Lake County Fiscal Rangers

Lake County Building Inspection Departments Need to Issue Tornado Upgrade Guidelines

2009-12-22T09:25:01-05:00

This is a picture of the Feb. 2, 2007 tornado rich weather pattern crossing Lake County.

The Orlando Sentinel just published an article about the weaknesses of mobile and manufactured homes during tornado or hurricane seasons HERE. I just happen to have researched that issue two years ago, after the Leesburg & Eusits tornado, when I was planning to purchase a remodeling franchise. Below (click the link) are my comments, as posted on the Sentinel's website, and then expanded (click link below to see them) plus several pictures:

One problem is that local government building inspection departments do not provide any decent guides to upgrading mobile home tie down systems, and they don't recommend them during building permit inpsections. About 2 years ago, Builder magazine published a comprehensive article on the reasons for tornado damage, including mobile and manufactured homes. Just after the Eustis and Lady Lake tornadoes in Lake County, I visited one of the damaged mobile home parks in Leesburg and looked at the separation points where tie downs or posts failed. There was a building inspector there from the Lake County building department to advise homeowners on how to ensure they only used licensed contractors. Since tie down standards have changed over the years, I asked if the building inspectors recommended better systems when they issued permits, and she said "no", that they relied on the technology used at the time of the home manufacture.

That seems a poor policy.

The building departments in cities and the County should

1) provide a comprehensive guide on how to improve tornado resistance for all homes, both hard constructed, plus mobile and manufactured homes, and

2) after each tornado or hurricane, take pictures and write assessment reports on the County website of reasons for failures, so the public can educate themselves, and

3) develop tornado resistance upgrade policies and include them as conditions for future building permits, much like required upgrades for smoke detectors and electrical wiring upgrades.

I am running for Lake County Commissioner, and when elected, will work to ensure that those actions are implemented to improve the tornado survival rate of local homes. In some cases, I think the tornado resistance upgrades for the older homes should be mandatory before getting a building permit for any modifications to the home.

Vance Jochim - Candidate for County Commissioner District 4

PS: From memory, here are some of the weaknesses in older homes described in the Builder magazine article:

For mobile and manufactured homes:

- Many installations were not done properly. Tie down straps were not at the proper spacing, and fewer straps were used than required by the manufacturer.

- Tie down straps will fail if improperly looped over the beams under the house. They are supposed to have a bracket under them to prevent bending, kinking and snapping under stress.

- Newer standards have more tie down straps, and other techniques that could be retro-fitted to older homes.

- Tie down bolts for posts holding carports were too small or missing, causing the post to fail, allowing the carports to be blown away from the house. There were a number of these situations I observed in Leesburg.

- Many manufactured homes had window awning systems, and some had weak brackets and hold down screws which failed, causing the awning to fly loose. The same for the trim that runs around the edge of the roofs (not too many with that problem, but some failed).

I have pictures of what I saw.

For hard constructed homes (usually block construction):

- Homes with garages have a major weakness. Over 1200 homes were damaged in the Villages and many because they had garage doors that did not have internal braces, so high winds caused the door to blow into the home, then the wind popped the garage roof and then blew the rest of the roof off. This is a major weakness in older homes, and should be a required retrofit.

Here are some pictures of the December 2006 Tornado damage in a mobile home park in Leesburg:

An example of a non-reinforced garage door that blew in.

Example of manufactured home that shifted on foundation because tie downs were not strong enough.

This tie down strap is installed improperly - it should have a curved bracket under it to prevent the strap from kinking and breaking. Notice how it would not take much movement to fall off the supporting cinder blocks.

Example of poor bracket for awning, which could have let the awning break loose and damage other property.

Example of all the material blown away from front and back screen rooms of this home that were not bolted down well enough. All this material could have damaged other property when flying around. It also ripped part of the main house's roof away.

This is all that remains of a screen room that was not bolted down strongly enough.

Most homes in this tract survived ok except for carports, awnings and screen rooms that were not bolted down strongly enough.

Education in China stretches just to get everyone to 9th grade

2009-12-22T08:03:46-05:00

So you think education in Florida is bad, and underfunded.

Here is a link to the Chinese government website on education strategy. To them, they are still trying to bring much of the rural population up to only 9 years of education. Only some 43% of the Chinese population has been to high school. Read some of the linked pages - very interesting.

By the end of 2004, China had 2,236 schools of higher learning, with over 20 million students; the gross rate of enrollment in schools of higher learning (college - 13th year and beyond) reached 19 percent. Postgraduate education is the fastest growing sector, with

24.1 percent more students recruited and 25.9 percent more researchers than the year before. This enrollment growth indicates that China has entered the stage of popular education. The UNESCO world higher education report of June 2003 pointed out that the student population of China's schools of higher learning had doubled in a very short period of time, and was the world's largest.

Much of the statistics may result from the low enrollment in rural areas and higher enrollment in the large cities.

http://english.gov.cn/about/education.htm

Why Are Lake County Commissioners & Constitutional Officers Afraid of Performance Audits???

2009-12-21T18:44:14-05:00

Below is an example of an overview of internal audit reports by an Inspector General in Washington DC. Earlier, I have posted audit articles about Palm Beach and Miami Dade County scandals and audits. I include it because Lake County has a "County Auditor", but he has no authority to initiate audits like this of the County Commission operations (Fire, libraries, waste, etc), and he has no authority to initiate performance or operational audits of any of the County Constitutional Officers (Sheriff, Elections, Tax Collector, Assessor...). Each of these groups has a "financial audit" that verifies basic financial statements are accurate, but they don't have any of these audits (except some rare ones of the Commissioner operations) for performance, effectiveness, etc. AND there is no central, objective waste, fraud & abuse hotline for anyone to report any suspicious activities.

