January 26, 2012 at 11:31 am

State Auditor Sides with Us on School Impact Fees

Posted by admin in Lake County

District Skimmed $387,000

The State of Florida Auditor General’s office released its findings and recommendations this week from its Operational Audit (click to view) of the Lake County District School Board.  The audit found that the district skimmed $387,000 of impact fee monies for non-capital expenditures, such as “gaming curriculum, course software, sensor bundles, and teachers guide” during the period of June-September, 2011.  The misappropriations of the Impact Fees Fund are detailed in the report’s Finding No. 8. The total report reflects the characteristics of a horribly mismanaged school district.

For clarification, impact fees were created by the state of Florida, and the appropriation of these fees is limited to the following definition:  “Impact fees must be used solely for the purpose of providing growth-necessitated capital improvements to educational and ancillary plants of the education system.”  Under state statute, impact fees cannot be used for school operations or maintenance because the funds are designed to create student stations.  Ad Valorem taxes (regular school property taxes) are the funding mechanism for operations and maintenance.

We Warned Them

In the June 16, 2011, edition of The Right Side of the Lake (click the link), we alerted our readers about the Lake County School District’s purchase of 1,750 iPads for nearly $700,000.  We then sounded the alarm about the district’s illegal use of School Impact Fees after discussing the issue with the Lake County School District’s Chief Financial Officer Carol MacLeod and Communications Officer Chris Patton.  We pointed out that impact fees could not be used for operational expense items.  Well, like most bureaucrats thirsting to spend a dollar, they justified the money shift.  In that article. we wrote the following:

Here is the issue: By Florida Statute, School Impact Fees cannot be used for operations or maintenance; School Impact Fees must be used for basic brick and mortar to build student stations. If the 1,750 iPads for the new Minneola High School were purchased with capital funds derived from School Impact Fees, then this purchase is a violation of Florida Statute, and it opens up Pandora’s Box as to other purchases that have been illegally made from collected School Impact Fees.

Based on the district’s new Minneola High School iPad Student Policy, there’s no doubt these 1,750 iPads are being used as learning tools in the operation of the new MHS (click here to view policy). If these funds were derived from School Impact Fees then CFO MacLeod needs to state those facts, and a thorough audit of how and where School Impact Fee money is being spent needs to occur. We are very concerned School Impact Fees may have become the school district’s slush fund.

We stand behind our statement:  School Impact Fees have become the slush fund for the Lake County School District.

More Serious Questions

The State of Florida General Auditor’s Finding No. 8 is just the tip of the iceberg.  We’ve been told by sources close to the school district that other operational items were paid for by School Impact Fee revenues; even worse, there has been a conscientious effort to cover up the facts.  If true, this is fraud.

The big concern is that the Lake County School District may have to pay back the fraudulently used School Impact Fee amounts, which will be catastrophic for the district’s budget.  The title of The Right Side of the Lake detailing this misappropriation of School Impact Fees was “Meet Your New Teacher at Minneola High” with a picture of an iPad next to the headline.  If the district is forced to repay these School Impact Fee monies, then that might come true, as teachers and personnel will have to be let go to pay for this major foul-up.

If the State of Florida General Auditor’s Finding No. 8 on School Impact Fees is upheld, then it’s time for heads to roll, starting with the Chief Financial Officer and Communications Officer.  If this is the best financial and technical advice these two can provide the Lake County School Board and Superintendent, then it’s time for a change.

Adding Salt to the Wound

Last week, Lake County citizens found out that the Lake County School District is ranked 44 out of 67 school districts by the State of Florida Department of Education.  Lake County’s two neighboring counties, Sumter and Seminole, are ranked in the top ten with “A” ratings.  It would be different if the citizens of this county hadn’t paid so much money for top schools; however, when the district is sitting on a half billion dollars in debt, this is a bitter pill to swallow.

Hear from Two School Board Members Next Week

Beginning Tuesday (January 31, 2012), The Right Side of the Lake will hold an online forum between two current school board members who are now running for the District 2 seat because of redistricting.  School Board Members Rosanne Brandeburg and Jim Miller were asked a series of very tough questions about the Lake County School District.  Starting next week, you can see where they stand.  It will be a multiple-day release, so you can digest their answers without being overwhelmed.  This is a new format we hope to use more during the upcoming election season.  Be sure to tell your friends and have them sign up for the newsletter to read our online forum.

This year, getting the pro-growth conservative message is more important than ever before.  Please share The Right Side of the Lake with everyone on your contact list and please encourage your friends and family to sign up for this free newsletter.

