Lake County Fiscal Rangers

Lake County School Board Votes to TABLE discussion on allowing Gay Clubs at Middle Schools

Tavares, FL  -  Thursday, Apr. 25, 2013

by Vance Jochim  -  FiscalRangers.com  -  UPDATES will be added to this document as received.

The Lake County Board meeting this past Monday, April 22^nd, included an agenda item for the second and final vote to approve extra-curricular clubs at Lake County middle schools, which would include a proposed Gay Straight Alliance club (GSA) at Carver Middle School which many people objected to because they believed 6^th & 7^th graders should not be confronted with groups focuses on sexual lifestyles.    The only other alternative allowed by the Federal “Equal Access” law was to prohibit all extra-curricular clubs, including those focused on community service, Christian groups, etc. but it would also exclude the GSA club.

Note:  This blog writer was against formation of Gay Clubs at Middle Schools (see why in attachment below).  This picture taken from the right side of the room, which had about 1/3 of the audience in the "Communist Red" shirts, indicating support of the liberal coordinated GSA club.  The other 2/3 on the far side of the room were LOCALS who were against it.  Plus there were many sitting outside this filled room watching on monitors.  Normally, Lake County Democrats wear blue shirts to political events, but for these GSA events, they all wore Communist red (not Republican Red! :) )

I had figured that 2/3rds of the audience were against the GSA club because about 150+ were from the Tri-County Tea Party (Villages), plus many more from local churches.   The Right Side blog says 3/4ths of audience were against it and 17 Church pastors were there to give input.

However, the same day, the Florida legislature passed, and Gov. Scott signed a large education bill, SB-1076 (2013)  that revised current law to change definitions of what schools were subject to the Equal Access Law.   That meant Lake County Middle Schools were not considered secondary schools, and the Equal Access Law only required the all or no extracurricular club decision for secondary schools, thus middle schools were no longer covered by the law.   However, MY understanding (see the Orlando Sentinel article below) is that the law didn’t really say how much authority the local School Districts had to be selective in what extra-curricular clubs would be allowed.    Thus it could be tested in the courts.  THAT is why the Board tabled any vote, in order to research the new bill and understand implications.

Here is the link to Senate Bill SB-1076 (2013) - read the staff analysis reports to understand issues.  This is a large omnibus bill, not just covering the issue of clubs at middle schools.  I don't yet have the link to the applicable section on this issue, but will add it later.

http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2013/1076 

Neither local newspaper mentioned that this time, a huge majority FROM Lake County was NOT wearing the Communist red shirts favored by the Democrat organized, pro-GSA group where many came from outside Lake County.  They didn't mention the LOCAL majority was AGAINST the formation of the GSA club.

Here is the Daily Commercial article by Greg Jones:

http://www.dailycommercial.com/news/article_95765e54-cf43-5980-b376-ff206b1a8fde.html  

Here is the Orlando Sentinel report on this vote, and they include a “Fair & Balanced” 2 min video from Fox 35 showing crying kids,  but a majority clapping upon the vote to table the issue.  (see the link below for my FULL 15 min video with NO ads for all the details leading to the vote to table the issue.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-gay-straight-aclu-final-vote-20130422,0,3296276.story  

Here is the link to the Orlando Channel 9 TV video report by a reporter who rarely visits Lake County and focused mostly on the GSA supporters. BUT, if you read the provided TEXT, which is different because it was provided by the DAY shift reporter Berndt Petersen, who DOES frequently visit Lake County, it cites a couple of comments from this blog's author, Vance Jochim.

http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/lake-co-school-board-vote-approving-gay-straight-c/nXS7t/ 

Attached are some of my pictures of the event. 2/3 to 3/4ths of the audience were AGAINST allowing a sexually oriented club in middle schools, and clapped when the vote was tabled.  One fuzzy picture shows a pro-GSA man (not in red) accosting Board Member Bill Mathias after the vote.  Democrats always resort to yelling and name calling when they don't get their way.   All my pictures of this event are in a photo album on the FiscalRangers Facebook account HERE.  

Also attached are my “talking points” I was going to use for public input at Monday’s meeting.  You might look at the excerpts from the Communist objectives that apply to this issue.

Download A. VJ Comments for LCSD Meeting on GSA at 5pm

AND, here is a link to my Youtube video on the entire 15 minute Board discussion about the agenda item and the vote to table it.  The School District attorney explains the new law, which is quite helpful for understanding the issue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOGUnuW-ptY   

Initially, no one would give a second to Bill Mathias’s motion to table the issue for a future meeting in order to examine the implications of the new law, then after discussion, he got a second, and the vote was 4 to 1 (Brandeburg dissented) to table the issue to the future.   It could be that the Board members now saw the huge crowd NOT wearing red from LOCAL groups.  Many of the pro-GSA red shirt advocates were from OUTSIDE Lake County.  Some Board members might also have been ticked off by the huge volume of emails trying to intimidate them from GSA supporters from OUTSIDE Lake County and OUTSIDE Florida.

Summary:

The School Board will discuss this issue again after getting analysis on the implications of the new law and recommendations from the District's Attorney.  No date has been set yet.  

Thanks go to the Tri-County Teaparty, and local church members who showed up in force to offset the out of Lake County liberals and ACLU legal bullies whose attendance was coordinated by the Lake County Democrats. This was a good slamdown of the Tampa based ACLU office which is currently bragging on their website about similar lawsuits in Polk County.

My opinion is that poor 8th grader Baylie is now on a liberal leash with all events being coordinated by liberals who have other objectives than the formation of her club.  They are making her into a poster child for liberal causes.  However, she will be graduating from Carver Middle School in a month, and will be at a High School, not a middle school, thus not eligible to form a middle school club.

I am not against gays living their lifestyles privately, but when they use the ACLU bullies, and the Democratic party organizes media events, asks people from the entire country to inundate local elected officials with emails to demand their way of life be provided to SIXTH graders in middle schools without living here, I resent that.  And, now , apparently 4 of 5 of our Lake County School Board members and 2/3's of those attending the meeting agree and are tired of the liberal activist Gay "in your face" programs to spread their lifestyle.

Vance Jochim

www.FiscalRangers.com  

Here is a picture of the NORMAL School Board meeting after the GSA agenda item was concluded.  Several red shirted liberals hung around loudly stating they didn't trust the Board which might bring the subject back up for a formal vote.   After listening to routine administrative issues discussed by the Board for 20 minutes the liberals left.  The Board didn't play those games, and didn't even discuss the GSA issue at all, even during Board member "reports". 

