Lake County Fiscal Rangers

Local Lake County Water Levels to Be Discussed tomorrow, May 31 in Leesburg

Updated:  To add longer letter from Diane Heitman about water level issues in the Superpond. vj

If you are concerned about the water levels in the "SuperPond" of Lake County, which are Lake Dora, Lake Harris, Lake Eustis, etc. then attend this 6pm Leesburg Meeting tomorrow night, May 31.   As you may know, Lake water levels have been dropping, partly because the St. John's River Water Management District turned off the water flow from Lake Apopka.  At the same time, until recently, dredging of Lake Beauclaire was also removing another 10 cubic feet per second (CFS) from the lakes.

Here is the info from Diane Heitman, who has been monitoring this - below the initial notice is an attachment for the meeting agenda, followed by a longer letter by Diane on the water issues in the Superpond.

vj

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Harris Chain lake level management public meeting May 31 in Leesburg

The St. Johns River Water Management District will hold a public meeting May 31 in Leesburg to discuss potential water level management options for the Harris Chain of Lakes.

The meeting will include an update on minimum flows and levels development, and will be an opportunity for the public to provide input.

The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. at the Paul P. Williams Fine Arts Center, 9501 U.S. Highway 441 in Leesburg.

The District's Governing Board will consider the proposed management options for the next year at a June 12 public meeting in Palatka.

Please pass on to all friends.

Diane Heitman

In favor of Waterfront Property Owners, Businesses and Municipalities who rely on our Superpond

Chain of Lakes for enjoyment, economy, employment and prosperity.

Feel free to call my cell:  352-343-8891

Below is the agenda

Download Agenda - Lake_Level_Mgmt_Public_Mtg_053112

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From Diane Heitman:

Please read, do you agree?

Here we are again, way below the desired lake level elevations.

Let's make it a goal to never have to apologize when the rains don't come; this is not about praying for rain; it's about planning for the lack of rain.

How can we improve reliability of our lake water levels? Do not let the water out unless conditions show that an impending flood maybe eminent. Base the new regulation schedule and minimum flows (cfs) on a dynamic (actual rain event) versus a static, academic, unsuccessful regulation schedule.

Nature gives natural fluctuation; let's preserve every drop of life giving water in our lakes.

History shows a 5 year drought cycle. We cannot manage the water levels based on a model; each year is different. Holding maximum water is critical for the economic future, navigation, access and quiet enjoyment of lakefront businesses, owners, events and municipalities of Lake County.

The Harris Chain of Lakes is designated by the Federal Government to be a navigable waterway. Low water levels are interfering with navigation.

The Dora Canal is too low. Business operators, the Sheriff boat and numerous individuals hit logs or don't have enough room for other boats to pass in the narrowed, now shallow canal, causing damage and/or the need to replace expensive propellers.

Challenges with lower lake levels and being unable to navigate our waterways to businesses, public docks & residences are causing serious issues with jobs and financial security to our friends here in Lake County.

Year round waterfront attractions and events generate multitudes of economic prosperity, sales taxes & benefits to all of us. These benefits are being jeopardized by lower lake levels.

Our boathouses are high & dry; either land locked and/or we are forced to remove the boats to storage elsewhere. Neighbors are mowing the grass 30' from their sea wall out into the lake without getting their feet wet; ain't good. Waterfront property owners are highly taxed; they expect and should have continuous access to the federally navigable waterways. This benefit is unavailable during low lake levels; property values decline; however, taxes don't reflect this loss.

We feel great empathy for our Northern friends that have bought here as seasonal waterfront property owners.

During their time away, their tax dollars continue to work for us here. Why would seasonal, lakefront property owners come here without access to their boating enjoyment? Many of their boats are now landlocked in their boathouses and cannot be used until water levels increase.

We locals are forced to apologize to our family, guests and tourists who may have planned up to a year in advance to come here and enjoy our now compromised lakefront resources.

Some of we, older Americans, are challenged physically to manipulate our boats with the lower lake levels. Luckily, Mt. Dora, Tavares and Eustis have provided floating docks; however, the local business man such as Boondoggles & Hurricanes can't count on us being able to step up, out and off the boat. Instead of quiet enjoyment of recreational boating; extreme manipulation is faced as undesired; hence, not worth it; hence, loss of business.

Consumers don't come back or cancel plans with low water experience.

Let's make it a goal to never have to apologize when the rains don't come; this is not about praying for rain; it's about planning for the lack of rain.

Thank you for your support of our restoration and water management with an emphasis of maintaining and storing water for the use during drought years.

Diane Heitman

In favor of Waterfront Property Owners, Businesses and Municipalities who rely on our Superpond, Chain of Lakes for enjoyment, economy, employment and prosperity.

