Monday, August 22, 2016

Lake Worth General Obligation Road bond amendment

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City Manager, Michael Bornstein has said, "The problem with our roads was studied and quantified in 2013, when the City hired an engineering firm to conduct a detailed analysis of all City owned roads.  Using high tech equipment along with actual samples taken by drilling down into the roads, a list from best to worst was created.  The report became the basis for the bond issue (Lake Worth 2020) that went to the voters in 2014.  It failed by 24 votes.  While there are many reasons why the bond did not pass, the fact is the potholes and cracks are still a major problem.  To make matters worse, the roads continue to degrade with each passing season and patching is only a temporary and unsatisfactory band aid.

Moving forward, we will engage in a community-wide discussion on what a road improvement program should look like.  It is our hope that this effort will result in a clear and concise list of projects, how to pay for them, and a timeline on their implementation.  This will be another opportunity for Lake Worth to build on our sense of community and come together for the good of all.

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The LW 2020 lost by 25 votes under overwhelming odds--the city had all the cash and clout to pass it.
The City of Lake Worth's administration did everything it could to reverse the count even going so far as to accuse the Supervisor of Elections of a Sunshine violation.
When can the residents get some answers and actually speak to this?
Why did the city reduce the roads maintenance budget from over 1 million a year down to $500k of which only 200k was used for roads?
When will the residents know the total cost of this 30 year bond with interest?
Why do you feel that we need to be educated on what a road improvement program should look like?
There was supposed to be a calculator on the Lake Worth web site for residents to use to determine what they would be paying? Where is it?
As it is only 77 days until the November election, when do we get to ask questions or will it just be about receiving the city's propaganda to grab the cash?




7 comments:

Anonymous said...

When the finance director gave out the facts about the failed 20/20 bond,he got fired. Two years of absolute and stubborn silence from Pam Triolo,Scott Maxwell and Andy Amoroso while our roads rot.Nothing. No work shops ,NOTHING.
Then City Manager Mike Bornstein pulls 8,000 dollars out of his ass for a bogus 200 person survey(done by a friend of his) that concluded people in Lake Worth are white,retired and still clinging to their land telephone line!And they want MORE TAXES on themselves,DAMMIT !
We've had one workshop where citizens were not allowed to speak. We've had one Commission meeting where this 40,000,000 35 year tax debt on the businesses and residents was stuffed onto the consent agenda! This doesn't even warrant it's own agenda item???? We're about to have ANOTHER work shop where WE THE PEOPLE ARE not allowed to speak!!!
Glen Torcivia wants 25,000 in court fees because a resident had the nerve to say elections should matter. Well I want the 50,000 that Pam Andy and Scott STOLE FROM the people to spread lies about the failed 20/20 bond!

Anonymous said...

They've got a great strategy, focus on the roads and pot holes and which streets will be fixed and NEVER mention one word about how much it will cost and who will pay.

Kudos to City leadership, they figured out that the real mistake last time around was having meetings and finally giving up the details on how it would raise taxes to the highest in the county and how your homestead protection wouldn't protect you if you couldn't pay the road debt and how they couldn't tell you how much it would cost from year to years, etc. This time around they just aren't going to make that mistake instead they will simply say nothing about cost. Its a new version of magical thinking, if we don't mention cost maybe the tax payers won't figure out that this road bond will be paid by them.

Anonymous said...

Being one of the 24/25 votes against the 20/20 bond but someone informed enough to know the roads are not going to rebuild themselves, I am relieved to see the administration coming back to the voters to approve a plan that takes out the Park of Commerce and new buildings and slush funds. If THAT is truly the case and these are not hidden in the details, I will vote for the bond and encourage its passage.

The vote to place the bond on the November ballot in the consent agenda is a red herring. While I, like most residents, know we need the roads fixed, there are still those who would like to explore different ways to pay for it.

Voting for bonds affects all "tax paying" properties in the city. That means those non-profits like churches and schools and non-governmental organizations (NGO's) who claim tax exemption, and those with low property values with homestead exemptions will pay nothing, necessarily shifting that burden to those of us that don't have such exemption.

The argument is to make it more fair, assessments could take the place of bonded tax liability. Each "property" pays into the project. The problem with that method is in figuring out how much each property pays.

Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) like this are widely financed by bonds. Lake Worth, being a "poor" city with high concentrations of NGO's and low value properties makes it that much harder to find a compromise. But bond money is available at this time at almost 0%. So from that standpoint, this is an excellent time to make this type of investment in our infrastructure.

The commission is handling this bond differently with respect to trying to "sell" it to us. Probably a smart move. When the details come out, I hope there are no comparisons to costs of food items.




Lynn Anderson said...

In spite of the fact this commission and city manager have given us ZERO DETAILS, residents are fed up with the condition of our streets. I think the city should have waited to see if the 1 cent sales tax passed first.

The only fair way to pay for our roads is by a general obligation bond. You can't compare roads with garbage services where you can assess everyone the same as in an assessment. Everyone must benefit. Do you drive down all these roads? I live on a county owned road and my community has private streets. I would like to see the details...why so much ($40mil) even though the POC supposedly is not included this time nor the $3.2 million to the district commissioners. Is it still only going to include 30% of our roads?

Because the city has allowed our streets to go to hell, the bond will probably pass this time in spite of the fact they don't want the public to know anything and will continue the false myth that it will only cost you $100 a year on your advalorem.

Anonymous said...

An assessment works just fine. The assessment should be tied to assessed value. So no, a property assessed at $1 million would pay way more than one assessed at $50,000 but every property pays regardless of which roads you use or don't use.

Everyone uses some roads and/or benefits from the roads (meaning even if you are house bound you benefit from the roads b/c someone can make a delivery to you or the ambulance can get to your house).

I doubt the bond will pass, no one wants us to have the highest taxes in the county. While the city is trying to keep the costs information hidden, the business community will be blasting about this issue soon since they will take the brunt of it.

Lynn Anderson said...

Torcivia stated that in order to assess, that property owner would have to have a direct benefit. Therefore, that would be an impossibility, would it not? Because Snowden Drive is full of potholes and I never drive down that street, would that be a direct benefit to me? Snowden is used as an example for this argument. I don't know if it is full of potholes.

Lynn Anderson said...

And one more thought-- many of the business owners do not own their buildings. Many don't even live in this city. And one more thing, we have 60% rentals...I have no idea if the owners of these houses even live in the City of Lake Worth. In other words, FEW VOTERS if any. I would think business owners in this category would want the roads fixed...anything to help their bottom line.