Recently, one of the rare audits of the County Employee Services Dept. was ready for an exit conference, but the interim County Manager canceled the meeting.

So, if you see a Lake County Board member or Constitution Officer, ask them why they are afraid to request performance audits or allow the County Auditor to initiate audits without requesting approval!! And ask County Clerk Neal Kelly why he doesn't lobby for his County Auditor to be given open access to initiate such audits. Don't accept the excuse that a court decision prevents such audits. It only says (I am told) that the elected officials must request such audits. Thus if all County elected officials named above submitted a letter to him allowing full audit access without delays and excuses, the County Auditor could initiate audits. Until that happens, I don't consider the operations of the County or the Constitutional Officers to have received adequate oversight on efficiency, effectiveness and economy of operations.

For example, the County recently constructed the 8+ level (I lost count) parking structure, and the County Auditor asked for approval to audit it during the construction phase. The County Manager never replied. Now, the County is planning a $55-million Judicial expansion project, and there are no plans to have the auditor follow the planning and construction process as it continues, not wait until the end, and then only have a CPA audit the financials after all the spending. It is common in many large firms to have internal auditors audit the entire process of a construction process from planning to final closeout, but the County has never had such an audit to identify problems early. Why wait until there is a million dollar problem when the internal auditors could catch the problem at the beginning of the building process? (Examples would be paying invoices for higher level materials than actually received.)

(Note: In Contrast, the Lake County School District Board has their own internal auditor who has open access to operations, and is encouraged to perform performance, efficiency, and effectiveness audits. They also have an independent audit committee of experienced business and audit leaders to support the internal auditor and make recommendations to the Board. None of the other County elected officials have such oversight except the County Clerk, because the "County Auditor" works for him.)

Of course, they could wait until a really big scandal, and then create a County wide Inspector General like Palm Beach County did recently.

PS: If any reader has more information on the above statement or corrections, or examples of local waste, fraud or inefficiency, send them to me.

D.C. inspector general: $180M million in waste, fraud found in '09 fiscal year

By: Michael Neibauer
Examiner Staff Writer
December 7, 2009

The D.C. inspector general uncovered more than $50 million in waste and $125 million in fraud during the past fiscal year, waste and abuse that account for more than 3 percent of the city's annual budget.

The IG's audit division in fiscal 2009 issued 35 reports with hundreds of recommendations that if implemented would return $50.3 million to D.C. coffers, the office claims in a new report.

The investigations division of the IG during 2009 presented 37 cases of fraud to the U.S. Attorney's Office and eight to the D.C. Office of the Attorney General, resulting in 25 arrests, 17 indictments, 16 convictions and restitution orders totaling $127.2 million, according to the office. The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit garnered an additional $2.1 million from provider settlements.

Of the District's $5.4 billion budget, $180 million amounts to 3.3 percent lost through waste, fraud or abuse.

"Most D.C. residents, with money being tight these days, would be floored by a number like that," said Paul Craney, executive director of the D.C. Republican Party. "Imagine, if we put more money and people into the IG, what that would uncover."

D.C. spending by the numbers in fiscal 2009
» $3.7 billion on contracts
» $1.2 billion on public education » $900 million received through federal stimulus

The figures were released as part of the IG's fiscal 2009 annual report, in which Inspector General Charles Willoughby urged all District residents to be "exceptionally vigilant in recognizing and reporting instances of fraud, waste, and abuse as a means to ensure the efficiency and integrity of the District government," especially "during these straitened financial times."

The Fenty administration must adopt the IG's recommendations to achieve "potential monetary benefits," said Bill DiVello, assistant inspector general for audits. That means either recouping money owed to the city or putting in controls to prevent future losses.

"Some things we'd like to see more aggressive action on, certainly in the contracting area," DiVello said.

The use of purchase cards by the Office of Unified Communications, for example, was the subject of a February audit in which the IG discovered numerous questionable or unjustified purchases. Those included $15,000 to clean and maintain chairs and $59,365 for uniforms worn by employees who do not meet with the public.

Auditors issued myriad recommendations, such as establishing internal control procedures over purchase card transactions. But in November, the OUC charged $900 for staff massages, an expense deemed even by Mayor Adrian Fenty to be inappropriate.

"There's one it appears they didn't take any of our recommendations," DiVello said.

mneibauer@washingtonexaminer.com

Ethnic Based Medicare Fraud Spreading from Miami to rest of US

2009-12-21T18:24:01-05:00

One of the drains on public funds that reduces funding for local government is Medicare fraud. South Florida is the home of Medicare Fraud, and it extends North. This article below talks about how much of it is now related to "home health care" scams, and is run by ethnic minority groups. So, as illegal aliens increase in Lake County, the chances of various illegal activities increases.

(Hey, remember I left Orange County, CA, which had lots of ethnic crime...if they don't have education and legal documentation, they are more likely to resort to crime, and teach it to each other.) Keep that in mind when you patronize a restaurant or construction contractor that clearly is using illegal aliens. The more that are attracted to an area for jobs, the bigger the chance some will bring criminal practices with them. And, if government officials award construction contracts without checking to ensure only US citizens are working on the jobs, complain to them.

Medicare Fraud 'Rampant' In Miami, Spreads Among Different Ethnic Communities Nationally

from KaiserHealthNews.com HERE

Dec 07, 2009

"Medicare fraud runs rampant in Miami-Dade" while federal experts examine how the crime spreads among different ethnic communities in different cities, The Associated Press/Miami Herald reports. "Miami-Dade County received about half a billion dollars from Medicare in home health care payments intended for the sickest patients in 2008, which is more than the rest of the country combined, according to a report released Monday. The county accounted for a little more than half the country's claims even though only 2 percent of those patients receiving home health care live here, according to a report by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General."

