Last Updated: 2:36 p.m.
A majority of the Palm Coast City Council spoke strongly, and at times derisively, against a proposal by Flagler County Commission Chairman Barbara Revels on splitting revenue from a half-cent sales tax.
But County Commission member Alan Peterson, who addressed the council, floated two ideas that may give the city an honorable way back to compromise.
That half-cent sales tax expires this year. Voters would have to approve its renewal in August or November. But Palm Coast and the county are at loggerheads over it. The current sales tax revenue is split in Palm Coast’s and other cities’ favor, with Palm Coast getting some $2.6 million of the annual $4 million revenue. The county wants to change that formula. The change would diminish Palm Coast’s revenue by $500,000 a year.
For the past several weeks, Palm Coast has essentially said: No way.
On Monday, the county held a “task force” meeting bringing together representatives from every city and the county to consider various proposals. The proposals turned out to be in short supply. Revels provided the only concrete one, though it left the cities cold. That proposal would expand the sales tax to 15 years, and only gradually reduce the cities’ share in line with the county’s preferred money split–over five years. Revels saw that as a compromise. The cities didn’t, but promised to take the idea back to their councils.
This morning before the Palm Coast council, Netts submitted the Revels plan, but it was clear, even before he spoke, that the plan–aside from council members Jason DeLorenzo and Frank Meeker–had no majority support.
“I don’t see why the default formula should be changed,” council member Bill McGuire said, referring to the formula currently in place, which heavily favors Palm Coast. “I guess maybe I’d be a little more receptive if somebody came forward from the county and said, if we had the revenues that we don’t have now, here’s what we’d spend it on. Because that’s what we do in the city. When we sit here and talk about what we’re going to do with money, we say, this is why we need it, and this is what we’re going to spend it on, here’s what the result is going to be. But all I’ve heard from out at the Taj Mahal is, we need more money, because we can’t make ends meet with what we’re getting now.”
McGuire persisted in saying that he has “no idea what the county wants to do or how they intend to do it.” It’s an exaggeration, but not by much. While the county has been clear about its need for a new or expanded jail, and has been just as clear with its desire to move the sheriff to downtown Bunnell, into the annex top the old courthouse, the County Commission in this case has been nowhere near as detailed with its plans as Palm Coast has been with, say, its road resurfacing program in the past decade or its stormwater program in the coming decade. In other words–and setting aside debates about the neglect of the past several years–there’s little question where and how Palm Coast wants to spend its money. There’s no equal certainty about the county’s plans.
While the county has made the case for a bigger or newer jail, it has not yet settled on how big, or shown how it would pay for the larger operation. While the county has spoken favorably of moving the sheriff to the old courthouse, it has not yet made a convincing argument about that need being so critical as to warrant a battle over sales tax dollars. McGuire was not so much disputing county needs as questioning their certainty and clarity.
“We have been above board and put everything on the table for everyone to see,” he said. “This is what our plan is, here’s why we need to do it, here’s what it’s going to take to fund it, and here’s our plan to fund it. I didn’t see those things forthcoming. I see things that bother me, whether they’re rumors or not, and I don’t really want to go into them in this meeting, but I think I’d be more receptive to what Ms. Revels put on the table if I knew that the county’s need is justified by the following projects that need to be funded.”
Given the county’s history with tax dollars, his opposition naturally resonated with other council members.
“Let’s go back historically 10 years ago when the half-cent sales tax was initiated,” Netts said. “We were very clear about what we were going to do with the money. The county was somewhat less clear, but they essentially said that there were several major projects. A new government services building, a new courthouse, an emergency operations center. Those were the high priorities to the county 10 years ago, not the jail, not this, that and the other thing. So now we come to today. Our priorities are still essentially infrastructure. I would be much more comfortable in talking about compromise if I knew that the county had looked at and made decisions about some of their other options. We today took what is undoubtedly an unpopular position. Mr. McGuire you said a franchise fee, a utility tax, is not popular. Absolutely, it’s not popular. The county has several other options. Gasoline tax. Not popular, especially with the price of gas being what it i8s. But it is an option.”