Feel free to call my cell: 352-343-8891

 

 

 

vj

How Socialists use Agenda 21 & "Endangered Species" Designations to Increase Energy & Other Costs

Monday, May 21, 2012 -   Tavares, FL

by Vance Jochim

A lizard in New Mexico and Texas could increase US gasoline costs if the EPA had their way, and Lake County elected officials and voters could learn a lesson from the fight with the EPA there.

Here in Lake County, we have a Comprehensive Land Use Plan that has been modified somewhat, but not enough.   It was developed when Florida had adopted "Growth" plans derived from legislative guides produced by the American Planner's Association (APA) which were created using funds from numerous Federal Agencies directed to implement the United Nations Agenda 21 by Bill Clinton's Presidential Council on Sustainable Development.

For more background on Agenda 21, see our info page at tinyurl.com/HaltAgenda21   .

Now, we have a good example in the following article about the stealth method used nationally by the EPA to implement Agenda 21 objectives of using enviornmentalism as a cover to increasing energy costs, reducing values of private property, etc.

http://epaabuse.com/3424/editorials/proposed-listing-of-sagebrush-lizard-as-endangered-species-threatens-energy-production/  

The article explains how the EPA can define an "endangered species" such as a lizard, then prevent landholders from developing or building on their land to "protect" the lizard.   I don't know about you, but my Florida backyard and magnolia tree is full of lizards in good health. In this case, the EPA tried to prevent oil drilling on some lands by declaring a local lizard as endangered. 

I once lived in California, and land development was halted for decades due to the existence of some "endangered species".

But, apparently, the courts mandated a delay in implementing a moratorium on development because, like Al Gore's "junk science", they question the validity of EPA "science" in defining the lizards as endangered.

Citizens in the area of New Mexico and Texas that would be economically decimated by lizard restrictions rose up and rebelled and challenged the "science" behind the EPA decision.  The courts agreed, and specified the EPA had to support their lizard endangerment science within 6 months, which is where they are today...

Ok - for you elected officials who don't understand how Agenda 21 objectives are used by the Federal government and your local land use planners to damage property rights and increase cost of energy so "preferred" energy alternatives like solar or wind are used more, here is an example. The EPA can declare a lizard as endangered species, then prevent oil drilling to protect the lizard.   This reduces energy from oil, increases cost of oil drilled, making it only 1/2 the cost of solar and wind, vs 1/3.   AND, somewhere in there are probably provisions so that only the government can take over the land.   The same thing is done to reduce mining, forestry harvesting, and other resources, so the owners sell or give the land to the government.   EVERY time you hear the phrase "endangered species" think about what the real objective is...

And in Lake County, where the greenies have pushed through restricions on mining in south county etc., your days may be ending... and Lake County Board members and zoning commission members might start challenging the comp plan restrictions that don't pass the Agenda 21 smell test.

vj

 

Update on Voter Fraud in Florida - State finds 1251 Voters who are "Non-Citizens"

Tavares, FL - May 8, 2012 by Vance Jochim

Florida Voter Fraud Update:  Awhile back, on April 4th, we told you about an NBC investigation in Lee and Collier County where they found over 100 local voters who VOTED, but then were discovered not to be legal citizens.'

In Florida, at least, you are supposed to be a US citizen to vote.  But weaknesses in the voter registration system in Florida allow people to register to vote without confirmation they are actually a citizen.

The NBC investigation compared jury records, using a list of voters who got out of jury duty by saying they were not citizens.  Then they checked public voter records and found 100 of them who had voted, some for many years, while not being a citizen.  (This is not about illegal aliens, but about people that could be legally, or illegally here, but not a citizen).

NOW, the Division of Elections of the State of Florida, embarrassed by the investigation, expanded the investigation, and found non-citizens who had obtained drivers licenses.  They matched that list with people registered to vote in Florida, and found 1,250 of them.

A newly appointed Secretary of State, Ken Detzner, is researching more ways to remove non-citizens from voter rolls.

Did you know you can report Voter Fraud to the Florida Division of Elections on THIS WEBPAGE?

On a separate note, I was at a recent presentation by Lake County Elections Supervisor Emogene Stegall, and she said that after our first news item on the non-citizen voters, she investigated and found one such illegal voter, but their address was no longer valid, so her office dropped that person from the voting rolls.

Today I asked Emogene if she had been notified by the Division of Elections of any other non-citizen voters based upon the analysis they did above, and they had not sent her a list.  She will notify FiscalRangers.com when she hears from the Elections Division.