Citizens for Better Government, L.L.C. would like to invite you to “Like Us” on our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/rightsideofthelake, and by doing so you will be a part of Lake County’s number one conservative online network.

January 24, 2012 at 8:00 am

Lake County Unemployment Dropping – New Leadership is Key

Posted by admin in Lake County

On Friday, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity released Lake County’s unemployment rate and it dropped from 10.1 percent in November to 9.9 percent in December, which is the lowest rate since April 2009.  It has taken a whopping 31 months for Lake County’s unemployment rate to drop into single digits. This is great news, but much more needs to be done.  If you look inside the numbers, some of the reduction was caused by a shrinking workforce, which means more people have given up trying to find a job. Plus, these numbers do not include the thousands who are under-employed with lower paying part-time jobs or reduced hours, but the numbers are moving in the right direction.

The old adage liars can figure, but figures don’t lie clearly can represent the effect the change in local leadership has meant to the unemployed.  In November 2010, when Commissioners Leslie Campione and Sean Parks took over for the anti-growth/extreme environmental reign of former Commissioners Elaine Renick and Linda Stewart, Lake County’s unemployment rate was a horrendous 12.6 percent.  Since the formation of a more business friendly commission, Lake’s unemployment rate has dropped 22 percent.  That’s not luck or just something happening in the business cycle, this drop was manifested because of a positive change in leadership.

The other factor which has become crystal clear since November 2010 is that impact fees do not work; these fees are job killers.  Leesburg and Tavares, which have waived impact fees, are seeing growth and opportunity, while those areas in Mount Dora and Eustis that cling on to them have seen accelerated decay.  Impact fees do not work because – number one – these fees are a government tax; most importantly, they add no real value to the property.  It’s not like when you pay impact fees you get something no other current property owner has. The people in banking and finance cannot quantify the fees to add values; thus, you cannot get financing.

Based on the growth we’ve seen since the suspension of school and transportation impact fees at Lake and the cities of Tavares and Leesburg, the unemployment rate would probably be 10.6 percent if no impact fees were reduced.  These numbers were extrapolated from the surrounding counties, which did not react as aggressively in waiving impact fees.  In our view, the suspension of impact fees lowered the unemployment rate 0.7 percent.

Bottom line: It does matter who you elect.  Some voters contend it doesn’t matter who is elected because, “They’re all the same,” but Lake County is proof positive that is not true.  Could you imagine how high the misery and despair index would be in this county had Renick and Stewart kept their seats coupled with the misery created by the Obama administration?  Simply put: There would be no hope.

Another argument that has been blown to smithereens since this turndown began is that growth doesn’t pay for itself.  If growth doesn’t pay for itself then Lake County should be the richest and most prosperous county in Florida.  Just the opposite was proven.  Since growth stopped, Lake County is poorer, the cities are poorer, municipal services are butchered, and most of our citizens are making considerably less money.

If you need more convincing that the no-growth/ extreme environmental movement is a failure just look at the City of Tavares compared to its sister cities in the Golden Triangle – Eustis and Mount Dora.  The pro-business, no impact fee government of Tavares is growing its tax base; improving its city; but most importantly, creating jobs.  Eustis and Mount Dora are holding on to their anti-growth policies of high impact fees and over regulations and these cities are in utter decay.  Businesses are closing, the infrastructure is falling apart, and there is a sense by the business community that Mount Dora and Eustis are in decline.  This is what happens when liberal, no-growth zealots are in charge.

So while we celebrate the improving unemployment numbers, remember that there is much work still to be done.  There are too many dinosaurs in Lake County like those in Mount Dora and Eustis who think the old anti-growth/anti-business high impact-fee model can be successful.  Just imagine if all the cities operated as aggressively as Tavares and Leesburg?  The unemployment rate would probably be at least a point lower.

Our recommendation to new businesses considering investing in Lake County: Go to the cities and areas where you are welcomed, and the government officials understand they need you more than you need them.  Lake County and the cities of Leesburg and Tavares are wonderful areas to plan a project, and hopefully in the next year or so some of these other areas will realize that capital investment has many suitors.

If you would like to make a comment about today’s newsletter please (click here).

This year, getting the pro-growth conservative message is more important than ever before.  Please forward The Right Side of the Lake to everyone on your contact list and please encourage your friends and family to sign up for this free newsletter by going to www.lakecountgov.info or www.therightsideofthelake.com.

Citizens for Better Government, L.L.C. would like to invite you to “Like Us” our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/rightsideofthelake, and by doing so you will be a part of Lake County’s number one conservative online network.

January 20, 2012 at 4:43 pm

It’s On!