The mayor concluded: “I’m just not convinced that the county has looked at all the options that are open to them before they reached into our pocket.”
Earlier in the meeting, the council had voted to add a new levy on residents’ electricity bills, a 6 percent “fee” (essentially, a tax) that will, in part replace the elimination of an $8-a-month stormwater fee residents have been paying through their water bills.
Netts had his manager’s support. “The best thing to do is leaving it alone in my opinion,” Jim Landon said of the Revels plan. But he had a compromise of his own: extend the gradual reduction of the city’s share over 10 years instead of five years, and apply only a 10 percent reduction a year, as opposed to a 20 percent reduction.
Netts likes compromise. Not in this case. “Our infrastructure needs are going to increase,” he said. “I’m just not comfortable saying the county should continue to get larger and larger shares of money that we’re clearly going to need. The growth is going to be here, more and more of the sales tax are going to be paid by Palm Coast residents, more and more of the sales tax is going to be collected by Palm Coast businesses. I see good, I see growth down the future, hopefully not the way it was in the past, that’s exponential growth, but that’s going to put an increase in demand on the council to provide services.”
Alan Peterson, the county commissioner, appeared before the council to make his pitch in defense of the Revels proposal, which the county commission has not officially discussed. But Peterson did not appear to sway what have been hardened positions on the council.
Peterson then made two original proposals of his own–which, again, have not been discussed at the county commission. He proposed reversing the Revels idea: give the county enough money, through the sales tax, upfront, to enable it to bond such projects as a larger jail, then reduce the amount going to the county. Second, he asked the council to end its Community Redevelopment Agency at Town Center, which keeps taxes in that CRA, denying the revenue to the county. “Last year, the county turned over to the CRA $800,000-plus.” If the ity were to pull out of the CRA, that annual amount would then go to the county. That switch, Peterson said, could be built into a new agreement between the city and the county, enabling a sales tax formula that favors the city while also letting the county claim back some of its property tax revenue at the CRA.
Netts said Peterson had given the city something to chew on. (County commissioner Nate McLaughlin was also at the meeting, but he didn’t speak.)
Bunnell, meanwhile, voted 4-0 Monday evening to support the Revels plan. But that vote carries little weight against Palm Coast’s.
DeLorenzo was the lone voice in favor of the Revels plan. “I would be happiest to continue the current agreement. But I think we’re heading down a very slippery slope,” DeLorenzo said, citing the danger of the city’s position if it were to oppose the compromise: it could still end up with the tax, since it’s the county’s prerogative to put it out to referendum, or it could end up with different taxes the county could yet approve.
“This is a compromise that I’m comfortable with,” DeLorenzo said. “If we have nothing, we’re going to be in big trouble. That’s the slippery slope. If we get down the road and we have to find that between $2 and $2.6 million, then we’ll really be in trouble, and it’s not just going to be us, it’s going to be the entire county that’s going to be in trouble, and sometimes it’s important to be a community as well. That’s why I think this compromise works.”
DeLorenzo got some support from council member Frank Meeker, who warned that the county is “driving the bus” on the issue, not Palm Coast.
“The real question in the end is, is it worth a battle over this kind of money,” Meeker said. “A little over half a million dollars at the end of six years, it’s nothing to go to war on and perpetuate, in my case I think it’s kind of a quasi myth out there, that none of us get along with each other, and I don’t think that’s the case.”
Council member Bill Lewis suggested he might be interested in some compromise away from the current formula of splitting sales tax revenue, but not in line with the Revels plan or what DeLorenzo and Meeker were suggesting.