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Text of referenced newspaper articles (in case they turn off the links later):

Daily Commercial article by Greg Jones

School Board to restart work on gay-straight alliance club

Greg Jones | Staff Writer gregjones@dailycommercial.com | Posted: Tuesday, April 23, 2013 9:00 am

The Lake County School Board on Monday night at the Lake County Administration Building tabled a measure that would have allowed non-curricular clubs and organizations in middle and high schools.

The board vote d 4-1 to table the measure. Only Rosanne Brandeburg voted against de laying the measure. The board will likely have a workshop next month to work out a new policy related to allowing non-curricular clubs and organizations in middle or high schools.

The vote brought more then 400 people in support or against the motion allowing non-curricular clubs and organizations in middle and high schools. The delay of the measure holds off allowing an eighth-grade girl, Bayli Silberstein, 14, to start a Gay-Straight Alliance Club at Carver Middle School.

The decision to table the measure will restart the process from the beginning. Board Chairwoman Kyleen Fischer said she hopes to h ave a workshop soon and a new policy in place before the beginning of school in

August. The board will conduct a workshop and have a first hearing. Then the board will advertise the final approval for 28 days before taking a last vote on a new policy.

“I’m sorry this had to get delayed,” Fischer said. “I think that was the feeling of the table that the topic needs to be delayed because of changing legislation.”

Board member Debbie Stivender, the board vice chair, said her goal would be to have a new policy in place before school starts in August. She said based on state legislation changing, the board was going to have to develop a new policy regardless of how anyone feels about the GSA club.

Brandeburg said she didn’t want to postpone the decision because she wanted the more than 400 people who showed up to have an opportunity to be heard.

“These people came out to speak, and I wanted to give them an opportunity to speak,” Brandeburg said. “We could have still listened to them and by postponing this we are starting this whole process over, and it will come back. Part of it is to get more and a better understanding of what this new bill states, but I don’t believe — even what Mr. Johnson had said — that it really pertains to extra-curricular clubs. It pertains to more of what classes can middle school students can take that will count for high school credit. Can you take dual-enrollment courses and things like that. We will learn more then go from there.”

During the meeting, Mathias’ first motion failed but his second motion was approved. He moved to table the motion because he wanted the board to determine the direction it should go before making a decision on a policy that will change in a few months as Gov. Rick Scott on Monday signed new legislation which specifically affects the state’s definition of secondary schools, a key point in the local debate. The new legislation will take effect on July 1.

Joyce Hamilton Henry, the Mid Regional Director for the ACLU of Florida, didn’t agree with the decision and was hoping the board would make a final call. She said she is concerned about the environment that is being created by the board and the decision is harming the students. She said the ACLU will examine what happens at the next meeting and make a decision based on that.

Silberstein was emotional after the decision, while a huge cheer came from those against the GSA Club. She said she is willing to go to the state level to help get the law changed. Silberstein admitted she was surprised at the number of people who showed up to protest the measure and that the board tabled it.

“Right now, I’m not really sure exactly what I’m going to do,” she said. “I’m going to wait for the next meeting. We (kids) were taught to stand up and fight for what we believe in, and they are fighting so hard to deny my rights on what I can do, and it is really difficult to get through that.”

Gene Hill, 74, a Mount Dora resident, who has four grandchildren who attend Lake County schools, believes outside forces such as the ACLU are pushing this issue. He said he doesn’t believe the voters in Lake County have been given the opportunity to understand what is going on. He said people can have whatever way of life they want, but the schools should be off limits.

“This is about our children, and this is about the protection of our children,” he said. “We have to stand up for our children, and if that is someone’s way of life that is there decision. Children go to school to be education and not to be in a sex program. That is what this is about and about Lake County folks doing what is best for Lake County children.

“Lake County (residents) should stand up. They say, this is about bullying. We have a bullying policy in the schools now, so enforce it. We need to have the parents, teachers and principals to come together and handle the bullying. This is not going to stop bullying. This (GSA Club) is not going to stop bullying it is going to create more problems.”

Last month, the board tentatively agreed to allow non-curricular clubs and organizations in middle and high schools. On March 11th, board members voted 3-2 to allow middle and high schools to have non-curricular clubs and organizations, which will an eight-grade girl, Bayli Silberstein, 14, start a Gay-Straight Alliance Club at Carver Middle School. School board members Bill Mathias and Tod Howard voted against the measure.

####

 =====================================================

Orlando Sentinel by Erica Rodriguez

orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-gay-straight-aclu-final-vote-20130422,0,3296276.story

OrlandoSentinel.com

Lake School Board stalls on new rules affecting gay-straight club

By Erica Rodriguez, Orlando Sentinel

10:25 PM EDT, April 22, 2013

Eighth-grader Bayli Silberstein left Monday night's Lake County School Board meeting blinking back tears after board members voted 4-1 to table a final vote that could have allowed a proposed gay-straight club to form before the end of the school year.

Since November, Bayli, an openly bisexual 14-year-old, has been trying to start a Gay-Straight Alliance at Carver Middle School in Leesburg to combat bullying of her fellow gay classmates.

Monday night more than 350 people packed the Lake County meeting space where the School Board was slated to give a final OK on a rule to allow non-academic student clubs in secondary school. Board members already had voted 3-2 to tentatively allow the clubs but needed a second vote to finalize the policy.

But early in the evening, board members instead said they wanted to take more time to "workshop" the rules in light of a tweak in state law partially called for by School Board members Tod Howard and Bill Mathias. Both men opposed the middle school gay-straight group, suggesting that middle-school children were too young to be discussing gay-straight issues. Mathias recommended to table the issue and was joined by Howard, Chairwoman Kyleen Fischer and fellow board member Debbie Stivender.

"You're talking workshop," Fischer said. "That is the only way we can do this."

Board member Rosanne Brandeburg voted against the tabling, saying said she "wanted the public to be able to speak" and, because of the action, people could not comment on the policy. Brandeburg would not say whether she favored the middle school gay-straight club but said she was against getting rid of all clubs because of one.

The tweak in state law stems from Senate Bill 1076, which was signed by Gov. Rick Scott Monday and goes in effect July 1. The bill muddles which grades are protected by a federal law that bans schools from discriminating against non-academic clubs.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which is backing the gay-straight group, contends that under the federal Equal Access Act, Bayli's club is protected because schools cannot discriminate against non-academic clubs based on the topics they discuss. If a school has one non-academic club, then it must treat others the same, the group holds.

But SB 1076 removes the definition of "secondary" schools and does not replace it with a clear definition, leaving it up for debate as to whether a middle school is protected. The Department of Education also did not provide an explicit definition.

