by Anne Mooney | Jan 31, 2021 | Opinion, Taxes
City Funding Decisions – Let’s Set the Record Straight
Editor's Note: Articles written by citizens reflect their own opinions and not the views of the Winter Park Voice.
Guest Columnist Dr. Katherine Lee Johnson / January 31, 2021
In his latest missive to Winter Parkers, former Commissioner Peter Weldon chides members of the current Commission for redirecting funds to repair City parks.
If we are going to start casting aspersions on Commissioners who direct City funding to specific purposes, then we need to start looking at how and when this policy started. It began in 2015, when Mayor Steve Leary and Sarah Sprinkel, the Vice mayor at the time, committed $1 million from the Municipal Utility budget to support a non-Winter Park charity.
For those who may not recall, Mayor Leary committed the City of Winter Park to a $100,000 annual donation for the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center (DPAC) for ten years. This action occurred in 2015 when I served as the Chair of the Utility Advisory Board (UAB).
The UAB members were gravely concerned about the long-term ramifications of his decision. When the City purchased the utility from Florida Power & Light (now Duke Energy), the infrastructure was in disrepair and badly needed service and upgrades. During my tenure on the UAB, we focused our energies on the need for new equipment and began implementing utility undergrounding to improve overall system reliability.
In 2015, thanks to staff’s careful management, the Utility had a surplus in its annual budget. As stewards of this utility, the UAB wanted to use those funds to pay for additional operations and badly-needed maintenance. More fundamentally, we wanted these ratepayer dollars used for the utility, to benefit the ratepayers, rather than having it siphoned off to an out-of-town charity.
When I voiced my concerns at a Commission meeting that this approach could set a dangerous precedent, Vice-mayor Sprinkel publicly reprimanded me in an open meeting for wanting to share this information with the utility ratepayers.
For the past 30 years, I have worked as a consultant with utility companies to establish and evaluate energy efficiency programs—and so I am well-versed in the long-term consequences when utility funds are redirected for political purposes. It happened in several jurisdictions as early as 2010 (see link: Governors Raiding Utility Funds), and I certainly didn’t want this to happen in Winter Park. I worried the DPAC donation could set a dangerous precedent.
Isn’t it ironic that Weldon now supports donating $1 million from Winter Park ratepayers to support a charity in Orlando, but bristles when Commissioners allot funding for City parks and playing fields that will directly benefit the residents of Winter Park?
Let’s set the record straight. Ms. Sprinkel has always supported redirecting funds for whatever political purposes the Commission deems appropriate. If we are going to revisit previous Commission funding decisions, let’s be sure we air all of the facts.
Dr. Katherine Lee Johnson is President, Johnson Consulting Group. She served as UAB Member and Chair (2010-2016; Chair 2013-2016).
Rollins College, The Crummer School, MBA 1990
University of Southern Queensland, Australia, Ph.D., Organizational Change & Strategy 2010
www.johnsonconsults.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kjohnsonconsults/
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by Anne Mooney | Sep 25, 2020 | Custom Author, Headline, Taxes
FY2021 Budget Passes
Millage Rate Unchanged for Year #13
by Anne Mooney / September 25, 2020
On September 23, Commissioners passed the FY2021 Budget, holding the millage rate steady at 4.0923 for the 13th consecutive year. Ordinances establishing the millage rate and adopting the Budget passed on a 4-1 vote, with Mayor Steve Leary dissenting.
Orange County sets property valuations
Property taxes will rise slightly, since property values were assessed by Orange County in January 2020 prior to the beginning of the pandemic. This reporter’s annual property taxes rose by less than $50, so with the steady millage rate, the increase for most property owners will be minimal.
According to Peter Moore, Winter Park’s Division Director of the Office of Management and Budget, residential real estate taxes comprise about 79 percent of the City’s tax base, leaving the City on solid fiscal footing for now. The City boasts unencumbered General Fund reserves of approximately $17 million.
Postponed SunRail payments used to create contingency fund
The City also has created an approximately $500,000 contingency fund. This money was originally budgeted to pay for SunRail, but the state of Florida has postponed SunRail payments for another two years, allowing the money to be reallocated. “These funds are available now for emergency relief,” wrote Peter Moore, “as we manage the economic repercussions of the pandemic.”
Cautiously optimistic outlook for the future
Moore cautioned that while property tax revenues will be unaffected in the present, as values were established before the pandemic, possible future deterioration in the real estate market could affect Winter Park, and business closings and vacant storefronts will have a definite negative impact. “With almost $2 million in assistance either pledged or spent already by the city to assist its businesses and residents,” wrote Moore, “the city continues to work with all our stakeholders to navigate this difficult time.”