“The population is here, and the population is what’s creating the money for all of Flagler County,” Lewis said. “The distribution of that I think has to recognize that the bulk of that money is coming from the bog elephant. So, is the big elephant willing to give up all its advantages or is it willing to retain what it has? I think we reach a point where we should give up some of it, but I don’t like the current distribution. I think it should be a revision in the distribution but I think it should still reflect where the bulk of the money is coming from. Unlike others, I’m not as generous with my money as others are, so I like to protect my money and use it for my benefit. But I’m willing to share some of it. I don’t want to share all of it. So I have a disagreement with my colleagues.”
Will says
Mr. McGuire may not like a potential change to the formula for splitting the funds, but to complain about the “Taj Mahal” and justify his position on “rumors” doesn’t seem like responsible governing to me. Granted the county building is way over the top, but 4 of 5 current county commissioners, and the county administrator who are there now were not there when decisions were made to build and support the edifice.
The current county administration is trying to deal with the realities of paying for government today. They’re not going to tear down the building. Mr. McGuire should get his mind out of the past and look for creative solutions with today’s facts and situations. Whether or not the city and county can find an agreeable formula, Mr. McGuire needs to clear the cobwebs.
palmcoaster says
@Will.
Kudos to Councilman Mr McGuire, Mayor Netts, Councilman Lewis and Manager Jim Landon as are totally correct. Your approach regarding todays seating County BOCC and Administrators not being risponsible for what was an abuse of Palmcoasters taxes 10 years ago is not valid today. They should have build the jail then instead of those lavish structures with too much empty space today. Current BOCC and company still wasting our hard earned taxes as the link shows and alsdo no estimate cost or budget shown as Mr.McGuire verifies::
http://www.demandstar.com/supplier/bids/agency_inc/bid_list.asp?f=search&mi=713424
This time I don’t agree with Mr.Meeker and with Mr. DeLorenzo… I never did anyway.
Keep up the good work city officials and thank you!
The agreeable formula as is simple as this: BOCC Stop Gouging Palmcoasters.
What do they do with the revenue? Look at a sample taxes paid to this county for one of thousands of houses in the water fronts (not ocean front as taxes are even higher there):
COUNTY GENERAL FUND 6.2232 515,177 50,000 $465,177 $2,894.88
2005 ESL BONDS 0.0905 515,177 50,000 $465,177 $42.10
2005 OBLIGATION BOND 0.3082 515,177 50,000 $465,177 $143.37
2009/2010 ESL BONDS 0.1595 515,177 50,000 $465,177 $74.20
FLAGLER COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD
GENERAL FUND 5.5330 515,177 25,000 $490,177 $2,712.14
DISCRETIONARY 0.9980 515,177 25,000 $490,177 $489.20
CAP. OUTLAY 1.5000 515,177 25,000 $490,177 $735.27
ST. JOHNS RIVER WATER MGMT 0.3313 515,177 50,000 $465,177 $154.11
FIND 0.0345 515,177 50,000 $465,177 $16.05
MOSQUITO CONTROL 0.2390 515,177 50,000 $465,177 $111.18
CITY OF PALM COAST 3.9900 515,177 50,000 $465,177 $1,856.06
The above lines 1 to 4 are not enough for the county?
ric says
Why do we need a county commision?? They are worthless and contrbute nothing to Palm Coast.With abou a third of the tax money going to them we NOTHING in return..
palmcoaster says
@Will …and yes Mr. McGuire is just right as BOCC is demanding Mo’ Money from their lavish seats inside the Taj Mahal….by the way neither the farmers agree on those palaces….and the rumors/comments told to my face by some good old local farmers while shopping for feed in Bunnell, is that they built that complex with Palmcoasters taxes. Maybe rumors to Mr .McGuire a fairly newcomer, but straight in person comments to me. Rumors for what is obvious?
