I don't Know About You but this scares me!

I encourage all North Bay Village residents to log on to the North Bay Village website.  On Monday, July 22, 2013 at 6:30 PM a special North Bay Village Commission meeting will be held.  The proposed contract for hiring Mr. Frank Rollason as an Interim North Bay Village Manager is posted. I opposed the backdoor way in which Mr. Rollason has been hired. However, Mr. Rollason’s resume and credentials are excellent. Given the results of the first budget workshop it was apparent that this administration is unable to handle our financial needs with restraints and fiscal responsibility. Commissioner Richard Chervony and hopefully Commissioner Wendy Duval with the help of the Interim Village Manager Mr. Frank Rollason can influence the Mayor, Vice Mayor and the Commissioner At Large to begin making the necessary cuts and sacrifices to tame the budget monster.

As the budget for 2014 was presented and if all the suggested expenses are adopted there will be an increase from Fiscal Year 2013 of $ 5,330,317.00 to Fiscal Year 2014 of $ 7,879,948.00 a difference of $ 3,059,557.00. What does this mean? In ordered to make up for this increase the North Bay Village Real Estate Millage Rate would need to be raised to 9.2800 from 4.7772.  That’s a 95% increase on your taxes.

 Let’s say a $ 350,000.00 assessed value home paid @ 4.7772 the sum of $ 1,672.00 for the North Bay Village portion of the Real Estate Taxes.  Now at 9.2800 the same home will be paying $ 3,248.00. I don’t know about you but this scares me.

 Out of the proposed budget increase of $ 3,059,557.00 the Police Department portion is $ 1,689,529.00 from a Police Budget for 2013 of $ 3,182,368.00 to a proposed budget for 2014 of $ 4, 871,897.00. I don’t know about you but this scares me.

 Commissioner Wendy Duval will most likely be present at the next workshop and she will be a crucial participant to the process.  I wasn’t impressed at the urgency to make painful and necessary cuts by Commissioner Jorge Gonzalez, Vice Mayor Eddie Lim and Mayor Connie Leon –Kreps.  

It could be a tactic to scare us so that a raise of let’s say a Millage rate of 7.5000 won’t sound so terrible.  The same house assessed value @ $ 350,000.00 will now pay $ 2,625.00 it would seem like a bargain to pay $ 953.00 more a year from $ 1,672.00. I don’t know about you but this still scares me.

North Bay Village Residents get involved and participate in the process.

Honestly Opinionating

PUTTING NORTH BAY VILLAGE FIRST

Mario Garcia

July 19, 2013