"Authorities say it's just another example of Medicare fraud from the county that accounts for more than $3 billion a year in false claims. In some cases, agencies have billed Medicare for home health services for homeless people. ... In many cases, authorities say Medicare is billed for services that are never provided. ... Almost 90 percent of U.S. patients receiving more than $100,000 for home health care live in Miami-Dade County" (Kennedy, 12/7).

Houston Chronicle: "Medicare fraud, like the flu, can be communicable, and authorities have found it spreads among different ethnic communities in different cities. In Houston, the Nigerian community has been most susceptible. In Miami it's the Cuban community; in Los Angeles it's the Armenian and Russian communities; and in Detroit it's the African-American community, according to federal authorities. They caution that these communities are by no means generally corrupt, just like most Italian-Americans were law-abiding citizens decades ago when the Italian mob dominated the U.S. organized crime world. But authorities stepping up Medicare investigations and prosecutions have found what they call 'viral' patterns. ... Lewis Morris, the deputy inspector general in Washington, D.C., who watches Medicare fraud, said the viral patterns happen in close-knit communities because the scams require a number of participants" (Flood, 12/6).

This is part of Kaiser Health News' Daily Report - a summary of health policy coverage from more than 300 news organizations.

Why is the Lake County County Commission & Chairman Welton Cadwell Afraid of Public Input & Transparency???

2009-12-19T07:47:39-05:00

The Lake County Commission needs to drastically change their resistance to allowing public input at meetings.

For three years, I have been going to School Board meetings and workshops, and then started going to the separate County Commission Board meetings or watching them on TV for the last two years.

This next paragraph is an extract from the County Commission website describing weekly meeting formats and "encouraging" public input, but then saying it might not always be allowed:

"The Lake County Board of County Commissioners meetings may consist of several components, including work sessions, discussion agenda items (departmental business), consent agenda items and public hearings. Lake County residents are encouraged to attend the meetings and to speak at public hearings. The Board normally meets in regular sessions the first, third and fourth Tuesday of each month. Special meetings and/or work sessions may be called as necessary. While public comments may not be taken at these work sessions, the public is invited to attend."

One major difference between the School Board and the County Boards is their approach to transparency, or allowing the public to speak and publishing info for the public to review.

For instance, the School Board allows

public input of 3 minutes before any line item on a meeting agenda, as well as public input at the end of the meeting. However, the County Commission does not. Chairman Welton Cadwell doesn't allow public input for line items on the agenda, but only at the end of the meeting. And, most recently, he didn't even allow public input at the end of the meeting, so no one could comment about the planned EDC party in Bella Collina, or the surprise expenditure request for a $230,000 assault vehicle that was not in the budget. And, at a meeting about 1 month ago, the Board discussed and approved the $1.2-million 4 year contract with Metro Orlando EDC without allowing public input before the Board approved the contract (I even specifically asked Welton to do so, and he refused).

Now, the most recent elimination of public input might be partly my doing, because at a previous meeting I used public input to discuss the issue of the EDC contract, then gave a book on Drucker's Management techniques to the Interim County Manager, Sandy Minkoff (implying the County didn't understand current Management methods), and THEN announced I was running against Linda Stewart for County Commissioner. I admit I was a little over the top, and subsequently sent an apology letter to the Board.

But, none of these reasons should justify preventing public input.

Has Welton been in office too long, and Chairman too long, and just doesn't want to listen? Or is there something deeper involved.

For instance, the Board won't initiate performance audits of operations by the County Auditor (who works for the County Clerk), and recently Minkoff canceled an appearance at an audit exit conference with the County Auditor over an audit of the Employee Services department. There has been a lot of controversy over the capabilities of the Employee Services department, and there methods of hiring, firing, promoting and demoting.

And, in the future I will discuss the need to have very public, advanced notices of meetings. Not all workshops are publicized clearly. And, some Board meetings are not publicized adequately. For instance, the recent Board meeting held on a Tuesday morining in Clermont was not even on the Board of Commissioners website on the prior Friday, and the agenda posted on the website was extremely limited and did not provide handouts to be reviewed before the meeting.

There really do seem to be a lot of management type issues in the County, and preventing public input, limiting notice of meetings, etc. is not a solution.

Lake County Jobless Rate Leaps to 12.7% in November While Lake County Board Parties in Bella Collina

2009-12-18T22:30:21-05:00

So, while the Lake County Commissioners party in Bella Collina, Lake County "burns" through more layoffs and unemployment goes up to 12.7% (which doesn't include all the people who have given up or who don't ask for unemployment compensation). Besides the jump in the jobless rate described in an article below, earlier this week, several of the County Commissioners (except Elaine Renick, who publicly stated it was not a good idea) went to a party hosted by the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission (EDC) in a fancy country club in Bella Collina (remember those $7-million homes they had in that big open house 2 years ago?). They did it to give awards to people who worked on Lake County economic development. However, no one I know thinks that any economic development success has taken place in Lake County. Do you? (See Lauren Ritchie's commenatary about the party below)

Of course, you might get as angry as I am if you read several of Lauren Ritchie's columns (Orlando Sentinel) this last month about the EDC, and how they use inaccurate data and job counts to report results, or if you knew that the Board approved a FOUR year contract to pay the EDC $300,000 per year with hardly ANY measurable "deliverables" (like 100 jobs actually started - not faked) AND no required status reports (quarterly or monthly). I was at the meeting last month where the contract was discussed and approved by the entire Board. My work experience includes auditing contracts up to $600-million in size, and that contract was one of the most worthless contracts I have ever seen - there are no businesslike accountability provisions, and none of the County staff, the attorney or the Board should be proud of approving that contract. (more like a sole source giveaway).