Next is an example of a Daytona Beach small property tax distribution with Volusia County taxes and the School Taxes as well (keep in mind that Daytona has its own police but the Sheriff is present and servicing them as well and we often see them):
COUNTY 6.37910 18,883 0 18,883 $120.46
VOLUSIA FOREVER 0.05350 18,883 0 18,883 $1.01
VOLUSIA ECHO 0.20000 18,883 0 18,883 $3.78
VOLUSIA FOREVER I & S – 2005 0.14650 18,883 0 18,883 $2.77
MOSQUITO CONTROL 0.20800 18,883 0 18,883 $3.93
PONCE INLET/PORT AUTHORITY 0.09290 18,883 0 18,883 $1.75
SCHOOL 8.06300 18,883 0 18,883 $152.25
DAYTONA BEACH 6.25980 18,883 0 18,883 $118.20
DAYTONA BEACH I&S 2004 0.47980 18,883 0 18,883 $9.06
ST JOHNS RIVER WATER MGMT 0.33130 18,883 0 18,883 $6.26
FLORIDA INLAND NAVIGATION DIST 0.03450 18,883 0 18,883 $0.65
HALIFAX HOSPITAL 1.75000 18,883 0 18,883 $33.05
Total 23.99840 $453.17
Volusia county has the first four lines. Daytona Beach has two lines. The School tax has one line.
Figure percentages as Volusia County offers all its cities and unincorporated residents the same services that Flagler County offers. Flagler County gougin us or not..?
Does anyone have here a friend that owns property in St John or Duval or any surrounding county to compare? Of course do not compare us to Miami Dade. Just trying real fact finding. Anyone welcomed to beat my misspells.
Think first, act second says
pc, I have added up the amounts you show for Flagler County and unless I made an addition error I come to a total of 19.4072 mills and you show the Volusia County total at 23.99840. Which amount is larger? Volusia of course. Now compute the assessed value of your property in Flagler county 515,177 by just the difference in millage rates, 4.5912 and you would be paying an additional $236.50 to Volusia. Does that answer your question of who has the higher taxes?
Justice for All says
Although discussed previously, I cannot find one valid reason why the governments of Palm Coast and the County should not co-locate in the Taj Mahal, other than the standard bureaucratic “City Hall wouldn’t be located in the City of Palm Coast”. I think Mr. McGuire is the only individual who is really asking the right questions and he should keep doing so.
FlaglerGal says
The way Palm Coast and the County are behaving it is obvious that the little guys like Bunnell, Flagler Beach, Beverly Beach and Marineland will be squeezed out entirely. So much for fair governing. Well, I guess that is just the way gov’t behaves these days.
Linda H. says
FlaglerGal, I could’t agree with you more. However, it was evident from the small number who bothered to attend today’s hearing that people simply don’t care enough to attend these meetings.
Good government does not happen unless it is being observed very closely and is open to citizen involvement.
Try and run a business without paying close attention and you will be bankrupt. Government is no exception. Things are not going to improve without strong citizen involvement.
Biker says
I have an idea, let Plam Coast keep what sales tax is collected within Palm Coast and let Flagler county keep what sales tax is colllected within the unincorporated county (and other cities that wish to give the county a hand out). Makes sense doesnt it. If Approximately 80 % or better of the residents of this county live within the city, let the city keep 80% of the sales tax revenue. Im sure since Bunnel is willing to go along with the counties plan they wouldnt mind ponying up a little more to help the county out.
Think first, act second says
Biker, under your suggestion how would you provide sheriffs coverage for PC. I know your first thought, as was mine, is that PC pays Flagler county for ADDITIONAL coverage, but not the basic service. How would we be policed without the county sheriff’s office, PC has already determined that the additional millions of dollars needed to begin a police force is prohibitive, which I agree with. Also who is the largest contributor of prisoners to the jail here, pc. With a local police force, city jail and city judge the sheriff’s duties would be greatly reduced and that tax would also, but the city taxes would assume that amount. What about the county transportation department, is the city ready to assume that function also? There are other duties the county provides, also, is PC ready to assume them? With regard to the split of money here, it is all about politics. It is insignificant how the money is split dollar wise, either the county or PC and probably both will just raise our taxes to cover the amount of money they need, which is not covered by these dollars. It is all a Kabuki dance by both in trying to not be the government that raises taxes the highest, IMHO.
palmcoaster says
@Think First. Kudos to Biker suggestion, lets come up with a referendum on it!