Lake School Board attorney Steve Johnson said that based on his review of other Florida laws, it appears "secondary" schools mean high schools — not middle schools. The School Board, in his opinion, isn't required to apply the federal law to middle schools, and board members can create rules however they want in those grades, he told members. But without any action Monday, campus principals are now left to decide handle school clubs.

Mathias and Howard both publicly called for grades 9-12 to be deemed "secondary," but Mathias said the lack of a clear definition wasn't what he expected. He expects the definition will have to be battled out in court.

The ACLU contends that the federal law still applies to middle schools, but even if it didn't, students still have the right to form the gay-straight group under the First Amendment.

Monday night, the audience equally jeered and applauded Mathias for his recommendation to table the issue. Many were angry because they were not able to speak, and those supporting Bayli called the change in law "dirty politics."

Joyce Hamilton, an ACLU regional director, said she was disappointed by the move and the agency will evaluate whether or not to take legal action.

"I am concerned about the environment that is now created in the school that is being perpetuated by the adults who profess … to have the best interest of all students in mind," she said.

The Rev. Gerald Bustin, of Open Door Community Church in Summerfield, , opposes the group and called it a plan "to adjust the minds of children who have no need to be involved in any kind of sexual activity" in middle school. Bustin added that opponents of the club "got what they were looking for."

Bayli's efforts have been thwarted by a school principal who took no action on her application and School Board members who initially tried to create a ban on all non-academic student clubs rather than allow hers.

After the vote Monday night, Bayli said she was "disappointed" in it, but she would continue to push for her club to organize.

"I'm going to keep fighting," she said. "It's not going to stop me. I'm doing all I can to try and get my club."

ericarodriguez@tribune.com or 352-742-5928

Copyright © 2013, Orlando Sentinel

Rick Riker Guest Editorial on Common Core Teaching Standards - Are they Marxist Standards?

Tavares, FL - Wed., March 26, 2013

Guest Editorial on Common Core Teaching Standards Being Implemented by Lake County, Florida and 40+ other States

by Rick Riker

Rick is an active member of the North Lake Tea Party and the Lake County Republican Executive Committee

  On October 16th, 2012 the Lake County School Board rolled out an introduction to Common Core Standards at Leesberg High School.   The moderately well attended presentation included remarks by the school board superintendent on how wonderful the program was and how excited she was that Lake schools would be participating in it, a motivational speaker spoke for a half hour also praising Common Core , and finally a choir of elementary school students sang a song praising Common Core.                                                                      

  The presentation was meant to be uplifting, instilling a sense of optimism in those attending, with hopes they  would spread the word that Common Core Standards were here, thank goodness.       However,  I’m sure there were those such a my wife and myself, who left the presentation  wondering what Common Core was all about , why no specifics were presented, why a motivational speaker was need , and in fact why this was turned into an “event”. 

  I already mentioned that specifics regarding Common Core Standards were excluded from the presentation.  It was amazing how the motivational speaker could speak for thirty minutes and say nothing, was there a reason?  Another part of the presentation featured the logo “Common Core “ superimposed in 20 foot high letters on the stage backdrop and both side walls, this was reminiscent of what one sees in Communist Mayday parades when they feature huge billboards and banners with pictures of Marxist leaders and symbols on them, and to top it off the Obama rainbow logo was incorporated into the O in Core. What was that all about?  Finally, the song the choir sang was entitled Forward with Common Core.  FORWARD?  The word Forward is a slogan used by Marxists and is closely associated with that movement.  

  Welcome to, as teachers Jenni White, Lynn Habluetzel, and Jo Joyce call it in their article, COMMON CORE STANDARDS ; AN INTRODUCTION TO MARXISM 101.        HERE is a 1 hour 15 minute video on this same subject.                 

  Is Common Core the result of a further move by the government toward a totalitarian state?  Dictators claim they have the responsibility to engineer society because left to their own devices people are not capable of knowing what is good for them.  Common Core was set up because the federal government didn’t think states knew the best way to educate children.   That’s one strike against Common Core.   The standard Common Core strives for is one in which every student in the country has the exact same knowledge, no one person needs to be smarter than another. Everyone functions in the collective, no individuals allowed.  That’s strike two.  Under Marxism, the ultimate purpose of education is to strengthen the state and the building up of a classless society. Knowledge is not to be imparted or acquired for its own sake. It has social purpose- namely the service of the state”.  Common Core is teaching by the collective for the collective with the stated objective of turning children into good workers (for the state). STRIKE THREE!!!! 

   I wish I could have added “YOUR OUT”!!, but that’s probably not going to happen any time soon.  It seems the financial carrot the Obama administration dangles in front of the states has been too attractive to pass up.   The federal government is handing out massive grants to state governments that implement Common Core Standards.   The administration is also requiring states to sign up for the Common Core to obtain so-called “No Child Left Behind” waivers.  These bribes have not been successful with all states.    Some have already refused to accept the Common Core standards, and others have already withdrawn despite initially accepting.  Other states are currently considering withdrawal, and that trend is expected to accelerate as America’s parents realize what is going on.  The more parents in Florida know about Common Core the closer we are to withdrawing from this federal power grab, and the closer we are to returning education to the local level. 

Rick Riker

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Editor's Note:  We have written about the UN Agenda 21 sustainable development initiatives designed to move the US to socialism. Our fact sheet on Agenda 21 is at www.tinyurl.com/HaltAgenda21 .  Control of the education system is also used to implement that plan, but the education Agenda 21 initiatives from UNESCO and other UN agencies are so large that I have not written much about them.  But I intend to provide space for those who do spend time to understand the risks of UN "one world government" education initiatives, including Common Core Standards.  

One factor is that one of the major developers of Common Core is now the President of the ACT testing program that tests kids for college entrance.  He is modifying the tests so only students in Common Core programs will be able to compete, which excludes private schools, home schooled kids, and those from states that have not adopted Common Core.    One of the other objectives of the UN programs is to educate kids to believe the "collective" or government should be more important in their lives than family or parents. (Remember the Chinese programs where kids were taught to obey Mao's "Little Red Book" over their parents? Remember the Hitler Youth?  ).   So watch for evidence of that.

I have asked administrators at the Lake County School District about Common Core, and they say they have no choice to implement it since the State of Florida mandated the Standards.   I know that there have been training programs and trips to go to them by staff, including one funded by the Bill Gates Foundation, which is pushing Common Core.

Those are the type of stealth efforts being implemented by Socialist Progressives and parents and educators need to stand up to them.  Common Core is like Obamacare.  No one has read it and they just listened to the nice, fuzzy, warm words describing it.  Or, take no action and watch your little socialists grow up.

