Property Taxes - #017

Mayor Jack Hilligoss and City Manager James Slaton talk about the hot topic that it seems everyone is talking about now: Property Tax. How would DeSantis' bill affect the city? 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:14

Hello, Lake Wales. Welcome to Mayor and the Manager. This is a podcast created by Providence Voice, which is part of the media ministry of High Point Church. And we created it so that you could know the people that you elect and pay to serve you, and you can be better aware of issues that impact you here in the city of Lake Wales. And today I'm joined again by our city manager, James Slayton. James, thanks for being here. On June the 2nd of this year, the Florida legislature passed HJR1, which is also called the Save Our Homes from Excessive Property Tax Act. And it has created quite a stir. Now, I'm going to try and summarize what I know to be in the bill. It was passed so fast that maybe I think we're all still figuring it out. And of course, social media is full of hot takes about it. But this is for um it would increase the amount of homestead property value that is exempt from property taxes over time, beginning with a $150,000 exemption in 2027 increasing to $250,000 in 2028. And it would establish Florida residency requirements that are needed to qualify for that. So if you have to live here for five years, I guess, before you can qualify for that exemption. It would limit increases in assessed value of all non-homestead properties to 5% annually, beginning in 2027. That's down from 10% annually. And it would restrict local governments' ability to use property taxes to finance public services. So they're really restricting what a local government like ours can spend this money on. You can only use it for public safety, education, schools, infrastructure, natural resources, bond issuance, debt service. Is that all in that? Or is I think those are the things that they've limited it to. Okay. So that's kind of the broad parameters of this bill. And you know, when you put a title, Save Our Homes from Excessive Property Taxes, everybody's for that. Anybody that any time a politician says to me, um, and I'm a small government, uh small tax kind of guy, uh when they start talking about slashing property taxes, it sounds really good on the front end. But today we're gonna try and talk about what the real impacts might be for our citizens in Lake Wales. So um let's start this way, James. I I've as I've looked on, and by the way, I will say this before we move forward. We always ask for your questions. And I have gotten a lot of questions about property taxes. Several people have emailed us and said, Can you, what's your take on property taxes? That's what we're gonna do this whole episode. So one of the things that I've noticed is people are taking snapshots of our city budget, which we put on our website, and um and there's um they're seeing that Lake Wales' current budget has a $99.5 million in annual income. And then they're looking down and seeing that only $12 million of our income is from property taxes. So they're wondering, it's 12%. What's the big deal? So what are the what's the misconception behind that?

SPEAKER_02 3:39

Well, the the first the first one is I think that you know, what what is that, you know, what comprises and so our current year budget actually that that we're in right now, I think we're we're actually up to about 123 million. So 99 after that.

SPEAKER_00 3:52

Yeah, that's the 2025 budget.

SPEAKER_02 3:53

Yeah, 2025. So this year we're about you know 123 million dollars. But you know, that's reflective of number one, all funding sources. Yeah. Okay. All funding sources, and that includes grants, loans, restricted revenue services, or uh uh funding um, you know, utility revenue. That's everything, all in savings, um, you know, it etc. So it does it, it is a lot of money. It it adds up, but it can't it all those funding sources are restricted. They can't just be used for general government services. You know, as an example, you know, that the you know, about half-ish, you know, maybe five million of that, you know, 12 million that comes in property taxes, number one, got goes into the CRA, for example, right? So that that that's those CRA dollars. Right. Well, the CRA dollars can't be used for general government services. They cannot even, they cannot be used for fire, police, parks, libraries, and all the the stuff that we really do every day, or or the internal support departments, or the cemetery, or or any of those things. So, so already out of the you know, we'll say 12 million or so that we're getting in in ad valorum, we we've only got seven, you know, maybe seven and a half um that can be used for general government services. But and and the same thing with a lot of those dollars, you know, we've got a considerable portion of our budget, is enterprise fund, for example, utility revenue. That that can only be used for the utility system, yeah, utility employees. It can't be used for general government services. Yeah, which is about what, 14 to 20 million? Example. I I I'm sorry, I don't have the the figures in front of them for me, but it it's a pretty big chunk. Oh, it's in the tens of millions. I just don't know uh the exact number you know sent here this morning. Um but but it's quite a bit. I mean, it it might be as much as uh 40 million, quite honestly.

SPEAKER_00 5:50

And and then we have you mentioned debt service. Oh grants, I'm sorry, grant income grants is restricted, and that's been a big chunk of our income.

SPEAKER_02 5:57

A lot of it has been grants. I mean, you know, we've got uh in just about every department uh grants. Um so grants and a lot of times loans, you know, because we do have debt service, they're they're kind of in the same same camp whereby they're specific in what their usage is. We get we get a grant for $23 million for uh uh you know streetscape project, right, in and around the downtown. Well, that's all we can use that money for.

