Is the city bankrupt ? Not yet – but they are behaving like we are with desperate attempts like calling a special election on March 13th at a cost of $180,000 to get as few people out as possible that may vote against their $75,000,000 General Obligations bond. Why the rush? They could have waited until November’s General Election. Less than 5 months ago, they increased taxes and netted $10,000,000 more a year in revenue. They never said anything about needing another $75,000,000 . Even with the record taxes they are taking in from us, the city seems to have a problem with covering their spending habits.
The city did come up with a list of places they want to spend the money. They left out the fact that the reason they do not have the money to spend it on those places, is that they spent $40,000,000 on a City Hall that is more than 30% over budget and hired more city staff.
It is important to note that both Mayor Campbell and Commissioner Carter we both against the cost of the city hall and being located on Sample Road , where traffic will be a problem. However, there was little they can do about it once they got elected. Larry Vignola and Dan Daley , who voted for this building from the previous elected city commission ( prior to Nov 2014), and Lou Cimaglia who was elected in 2014 on a platform supporting the building of the city hall. Three votes against 2 votes. I believe that the Mayor and Joy Carter did their best under the situation of being outvoted. Therefore the financial situation we are faced with was a cause and effect of Dan Daley, Vince Vignola and Lou Cimaglia, as well as the previous city commissioners.
Some city commissioners are concerned that we may vote against the $75,000,000 bond. Instead of putting it on the regular election cycle occurring this November, they decided to spend $180,000 and call a special election on March 13. They know that very few people come out and vote in these minor elections, that have few candidates running. . They may be right, since these type of elections usually result in big spending victories for local governments. That is why they do it.
It is quite obvious that the city is running out of money and not reducing spending. They need to fund the White Elephant of a city hall that Dan, Larry and Lou voted for. Increase in salaries and adding 20 more employees to the city did not help either. When businesses are faced with this dilemma, they tighten their belt and reduce spending. That is not the case with most governments which has the power to raise taxes and issue bonds to pay for their bad habits.
Coralsprings.com has also learned that the city may be looking for ways of getting more revenue so they can increase spending even more or have more money to at least pay off the $75,000,000 bond and the $40,000,000 City Hall White Elephant. Reliable sources indicate commissioner Dan Daley met with a company pitching their services that charge the citizens for internet usage at our parks, pools and other city places. This is the same commissioner that when the mayor wanted a small increase in the millage rate , Daley demanded double the rate and pushed the commissioners to settle for 80% increase in what the mayor proposed. That got the city the $10,000,000 a year increase and it is still not enough to make up for the expensive spending habits of some of the city commissioners.
What else should we expect ? Perhaps put a tax on the homeless , or place a usage charge on city services – sort of pay as you go police and fire rescue. Perhaps we can put a toll gate on all the roads coming from Parkland and force them to pay us for using the City of Coral Springs businesses.
It’s the taxpayers, homeowners and business that will eventually take it in the neck every when the city will once again use the Taxpayer Credit Card and charge it up by $75,000,000 .
Let’s force the city to use the $10,000,000 a year that we are giving them and cancel the credit card before this city goes bankrupt. Make sure you go out and vote NO on the $75,000,000 General Obligations Bond on the special March 13 ballot ( that is costing us $180,000) . Let the tighten their belts before we ok $1 more.
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