"In order to save the planet, we must destroy capitalism" 

            Maurice Strong, former UN Sec General and one of the developers of Agenda 21

Here are some links about Common Core problems.  These aren't the best resources for everyone, so I encourage you to do your own research to find inforation pertinent to your values.

http://cuacc.org/     -  Californians United Against Common Core

http://iloveyoubutyouregoingtohell.org/2013/01/11/homeschooling-and-the-common-core/

 

Vance Jochim

FiscalRangers.com - a watchdog blog on local government in Lake County, FL

 

Florida Bill SB-806 to Provide More School Schedule Flexibility Being Fought by Tourism Industry & Disney

Tavares, FL - Thursday, March 21, 2013

School Districts in Florida are waiting for progress on a bill SB-806 (2013), that will allow them more flexibility in scheduling student calendars and when end of session tests are given.   Right now, the Florida state mandated schedule calendars force them to give exams AFTER Christmas break, which disrupts the learning and success rates.

Read more on the bill and about who is fighting the bill here:

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2013/mar/20/bill-floating-in-the-legislature-gives-florida/

You can monitor progress of Bill SB-806 here:

http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2013/0806 

NOTE:  Below are the 2013 Lake County School District Legislative Priorities, but this bill is not on it, although I remember them discussing it at a Board meeting.

Vance Jochim

FiscalRangers.com

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Lake County Schools (Florida)
2013 Legislative Priorities (Source:  N. Challenger in Superintendant's Office)

1. Respect the constitutional authority of local elected school board members to
"supervise, operate and control" public schools in all areas, included, but not
limited to, flexibility in categorical spending, instruction, performance pay, budget,
personnel, charter schools, and school calendars.

2. To adequately fund community colleges for offering Dual Enrollment programs to
high school students.

3. Redistribute available PECO funds to include public schools. Prior to 2011,
PECO funds were allocated to postsecondary, K-12, and Charter Schools. In
2011, public schools K-12 were excluded.

4. To ensure the sustainability and equity of the Florida Education Finance Program
(FEFP), the state must restore the formula to the adopted 2007-2008 Regular
Legislative Session level. This includes restoring both formula components and
per student amount.

5. Restore the capital outlay tax to the 2007 level of 2 mills (changed to 1.50 mills in
2009) without impacting the operating millage.

 

 

Volusia County Schools Could Save $17-million by Outsourcing Custodial Services

Tavares, FL  -   Feb. 11, 2013

by Vance Jochim

The School District in Volusia County FL lost a referendum last year to raise annual property taxes by $26-million, so they are hunting for every idea to reduce costs since revenues are down.

One method is outsourcing, and they are seriously considering outsourcing of custodial services to reduce costs and save an estimated $17-million.   The article below brings up a number of outsourcing examples. 

One major reason is the high health and pension costs for workers who could be outsourced.

Meanwhile, here in Lake County FL, there is much talk of running out of money, but no discussion yet on obtaining outsourcing proposals for services like custodions, food service, etc.    Many of the employees subject to similar outsourcing proposals are members of the SEIU Union.   So, you might wonder why School Board member Rosanne Brandeburg took about $12,000 in contributions from SEIU and Teacher's unions for her recent re-election campaign.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20130211/OPINION/302089949/1028?Title=Schools-wise-to-consider-outsourcing-some-services   

Note:  I have been laid off three times in corporate downsizings, buyouts and mergers, so Government employees need to be competitive with the private world.

Fitch Rates Lake County School Board an A+ bond rating JUST Before they decide to refinance $90-million in bonds.

Tavares, FL - Jan. 5, 2012

This rating actually came out on December 20th, but I just found it today. 

This was before the School District Board decided on December 31 to refinance another $90-million in bonds without any competitive bids.  That means they sole sourced a bond consultant and approved the deal without any competitive bidding.  Fees described in the online agreement were over $500,000.

I can't explain the relevance of the rating, but the analysis seems interesting.

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20121220006225/en/Fitch-Rates-Lake-County-School-Board-FLs 

VJ

 

Our Take of Yesterday's Lake County Legislators' Delegation Forum & Video Posted

Leesburg, FL - Jan 5, 2012

Yesterday, Jan. 4th, Lake County's three Florida Representatives ( Larry Metz, Bryan Nelson & Marlene O'Toole) and two Senators (Alan Hays & Dorothy Hukill) held their annual "Lake County Legislators' Delegation" meeting to listen to "pitches" from over 20 people from different government and other agencies asking for funds, legislation changes or other Florida State Support for their issues.

The publicity for the meeting was so bad that hardly any members of the public attended.  Details on meeting locations were confused with three different sites being described by different people.  Agendas were stacked at the side and there was no table to greet attendees or get their names to send out follow up documents.   I only found out about the meeting in the morning and had to cancel a dental appointment to attend.   Hardly any members of the public or press attended.  The only member of the press there was from Lake Sentinel.  The picture shows you what I mean - this was halfway through the meeting after first speakers all left.  If taxpayers and conservative groups don't attend these types of meetings and make their positions known, don't cry when nothing is done.  I am surprised the

Upcoming Lake County Impact Fee Decisions Could Result in NEW Taxes for YOU!

Tavares, FL - Lake County, FL - Monday, Nov. 26, 2012

After taking a 3-week period to recover from the election results, we are back at it!

Your taxes could be raised next year if the Lake County Board decides to continue waiving local Impact Fees on new construction.  By waiving the impact fees, the Board is giving up tax revenues that will need to be provided by another source, like property taxes, sales taxes, etc.

The Lake County Board and the Lake County School District Board are in the process of deciding whether to renew suspension of impact fees for County transportation (roads) and Schools on new construction of homes and commercial buildings.

If you read about or see Lake County (not city) roads being overcrowded, or schools not being able to buy new buildings, computers or school buses, one reason is that impact fees for them were waived by the County Board the last 2-3 years.

The resulting County & School Board impact fee decisions in the next 1-2 months could re-enact transportation and school impact fees on new construction waived by the Lake County Board for the last 2 years.  The homebuilders and commercial construction firms don't like impact fees and want them gone.  But, if not reinstated, the waivers could be extended another year.  If they are waived, look for different taxes to be proposed or initiated to cover the missing revenue since all tax revenues are falling.   Thus, rather than homebuilders and owners of new buildings contributing up front via impact fees to the cost of new roads and school facilities needed for the new residents and businesses, ALL taxpayers could be taxed to subsidize the homebuilders and owners of the new construction.