AND, County Board Chairman Welton Cadwell is eliminating public input at meetings. He would not allow public input during the Board discussion on the EDC contract approval until after it was approved. Unlike the School Board, which allows public input on any issue on the agenda, AND they allow it before the Board votes, Welton rarely allows public input for Lake County taxpayers. At the meeting earlier this week, he eliminated the normal public input period at the end of the agenda, and only allowed public input for non-controversial 2-3 agenda items.

You would think the Lake County Board of County Commissioners would skip such EDC parties and instead hold weekly workshops on the problem of no jobs or the poor County Economy. But they don't even discuss such an issue or initiatives. Instead, this last Tuesday, they approved a $230,000 expenditure for a special assault vehicle for the Sheriff. No, the vehicle was not budgeted. Instead, the Sheriff got a grant to pay for 7 or more police cars that WERE budgeted, then instead of returning the funds to the Treasury, the Board approved changing the budget item to allow the Assault vehicle purchase (to carry Swat team members to drug busts, barricaded homes, etc). There was no discussion of why he didn't return some of the funds to the general fund, or search for a used vehicle, and he only proposed a single sole source vehicle, and they didn't discuss the issue of sending the entire $230,000 outside the county rather than finding ways to spend it within the County.

Heck, for a lower amount of $210,000, I could have bought a welding machine and constructed an assault vehicle with wings, and do it right here in Lake County.

They didn't even mention if a search was done on eBay. A friend from the local antique boat club just bought a fully functional 1943 Dodge Power Wagon used by the Army from eBay, and maybe there is a deal on last year's Lenco assault vehicle.

This was one week after the Board had a special meeting and heard that the next budget year would have a shortfall of 10 or $15-million.

Now, I am in favor of Sheriff Deputy safety, and giving jobs to Bella Collina Country Club staff, but not in the current economic environment. The Board has to get real, and maybe assign some of those extra managers in Employee Services to developing job programs.

As a consequence, I will be announcing a couple of my own programs in a few days, since the Board hasn't yet figured out there is a problem in the economy.

Below is the article about the unemployment rate, followed by the Nov 5 article about the $300,000 EDC contract.

Lake unemployment soars in November

By Christine Show, Orlando Sentinel

10:22 a.m. EST, December 18, 2009

Lake County employment rates rose significantly in November as rates also climbed throughout the region.

The county's jobless rate jumped to 12.7 percent in November, up from 12. 1 percent in October, according to a preliminary report released from Workforce Central Florida Friday morning.

The figure for Lake is a considerable change from this time last year, when the rate in November 2008 was 8 percent. In November 2007, the amount of jobless was only 4.4 percent.

The rest of Central Florida also did not fare well as all counties saw a rise in unemployment.

Orange County jumped to 11.7 percent from 11.3 percent in October; Seminole County moved up to 10.9 percent last month, compared to October's 10.6 percent rate; Osceola County jumped from October's 13 percent to 13.3 percent for November; Volusia County is up to 12.3 percent in November from 11.8 percent in October.

Flagler, Marion and Brevard also saw significant increases. Flagler County is now up to 16.8 percent in November, which is up from 16.2 percent in October. In Marion County, rates rose from 13.4 percent in October to 13.9 percent in November. Brevard County jumped to 11.9 percent in November, up from 11.4 percent in October.

Sumter County, with the lowest percentage of unemployed, still saw an increase to 9.7 percent in November, which is up from 9.2 percent in October.

The Metro Orlando region saw an overall bump to 11.8 percent last month. October's rate was 11.5 percent. The state rate moved up slightly to 11.5 percent, up from 11.3 percent in October.

Only the national rate did a bit better where overall unemployment throughout the country dropped to 9.4 percent in November. October's rate was 9.5 percent.

===============================================

This is an article about the EDC $300,000 contract which had NO clear deliverables, so basically, there is no accountability for how the funds are spent (speaking as an auditor with 18 years experience). Would you sign a $300,000 contract with a contractor to build a house without any deadlines, specific tasks, specifications of windows, roof quality, etc. No? Well that is the kind of contract the Board signed with Metro Orlando EDC.

County renews contract with Metro Orlando EDC

DAVID DONALD - from the Nov 5 Daily Commercial HERE

Staff Writer

TAVARES -- Despite a down economy, Lake County commissioners agreed to continue marketing the county to the international and national business community.

Commissioners voted 5-0 Tuesday to renew their contract with the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission, or EDC, sending what they said was a business-friendly message.

"When times are bad you don't draw back on your marketing to people," commission Chairman Welton Cadwell said.

The EDC represents Lake, Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties in efforts to attract companies with high-wage jobs. In return the county pays the EDC $300,000 a year.

Some people have questioned whether the county has received the best bang for its buck from the EDC.

Commissioner Elaine Renick pondered whether it was time for the county to cut ties and try to attract companies on its own.

Renick said instead of paying the EDC, the money might be better spent on the businesses that are already in Lake.

"We should be focusing on the little guy," she said.

Commissioner Jennifer Hill disagreed.

"I think they play a huge role in how we compete in the region and the whole country," Hill said. "The EDC gives us a hand-up."

Raymond Gilley, president of the EDC, defended the organization, saying it looks at a "full range of economic possibilities" from attracting international companies to helping grow companies that already call Lake home.

If Lake went out on its own, Gilley said, the county would be at a disadvantage. Not only would Lake be competing against the EDC and the counties it represents, it would cost the county more to duplicate the services and resources the EDC has to court companies, he said.