SPEAKER_00 6:26

You can't plant trees in the public parks with that money.

SPEAKER_02 6:29

Exactly right. That that's exactly right. So so the majority of our budget is is actually very specific restricted revenue and and can't pay for what we call general government service.

SPEAKER_00 6:40

Okay, so so just to kind of ballpark this then, because again, that does, I've seen it. I've seen the the pictures on Facebook and Instagram. The City of Lake Wales gets $100 million, $123 million a year. So why is this such a big deal? But our our actual operating budget that we can use to provide city services is probably under probably more like $38, $40 million.

SPEAKER_02 7:04

It is, I think it's about $32 million this year.

SPEAKER_00 7:08

And even of that, you just mentioned that there's another CRA restriction on that. Correct. So about it's a pretty big chunk now. We're talking about a third of the of the operational budget of the city's property taxes.

SPEAKER_02 7:24

Yeah, it's uh the the operating budget. Yeah, it's probably a maybe a third, a quarter, maybe something like that.

SPEAKER_00 7:32

So it's it is a significant amount of money. And I I just wanted to get that out there uh because that is a big m misconception. So talk to us about then what do the property taxes, what services get paid for out of property taxes.

SPEAKER_02 7:46

Well, just about everything that that we do to some degree is either paid for solely by or supplemented by our property taxes. Okay. And you know, adval tax revenue. And that's again, I'll say fire, police, um, our parks, recreation. Um, you know, we have subsidized uh our streets department, you know, our airport, yeah, uh, our cemeteries, all the internal support departments required to keep the city going, right? Some so from finance and information technology, fleet maintenance, um all of that is is uh either paid for solely by libraries, for example.

SPEAKER_01 8:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:29

Um either paid for solely by property taxes or supplemented by property taxes. So any reduction in in those, and um they it's gonna impact it's gonna impact quite a bit.

SPEAKER_00 8:43

Yeah. Okay. So you one one thing, uh just you this brings up thoughts in my mind of what we've dealt with in our city commission over the last few years. But a big exciting time for us was that we over the last few years we've been able to fund our street repaving program. Yes, sir. Miles of city streets, which for years were neglected. Correct. And again, if this goes through, that's another thing that may start falling through the cracks again on us. That's exactly right. Yeah. Yes, sir. Okay, so property taxes fund a big portion of our services here locally. Um, and I know you obviously you're paying attention to this. Everybody's paying attention to this. I will tell you that it seems to me like they're creating kind of a boogeyman for lack of a better term from the local municipalities. Yes. There is this idea that local municipalities are these big, bloated, poorly run. Um there's a lot of waste, there's a lot of um, there's a lot of corruption. Um, so talk about that. I mean, that that's what you're seeing. Are you seeing the same thing that I'm seeing? I am. Yes, I am. And I just it seems to me like it's a little bit of a dance. I mean, hey, look, maybe let's maybe Miami, but I it seems to me that what what it I call it, it's it's a dance where you restrict um revenue, local revenue, you redirect it to state priorities, which is kind of what's going to happen here. And then because you've taken more funding away from the local government, they struggle to do their job, and then you blame the local government for being inefficient. Correct. And then that becomes the um impetus for the next round of taking away local control. So, yeah. So say why why should someone who lives in Lake Wales want that money to stay under local control rather than going up the chain? I'll just turn you loose on that question.

SPEAKER_02 10:52

Well, look, uh number one, uh, I I'm gonna just I'm gonna say this and and people are gonna get mad at me. Okay. Um there there has been no real impact study on what this is gonna cause, really statewide. There is no real plan. Uh and it it's uh in my view, I'm gonna say this is is is misleading, irresponsible governance for the state of Florida, quite honestly, because the services that that are gonna be reduced, and there will be, now each community is gonna handle this a little differently. Right. But there are communities that are absolutely gonna reduce services um be because of this. And so at the end of the day, those reduced services are are the things that that number one create communities and impact people's lives every single day. And there's some of the things you and I talked about and we listed uh just a few minutes ago. So um, and then the other thing is that some of the maybe communities aren't gonna do that. May maybe they like the position they're in and and and maybe the residents like the position they're in, they like the direction the community is going. And the other option is okay, well, we've lost however many millions of dollars in tax revenue. Are we gonna make it up? How are we gonna make it up?