In general, impact fee revenues are dedicated to NEW assets for separate uses like parks, roads, schools, fire services and libraries.   Their use is limited to capital spending, like building new roads or school buildings, or buying "capital" equipment like school buses, new or replacement computers and vehicles. Impact fees can't be used for salaries or normal operating or maintenance uses.   You can see the Lake County list of uses for impact fees, and how much is levied on new construction for each purpose HERE.  You can also read prior Impact Fee committee reports which were ignored by both Boards. 

Cities also have their own impact fees, which we are not discussing here.  This article is only about County level impact fees.  Thus a home built in Leesburg would be subject to any impact fees defined by the city, but not county.  And, a home built in Lake County unincorporated areas would be subject to the impact fees we are writing about here.

Impact fees are collected on all new construction, not on existing homes or buildings.  The theory is that since new construction results in the need for wider roads, new school student stations, school buses, etc. that the owner of the new construction should pay "impact" fees to help pay for new infrastructure (in this case, for roads and schools).

1:  Transportation Impact Fees

These are fees on NEW residential and commercial construction designed to pay for new road and other needed infrastructure generated by the new construction (like road widening, intersections).   The Board received a presentation on the issues at the last Board meeting, but will discuss what to do at an upcoming meeting.  Watch for it, because the general consensus  seems to be they will need SOME impact fees to offset other revenue losses, but it might be linked to unemployment figures.   It might mean the end of completely caving to the home and commercial construction builders and reinstatement of some impact fees to cover new infrastructure costs for growth.  The alternative is alternate taxes, and they have recommendations in earlier reports (at the above website link) which were ignored.

Here is last year's CFAC report on Transportation Impact fees, which once again was ignored by the County Commissioners, because they ignored a previous Impact Fee recommendation report also.   Why does anyone bother working on their committees??

2: School Impact Fees

These fees on new residential and commercial construction are used for School Capital spending (like buildings, some repairs, enhancements and purchases like classroom computers) and were waived by a WEAK School Board (our opinion) who caved to the Homebuilder’s industry instead of maintaining the revenue stream (estimated at $2-4-million per year) for the school system.   I was at the meeting where the Board majority of Debbie Stivender, Kyleen Fisher and Rosanne Brandeburg sold out to the homebuilders and declined to demand continuation of the impact fees. So, by default, the County Board, who had the final vote, continued their support of economic development over education financing and enacted a waiver of the School Impact fees two years ago.   The School Board & the County Board ignored results from an Impact Fee report, AND they did not implement any method to offset the tax waived.   Instead, what the School Board does is force the Administration to defer maintenance and capital spending.  That is one reason (State mandates and budget reductions are others) why you hear staff complaining about bad air conditioners, overcrowding, etc.   

So, if you want to follow the SCHOOL Impact Fee meetings, the next School CFAC meeting is this Thursday at the School District offices.  The County CFAC (Capital Facilities Advisory Committee) will meet this Thursday, November 29, 2012 9:30 A.M.  Location:   Board Room, Lake County School District Office, 201 West Burleigh Boulevard, Tavares, FL.  I don’t know which area will be covered, but there is a possibility the committee will finish more meetings, write a report and it will be ignored by the School Board and County Board who seem to only listen to the homebuilders without creating any revenue alternatives to make up for lost impact fees.   Thus there is a REAL possibility they will try to ask for more taxes to shift the cost of capital spending from new construction to all property owners (or other taxes, like fuel taxes, etc.)   

Let members of BOTH Boards know what YOU think – should they retain impact fees which tax those who create the need for new infrastructure, or should they shift those waived revenue needs to ALL taxpayers a different way.   For instance, if a developer builds a tract with 100 homes, it results in the need for more student seats, road widening, student bus transporation equipment, etc.   Should those new homeowners pay impact fee taxes on the new homes right when they move in, or should ALL taxpayers pay those fees and subsidize the infrastructure costs of the new homes.   Some people might call this income redistribution – you already have property, so the original owner might have paid impact fees on your property, but should you now also pay for the new homeowner infrastructure?    The homebuilders don’t want impact fees because it increases the financing costs of their products vs existing homes, so which will it be?  Equitable re-distribution or a requirement to pay new home and building costs up front?

My prediction is that since both Board Members Debbie Stivender and Rosanne Brandeburg were re-elected, they will join with Kyleen Fischer and side with the homebuilders again and do nothing, thus the County Board may once again waive their impact fees without a immediate plan to offset the reduced revenues.    As Tod Howard, a rational Board member said once (I paraphrase him) “Our job is to ensure properly funded education for students, not subsidize homebuilders by reducing a tax revenue stream…”. 

So if you voted to re-elect Stivender and Brandeburg, you now know the possible effect of that vote.  

The Impact Fee Bottom Line

The bottom line is that if you notice COUNTY roads are out of repair, and schools are running short of funds for capital spending on assets (including replacement equipment like School buses, vehicles, air conditioners and computers), both the County and School District Boards caved to homebuilders and waived the impact fees (which are one of several revenue sources) without implementing an alternate revenue method to offset the reduced impact revenues.  That to me is bad resource management when we all know next year will be fiscally worse. 

Recommendation:

I encourage you to visit the CFAC meetings, and also give public input at the County Board meeting when they discuss impact fees.

 Want to Read More about Lake County Impact Fees?

HERE are all of OUR earlier FiscalRangers.com Reports on local Lake County Impact Fees

The City of Tavares (as of today, Nov. 26, 2012) has a list of all residence fees, including the County Impact Fees HERE.  They show the Schools Impact Fee to still be $9324 per home with NO mention of the fees being waived.

Here is an article about the School Board reviewing an impact fee study last year, but then they refused to make any recommendations to the Lake County Board, thus the County Commissioners moved ahead and suspended the School impact fees for one year.  Then earlier this year, the County Board again suspended the School impact fees because the School Board didn't take a stand.  So, don't blame the County Board for waiving the fees, blame the do nothing School Board majority for not taking a stand.

Here is a 2010 article from Orlando Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell also explaining how waived impact fees result in other taxes.

And, HERE is a 2010 column by Lauren Ritchie on the results of waiving impact fees when that was first proposed by Lake County Commissioner Jimmy Conner.

 

 

FiscalRangers.com Lake County, FL Voting Guide PLUS Tips to Ensure your Ballots & Votes are COUNTED!!

Tavares, FL - Nov. 1, 2012

Here are the FiscalRangers Lake County voting guide & recommendations, followed by tips to ensure your ballots or votes are not denied due to stupid voter mistakes (which are infrequent, but do happen).

FiscalRangers.com Lake County Voting Recommendations (Cities not Included)

By Vance Jochim

Many offices were decided during the primaries, thus I don’t list them here. 

My bias is I mostly vote Republican and for candidates who are intelligent, create initiatives and exercise sound fiscal decisions.