Palm Coast does not pay for the basic Sheriff services? Give me a break, where do you get your info …from Fleming? We pay the basic plus, of the 22 million the sheriff gets from all in the county and on top 2.3 or 2.6 million more from Palm Coast. What about the sheriff itemizes and turn in all the fines and violations revenue collected and pay with it a loan/bond for the jail? Where is all that revenue going now? I do not see it accounted for….Itemize please with the help of Gail W. the Clerk of Court.
Excuse me but Bunnell I see in the news with more arrest and jailing than I see for PC. “The other so called duties” as you call them that County pays are lavish castles under “capital projects” to themselves that rival ( before was time) with Volusia county that has half million residents to pay for it, versus Flagler only 95,600 residents and even rivals with the county administration structures of Maricopa County in AZ, that counts with three million seven hundred and eighty tax contributors to sustain it. Now even the Sheriff wants his own castle and centrally located (old Bunnell court house) and on the Palmcoasters pockets. Palm Coast should not even be paying the additional 2.3 or 2.6 million for law enforcement as we are the real tax revenue that sustains this county!
Imagine what Flagler County would look like without the revenue generated from our houses that have to pay BOCC double of what pays the City of Palm Coast! Remember this: Flagler Cty 197 residents per sq mile, Palm Coast 839 residents per sq. mile. If this math does not move Palmcoasters to demand a more fair distribution of what we are paying the county NOW, what will make all of us (“heard of lambs to the Taj Mahal slaughter house”), to demand change? Keep up the good stand Councilman McGuire and maybe we need to call in our “tax saving” Governor on this one. BOCC raise taxes..? then lets get rid of all BOCC seats we can.
@Flaglergal. You all on the other county cities, except Marineland that gets too much county $$ for 6 or 8 residents it has, (favoring the Jacoby Enterprise from GA), you all specially Flagler Beach residents pay also too much to the BOCC in your house taxes…I think Flagler Beach residents pay the county 38% more than they pay the city even while having their own police dept. Next an example of one of thousands Flagler Beach water front (not ocean front) tax record.
FLAGLER COUNTY GENERAL FUND 6.2232 194,540 50,000 $144,540 $899.50
2005 ESL BONDS 0.0905 194,540 50,000 $144,540 $13.08
2005 OBLIGATION BOND 0.3082 194,540 50,000 $144,540 $44.55
2009/2010 ESL BONDS 0.1595 194,540 50,000 $144,540 $23.05
FLAGLER COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD
GENERAL FUND 5.5330 194,540 25,000 $169,540 $938.06
DISCRETIONARY 0.9980 194,540 25,000 $169,540 $169.20
CAP. OUTLAY 1.5000 194,540 25,000 $169,540 $254.31
ST. JOHNS RIVER WATER MGMT 0.3313 194,540 50,000 $144,540 $47.89
FIND 0.0345 194,540 50,000 $144,540 $4.99
MOSQUITO CONTROL 0.2390 194,540 50,000 $144,540 $34.55
CITY OF FLAGLER BEACH 4.8500 194,540 50,000 $144,540 $701.02
Total Millage 20.2672 Total Taxes $3,130.20
Think first, act second says
pc,
You say pcoasters do not pay for basic sheriff service, where do you get that idea. Look at the 2011-2012 budget under the constitutionals and the sheriffs budget this year is 19,323,890. Do you presume that is for patrolling all of the county outside of PC? Of course you pay for basic protection, it is in your millage rate which is lower than Volusia’s.
Now you contend that a town with a population of 2,676 in 2010 has more in jail than a town with a population of 75,180 in 2010. Seminole county, Sanford airport, does not touch Flagler county on A1A or anywhere else, where did you read that?