"Instead of partnering, we're competing," he said. "That's not the way prospects see Metro Orlando."

Commissioner Jimmy Conner agreed with Gilley, saying the EDC has the international and national contacts.

"We don't have those kind of contacts," he said. "There are some people out there who are smarter than us."

Not renewing the contract with the EDC could create "ill will" in the business community, further sullying Lake's reputation as anti-business.

Lake's economic development strategic plan, a document focusing on the county's economic weaknesses and strengths and how to create industry and jobs, suggests the county needs to improve its image of appearing anti-business.

"We can't move forward with our economic development plan without the EDC," said Commissioner Linda Stewart. "We can't isolate ourselves regionally."

-----------------------------------------------

The fancy party in Bella Collina - the Board talked about this event at last Tuesday's meeting, and then Lauren Ritchie wrote this commentary on the party after it happened

The Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission just doesn’t get it

Posted: 17 Dec 2009 06:44 AM PST

Last night, the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission threw a party at the clubhouse at Bella Collina, the subdivision that is the Lake County poster child for property flipping and mortgage foreclosure.

In addition, the party was to honor volunteers who served on the Economic Development Advisory Council, a group that has drawn criticism for private meetings and is to be the subject of a commission discussion in January over whether it should meet in the sunshine.

Just another swift move by the agency that gets nearly $300,000 a year in taxpayer dollars to bring jobs to the county. Well, and to party a little, too.

Only one Lake County commissioner seems to have a glimmer of why this is so very wrong. It’s like everyone on that elected body is snorting the eggnog.

Elaine Renick got the invitation and sent back this message: “I don’t mean to be ugly, but I believe that this is really inappropriate.”

She went on to remind EDC officials that economic times aren’t so good in Lake.

“It is my opinion that at a time when so many other companies are scaling back their parties or donating the money budgeted for these things to food banks, this decision was misguided. This does not mean that I do not appreciate the work of the Economic Development Advisory Council. I do.”

EDC officials tried to ease Renick’s concerns by telling her that private sponsors allowed the EDC to “defray associated costs” of the event at the swanky clubhouse. Officials said this morning that the cost to the EDC is estimated at up to $1,500. The agency had a bigger turnout than expected. Its vice president for marketing and communications, Maureen Brockman, called the party “a most worthy investment.”

Oh, my. What a clueless bunch.

Renick is right. There’s no need to thank volunteers with a fancy reception at an exclusive clubhouse. And considering that taxpayer money went into this, it’s not just ill-judged. It’s flat wrong.

Drastic Hikes in Florida Unemployment Insurance Start January 1, Reducing Funds for Other Agencies

2009-12-17T16:39:35-05:00

Most Florida businesses will get an unexpected hike in employee unemployment insurance taxes starting January 1, 2010. This problem will cascade into another fight for the total remaining Florida tax revenues, thus reducing the remaining funds for other agencies, including Schools, etc. (and, remember, Charlie Crist just approved the $600-million SunRail system, which will also compete for funds. Additionally,if Obama's health plan passes, it mandates drastic hikes in Medicaid payments for Florida and other states that have low Medicaid payments, thus that will "suck" more funds out of Florida State cash).

Below is a briefing sent out by the Eustis Chamber of Commerce that gives a good description of the tax hike, which significantly increases

bottom line costs for each employee. If you are business owner, you need to know about this tax, and perhaps take the actions requested by the Chamber.

If you are an employee, you need to understand how the State has used up their unemployment insurance fund to pay unemployment insurance, and has been borrowing $300-million per MONTH from the Federal government to continue paying unemployment payments. The tax hike means that your employer's cost will go up, which means that there will be another reason to layoff employees.

So, the Chamber action recommendations sound important, until you realize they only tell you to plead with Florida officials to lower the tax rate AND the underlying "wage base", which would reduce tax hikes to employers, BUT THEY DON'T SAY WHERE THE FUNDS WILL COME FROM TO CONTINUE UNEMPLOYMENT PAYMENTS. So, if the State reduces the planned unemployment tax hikes, they either need to stop paying unemployment insurance payments, reduce them, or take the funds from some other source like education.

I sympathize with employers, but this one sided plan pits employers against other agencies like Education, and a plan for alternative sources of funds should be part of the "plan", because I doubt the Florida officials would curtail or reduce unemployment benefits. Either that, or they need to pass legislation to drastically curtail unemployment payments since there is not enough targeted revenue to pay for them.

So, do you still like the cascading effects of a corrupt Congress and Obama's socialism? It will hit everyone in Florida after January 1.

Issue Briefing ( emailed out by the Eustis, FL Chamber of Commerce):

Issue:

Florida employers will face significant increases in their unemployment compensation taxes at a time
when they can least afford it. The new unemployment compensation tax rates have been calculated by
the Department of Revenue and will become effective January 1, 2010.

Background:
Florida employers pay unemployment compensation payroll taxes on their employees’ wages. These
taxes are deposited into the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund and are used to pay benefits to
qualified employees who are unemployed through no fault of their own.

Florida’s unemployment compensation tax rates range from 1.18 percent up to 5.4 percent, based on
an employer’s history of laying off workers. The tax rate is currently applied to a wage base of $8,500
per employee. Florida employers are also required to pay unemployment compensation taxes to the
federal government. Federal unemployment tax is 6.2 percent on employee’s annual wages with a 5.4
percent tax credit if the state program meets federal requirements and does not have any outstanding
federal loans. Currently, Florida employers pay 0.8 percent in federal unemployment taxes.