Posted by admin in Lake County

For the last several months we’ve heard that Captain Sandy Carpenter was going to challenge Sheriff Gary Borders for his job and the announcement below makes it official.  Supporters of each candidate have expressed passionately why they believe their man is the best for the job and it appears that it is creating a real split in Lake County’s law enforcement community.  There is not much doubt this will be a bare knuckles bruising campaign and after tonight – It’s On!

The Right Side of the Lake is a publication of Citizens for Better Government, L.L.C., and if you would like to comment on today’s column please go to our website www.lakecountygov.info or www.therightsideofthelake.com.  This newsletter is free to all who would like to subscribe, and we encourage you to send it out to everyone on your mailing list.

If you have information or a topic you would like us to cover please email us directly at lakecountygov@lakecountygov.info.  If you wish to advertise on this newsletter or at our website, please contact us; and, of course, your gifts and donations are greatly appreciated.

 

January 19, 2012 at 11:33 am

Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento Future Prosperity or Poverty?

Posted by admin in Lake County

Admittedly, Tuesday’s The Right Side of the Lake on the Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) was longer than most, but it told a story of an area of Lake County which is on the cusp of major change.  The decisions made by community leaders over the next few months will have huge ramifications for a generation, and it will determine a direction: Either prosperity or poverty.

Also on Tuesday, the MetroPlan Orlando voted 17-2 to approve the $1.66 billion Wekiva Parkway, which will have a massive effect on the Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento area. Eventually, 75 percent of all the traffic now going through those cities may be diverted.  Everyone hates traffic. But face it; traffic makes property more valuable and acts as a catalyst for investment.  Two critical points about traffic counts: First, traffic counts are the reason many businesses locate to an area; secondly, traffic counts are a reason why in America there are thousands of deserted little towns after major highways were built in the 1950s and 1960s.

One way or another, the Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento area will change when the Wekiva Parkway and the re-alignment of SR-46A occurs.  Either the community will approve the proposed CRA and come together to develop a niche growth strategy; or the area will continue to spiral into blight with plummeting property values.  The reason why there is no middle ground between the futures of prosperity or poverty? In a word – financing.  The financial meltdown of 2008 totally changed the rules on appraisals and financing. Lenders will not invest in business interests which do not have value.

Some on the old East Lake Citizens Council have visions of creating a walking downtown area, which would cater to those who enjoy the daytrips to neat boutiques and bistros. Others hope to establish a more traditional old Florida cracker downtown.  In either case, most believe that the area must brand itself with a niche growth strategy to keep the area viable, and not just a rundown convenience store stop on the new parkway.

The business leaders and owners of Mt. Plymouth and Sorrento also understand the importance of the CRA to the area, and their own viability.  This week, the East Lake Chamber of Commerce approved a resolution in support of creating the Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento CRA (Click to view resolution). This is another sign that the community is coming together and recognizing the real challenges it is facing with the new Wekiva Parkway.

There are many questions that must be answered about the future of Mt. Plymouth and Sorrento, but one answer that cannot be accepted any longer is “No”.  “No” from the anti-growth, extreme environmental movement is no longer an option if this area is to survive economically.  A vigorous debate between the residents and business owners needs to occur to determine which revitalization and niche growth model should be implemented. Right or wrong, the option of doing nothing is not plausible.  The deck, which was already stacked against the area, has just had more cards added to it.

Local East Lake resident Clark Morris, who has been actively working to improve his community, made the following observation:

WE need a nicely designed town center (they all fought this during Linda’s tenure)…..We need to find a way to get our Mount Plymouth Golf Course open again (it is killing our property values – looks like a REAL dump!).  We need some decently designed and placed PARKS and TRAILS….. We need a Community Building or something to help re-establish as a community again….     BUT the opposition has got us just where they want us… dead in the water….

Keep in mind the picture that Clark Morris paints in the here and now. Can you imagine the area after the Wekiva Parkway and realignment of SR46-A occurs?  Mt. Plymouth and Sorrento need a plan for the future, and they need a CRA in place to finance that future.  Don’t let anyone from the anti-growth/ extreme environmental movement kid you, the decision for the future is now.  Will it be prosperity or poverty?

The Right Side of the Lake is a publication of Citizens for Better Government, L.L.C., and if you would like to comment on today’s column please go to our website www.lakecountygov.info or www.therightsideofthelake.com.  This newsletter is free to all who would like to subscribe, and we encourage you to send it out to everyone on your mailing list.

If you have information or a topic you would like us to cover please email us directly at lakecountygov@lakecountygov.info.  If you wish to advertise on this newsletter or at our website, please contact us; and, of course, your gifts and donations are greatly appreciated.