HERE is the May 8th, 2012 NBC update story about the Division of Elections investigation.

http://www.nbc-2.com/story/18165667/state-sweep-finds-1251-ineligible-voters

HERE is our prior story on the earlier Lee & Collier County investigation by NBC.

http://webworks.typepad.com/lakecountyfiscalrangers/2012/04/voter-fraud-method-disclosed-by-ft-myers-nbc-tv-investigation-may-exist-in-all-florida-counties.html    

And, Here is a fun website of photos taken during the 2008 Elections at Polling Places all over the US:

http://www.pollingplacephotoproject.org/  

HERE is the homepage for the Florida Divsion of Elections

http://election.dos.state.fl.us/

AND, here is the homepage for the Lake County Elections Dept:

http://elections.lakecountyfl.gov/

vj

 

 

 

 

 

Florida County Activists Ask Lake County FiscalRangers for Help to Resolve Corruption

Activists and TeaParty members in other Florida Counties are aware of FiscalRangers.

We just got a query from one County activist group asking how they can stop corruption in their County.   They listed a number of officials and issues, so here is what I sent them, and I expect to talk to them later.

Vance Jochim

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 The Florida Grand Jury published a big report on Corruption in Florida last December and Pam Bondi has done nothing to market it to the legislature to get the recommendations implemented, even though her Attorney General Dept. runs the Grand Jury investigations.

The Florida Auditor General has no “resources” to initiate citizen requests for audits.   They mostly focus on CPA type financial and regulatory compliance audits, and not audits for efficiency, effectiveness or to detect and fix corruption.   Almost all local government oversight is left up to local County agencies and officials.

The legislative Audit Committee will not initiate citizen requests for audits, which are sent to the Auditor General, BUT they will do so if asked by a legislator.    So, you need to have a legislator request an audit like what you want, and the AG may do it .   But, the problem with the Auditor General is they only have CPA’s, not Certified Fraud Examiners or Certified Internal Auditors, thus really don’t have the skills I would want them to have.

There is no Florida "audit" or oversight agency authorized to initiate performance audits of either State or County level agencies and programs.   Florida State has over 1500 Special Districts and no department has authority to initiate audits of them (water districts, hospital districts, CRA's, etc.)

At the local level, see if the County Court Clerk for the County has an internal auditor, and whether they would initiate something.  Keep peppering them with details on your concerns, plus copies to the County Board members and County manager.  Determine if the School District has an auditor and review their reports for quality.

County governments have poor oversight on non-financial issues.   They can get awards for how pretty and accurate their annual financial reports (CAFR's) are, but there might not be any reports showing efficiency, effectiveness or oversight to prevent corruption.  In Lake County, the controller and "auditor" are in the Court Clerks office and neither has authority to go into the County government or other Constitutional offices and review internal operations to improve efficiency, etc.   In corporations over $200-million, they usually have one or more internal auditors with a full charter to review any records or interview any employees and initiate audits on their own.

Search the internet for public internal audit reports by local governments on the issue you are concerned with.   For instance, you might find just one Florida Auditor General performance audit on the specific function (like CRA's), and it will give you ideas of what system procedures should exist in your local departments to prevent fraud, waste & abuse.   it is my opinion that most local government officials and staff have no clue how to implement fraud detection and efficiency tracking systems like business has, so you have to find articles of screwups elsewhere to point out local improvements are needed.

Research the corruption in Boca Raton and Palm Beach County.   It was so bad the citizens led a referendum to create an independent Inspector General, who is now issuing some reports and has authority to initiate investigations in all the cities, school districts as well as County operations.

Try to initiate getting a petition to create a similar Inspector General for your County.

 

If the targets of your questions get federal funds, then you could find out which department they get funds from, and send complaints to the Inspector General for that Federal Department.

You might also create a blog like I did at FiscalRangers.com , and report this stuff in the blog with copies to all elected officials.  Then give public input at public meetings and they start listening to you.  I have been doing it for six years.  I also send copies to about 30 press members – in the County, in the nearby major TV market (Orlando) and also to key press people (print, tV and online blogs) in Tallahassee.   This has helped start stories, such as several articles all over Florida about our initiative to reform the North Lake County Hospital District and then get HB-1299 passed to reform it.   That bill was signed last Friday by Gov. Scott. 

If there are Florida government committees of appointed officials, send email copies of articles to them.  I did that with Gov. Scott’s Commission to review the Hospital Districts in Florida, and several of my suggestions made it into their recommendations (and into HB-1299).

Also, if you can get Tea party or other public groups to attend a key local government meeting like County Board meetings or the annual meeting of the County legislators forum, with signs, etc.  – it gets on the TV and also shows officials they can’t keep avoiding your issue.

Attend Tea Party and other groups and give presentations, with a list of actions for them, such as three questions to ask politicians running for office this year on local corruption examples and what they would do to fix it.   Video them, and post it on websites or YouTube, so you have it in case they do not follow through.

Elect smarter officials.  It is hard to get an official who is a high school graduate to spend time to understand governance issues, etc.   Many don't even read documents given to them by staff.   The more educated the official is, the less they might be open to corruption plus they are used to reading professional reports and would understand your issues better.  If they have a Master's degree and some type of professional certification or license, that is even better, because they have been exposed to ethics policies, etc.

