The Clock Continues to Tick

If anything positive might come out of Monday evening’s city council meeting it should be the fact that the budget process that we utilize has to be overhauled if we are to continue as an independent political entity and steer our own ship through these rough political seas. 

One of the first changes that must occur has to do with ensuring those who are elected are properly informed and trainedin regard to all aspects of the intricate workings of the city’s financial operations.As such, specialattention must be paid to dealing with the city’s unique “spending cap” requirements. 

The city manager was correct in pointing out that the issue of going to what is called “roll-back” over the lastsix to eight years may have left us at a distinct disadvantage, setting up a “perfect storm” event in regard to our budgeting process and the harm it can bring to us as a community. I wish our manager over those years had been more forthright with councilors and made it clear to them they were pursuing a dangerous course, which we may now be looking at on the horizon with dire consequences. 

In a recent column, I wrote that we should immediately begin looking at holding additional budgetary meetings to address what I saw were troubling issues ahead. To his credit,Councilor Rene Champagne recognized and has spoken to the potential shortfalls in our financial condition almost immediately after being chosen to fill a vacant spot on council.  

By the time you read this, we will be approximately 55 days until the end of September, when the State of Florida has to be in receipt of our final budget and our millage rate reported to them. This isn’t an optional date; it is the requirement under state statute and must be adhered to. 

I’m not sure why the standard practice of providing council with the information regarding the mandated “spending cap” was not made available during the budget process, as it has been over the many years since we incorporated, and pointed out by former Councilor Honecker when he addressed council last Monday evening. 

We have a great advantage in our community. Our population is comprised of a number of pretty bright folks, many of them having positions of great responsibility in the private sector. We need to leverage some of that brain power to find more effective ways to provide those services that our residents have come to expect. 

All that is wrong does not lie with our employees, and blaming them will never accomplish anything. Empower them and see what they can accomplish.I’ve watched over the yearshow councilors have leveraged city staff, wasting expensive time chasing rabbits down a proverbialhole and gaining nothing. 

I would also like to see a follow-up on details that cost us $5,000,000 in grant monies,which had to be returned because we couldn’t execute our end of the contract. That is a crying shame, but if there is a reasonable response to that inquiry, I think we would all sleep better knowing it. 

I can only hope that we will begin addressing this issue moving forward and expedite the solution rather than delay any longer. Finding blame and throwing around insults are not the answer; we are better than that and must move forward and put our differences aside.