Florida’s Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund uses automatic triggers to increase or decrease an
employer’s unemployment compensation taxes based on the trust fund’s balance. When it reaches a
low of 4 percent of taxable payrolls it automatically triggers a tax increase and when it reaches 5
percent of taxable payrolls it automatically triggers a tax decrease on Florida employers. When a
states’ unemployment compensation trust fund runs out of money it borrows from the federal
government to pay benefits.

What is driving this increase?

Florida’s October 2009 unemployment rate is 11.2 percent statewide. This is the highest level of
unemployment in 34 years and with this significant increase in unemployment also comes a
corresponding increase in unemployment compensation benefits paid from the trust fund, lowering the
trust fund balance below 4% of the total taxable payroll and triggering an automatic tax increase. In
addition to skyrocketing unemployment and increased payments for benefits, legislation passed in 2009
increasing an employee’s taxable wages from $7,000 to $8,500 to help shore up trust fund solvency.
On August 24, 2009 the trust fund balance was exhausted and Florida began borrowing from the
federal government to pay benefits. Florida is currently borrowing roughly $300 million a month from the federal government and has an outstanding advance balance totaling $737,700,000.

There are currently 25 states and one territory borrowing from the federal government to pay benefits.
They include: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana,
Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, Virgin Islands and
Wisconsin. This represents $22.2 billion dollars in advances from the federal government. It is
estimated that by mid 2010 this will grow to 40 states needing federal advances.

What this means to your business:

The rate that an employer pays in state unemployment compensation taxes is specific to the business
and is based on a formula that also considers an employer’s three year experience. In 2009,
employers at the minimum rate paid $8.40 per employee. This will increase to $100.30 per employee
starting January 1, 2010. The new rate will bring in $2.5 billion in unemployment compensation taxes for FY 10-11 and represents a $759 million tax increase on Florida employers.

For example, a 50 employee business with the minimum experience rating paid $420 in state
unemployment compensation taxes in 2009 and will now have to pay $5015 in 2010, representing a
1094 percent increase in their unemployment compensation taxes.

In addition to this staggering state tax increase, it is estimated that by January 1, 2012, to the extent we have federal loans that have not been repaid, the federal tax will also increase on Florida employers by 0.3 percent each year until those outstanding federal loans are repaid.

Have I Got Your Attention Now?

Where is the money coming from? It’s simple, your bottom line.

Five Ways you can make a difference:

1. Tell us how this increase will impact your business. Go to www.FloridaChamber.com
• Florida employers are on the front lines of this difficult economy. Letting us know how this
increase will impact your business and allowing us to share your story with Florida’s
legislative leaders helps our united effort to reduce this tax increase in 2010.

2. Call your State Representative and State Senator and ask them to take action now!
• Tell them how this unemployment compensation tax increase will impact your business.
• Ask them to reduce the tax increase and lower the wage base in a special session.
• If you don’t know who your state legislators are, please contact Faye Brainard at
fbrainard@flchamber.com to get this information.

3. Email to Governor Crist at Charlie.Crist@MyFlorida.com
• Tell your story and ask him to call a special session to reduce the tax increase and lower
the wage base.

4. Write a letter to the editor in your local paper about the impact of this tax increase on your
business.

5. Get 10 other employers in your area to join the fight by telling us at www.FloridaChamber.com
how this tax increase will impact their business.

Eustis Area Chamber of Commerce
http://www.EustisChamber.org
1 W. Orange Ave.
Eustis, FL 32727
352-357-3434

Lake & Other Florida County Hospital Property Taxes Criticized in Orlando Channel 9 Report

2009-12-07T21:00:14-05:00

Channel 9 in Orlando just produced a TV report on the "unfairness" of Hospital Tax Districts , including those in Lake County. You can read below what we say first, or

you can go right HERE to Channel 9 to see their video report, THEN come back here and read our comments!

Favorite quote from the TV Report:

"Out of nearly 300 hospitals in Florida, only 14 take taxes straight from residents’ pockets; two are in Lake County and three are in Volusia County." They just put it on the backs of the taxpayers. That's not fair and it’s not right," David Sava said."

In Lake County, I have periodically reported on this blog about the lack of accountability and lack of justification for the 1 mill property tax paid by North Lake county (FL) property owners (residential and commercial). If you look in the categories section at the right, and click on "North Lake Hospital District" or HERE, you will find a list of our blog posts, including much information from local activist AND Board member of the District, Marilyn Bainter.

In our most recent postings on the North Lake County Hospital District taxes, I focused on the complete lack of detailed guidance on how the funds were to be spent, thus there is no accountability. You would never buy a car sight unseen with a contract that only said to pay $20,000 for a vehicle to "improve your transportation", but $11-million in Lake County tax funds are paid directly to two local hospitals without any specific details on how they are to be spent. Three Lake County State legislators (Marlene O'Toole, Carey Baker, and Alan Hayes) have refused to modify the law to provide more details or define accountability, or modify the fixed 1 mill rate to allow flexibility to the Tax District Board.

Now, local Orlando Channel 9 has produced a report on the same "unfair" taxes in other local counties, and said some residents think the tax is unfair because if they have health insurance and pay their hospital bills, why should they also be taxed on their house to provide more funds to local hospitals when MOST Florida counties have NO SUCH hospital tax on property (some may pay a portion of local sales taxes, but not many.).

