner@scgov.net. More information about these amendments can be found on the county’s Web site at www.scgov.net.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Crist Veto Costs Schools $6 million
Published: Sunday, August 2, 2009 at 12:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, August 1, 2009 at 5:40 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, August 1, 2009 at 5:40 a.m.
Florida's school districts have lost out on millions for the coming year because Gov. Charlie Crist shot down a plan to provide them extra cash from an account that comes from gun-permit fees. ...
The veto cost Polk County schools more than $213,000 while costing Sarasota County nearly $94,000, Manatee more than $95,000 and Charlotte County more than $37,000. Large districts lost even more money. Miami-Dade schools, for example, lost more than $778,000.
...
Any call to eliminate any of the hundreds of tax loopholes and breaks - largely for businesses and corporations - is inevitably buried under cries that Florida's business environment will suffer under the burden of crushing taxes. more...
Parents pitch in for schools - inequities arise
As South Florida school budgets shrink, parents step in
As school budgets dwindle, South Florida parents are contributing for classroom supplies and educational programs.
Similar Stories:
BY KATHLEEN MCGRORY
KMCGRORY@MIAMIHERALD.COM
When the teachers at Herbert A. Ammons Middle School needed supplies, the parents delivered.
Cameras for the art department.
Books for the library.
Flamenco dresses for the Spanish club.
The parents bought thousands of dollars worth of classroom goodies for the southwest Miami-Dade school.
``In this economy, you don't want to ask parents for money,'' outgoing PTA President Liz Smith said. ``But that's what we've had to do.''
As budget cuts hammer South Florida schools, more and more parents are pitching in for classroom expenses. Some are spending the summer organizing fundraisers. Others are cutting the checks themselves. ...
``This will exacerbate the differences in the education that children receive,'' said Julian Weissglass, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara and a national expert on equity in education.
``Affluent families will be able to subsidize their schools. The less affluent families won't.'' ...
The Miami-Dade district recently cut about $166 million from its budget. Broward had a $158 million shortfall.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Waldo Proffitt asks:
Is city of Sarasota necessary?
. . . city residents paid one-fifth of their annual property tax to be able to live within the city limits. That's hundreds of dollars or thousands of dollars, depending on the value of your house or condominium. Was it worth it?
The tangible benefits have become fewer and fewer over the years. The city has handed off its fire and emergency functions to the county, along with parks and recreation. The city provides water and sewer services and trash collection, but residents are billed for them each month and their cost does not come out of their property tax.
The city has a clerk and auditor and financial and record-keeping functions to support all city departments and activities and has its own planning and zoning department -- all of which are essential to the operation of any city, or indeed of any government of any size anywhere. None of these really have a claim on the affections of any city voter or stir up much emotion of any kind -- until something goes wrong.
None of them, singly or in total, justify paying 20 percent of your property tax bill to maintain a city. The only department that might do so is the Police Department, which is now the center of a bubbling controversy. More...
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