Frankly, I don;t care if you move or not, that is not my call, but you seem overly convinced that Volusia is a better location than Flagler. And frankly I also have no interest in how many people per mile there are, that means basically nothing.
You seem interested in more growth, then why not take advantage of Meekers bounty on new business and make a few calls, it may pay better than your business does in this economy.
palmcoaster says
Think first. Thank you for evaluating my post. I agree that taxes and mileage may be higher in other counties….what I am talking about is the distribution only, among counties and cities…just look those percentages…and compare..please?Just in case you forget Volusia has an international Airport, also the Sanford Airport, has public transportation to everywhere, that even reaches barely our county line on A1A., has Ocean Center and Peabody for the arts and culture and plenty of commercial based infrastructure, has the Veteran Administration services the IRS, SS, Medicare and Medicaid servicing offices, etc etc .I may be forgetting to name some here. All, what we Do Not have in Flagler and indeed that increases those 200 more or less taxes per household. I just point at “the distribution percentages only”, being the whole house tax bill higher or not! And please, just in case, do not suggest that if I do not like it here I should move! Because some when loosing ground flag it as the last advise often. We just need to bring frivolous expenses in line with “the people’s” lack of sufficient income in this county! This week we have new 65 lay offs in Searay, can you see the vacant store fronts and the small business shutting doors on a weekly basis. Several years old restaurants in Palm Harbor are folding and about 15 or more workers will go to the unemployment line in May! How many pandering officials ignoring the sad reality, cruise thru La La Land in Flagler County, asking for more? Can they see the increase of homeless in our vacant parcels?Other than wasting time in all this meetings and wines and dines on us, our officials need to seat down at their desk and computers and contact and lure some out of county small businesses to move here and hire the unemployed. Volusia County just landed Teledyne’s new factory while here they are just patting themselves on their own backs while asking for more $$. Pathetic!
palmcoaster says
@Think First. You have a wicked way trying to twist my words. I never said Palm Coast does not pay for basic Sheriff services, you said that and I refuted it.
Second I never said that Sanford Airport barely touches our Flagler County Line by A1A.. I said Volusia public transportation runs in A1A to barely to our county line, the Votran Buses to be specific.
Oh yeah? the number of people per square mile means basically nothing to you?.Only in very square minded understanding, such a perception! . People jailed out of Bunnell versus Palm Coast , these numbers to be percentage wise, not specific population numbers only..That I see and present here the fair cities versus county taxes distributions in Volusia probably elsewhere in Florida doesn’t mean that I will move there. No way we just need to straighten up what is crooked here. That is all and if you don’t like that perspective then ..suit yourself..Try not to brush me or the rest of the Palmcoasters with the wrong colors.
I don’t need to take advantage of Mr .Meeker’s exceptionally good proposal, thank you, as I am pretty busy taking care of my 22 years old still successful business and volunteering to my community when I can. What about your activities?
Think first, act second says
pcoaster, here is a paste of your second sentence in the above post 0f May 16 at 1:07PM. “Palm Coast does not pay for the basic Sheriff services?” Here is your first sentence in this post: “I never said Palm Coast does not pay for basic Sheriff services, you said that and I refuted it.”
Read your own posts you cant keep them straight.
A second error of yours, “also the Sanford Airport, has public transportation to everywhere, that even reaches barely our county line on A1A., ”
By the way your would be amazed at my activities, but I won’t tell you!
PJ says
Palmcoaster, you are great at putting out the numbers and facts that makes things look good or bad depending on your stand. so let me not give to stats or history but a simple reason why PC is so out of control.
Palm coast grew too fast, it had bad management that did not understand growth, and even worst City Manager that under his current leadership we will be one of the highest taxed communities in florida.
Let’s now mention the County, just a few things better Management in Coffey, a more dedicated Board of Commissioners. Less confusion in the County as you have in Palm coast.