The key is to keep bringing up your recommendations publicly – using public input, website, blog, emails, Facebook page, send to press, send to elected officials, get people to attend meeting with signs and give public input.   Once they know you are watching and asking questions, some officials might start backing  your efforts to improve transparency, accountability and oversight.

I even got the local County Board to hire outside auditors to review the local EMS rather than use an inexperienced auditor in the Court Clerk’s office. 

You can call me at anytime to discuss this.

 

Vance Jochim

Lake County Fiscal Rangers

Chief Fiscal Watchdog

Volunteers Searching for Ways to Improve Local Government Fiscal Management, Efficiency & Effectiveness

PO Box 1042

Tavares, FL 32778

Mobile:  352-638-3578

FiscalRangers@comcast.net

www.FiscalRangers.com   

TWITTER:  @FiscalRangers 

Fiscal Ranger's page on Facebook

CLICK HERE to see recommended internet links related to Local Lake County government fiscal issues.

 

 

Complexity of State Ballot Measures Affects YES votes, But Is Florida Affected?

An interesting study says that many ballot measures are written at the Master's Degree level and voters skip them due to the complex wording.

Wyoming requires that a majority of ALL voters must say yes to pass a referendum, not just a majority of those who voted on the issue.   They figure if a voter skips an issue, it is worded too hard to understand since the average American has an eighth grade reading level.

Here is an excerpt from the Wall St. Journal's review of the issue:

Another totally different new study rates the readability of ballot  measures.

The study is part of the plain language movement.

Note to Floridians:  "When Charlie Crist of Flordia took office as governor in January 2007, one of his first acts was to issue a plain langugage executive order. Florida now has an entire site devoted to plain language."  HOWEVER, the links now go to Gov. Rick Scott's website and go to an error page.  We did find that the FL DCS has a Plain Language page HERE.  We could not find if the Plain Language movement is required for State ballot measures, however.

Researchers with the Plain Language Action and Information Network ( http://www.plainlanguage.gov/  ) examined  1,112 ballot measures from states from 1997 to 2007. They were trying to find  out if the readability of the ballot language affected voters’ behavior.

They found that, regardless of the topic, the more difficult the ballot  measure was to understand the less likely citizens were to vote for it.

Wyoming voters have demonstrated the same reaction.

A ballot measure must get yes votes from a majority of the voters who cast  ballots in an election. Getting a majority of votes on the measure itself isn’t  enough to pass it.

When a tally shows that a large number of voters skipped the ballot measure  entirely it probably was too confusing.

According to an article in State Legislature magazine, the average reading  level for Americans is eighth grade.

The reading level of Wyoming ballot measures between 1997 and 2007 was at the  master’s level, grades 17 to 18.

So it’s not surprising that many voters here gave up on the measure and  didn’t vote.

Help is available, though.

Now the Legislature and staff members who write the ballot explanation have a  guide — the Flesch-Kincaid scale — available to Microsoft Word users.

The scale assigns the grade level needed to understand the reading.

Of the 45 states that had statewide ballot initiatives in the 10-year period  studied, none had measures at the eighth grade reading level.

Only three came close. The states of South Dakota, Oklahoma and North  Carolina had ballot measures with high school reading levels.

More than a dozen states had doctorate reading levels.

Anyway, Wyoming citizens will find proposed constitutional amendments on the  ballot when they go to the polls in November.

Read more: http://trib.com/news/wyoming-gets-f-for-corruption/article_72dec1f2-7cef-11e1-806b-001a4bcf887a.html#ixzz1r1AZxUmv

 

 

 

Did Aliens Scramble Voting Results in Palm Beach County - Read and Decide

Tavares, FL - March 20, 2012

This is a good article below to illustrate how amateur data management in local government agencies like the Palm Beach County Elections office can result in poor safeguards that then allow huge errors.  

 In this case, apparently, the order of the names on a recent local ballot in Palm Beach County. FL  did not match which fields were used to calculate candidate totals, so that people using the ballots saw a specific name, but their vote for that line item was added into totals for a different name for the election results.

The Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor, Susan Bucher, apparently

When a manager blames the mysterious computer for a glitch, rather than the people or process for programming it, then they need to go.  It also means they didn’t have good quality control procedures to test and ensure data was accurate.

The citizens cannot afford to have computer illiterate officials in charge of data focused operations.   According to this article, this is a pattern with the Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor.   However, the article does NOT say how the Elections Supervisor,  Susan Bucher, detected the problem AFTER all the votes were certified.   Was it due to a complaint, or did they actually have a after vote procedure that detected the problem? 

http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/how-many-more-susan-bucher-sci-fi-thrillers-can-palm-beach-county-tolerate#comment-790181    

Also read my comment on the SunshineStatenews.com website.    The ability to ensure accurate government data and validity of voters and votes in elections and other government agencies is more and more important with the use of computers.