January 17, 2012 at 12:26 pm

Rescuing the Future of Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento

Posted by admin in Lake County

Mt. Plymouth and Sorrento are small communities in east Lake County that are adjacent to the Wekiva area, and less than 30 minutes from downtown Orlando.  In the early 1900s, the area featured a large resort and was a getaway for some of the nation’s wealthiest citizens.  Over the last decade, they have become a haven for Lake County’s extreme environmental movement.

The Extreme Environmental Stranglehold

The Mount Plymouth-Sorrento area is going through some real bad economic times. These promising communities are systematically being economically destroyed by a small group of extreme environmental activists who would rather see blight instead of growth and progress.  This sounds harsh, but it is true. Especially if you look at the decay and deterioration that is going on in the area, and the number of projects this group has thwarted over the last five years.

These people seek to implement over-the-top restrictions to growth in the name of protecting the Wekiva River Basin. But in reality, most of it is being instituted to support extreme agendas.  Like most things with the extreme environmental movement, good intentions, common sense and real science are the casualties, and ideology becomes doctrine.

As this environmental extremist kabob clinched tighter control of the Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento area through environmental fear mongering, the area began an economic death spiral, and legitimate, good quality, environmentally-friendly businesses were denied access.  Developers and business interests put proposals on the table wherein they bent over backwards for the environmental movement’s concerns, but the answer was always the same: No.  Clearly, this  movement has gotten out of hand.  It is no longer about the real issue of protecting the environment; rather, it is more about control and protecting a personal view or ideology.

But something happened that the extreme environmentalists in the Mount Plymouth-Sorrento area – or America – did not foresee: There was an economic meltdown in 2008.  All of those years of “no,” coupled with the virtual collapse of the Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento economy, collided to create an economic disaster for the area.  See, the dirty little secret is that the environmental movement is not funded by private dollars, but rather it relies on the government teat; even President Obama is now talking about the massive shrinkage of government.  In short, the money is drying up quickly for the environmental movement, and they can no longer rely on the government taxpayer to fund their over-zealous mandates.

The Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento area, because of its kabob of environmental extremists, is boxed in one heck of a bad situation.  There is absolutely no prospect of getting state or federal monies to fund economic revitalization. Since the market collapse of 2008, few developers are now willing to bend over backwards for any area, especially this one.  The area is spiraling into blight and economic decay with no cavalries on the horizon to save it, but you know what? The extreme environmental movement is still fighting any efforts to improve the area.

Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento CRA

 

Late last August, District 4 County Commissioner Leslie Campione met with Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento citizens, and in a message (click for message) released by Commissioner Campione, she reported a consensus of the group wants to go forward with the creation of a Community Redevelopment Area (CRA).

Elected officials can establish a CRA, which is usually a very specific area that is normally in special need due to blight or deterioration. Once the CRA has been established, the local elected officials will turn its administration over to an advisory group of citizens and business owners from the affected area.  The funding for a CRA comes from tax increment financing, which is a funding process that establishes the current taxable valuable of the properties within the CRA. These values are frozen to ensure the taxing authority retains its funding.  Then, as improvements are made to the area and property values increase, the amount of money collected above the frozen value is given back to the CRA advisory board so it can be used to improve the CRA district.

Here is what you need to know about the proposed Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento CRA:

  • This is not a tax increase. It is a bet that, as the area improves, land values will go up. All extra monies collected when property values rise will go back to the Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento CRA for community improvements.  The people of Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento will have direct representation for their tax dollars collected.
  • With current property values down so dramatically, now is a wonderful time to establish a CRA to ensure maximum return to the people of  the Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento area.
  • If the Lake County Commission approves the Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento CRA, the frozen date would be 2013, but county staff estimates it will be 2017 before enough increased-value tax dollars can be collected to make a significant contribution to the CRA.  By law, a CRA is established for a certain time period not to exceed 40 years.  This CRA is a long-term plan which can be used as a carrot to attract investment and revitalization.
  • The proposed Mt. Plymouth- Sorrento CRA (click to view) encompasses areas along SR 46 and residential areas – which are feeling the ill effects of the old golf course.  The CRA is targeted to the areas which desperately need improvement to stop the blight and decay expansion.

For the people who live, own property, and try to work in the Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento area, this CRA is a great idea to reverse the economic decay which is gripping that area.