Clarifications: 1. Local Hospital Board Members are Elected locally - The TV report says most Hospital Tax District members are not elected locally, but appointed by the Governor. In Lake County, they ARE elected, but the cost is too much for such a non-paying job that only Hospital supporters run for the positions. 2. The report says the Districts were formed in the 1920's to pay for "indigent care" but that later most hospitals found another way (rather than taxes) to cover indigents. They don't also mention that many hospitals in the 1950's-1970's converted from "for profit" status to "non-profit" status, and that was allowed because they agreed to absorb indigent care, thus any usage of the Hospital property taxes to cover indigent care now is a violation of the non-profit conversion regulations in our layman's opinion. 3. Another issue in Lake County, researched by Marilyn Bainter, is the possibility that the Hospital Tax is unconstitutional, and she is raising funds for a possible lawsuit now. 4) There are TWO Hospital Property Tax Districts in Lake County - one in North Lake, and the other in South Lake. This blog has focused mostly on the North Lake Hospital Tax District.

You can read the Channel 9 report and watch the video online HERE, or you can read the text below. I would go there anyway to see the video as well as read the comments.

Residents Say Hospital Property Tax Is Unfair

Posted: 5:04 pm EST December 7, 2009 Updated: 6:55 pm EST December 7, 2009

CENTRAL FLORIDA -- Even if they never got sick some Central Florida residents are ending 2009 with some very expensive hospital bills. Some local hospitals collect hundreds of dollars in property taxes directly from residents at some of the highest rates in the state.He never visited the emergency room, never saw a doctor, but David Sava still has a big hospital bill this year."I paid over $800," he said.Sava's money is part of $35 million in property taxes Halifax Medical Center will take in 2010.

Bert Fish Medical Center in New Smyrna Beach will take more than $21 million, a number that grew for the eighth straight year.

Out of nearly 300 hospitals in Florida, only 14 take taxes straight from residents’ pockets; two are in Lake County and three are in Volusia County."They just put it on the backs of the taxpayers. That's not fair and it’s not right," David Sava said. It was an idea that started in the 20s, to pay for indigent care, people who can't pay. And taxing hospitals say they still need it."It is the use for those dollars," said Garry Mac, Bert Fish Medical Center.

But over time, most hospitals found other ways to pay for indigents. Eyewitness News compared Florida Memorial Hospital in Daytona to hospitals in DeLand and Orange City. Their costs for indigent care are similar, but two take taxes and one doesn't.Florida Memorial Hospital uses state-of-the-art heart care and high-tech imaging tools to make money. But taxing hospitals say they can't do that."Counties are best served by having large institutions that provide that, scattered around the state, but not too many because those programs are very expensive to run and maintain," Mac said.People are tired of paying for those 14 hospitals that say they can't do what hundreds of others have. Tax watchdog Ed Connors believes in Volusia County, where incomes are 20 percent less than the state average, it's chasing residents away."It's an addiction to money. It's an easy source of money. For a while," Connors said.It's not as simple as voting out board members setting the tax rate. Most aren't elected, but appointed by the governor, and don't answer to citizens tired of paying the price.At hospitals Eyewitness News gathered statistics for, 25 percent of patients that go into emergency departments don't have health insurance.

Clout of Tea Party grows vs Republicans or Dems, According to Rasmussen Poll

2009-12-07T12:28:31-05:00

A major political polling firm, Rasmussen, has published a study that indicates the Tea Party groups have much more clout in the minds of voters than you might think. Here is what they said:

Survey of 1,000 Likely Voters
December 4-5, 2009

Suppose the Tea Party organized itself as a political party. When thinking about the next election for Congress, would you vote for the Republican candidate from your district, the Democratic candidate from your district or the Tea Party candidate from your district?
Democratic	36%
Tea Party	23%
Republican	18%
Not sure	22

However, the study above is misleading, because the REAL Tea Party folks do NOT intend to be a separate party, and many Tea Party followers consider themselves Republicans, as we explain below.

We know the Tea Party in Lake County has some clout and organization, resulting in a very organized campaign for Patricia Sullivan, a Republican running against Democrat Alan (My Congressman is Nuts) Grayson. (You can tell my bias). But the national Tea Party and the local one do not believe in starting a new party, but instead to run under either of the two major parties, R or D, and won't support third party candidates. Not long ago, some Tea Party "supporters" elsewhere in Florida got the "Tea Party" listed as another 3rd party in Florida, which conflicts with the philosophy of most Tea Partiers about running only as an R or D. And, they leave the door open for supporting D candidates if the R's don't make the grade. Some think the move to setup the Tea Party as an independent party in Florida is a spoiler campaign by Dems who want to see them split the Republican vote in upcoming elections. I don't think this will happen. If anything, existing Tea Party groups may change their name to avoid the confusion by "wanna be" groups who are trying the steal the "Tea Party" name.

A big part of the REAL Tea Party appeal is to locate and only support "vetted" candidates who meet 70% of an 80 question qualification questionnaire, and then get approved by an interview panel. Compare this to current Republican and Democrat programs where anyone who is registered in their party can run and most likely get votes by party members without ANY objective vetting to screen out RINO's or DINO's ( liberals who are Republicans in Name Only, etc.)

And part of the Tea Party mantra is to eliminate the backdoor financing of Federal (and to some extent State and local) campaigns by candidates taking "special interest" funds to support groups or firms later with earmark payoffs. It is an ethics issue, and resounds with many. Thus REAL Tea Party candidates with enough grass roots organization and support are trouncing old style incumbents who spend SIX times as much funds as an incumbent known to payoff financial supporters with various contracts, zoning and earmark deals.

Thus tea party organizers do LOTS of background research on who contributed to incumbents, why, and then investigate for evidence of payoff earmarks, etc. Once they find it, that is the evidence used to kill the campaign of an incumbent. That is what happened in Utah, and they now are lining up California Senator Barbara Boxer and other national candidates for the next removal, since she took over a documented $1-million from supporters to vote for programs against the interest of most citizens. The same pattern can be researched related to contributions from Builders, Unions, CSX (supporter of the Florida SunRail railroad), etc. So, ethics in government may actually win in the future, and both the Republicans and Dems have to modify their financing methods and behavior, or get trounced by the new Tea Party candidates who I believe are attracting a rising tide of voters tired of the "same old politics".