I will write a future article on this, and the loopholes in the existing elections process that can allow voter fraud.  For instance, right now, I was told this week that the County Elections office or Florida State has no method to cross reference voter data with other states, thus a person (snow bird, Acorn member, student) can register to vote in several states and vote in each of them.  Of course, it depends on what checks are done to ensure they are valid voters in each state, so if they can claim residency, and find a way to meet other registration requirements, they get to vote.

And, if we do find voter loopholes in Florida, is it the fault of the State, or the local officials?

Vance Jochim

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Here is the more detailed comment I posted on the SunshineStateNews.com website:

In the corporate world, they use batch controls to track and validate group totals in computers. You also run a test batch through new software to ensure it works as expected. It sounds like they don't do that or they would have caught it. The article is not clear whether the software came from machine vendor, the State, or whether the elections dept. didn't configure it correctly. There is a concept called field matching, where you go through a process to visually match source fields with output data fields, and it seems they don't do that either, or it was done incorrectly.

I was a Corporate Internal Audit Director and a Certified Information Systems auditor, plus I write a blog ( FiscalRangers.com ) on local government fiscal fiascos in Lake County, FL.  The need for an advanced level of computer knowledge now seems to exceed the capability of many elected officials. You almost need to require a degree in database administration to get people who can cope with government records automation, and understand advanced procedures to ensure data accuracy.   Elected officials should be computer literate.

 

 

National Website Monitors "State Integrity" and Ranks States - Florida is a C-

Tavares, FL - March 20, 2012

I found a new website that is run by a number pf public integrity types of organizations, and they rank all the States by several categories and rank their "Corruption Risk".

Here is Florida's page, which shows abysmal rankings in most categories, and an average C- in Corruption Risk .  Even with that ranking, they are 18th out of all the states, which shows how much worse other states are.

http://www.stateintegrity.org/florida  

I noticed that they ranked "Internal Audit" as one of the only "A" categories, so I posted this comment:

As a former corporate internal audit director, Certified Internal Auditor and anti-corruption adviser, I was amazed to see you give Florida an A for internal audit.  I write a blog on local Lake County, FL government agency fiscal fiascos and mis-management at www.FiscalRangers.com .  After five years of monitoring issues here, I do not believe there is ANY oversight on about 2000 local government agencies comparable to what I saw in Fortune 500 firms, the County of Los Angeles or even the Federal government.   They may do nice, clean "financial audits" but the Inspector General has no authority to initiate performance or internal audits of local agencies, including water districts, hospital districts, special tax districts, etc.  

There are no requirements for independent County auditors and the audits conducted by the Florida Inspector General are conducted by CPA's, not CIA's or CFE's to catch performance and efficiency problems.

For instance, we had a local Hospital tax district that existed for 40 years without ANY spending rules on how more than $10-million would be spent by two named non-profit hospitals.  They could spend it on pink flamingos for the lawn and be legal.   It took locals 4 years to finally get a Legislator who wrote a much improved bill governing them, and it was barely passed recently due to insider tricks by a Hospital supported State Senatory.

You might find one internal "operational audit" of a single Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) by the Inspector General, but if lots of problems are found, they don't go out and review the other CRA's for similar problems.   Florida is still a Huckster State with little oversight.   The one benefit is a good sunshine law, so local people can do their own research to find stupid government practices.   My mantra is that government should be run as well as corporations, and Florida local government agencies lack professional oversight from the State or local internal auditors, and waste is rampant.  .

vj

Another Florida Special "District" Incurs Excessive Costs Without Oversight

Jan. 16, 2012 - A Mosquito "Control District" in Lee County, FL with a $22-million budget has run up such high expenses that a Florida Representative has filed a bill to abolish the district and shift its responsibilities to the Lee County government.   A retired executive director is the 11th highest paid retiree in the Florida State retiree system. He is collecting over $170,000 in retirement income, which is more than any Lake County staff earns working full time.   Here is their website.  The original article from SunshineStateNews.com is below.

FiscalRangers.com has consistently reported how the state of Florida does not provide adequate business controls or spending guidelines for about 2000 special local government agencies in Florida, including water districts, hospital districts, county and constitutional officer agencies, CRA's ( and now here is a mosquito district that overspends all others in Florida. We have periodically reported fiscal fiascos in Lake County operations, mismanagement or questionable practices in local agencies like the North Lake County Hospital District, and also reported problems found in other Florida Districts, including voter fraud allowed by Election Supervisors, CRA's and hospital districts.   