Commissioner Campione Speaks Out

 

District 4 Commissioner Leslie Campione understands the importance of the Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento CRA as demonstrated by her statement below:

The Wekiva Parkway will either be the death nail of the Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento community with the diversion of approximately 75% of the traffic that passes through this area daily, or it will have a tremendous positive effect. The purpose of creating a CRA is to get ahead of these impacts and steer them in a positive direction by preserving the unique character of the area by using standards that can be established in a CRA, upgrading housing conditions and promoting infrastructure improvements in the commercial district and adjoining residential area such as curbs, sidewalks, signage and street lights.

 

The Wekiva Protection Act adopted in 1989 by the State Legislature resulted in a variety of development limitations in this area, but because the Wekiva Parkway will make this area much more accessible to Metro-Orlando, there will be new transportation challenges as traffic patterns change and older neighborhoods attract more attention.  A CRA is a vehicle which allows the County to methodically address these new pressures and the particular needs that result from these pressures (e.g. street lights, sidewalks, signage, etc.).

Many Seek Improvement

Unlike what has been said and written by those in the extreme environmental and no-growth movement, it appears the majority of the people of the area are supporting the idea of a CRA because something must be done.  It is utter insanity not to take action to reverse the economic decay.  Each day the weeds grow taller, the crime increases, the old golf course is destroyed by unauthorized four-wheeler use, and the property values plummet. Time is growing short for the survivability of the area.

The zealots of the extreme environmental movement appear willing to accept the economic destruction of Mt. Plymouth and Sorrento over any reasoned and managed growth ideas.  You may hear the anti-growth/environmental crowd say this CRA is a ploy by developers to seize control, and that improving the downtown areas – along with other areas in the CRA – is going to change the character of the community.  There is no character in economic blight, and the Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento area is just like every other part of America; they should be fighting for every business opportunity they can find.  This economic mess gripping this country is far from being over.

Currently, the Lake County Growth Management Staff is reviewing the proposed Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento CRA, and the Lake County Board of County Commissioners is scheduled to review the findings on January 24, 2012.  We recommend the commission approves the Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento CRA because something must be done to change the economic course of this area.  The process of establishing this CRA must begin quickly because, by all accounts, it will be at least four years before any significant monies are available.  While incorporation of that area should be the ultimate goal, it’s time to get real; a lot of small communities in the state of Florida are facing the real threat of un-incorporation because they cannot garner the tax revenues to stay viable. A major economic turndown is not the time to incorporate the Mount Plymouth-Sorrento area.

Bipartisan Support for CRA

Both Democrats and Republicans in the area are lining up to support the Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento CRA.  A source close to the East Lake Chamber of Commerce says a resolution is being processed which supports the CRA.  Interestingly, former Democrat District 4 Commission Candidate Bill Smalley has been one of the leaders pushing the CRA, and when contacted by us offered his observations and comments:

I do support the creation of either a CRA or the Incorporation of the area. Misleading is the opinion written recently claiming the East Lake Citizens are not behind this effort and that they should instead look to incorporation.

 

With a CRA and the involvement of the entire community, we could see improvements to this area that are urgently needed. The recent description given of “Tree Lined Lanes” hides and misleads the fact there are numerous vacant, dilapidated structures, many of which should have been condemned years ago. Create a true Main Street that the citizens and visitors can be proud of one that you would want to come to explore, have lunch and take in the richness of the local environment. It could, if we want it, become a “Gateway to the Wekiva,” a destination.

 

The creation of a CRA provides the needed infusion of dollars, without taking away any current dollars from the coffers of the County. It uses the increase in value from improvements made, which drives any future incremental dollars back into the community with a consensus by appointed overseers from the community deciding how and when the dollars are spent without incurring debt.

 

When contacted by our group on this issue, T.J. Fish, Executive Director of the Lake-Sumter Metropolitan Planning Organization stated the following:

My recent vocal support of a plan for the Mount Plymouth/Sorrento community is based on the impending fact that as much as 75 percent of the traffic currently passing those businesses will be gone when a complete SR 429 opens.  I support a plan, whether it be in the form of a CRA plan or other.  The community needs a plan.

The Mount Plymouth/Sorrento CRA is the plan they need.

 

The Right Side of the Lake is a publication of Citizens for Better Government, L.L.C., and if you would like to comment on today’s column please go to our website www.lakecountygov.info or www.therightsideofthelake.com.  This newsletter is free to all who would like to subscribe, and we encourage you to send it out to everyone on your mailing list.

If you have information or a topic you would like us to cover please email us directly at lakecountygov@lakecountygov.info.  If you wish to advertise on this newsletter or at our website, please contact us; and, of course, your gifts and donations are greatly appreciated.

© 2012 Right Side of the Lake: Lake County Florida's local government news source from Citizens for Better Government LLC.

The Right Side of the Lake