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by Anne Mooney | Sep 10, 2020 | Custom Author, News, Taxes
FY 2021 Budget Passes First Reading
Millage Rate Unchanged
Chickens Squeak Through
by Anne Mooney / September 10, 2020
Chickens will come home to roost
Despite emails indicating Winter Park was split down the middle on the backyard chicken question, the ordinance creating a two-year backyard chicken pilot program narrowly squeaked through its second and final reading on a 3-2 vote – with a few amendments.
Among the raft of amendments was reduction of maximum coop height to six feet, requirement for a fence to obscure the coop from neighbors and a requirement to obtain written permission from all neighbors whose property abuts the property with the chickens. A provision for 48-hour warning before inspections was removed, allowing Code Enforcement to make unannounced spot inspections. Coops can be in backyards only, not side yards. Chicken owners who receive repeated complaints will face escalating fines, and a “three-strikes-you’re-out” rule will remove the chicken owner from the program on the third complaint.
None of the current Commissioners will apply to keep backyard chickens.
Commission passes 2021 Budget, millage rate on First Reading
The FY 2021 Budget passed on a 5-0 vote with only one amendment, proposed by Commissioner Sheila DeCiccio, to grant up to 3.5 percent raises to City staff rather than freezing their salaries.
Mayor argues for rollback rate
The millage rate was kept at 4.0923 for the 13th year, despite arguments by Mayor Steve Leary to drop the millage to the rollback rate of 3.9509. The rolled-back rate represents the millage rate that would generate the same level of property tax revenue as the prior year, excepting growth due to inflation factor and new construction.
Dropping the millage rate to the rollback level would mean removing the contingency, but Leary said he felt comfortable the $17 million in reserves would cover any contingency.
Vice-Mayor: “Situation is too fluid.”
Vice-Mayor Carolyn Cooper disagreed. “I am not comfortable,” she said, “because the City is cutting services and curtailing and freezing staff. First, the City brought us a balanced, but curtailed budget. Then we were told that revenue projections were even lower, but that was followed by state projections that changed again.”
Cooper went on to point out just how fluid the situation might be. “Orange and Osceola Counties have a backlog of foreclosures stacked up until the moratorium is lifted. What happens then? What about people being evicted from apartments? And if empty property remains vacant, what will happen to property valuations? I believe it is prudent to hold back on costs and continue to accrue the same millage rate we have had for 12 years.”
The August 18 Orlando Business Journal noted Central Florida is still dealing with high unemployment and pandemic. “Orlando attorneys were prepared for a wave of evictions and foreclosures when the statewide moratorium neared expiration at the end of July.” According to the most recent data available, the unemployment rate for metro Orlando was 16.5 percent in June, while the rate in Florida was 10.7 percent.
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by Anne Mooney | Sep 8, 2020 | Custom Author, Taxes
First Millage Vote Tomorrow
Second Reading September 23
by Anne Mooney / September 8, 2020
Tomorrow, Wednesday September 9, the first vote on the millage rate — how much we will pay in property taxes in FY2021 — will come before the Commission. If you want to let your Commissioners know how you feel about this, now is the time to write mayorandcommissioners@cityofwinterpark.org or register for Wednesday’s virtual Commission meeting by going to www.cityofwinterpark.org
Perfect storm brewing
Earlier this year in July, the Commission found themselves with the makings of a perfect storm. Higher property value assessments had been set in January 2020 in a strong economy. Within about two months, however, the COVID19 pandemic hit, sending state revenues plummeting. And, being July, we were entering the height of hurricane season. At that time, the State of Florida was unable to come up with a reliable estimate of how much money the City would receive, so the Commission did what they felt was prudent. They agreed to a ceiling – a number beyond which they cannot go – of a half-mil rise in the tax rate, should it turn out the City needed it to maintain essential services. A ‘mil’ is 1/1,000 of a dollar.
The ceiling is not the tax rate
Email blasts from two former Commissioners immediately decried what they characterized as “a vote to raise property taxes.” Yard signs popped up here and there urging, “stop Winter Park tax increases.”
Were the former Commissioners unaware that the July 11 vote did nothing to establish the actual tax rate? In fact, it simply set the ceiling beyond which the current Commission could not go. The current Commission was required to take that action in order for Orange County to send out the “TRIM” notice, which lets us all know the worst we can expect. No doubt you’ve noticed, the TRIM notice has a box advising you in capital letters, “Do Not Pay. The Is Not a Bill.” Happens every year, so previous Commissioners could reasonably be expected to be familiar with the process.