However, this article doesn't provide much information indicating serious problems, other than one legislator commenting about the highly paid retiree and their large budget (which could be justified according to a document on the district's top webpage).   At the very least, it seems an  independent performance audit is needed, and a salary review to determine if salaries or spending (such as for aircraft purchasing vs leasing) is appropriate.

In some cases, some special districts practice abuse of power, such as the recent issue where the St. Johns River Water Management District arbitrarily shutoff all water flow from Lake Apopka to Lake Dora.  They did it purely for water "quality" reasons and are not required to perform an independent, objective economic impact analysis on such decisions.

Basically, Florida State government provides a process for legislators to create these agencies, but there are no clear spending metrics, operational guidelines or periodic State level performance audits to detect problems early.   There isn't even a required, independent County wide internal audit function with full audit authority except for a few County Inspector Generals created due to excess corruption.

The next time you meet your local Florida elected official (Rep. or Senator) ask them why they accept any pay from taxpayers when they don't provide adequate oversight on these local organizations.   Or, maybe tell them they lost your vote until there is professional oversight and guidance over these organizations.

Additionally, as a result of reviewing this article, we found that Florida Gov. Scott has issued an Executive Order 12-10 "Review of Special Districts" which assigns his Office of Policy & Budget (OPB) to perform a review of ALL 1600 Florida special districts.  The Executive Order is HERE.  FiscalRangers.com will publish another article on just this Executive Order after I interview some people.  HERE is the press release on this OPB assignment.   

Vance Jochim

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http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/print/4364746   <<< Go to see article with picture

Lawmaker: Mosquito District Stings Taxpayers in Lee County

By: Kenric Ward | Posted: January 16, 2012 3:55 AM

Published on Sunshinestatenews.com  

Gov. Rick Scott's probe into expenditures at the state's special taxing districts might want to start at Lee County Mosquito Control.

With an annual budget of $22 million, Lee's mosquito district spends more than 46 other mosquito districts -- combined.

"There's no excuse for it," says state Rep. Paige Kreegel, who has introduced legislation that could abolish the district.

Scott last week directed his Office of Policy and Budget to review and make recommendations for cutting costs at some 1,600 special districts levying more than $15 billion in taxes each year.

The governor previously ordered investigations of hospital and water management districts, and has now expanded the scope to all special districts.

Mosquito districts have flown below the political radar because most operate on budgets under $2 million. Even populous counties such as Miami-Dade run their mosquito eradication programs on less than $3 million.

But Lee County, in Southwest Florida, is a glaring exception. With a seven-member elected board and 68 employees, the independent mosquito district's payroll works out to an average of $118,000 per worker.

The district also holds the distinction of having the 11th-highest compensated retiree in the state's pension system. Former executive director T. Wayne Miller, who retired in 1994, currently receives $172,027 a year.

Most counties place mosquito-eradication duties under public works or other departments. Kreegel has found that counties that operate independent districts, such as Lee's, "step up in price to do it."

"The personnel costs are $8 million, and that's a problem" said the Punta Gorda Republican, pointing to Lee's top-heavy staffing. The local mosquito board has two more members than the entire County Commission.

Operationally, Lee's district spends more just on spray, fuel and helicopter maintenance than the total mosquito budgets in neighboring Charlotte or Hendry counties.

Kreegel has introduced House Bill 1395 to require a referendum on the big-spending district. Lee County residents could vote to abolish the district and transfer all assets and liabilities to the Lee County Commission.

Wayne Gale, executive director of the Lee mosquito district, calls HB 1395 "a drastic measure to abolish a district that no local people seem to have a problem with.

"This was pretty much a surprise to us and the county as well.

"We are large because we have the largest mosquito problem in the state," said Gale, who explained that thousands of acres of state-managed salt marshes and islands within the district require aerial treatment.

"No other county has this type of topograghy. We do one-third of all the aerial larvae sightings in the state. Many areas are not accessible by vehicles," Gale said.

Gale reported the district maintains $5 million in reserves for self-insurance and has set aside $1 million for a future hangar.

"We have a lot of expensive aircraft," he noted.

Regarding the pending legislation, Gale said, "We've sent information to the local delegation to answer questions they've had."

Kreegel says "the [district's] defensiveness alone sets off alarms."

Kreegel, a physician, acknowledges it was the Legislature that authorized the creation of mosquito control boards, but says that times have changed.

"Back in the day, the work involved spraying diesel fuel and draining swamps. Now we have a mature industry. The chemicals that are used are generic and relatively inexpensive," he said.

"The governor has shined a light on the situation. It's time the taxpayers got some equity. Let the people vote whether they want this," Kreegel concluded.

Without specifically referencing mosquito boards, Clete Saunier, president of the Florida Association of Special Districts, predicted that the governor's investigation "will affirm that special districts are fiscally responsible, community-focused local government entities.

“Central to the discussions should be that special districts are created upon public demand, and help Floridians when local or state governments were either unable or unwilling to provide crucial services or infrastructure to a community," Saunier said in a statement.

Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341.

 

Gov. Scott Issues Executive Order to "Examine" all 1600 Florida Special Districts

YAHOO!!!!

We found today that Florida Gov. Scott has issued an Executive Order 12-10 "Review of Special Districts" which assigns his Office of Policy & Budget (OPB) to perform an “examination” of ALL 1600 Florida special districts.  The Executive Order is HERE.  FiscalRangers.com will publish another article later this week on just this Executive Order after I interview some people.  HERE is the press release on this OPB assignment.   

The press release and the EO are similar to the earlier one establishing a Commission to Review Hospital Districts.   Last year I sent that commission numerous emails and articles about oversight weaknesses in not only Hospital Districts but other Florida Districts.   They just recently issued their final report of recommendations, including a number I agree with.

As our readers know, FiscalRangers.com has published numerous articles on weaknesses and problems in the various types of special districts, including CRA’s,

But, this is not a Commission to STUDY the issue, but a task order to the OPB to start a program to “Examine” ALL 1600 districts in Florida for performance, etc.    The objectives are in the EO and shortened versions are in the press release.    These are not the routine CPA type financial audits performed for most district financial statements, but much broader scope reviews to determine efficiency, justification, etc.

This policy means that in Lake County, there will be performance and oversight reviews of our special districts including the two Hospital Districts, the water districts (Lake County as well as the St. John’s River Water Management District), CRAs (Community Redevelopment Associations) and other districts.

I tried calling the OPB today before realizing all government offices are closed because it is the MLK holiday.   I will post another longer article on the blog by Wednesday or Thursday, and have more details, because to review 1600 agencies, they will stretch it out over several years and may be constrained by budget and staffing limits.

Finally, the State of Florida is taking oversight seriously over special districts.    And, FiscalRangers intends to be supplying information and ideas to the team conducting the examinations.  I am going to encourage that public hearings be part of the process for the examiners to receive feedback from the public on the justification and operations of the districts.    I expect many Districts to whine and complain, and they should get first priority.

Vance Jochim

Lake County Fiscal Rangers

Chief Fiscal Watchdog

Volunteers Searching for Ways to Improve Local Government Fiscal Management, Efficiency & Effectiveness

PO Box 1042

Tavares, FL 32778

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Controversial Lake County Water Level Settings for Lakes to Remain Stable for Now.

Jan. 15th, 2012 - Tavares, FL

By Vance Jochim, FiscalRangers.com

The water levels in Lake County Lakes Dora, Beauclaire, Harris, Eustis & Griffin should now cease dropping due to a new Florida State water district policy demanded by many Lake County residents, boaters and FiscalRangers.com readers at recent public hearings.

The St. Johns River Water Management District Board ( "St. Johns District" ) is a Florida STATE agency which controls lake and river waters in about 15 Florida Counties including Lake County.  They have the legal authority to control and set water flow between lakes.  They held a Board meeting at their headquarters in Palatka, FL on January 10th and approved a revision of a previous controversial staff policy to shutoff water flows from the headwaters source of Lake Apopka to Lake Dora, Eustis, Harris & Griffin. That policy had been implemented in early December, and lake water levels in Lake County had dropped 3-6 inches in four weeks due to the policy.

This was after a public hearing on January 5th in Howey-in-the-Hills was attended by 300-500 citizens supporting different alternatives to the shutoff policy. 

You can read a lot of earlier background details HERE in our previous blog posting with links to articles in the local papers and TV station reports on Orlando Channel 9 and the Orlando Fox TV station.   http://webworks.typepad.com/lakecountyfiscalrangers/2011/12/update-lake-dora-water-flow-from-lake-apopka-shut-off-by-st-johns-river-water-management-district-.html  

Background:

The St. Johns District staff implemented a new "pilot" project for the second year that shutoff water flow from Lake Apopka to the Lake County lakes in early December.  It would have been in effect until April 14th.  As part of that policy, they also shut off water flow from Lake Eustis to Lake Griffin for the second year.   Lake Griffin water flows were thus much lower last year, and residents on that Lake attended a St. John's District meeting in early December in Apopka and lobbied for water flow to be opened up from Lake Eustis to Lake Griffin.   The result was that water levels in the "superpond" of Lake Dora, Harris & Eustis started dropping about one inch per week. 

On January 5th, after notices from this blog as well as local papers and emails sent to two large, local boating clubs, 300-500 people showed up and supported a new option that opened up water flow from Lake Apopka into the Superpond, and also expanded water flow from the Superpond to Lake Griffin. That new alternative was then discussed at the Jan. 10th St. Johns District Board meeting in Palatka and they approved the new option. The result should be stable water levels in the Superpond and Lake Griffin, but Lake Apopka will drop 2-3 inches. 