If you don’t have a sample ballot, go to this Lake County Elections page, select your precinct and print or download your specific sample ballot:  http://elections.lakecountyfl.gov/sample_ballots/index.aspx 

President :  Romney/Ryan – duh!    Or did you forget that Obama ran the deficit up to $1-trillion per year, and the national debt up to $16-billion for your kids.  Don't even get me started on all those Executive Orders or Obama failing to provide security, resulting in the murder of a US Ambassador in Libya.

US Senator:   Vote for Connie Mack, NOT Nelson.   Democrat Nelson voted like Obama and is part of the problem we have with the economy.

US Representative – District 10:  Vote for incumbent Daniel Webster (not Deming).  Deming is a Democrat who follows Obama’s line of philosophy.  Enuf said.

US Representative (different District):  Vote for Todd Long, NOT Crazy Alan Grayson (if you are in Long’s new district, vote for him, or track him down and donate to him)

Property Appraiser:  Former Florida Senator Carey Baker  is the only name on the ballot, so has essentially won and is well liked.  However, write in candidate Pam Lee is an alternative if you want Baker to get less than 100% of the vote!  Lee was active in the primary elections and produced lots of research which will lead to reforms.

Supervisor of Elections:  Vote for Margie Eaton (not incumbent & Democrat Emogene Stegall)  - 

Reasons to vote for Margie Eaton to replace the 30+ years incumbent.

Eaton is the ONLY candidate to receive a FULL endorsement by the Lake County Republican Party. 

In MY opinion, Stegall has been in the elections department for 54 years, which is too long.  Even though most people believe she has operated the department in a well operated and non-partisan way (she is a Democrat), she seems to focus on just what is required by regulations, and not being a leader in developing new laws, procedures or policies to reduce risks of illegal voters. Do you want a bookkeeper who just follows policy, or one who improves voting processes to detect and prevent and publicize voter fraud actions?

She participated in the DROP program which basically paid her both a full retirement and a full salary, which some people don’t like.  She agreed to retire around 2010 in a 2005 document, but has not. 

Based upon my conversations with her, Stegall does not understand computers, the website is 10 years out of date, candidates go to other County Election websites to get advice, staff is not consistent in giving advice to candidates, and the office won’t initiate computer routines to detect double voting, illegal voters, etc.  

Additionally, earlier this year, Governor Scott issued a report ranking all 67 County Elections Departments, as covered by the Tampa Bay Times HERE.   Emogene’s Lake County Elections department was 57th our of 67 in the survey, or in the BOTTOM TWELVE of all 67 counties for things like meeting deadlines and other factors ( see the above Tampa Bay Times article about it, or read the survey attached below).  We cannot keep operating the elections department like in the 1990’s or 1980’s because too many groups are trying to manipulate the vote counts and a more pro-active Supervisor of Elections is needed.   That is why we need NEW blood running the Lake County Elections office.  I think the existing staff is hard working, but need new and more assertive direction. 

Here is Governor Scott's report, which was removed from the internet after many Florida county Elections Supervisors complained they didn't want the public to see the report.    Download Scott's soe_survey_information_-_final  <  Lake County is 57th.

Vote for Margie Eaton for Lake County Elections Supervisor, who has a degree, fifteen years in the judicial (legal) field and understands the need to develop computer matching and other procedures to detect illegal voters.

County Commissioner:  Vote for Jimmy Conner.   Opponent Michael Odette has rarely been in Lake County because he was working in the Phillipines.   Odette mostly focused on negative issues and didn’t really have any plans to improve over Conner’s track record of keeping a spending lid on costs of a number of major building projects. Jimmy tells better jokes.

School Board Member District 2:  Vote for incumbent Jim Miller vs incumbent Rosanne Brandeburg – This is a strange race where both are incumbents, but due to redistricting, both now live in Brandeburg’s new District, but Miller decided to run against her in the new District, making way for Bill Mathias to win the other District.   Miller  has been a leader for school uniforms and spending funds on technology vs buildings.   Brandeburg has received thousands of dollars from the SEIU, Service Employees International Union, not ONLY from the local school employee union but others from around Florida.  In my view, no elected School Board member should be taking contributions from unions where they later approve wages and benefits.   Or, they need to recuse themselves from all wage and benefit approvals, and that hasn’t happened to my knowledge (Board members conveniently vote in SECRET on union wage increases).   

School Board Member District 4 – Vote “T. Lowe” (which is for Thuy Lowe), an active Republican certified as a valid candidate by the Lake County Republicans.  Opponent and incumbent Debbie Stivender did not receive any such support.   Stivender has name recognition since she was on the County Commission for several years, and IS known as a hard worker, but I haven’t seen her initiate any major reforms.  Stivender is one of three Board members that keeps voting for the status quo and capital spending, plus she is endorsed by the TEACHER’s Union (LCEA).  So, like Brandeburg, I don’t think an elected official should be taking support from a union where they later approve wage and benefit increases (never a decrease…).   Stivender has been there four years and the school district is still ranked a B system, so maybe a change is needed.    

Retention of Florida Supreme Court Justices:   Vote NO on retaining three Florida Justices, Fred Lewis, Barbara Pariente and Peggy Quince.  You are asked on the ballot to vote yes or no to “retain” each of them.  They are ALL three liberal justices who believe in "judicial activism" and keep issuing court decisions against the interests of many conservatives.  Vote NO for all three.   The Florida GOP also voted to oppose their retention.  Only liberals still want them retained.  VOTE NO.   See http://www.restorejustice2012.com/  if you want to read a “Scorecard” on their poor legal decisions.

Florida State Amendments 1-12 (number 7 does not exist, thus there are really only 11 you vote on)

I used the official ballots, notes from presentations by Rep. Larry Metz, handouts from Tea parties and Florida Trend magazine to reach these conclusions.

Overall thoughts on Amendment votes – each Amendment will amend the Florida Constitution, not create a separate law.   

-          All these amendments were initiated by Florida legislators, not grass roots movements.   Thus many feel that the legislators should have passed laws rather than avoiding accountability by placing the issue on the ballot to modify the Florida Constitution.  If you agree with that principle, you would vote NO on all of them, and throw the issues back to the legislators.

-          A pattern of giving tax breaks to certain groups troubles some.  If you agree, vote no against the various tax breaks and exemptions.

-          Constitutional Amendments are harder to reverse due to a higher required vote percentage.   If you want more flexibility to reverse one of these issues, it should be a law, not an Amendment.