The article below discusses a Rasmussen Poll that indicates the Tea Party candidates in some places would get a higher vote than GOP candidates if they were separate parties.

Why? Too many Republican groups and candidates (as well as Dems) still represent the old style politics and many voters won't go for it anymore, according to the poll.

As the article says, the GOP party (and I am one) needs to pay attention to why the public feels this way (same for Dems ). But, don't assume from the survey below that the Republicans would lose if the REAL Tea Party follows their stated philosophy of only running as R or D. The Tea Party folks don't want to be a spoiler in a close election, causing Dems to win like happened with Ralph Nader, thus if you add the GOP and Tea party supporter percents from the poll, they always seem to win over the Dems. So, it would behoove the Republicans to make nice and respect the Tea Parties and maybe adopt some of their practices. And, ethical candidates of either party should try to get vetted by the Tea Party using that 80 item questionnaire.

For instance, if a GOP favorite or personality is known to take funds from special interests, and that official supports his funders instead of doing what is right for the residents, then maybe they need to rethink that old pattern. Especially because the Tea Party will be doing background research and disclose the unethical decisions made supporting funders.

I would not be surprised if Sarah Palin at some point passes the Tea Party questionnaire and gets their official support as well as Republican support for whatever office she plans to run for.

You will REALLY know I am right when you see more Republicans and THEN Blue Dog Democrats seeking Tea Party approvals and modifying their voting and fund raising behaviors.

Below is the first article I found - or you can go to the Rasmussen website HERE for more details. It is interesting to note these survey results are NOT showing up yet in mainstream media, but in blogs, which may tell you the bias of the media. Watch to see if they report it in the next few days. vj

Poll: Tea Party beats the GOP

December 7, 11:13 AM

From Worldmag.com HERE

According to Rasmussen, if the Tea Party were its own political party it would be more popular than the GOP. Highlights:

In a three way generic ballot, Democrats would attract 36% of the vote, Tea Party 23% of the vote, and the GOP 18% of the vote.
Among Independents, 33 % would vote Tea Party candidate, 30% are undecided, 25% would vote Democrat, and just 12% prefer the GOP.
Almost as many Republicans would vote Tea Party (33%) as would vote GOP (39%).
Seventy percent of Republican voters have a favorable opinion of the Tea Party movement, 43% of Independents have a favorable opinion, and 49% of Democrats have no opinion one way or the other.
Forty-one percent of all voters nationwide say Republicans and Democrats are so much alike that we need a new party.

Could we be looking at the rise of a third political party?

Baltimore Mayor Convicted of Embezzlement

2009-12-06T17:13:57-05:00

One of the reasons that some elected officials get tied up in financial fraud is a tendency of entitlement after they have won or have been in office awhile.

I call this a tendency to confuse social confidence with result oriented competence. A results oriented elected official obtains satisfaction from accomplishments, but a visual image or power oriented official obtains satisfaction from what they get when in office, and sometimes anything goes.

So, here, the Baltimore Mayor, Sheila Dixon, was convicted of embezzlement for SOLICITING gift cards from local developers "for the needy" and

instead using some of them for her own purchases. So, she only got maybe $1000 but killed her reputation, and faces up to five years in prison.

The article doesn't say how the problem was uncovered, but a proper control would be having a fraud, waste and abuse reporting hotline, which Lake County does NOT have. The article briefly mentions that Dixon was also charged with financial disclosure violations, which indicates they have one, and monitor compliance in Baltimore.

From CNN here

Baltimore mayor guilty of embezzlement

December 2, 2009 10:13 a.m. EST

(CNN) -- A jury convicted Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon on Tuesday of embezzlement for improperly using gift cards intended for the needy, the chief investigator for the state prosecutor's office said.

She was found guilty of a single misdemeanor count of fraudulent misappropriation by a fiduciary. She could be removed from office because it is a theft-related crime, James I. Cabezas said.

Dixon solicited several cards for her own use from two developers, including Patrick Turner, who testified this month that Dixon asked him to donate gift cards from retailers and have them delivered to her office. He said he spent $1,000 total -- $500 for a Best Buy gift card and $500 for a Target one, according to the Baltimore Sun newspaper.

No date was set for sentencing. Cabezas said Dixon, Baltimore's first black female mayor, faces up to five years in prison. She was indicted in January.

The 55-year-old mayor was acquitted of two counts of felony theft and one count of misconduct in office in connection to allegations that the Democrat misused gift cards sponsored by the mayor's office and to various stores.

In a statement, Dixon said she would continue with her work. "The jury's verdict today does not impact my responsibility to continue serving, and I remain focused on keeping Baltimore on course in these trying economic times," she said.

Her spokesman, Scott Peterson, told CNN that the verdict was confusing, since she was also found not guilty of stealing the gift cards.

"I don't know how to deal with that," he said in a telephone interview.

Jurors deliberated more than six days before reaching their verdict. A second trial is scheduled for March to address Dixon's alleged financial disclosure violations and perjuries, Cabezas said.

"The city will still continue to move forward. ... We won't miss a step," Dixon said outside the courthouse after the verdict.

Turner "has a significant development project in progress now," Cabezas said.

The investigation into alleged wrongdoing at City Hall began in March 2006, when Dixon was on the City Council. Several other people related to the case already have been convicted, Cabezas said.

Dixon was president of the City Council when she became mayor in January 2007, after then-Mayor Martin O'Malley was elected governor. She was serving a four-year term in November of that year.