However, the new policy as defined by the staff, would only be implemented until Lake Griffin water levels are "restored", thus they could then shutoff water flow again from Lake Apopka.

My Observations:

I was at the January 5th and the January 10th meetings.

I was there today with two others from the Sunnyland Antique Boat Society.  We gave public input, as well as Robert from the BCC ED department and the executive director of the Lake County Water Authority.

Here is a link to their press release on our Lake Water level issue.  It described the new policy approved by the Board to allow 23 cfs (cubic feet per second) of water flow from Lake Apopka into Lake Dora (much better than the prior ZERO water flow policy), and also 23 cfs from Lake Eustis into Lake Griffin.

http://webapub.sjrwmd.com/agws10/newsrelease/ViewNews.aspx?nrd=nr12-003   

Notice they give staff direction to adjust water levels BACK to zero flow once Lake Griffin levels are “restored”

The Board approved the change of water flows and “The Board also directed District staff to make further adjustments as needed based on water quality and to shift to 0 discharges at all three structures once the benefits of the 23/23/0 cfs discharges and rainfall had restored the level of Lake Griffin.”

They never discussed or acknowledged that they would take economic impacts into their analysis.     Thus the above means once Lake Griffin levels are “restored” they will shutoff water flow again.

At no time, either at the Jan. 5th or 10th meetings, did staff indicate they would consider economic impacts as a factor in their water level decisions.  They even said at the Jan. 5th meeting that they did not develop any kind of economic impact study.

They did not discuss the affect of springs in Lake Apopka as a source of added water, nor did they make any commitment to maintaining a specific minimum water level in the Lake Dora/Harris Chain of lakes.

They did not discuss the volume of outflow of water from the locks which are opened every half hour.

Additionally, it appears to me that the Lake water levels they cite in their graphs are OFF from those we see in real life on local lakes.   The Chief of Staff said he would follow up on the apparent large discrepancy.   For instance, why can Channel 9 show reporter Berndt Petersen standing on the dry lake bed between docks on Lake Griffin and say the lake level is down THREE FEET while staff is saying that lake is only a few inches down?  Or, how can they say that Lake Dora is only down about 1 inch in the last month when two of us from the Sunnyland chapter of the Antique & Classic Boat Society each see a drop of 4-6” on Lake Dora.   I will personally follow up on that issue.

Here is a Fox Orlando TV report by Tracy Jacim after the Jan. 5th meeting.   

Additionally, it is clear that the spokespeople from the Lake County Water Authority ( LCWA - not the same as the St. Johns District - they have no authority for setting water levels, but they can lobby for policies) appear to favor ZERO water flow into the Superpond and agree with the staff’s early decision.   They are not interested in economic impacts except favoring highly fluctuating water levels favoring the fishing environment which contradicts the desire of boaters and waterfront owners to have water levels above the minimum water level standards at all times.  Thus it is my opinion we cannot look to the Lake County Water Authority Board for leadership on the water level issue.

The Dora Canal connects Lake Dora and Lake Eustis and is an important boating channel which is hard for boaters to use if water levels are down.  The St. Johns staff also said they would rely on the Lake County Water Authority to clear the Dora Canal to reduce concerns about low clearance through the canal.  The LCWA Exec. Director said at the Jan. 10th meeting that they had cleared the Dora Canal in the past – but that is not completely the experience of our boating members in the Sunnyland chapter.    The props on many of our inboard engined boats can get easily damaged by submerged logs in the Dora canal.  They need more clearance than most current outboard fishing or other boats and the shaft and structure holding the propellers are easily damaged by submerged logs and stumps.  I have been told that the Sunnyland Antique Boat Society will monitor actions to improve the navigability of the Dora Canal. 

There were no commitments to timeframes, unlike business which would always require a specific time for completion.

It really does not appear anyone has previously questioned the St. Johns staff or board on the validity for their minimum and maximum water levels, the “regulated” levels, or the lack of economic impact analysis in their decision making.  If permits related to waterfront projects require environmental impact studies, why aren’t their decisions subject to economic impact studies????

Conclusion:

For now, the Lake County lake water levels may remain stable due to the impact of having 300-500 citizens appear at the Jan. 5th meeting.

However, the St. Johns District staff still seems to focus on Lake Apopka water quality much more than the economic impacts of lowering water in the Superpond and Lake Griffin. 

But, now this blog and other Lake County boating groups will be monitoring their actions much more closely.

Additionally, thanks to support from Lake County Commissioner Leslie Campione, the St. Johns Board was presented with a Lake County Board resolution on the matter.   She also said they would look into having the Lake County Economic Development Dept. create an economic impact analysis related to Superpond Lake issues.  Such an analysis is needed, since the St. Johns staff has not expressed an interest in developing one.

Vance Jochim

FiscalRangers.com