Amendment 1:    Health Insurance Mandates – I Voted YES - this prohibits some mandated actions included in Obamacare like mandatory purchase of health insurance.  If you don’t like Obamacare, vote YES on this one.  Read the text and see if you agree with what is prohibited.   The Democrats don’t want this passed, which may be a clue.

Amendment 2:   Property Tax Discounts for Veterans who were disabled due to combat.   I voted NO.   Vote YES if you want to give them a discount on property taxes, and NO if you do not.   Some pundits say this Amendment was pushed by legislators to get more votes from Veterans (I am one but I don’t like unequal taxes, so I will vote NO).

Amendment 3:   Modifies method to limit Florida State maximum revenue (i.e. taxes).    I voted YES.     The current formula used to calculate maximum taxes is based upon personal income growth.  The proposed NEW method would be based on inflation and population changes, which many consider to be more logical and prevent huge tax revenue increases allowed due to people earning more.   This reduces chances of higher tax collections only due to personal income growth.   It also means that if income growth is static, but population and inflation increase (which will happen next year), it is another method to collect rising taxes to match inflation and population growth. 

Amendment 4:  Property tax limits, value declines – Vote NO -  This is a mess of different changes, but it grabs funds from school districts so they don’t like it, and it gives new home buyers an ADDED homestead exemption which pleases the Realtors, and would result in other taxes paid by you being raised to offset the losses.   The Realtors, homebuilders and Chamber of Commerces all like this, but it shifts tax needs to existing homeowners in order to subsidize new home sales.   You probably will find something you like here, but get skewered by others.  Vote NO.

Amendment 5:  Judicial Reform - Allows the Senate to confirm Florida State Supreme Court Justices – Vote YES – right now, most control of nominations for Justices is through the liberal BAR (attorney) association, which is why we keep getting liberal justices.  By providing that the Senate also confirms their selection, it gives voters the ability to elect ones who support more balanced or reasonable judges who don’t practice judicial activism.  Vote YES.   The liberals don’t want this, which is one reason you WANT it.

Amendment 6:  Abortion Restrictions – Read the text and YOU decide.   It adds restrictions intended to reduce abortions.   Democrats don’t want this, and Conservatives do.  

Amendment 7:  Not used and not on the ballot.

Amendment 8:  Religious Funding – Read the text and decide -  This would REPEAL a LONG standing prohibition on using state funds for religious organizations.  Right now, Florida state funds cannot be used to subsidize schools or other “social services” programs like homeless shelters, food banks, etc. run by Churches or religious groups.   If you say YES, you want Church schools, charter schools, religious education VOUCHER programs and other programs to be eligible for State funding.   Some people fear the funds will go to large, organized religions like Catholics or Muslims.   Other people don’t see why a Church run school should not qualify for State funds like a non-religion run charter school.  This is a big change, so vote for your beliefs.  I believe more charter schools are needed, so I voted yes.   But don’t be surprised if other religious programs that you don’t agree with get funds.  Opponents include teacher unions (who don’t want competition), the ACLU, Democrats, etc. which may tell you which way to vote.

Amendment 9:  Surviving Spouses Tax Relief -  Read the text and vote.   This is another homestead tax exemption, which is for Surviving spouses of military veterans AND First Responders (police, firefighters, etc.).    They should have insurance, and I don’t believe in constantly giving out tax exemptions, so I voted NO.   There is no means testing, which means a highly paid surviving spouse would also get the exemption.  This is the legislators pandering to the named groups to get votes.  I voted NO.    The problem with home related tax breaks is that school districts and other agencies take a hit without any alternative to offset the lost revenue.

Amendment 10:  Small Business Tax Break – Creates an additional tax exemption  on tangible personal property (like business machines, vehicles, manufacturing equipment).  Democrats don’t want this.  Gov. Rick Scott and many business organizations do want this.  If you believe SMALL businesses should get an added tax break, vote YES.   If you don’t, vote NO.   It will reduce LOCAL government personal property tax collections.   I voted YES.    I am against most tax exemptions to people, but believe  this one will help small businesses buy more capital assets which will help the economy.

Amendment 11:  Senior Homestead Tax Exemption – This exemption ONLY applies to residents who have LIVED in the taxed property for 25 years, earn under $27,000 per year, and where the house has a “just value” under $250,000, and the total impact is very low.  Additionally, the exemption is not at the state level, but allows local counties to decide, so local voters would have a say on this.  Basically, this subsidizes widows and long time local residents, and I think this is reasonable since the local County must decide whether to approve the exemptions.  I am a senior, but have only lived here 7 years.   I voted YES, and there are NO opponents to this.

Amendment 12:  Student Representation – Voting YES resolves a minor bureaucratic problem involving whether a student body president at one college can be appointed to a State Board.  However, I think this should not be an Amendment but a law.   I voted NO.    However, both the House and Senate passed this with high margins and it has no tax or fiscal effect.

***** end of ballot recommendations  ********

VOTING TIPS to ensure your Vote or Ballots are Counted and not denied due to some stupid mistakes

First, here are some video tips on shortening your voting time from Orlando Sentinel's Steve Hudak, who used to cover the Lake County area, but is now in Orlando.

Next, here are my tips:

I was observing at the Lake County Elections canvassing board today where County Commissioners Sean Parks and Jennifer Hill were on the panel, plus a Judge Neal.  They were reviewing absentee ballots to approve or deny proper signatures, or to approve or deny specific votes due to mistakes made on the ballot by the voter.   Signatures on the outside of the absentee ballot envelopes are signed, and Elections staff compares them to signatures on file in order to somewhat validate the registered voter is the actual one voting.  If the signatures don’t easily match, they are sent to this Board to determine acceptability or not. 

The Lake County canvassing board reviewed absentee ballot envelope signatures and threw out dozens of votes where the signatures did not match or were missing.  The elections staff put them on an overhead projector for the panel to evaluate, and no one touched the ballots except the Elections staff, who numbered every document and recorded the decisions on audio tape.    The whole process was well documented and logical, and I didn’t spot any “dirty tricks”.  But, I took notes of the reasons why ballots or votes were denied, so read them and learn.

These are all my tips based upon my observation of the Canvassing Board and not from anyone else.   The final say is from the County Attorney who has guidelines.  

-          The Elections staff is very strict in reviewing vote choices, and if you just touched one candidate oval with the pen tip, but blackened another, they forward it to the Canvassing Board for analysis.  Some people would redraw the oval line, but fill in a different one, so those also went to the Canvassing Board.   The general rule is try not to make ANY marks in or near any oval except the one you want.  Doing so just delays counting of your votes and increases the workload of the elections staff.