Ok now let’s talk facks PC has tens of thousands of more people than the County and other cities. The Board in Palm Coast has a mixed board of inexperience and weathered council folks.
But let’s face it some of them on the Council understand the complexities of all the Governments and most others don’t have a clue. Adding an experienced city Managers that can sway the board with “if so facto” you have a huge chance of disaster.
So folks here we are one big mess. The County scrambling for help. Bunnell see’s it is important to suport the County and Bunnell don’t get much in the way of dollars but any monies they lose counts to them in Bunnell.
The most important part of this story is you must support the county they need our help.
Palm coast will just tax the residents and busineses or run around with code enforcement to tax us Palm coast residents to pay for what I said before id REALLY BAD MANAGEMENT on all levels.
The city manager should do his job and focus on finding more productive revenues and steer the City Council in a direction that shows leadership not “Desperation Management”.
Once again another sad time here in the once fastest growing communities in the United States of America……………………………………..
palmcoaster says
@PJ. I do not invent numbers that I post to make things look good for PC. The facts speak for themselves about who is the real “give me more” and out of control now. Please do not even get there lauding Coffey and anyone else before him and the BOCC, when it comes about dilapidating our hard earned taxes given to you guys. I perceive that probably I have the whole county legal dept, administrators and sheriff lashing at me here and just because I research the eye opening data that we all need to evaluate. Its MY freedom of speech!
I concede one thing to you…of course PC officials and administrators past and present do not do all perfect either. We have our own list of goof ups done unfortunately that is getting there to rival with the county’s and is time we stop the nonsense, as nowadays earning a living has become for many the impossible task. The latest money sucking thing the city engineered, was that mostly deserted infrastructure called Town Center, that many enjoy while shopping only or on seldom events, but is costing the county 900,000 a year and does not generate one penny to our tax base revenue but only to their CRA and still owes Palmcoasters 4,500,000 of the 5 loaned. Some say will take years before we get our millions refunded and the completion of the CRA…to start generating revenue for all…if so, makes Commissioner Peterson suggestion unfortunatly not possible. Hope would be otherwise..
In spite the fact that both county and city waste good portion of our taxes, this needs to stop and you, unless benefiting from the feeding frenzy, should be here supporting my statements.
Look at the county bids listed, the awarded one’s and not showing the total cost and the still open one’s they propose to spend, like there is no tomorrow. The BOCC is totally out of context with our economic realities. Maybe you hold one of their 70,000 and up compensations and of course want to maintain the status quo…we don’t.
We are all broke and the I95 interchange, may need to wait for better economic times, our Matanzas overpass does a great job by now. The jail should be funded with the sheriff and the clerk of court plenty income generated from fines and violations and pay a loan/bonds to build the jail with it or enlarge the one they have.. They are lucky to have a jail as is, when people do not even have homes to hold on, nowadays .Where is all that money going? Most of our county tax contributors are not wealthy folks residing in Hammock Dunes, Beach, or Grand Haven, can you guys grab that image? What is up, with less than modest tax payers in a county with the highest unemployment rate and miles of vacant store fronts, enduring to sustain all these way over the limit upper administrators compensations and lavish never ending “capital or consultants (benefiting who knows) improvements. Yes once upon a time we were the fastest growing, right now we are the poorest so tighten the belt!. Get the picture? Spell checkers welcome to make fun here, as I have no time left to do that.
Mel Bronson says
The greedy vampires in Palm Coast council don’t honor anyone or anything except for their pot of gold.
They worship the pot of gold at the expense of all citizens.
Next election cycle, the people must remember to gift all these vampires DISMISSAL notices. Let them all be unemployed.
Seth Khaos says
i think it’s fairly obvious that Palm Coast thinks it’s in charge of our county. If i’m not Mistaken, Bunnell, Flagler Beach and everything on down the list Came First, Palm Coast is the new arrival. the new arrival dropping way to much money into dumb shit. THERE IS NO JUSTIFIABLE REASON