The July 11 vote was a safeguard, not a commitment.
Further email blasts from the former commissioners claimed credit for Commissioners Sheila DeCiccio and Marty Sullivan “publicly reversing themselves” on what they claim was a July vote for a millage rate increase.
State revenue projections adjusted August 24
Commissioner Carolyn Cooper noted it was more than a full month later that state officials told local governments they would be getting more money than originally expected.
The State revised their revenue projections more than a month after the Commission agreed to adjust the cap on the millage rate to give themselves a small half-mil cushion in case it was needed. The August 24 adjustment was a welcome piece of news, and probably means the Commission can leave the current millage rate as is — though we won’t know for sure until September 23.
Commissioners Sheila DeCiccio and Marty Sullivan sent out emails with the good news that, now that we have a better idea what the revenues are going to be, we can probably make the necessary budget cuts and get by without raising the millage rate – and still provide the high level of service for which our City is known. It is disingenuous at best for anyone besides the sitting Commission to claim to have influenced the tax rate.
If you miss the first vote on the millage rate tomorrow, you will have another chance to make your views known at the second and final vote on September 23.
As Commissioner Cooper emphatically stated, “[Weldon’s] spin was definitely not the deciding factor.”
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by Anne Mooney | Aug 31, 2020 | Custom Author, Taxes
No One Has Decided Our Property Taxes
They will September 23, but they haven’t yet.
by Anne Mooney / August 31, 2020
You know that thing we get every year called a TRIM notice? You probably just got yours. It lets you know what your proposed property tax bill is. On the upper right-hand corner of the document is a box advising you, in all caps:
This lets you know, worst possible case, what your tax bill could be if the proposed millage rates from all those taxing authorities in the left-hand column pass. You’ll notice that the City of Winter Park is not the only taxing authority that wants your money, or that has tentatively raised the cap on their millage rate. Orange County and the school board are right in there.
Millage Rates Have Not Passed
With the exception of Winter Park debt, which has to do with the bond issues for the Public Safety complex and the Library-Events Center and is already fixed, those millage rates have not passed and will not pass until late September. This is just a notice so you’ll be prepared in case one or more of the proposed millage rates does go up. That’s why you are advised not to pay; it is not a bill.
That is why it is puzzling to see yard signs and email blasts from people who are in a position to know better claiming that this Commission has raised your taxes. This Commission has not done anything yet.
Early Campaign Literature from Former Commissioner Sprinkel
An August 25 email from hello@electsarahsprinkel.com proclaimed, “The Winter Park City Commissioners voted to raise your taxes – now, during the pandemic.”
Former Commissioner Sarah Sprinkel must know, after nine years on the Commission, that the Commissioners did not have all the information from the state and the county they needed to set a millage rate that would ensure a balanced budget. The Commission voted to increase the ‘not-to-exceed’ rate – the ‘cap’ — in case projected revenue shortfalls did materialize.
Ms. Sprinkel is in a unique position to know also that the millage rate is never ‘set’ until the second Commission meeting in September, just before the October 1 beginning of the new fiscal year.
City Budget Will Be Balanced
At the August 26 Commission meeting, Management & Budget Division Director Peter Moore announced good news from Tallahassee that the revenue shortfall would not be as great as expected, and that an increase may not be necessary.
One thing is sure: additional property taxes were never intended, as Sprinkel stated in her email, for ”. . .government funding (spending) above a balanced budget.”
Weldon Sets the Stage
In an August 16 email blast, presaging Sprinkel’s missive, former Commissioner Peter Weldon advertised “Stop Your Tax Increases” yard signs for anyone who wanted them – well in advance of any actual tax increase.
Weldon stated in his email: “Arguments in support of [the Commissioners’] vote to increase the millage rate include claims of better information by September, concerns about the city’s solvency and hurricane recovery costs, and comparisons of millage rates between cities. The truth is they just want to spend more of your money.”
Weldon’s email goes on: “So what is the truth about the tax increase?”
“The truth is that these four commissioners are spending your money on their pet projects while they fabricate justifications for raising your taxes.”
So what IS the truth about the tax increase?
The truth is, as of now, there is no tax increase. The Winter Park City millage rate will be established sometime after the five o’clock hour on September 23 by the Winter Park City Commission. Until then, nothing has happened.
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