-          Make sure your signature on the absentee ballot matches the one on file with the Elections Dept.  Some people have not updated their current signatures in years, so they are hard to match and might be thrown out.  Voters who were “registered” when they got a new driver’s license might have a completely different signature now compared to the one filed then.  College students who registered while in college may completely change their signature after they get into the working world.  A possible relative of one well known candidate printed his name in one place and wrote script in the other, so his ballot was not counted (following standard Florida rules - the attorney was there).    Another common mistake that results in denied votes.  Don’t use initials for a “signature” when most likely your original signature was a full, written signature.   Initials get rejected.   Several absentee ballots clearly had shaky signatures printed by senior citizens, and it was impossible to compare or match those to the much earlier handwritten signature initially provided to Elections by the voter.  Finally, if it is hard to write for a senior citizen, you can update their signature to an X, but then they need to sign the same X when requesting a ballot, and not print or write their name.

-          Several other specific votes were tossed out (they saved the evidence) due to ballot screwups like marking more than one choice for a specific office.  For some reason, several Obama voters also voted for Rosanne Barr or for SEVERAL President candidates, thus the vote was not counted for any of the votes.  As a Republican, I only see Republican candidates, but there is a LONG list of Democrat candidates for President, providing more choices.  The attending County Attorney said our 382 reviewed ballot group wasn't as bad as Miami-Dade County where they have to review 4000 ballots for similar issues.

-          Mistakes are not always corrected clearly by voters, so your real vote intention is hard to determine.  - If you DO make a candidate selection mistake, X out the wrong one and mark by it as a Mistake, or “not this one”.  If you just leave two ovals for the same race marked the same, the vote is not counted since the panel can't tell which one was your actual choice.  The staff and Canvassing Board did a good job - I didn't see any tricks, etc. I also didn’t really see any trends of one party over the other except for the Democrats filing multiple votes for Presidential candidates, thus their vote was not counted.  Perhaps some of the Democrat voters really didn't want to vote for Obama, and checked more than one name to invalidate it.    I did notice that Romney voters in the ballots being reviewed generally tended to vote for all candidates, but a number of Obama supporters only supported just Obama, possibly Nelson and Deming.   Gee, do you think they were coached, but not educated about local candidates (even Emogene didn’t always get their vote, which was interesting.)   By the way, the voter name was not visible so we never knew who the ballot was from.

The worst ballot I saw being reviewed is where the voter wrote “NO” in all the ovals of people they did not want, and filled in the Oval of the one they did want (which was hard to analyze, but then their choice did get approved by the Board.)

A similar review of absentee ballot accuracy was conducted last week, and probably some more will be conducted soon, although about 25,000 of 35,000 absentee ballots have been filed.  

Tips for Early Voting & Nov. 6^th Voting – This process is different.   You fill out a form and sign it, and you provide a Voter ID.  The staff pulls your official ballot from file folders by Precinct.   I don’t know what inspection procedures will be used for physically filed ballots during early voting or on Nov. 6^th because they compare signatures to the voter ID right at the time of voting, rather than after the fact.    However, if people screw up their voting marks on the ballots (duplicate votes, added marks, etc.) the scanner will set them aside and I assume the Canvassing Board will have to inspect them also to determine if specific votes can be determined and approved.   

-          Make sure to take your voter ID with you.  Make sure the address on the ID matches the residence address or they might not allow you to vote, or set your ballot aside.   If your voter ID doesn’t match the home address, take more proof like your original voter registration card with the home address, or a utility bill for that address with your name.   My driver’s license has a mailing address and not my home address, but they accepted it because I also had my original voter registration id with the home address.

-          Mark your votes before voting on a sample ballot.  If you don’t have a sample ballot, go to this page, select your precinct and print or download your specific sample ballot:  http://elections.lakecountyfl.gov/sample_ballots/index.aspx     One reason is to make your mistakes on the sample ballot and not on the real one. Take the sample ballot with you to the voting location and use it as a guide to filling out the actual ballot.

-          Make sure your intended votes are clear.  Read the problems described above from my visit to the Canvassing Board meeting.   Focus on the reasons why votes are not approved, and ensure you don’t make the same mistakes.  The biggest reasons I saw today for votes not being counted is marking multiple candidates, leaving them blank, or not being clear which mark (a checkmark vs an X) indicated your intended vote.   However, most people had no problems.  Only maybe 1 of 25 to 50 absentee ballots had any problems (my estimate) requiring a review, and many issues were minor and resulted in all votes being counted.

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 

"FiscalRangers" page on Facebook 

YouTube:  NEW 6/2012 - Videos of local political candidate forums and other meetings, like North Lake County Hospital District & Lake County Legislators' Delegation annual forums    -  visit the youtube channel "FiscalRangersFlorida" 

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

 

 

 

What is a Florida Millage Tax? A Tax RATE on Private Property like Residences, Commercial Buildings, etc

Here is a great article explaining what a millage tax is, also known as a property tax in Florida.

http://www.floridapoliticalpress.com/2012/10/30/what-is-a-millage-tax/  

What is a Millage Tax - from Florida Political Press - Written for Seminole County (FL) property owners

By Ed Ghiglieri

(TIP: First, Florida residents and home or commercial property owners, get out your house's property tax TRIM Notice from your County Property Appraiser  (estimates of pending millage rates and property values for the coming tax year) OR your most recent actual Property Tax Bill (from the Tax Collector).  Both is better.   Millage rates don't affect renters except that the tax WILL be included in the house or business building rent you pay to the owner.   If the local city, county or government agency increases a millage rate, your rent will probably go up.)

Recently the Seminole County School Board proposed “up to a 1 mill” increase on property taxes in Seminole County to increase the school revenues.  In talking to residents, homeowners, business owners and renters of all types there is some confusion of what a millage tax is.

I have been told from some people that it’s a mileage tax on your cars and it’s used for road work and your auto insurance company reports your annual mileage to the property appraiser.  It’s not that!

As defined by Webster’s, it’s a “a rate (as of taxation) expressed in mills per dollar”.  The mill(s) are basically a percentage, where

Factors in Successful Applications for New Florida Charter School Approvals

Tavares, FL - Oct. 11, 2012

Florida has regulations that provide incentives to create charter schools, and most School Boards are seeing charter school applications increase.

The proponents of a new charter school must apply to the local Countywide School Boards for approvals.

In Lake County, FL, we have several "conversion" charter schools, where existing County schools convert to Charter schools, and we have several other schools run by external groups.  The Lake County School Board gets 2-3 applications for new charter schools each year, but most of them are incomplete and end up not going anywhere.

This article about a wave of Charter School applications in Duvall  County, FL (Jacksonville area) indicates some unique reasons for charter school applications:

- Counties with POOR school rankings are