SPEAKER_01 12:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:08

And I think you're gonna see other um communities and cities around the state create, number one, increasing all their fees for services and then creating new ones, right? For example. And I'm afraid my concern is that it's going to uh, you know, these new fees um are certainly gonna disproportionately hurt people um with less income, quite honestly. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 12:30

So, okay, let's talk about some practical practical examples. You said the local municipalities are going to have to find ways to replace this funding. I know that in the original form that the bill was put forward by Governor DeSantis, it includes included a trust fund, which was supposed to serve as a backstop for the lost revenue because they know there's going to be lost revenue. And that trust fund was in some way, and I never know that that was well explained explained, was supposed to help backfill those losses. But that was taken out of the final bill. So that doesn't even exist any longer. Doesn't even exist. So it falls completely to the local government to figure this out. And I think, frankly, and again, I'm a big fan of the governance we've had in the state of Florida for the last seven years. But I think that that that's really a tacit uh confession that they don't know how they're gonna make it up. It's gonna fall completely. So we're gonna local governments are gonna have to do things like you said, like increase fire assessments or find other ways, which means that every citizen has to pay that. Correct. Not just property owners, but everybody or well, property owners have to do that. Here's another thing. If you're a property owner of rental properties that don't get this exemption, what are you gonna do? How are you where how are you gonna pass those costs down?

SPEAKER_02 13:56

Well, exactly, because you know, local governments may increase their millage rates, right? Right. To make up some of that revenue. So when they increase their millage rates, the the folks that aren't homesteaded, um, they've got to pay more in taxes. Right. And so those taxes are gonna get so for renters as an example, yeah, those owners are gonna pass uh those costs along to to the renters, to the tenants, right? So their costs are gonna go up. But even more importantly, what about commercial business? Yes. We were trying to attract business into the state of Florida and into the local municipalities to create jobs. Well, what's gonna happen when all these local governments, right? And so uh both city and county increase their millage rates, which are gonna increase the property taxes for commercial business enterprise. What then? Is that has that become a discouragement?

SPEAKER_01 14:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:46

Uh you know, for business here in Florida, there's been no discussion about that. So I think the the the full ramifications of this have not really been considered or or discussed.

SPEAKER_00 14:56

It just keeps rippling out as we're discussing it. So the kind of industry that might have come here prior may not come here now, correct. Which means also the kind of jobs that we've been trying to attract the Lake Whales.

SPEAKER_02 15:11

Exactly, exactly exactly, exactly right.

SPEAKER_00 15:14

The employment opportunities go out the window if that happens.

SPEAKER_02 15:16

Yeah. And so let me just say this too. Um just in terms, you you you talked about, you know, local control and local dollars. You're you're literally the one one of the human beings that gets to decide where where this money goes and where it gets spent. There's five of you. You all live here in town. People know you, they can stop you in in public through Walmart and have a conversation with you. Um, you can't do that at state level.

SPEAKER_00 15:42

No.

SPEAKER_02 15:42

So so if anybody thinks it's a good idea for people in Tallahassee that don't live here, um in Lake Wales or any other communities around the state to make decisions about what we should be doing and how we spend our money, I think that's absolutely insane.

SPEAKER_00 15:59

Yeah. Yeah. So I think that that's a great um I think it's a great point, James. And again, I I feel like I have to I I find myself in just such an odd situation here because, like I said off the top, uh I'm really a kind of a small government guy. I really am very uh much about trying to reduce taxes as much as possible. Um, and not to mention the fact that I'm a pastor and a believer. And the script the scripture teaches us, though, that there are legitimate uses of taxes. And um this just this feels like uh it's not so much, this is the way it feels to me. It's not so much about trying to help the taxpayer. That's the way it's sold, but it seems performative uh because um it drives voters out at during an election season. And um, it also seems like um it's a move to take a little bit more control away from local municipalities and move it up to Tallahassee.

SPEAKER_02 17:01

And the as you know, they've been doing that year over year, and and the last couple legislative sessions that have been some of the worst, where they're preempting us at every turn and trying to make decisions about what's best for our citizens from again from Tallahassee.

SPEAKER_00 17:17

Yeah. And and I and I think that you know there's a real momentum behind that because of what we're seeing on the federal level, all of the waste, fraud, and abuse that we've seen with taxpayer money on a federal level. And we know that it happens in some municipalities. I'm sure that's the case. So it's kind of an easy sale. But again, like you said, in the city of Lake Wales, if you think that's happening, you know the people that are making the decisions. You can you can come right into the chambers and tell us that. You can schedule a meeting and sit down across the desk from us. You can look at our budget.

SPEAKER_02 17:52

Well, and you can look at even better, look at our audits. We're required to get audited. Right. So everything gets combed through uh by auditors every single year. And by the way, uh Lake Wales citizens, we we win the Government Finance Officers Association audit award every single year because every dollar is accounted. And I'll say that, and um any anyone that's that that's paying any attention to what Lake Wales is doing, um, you know, uh I we we're making your tax dollars stretch even more. We're leveraging them against, you know, grants and we're we're bringing tens of millions of dollars into Lake Wales to to to uh improve this this community. So I would say we've been pretty good stewards of the taxpayers' policy.

SPEAKER_00 18:36

I would agree. So like we've had episodes about that, where because the funding that we are receiving is being so well um, I think, uh used, the result of that has been well over $30 million in grant money that's come our way, which is a big part of that 99 or 123 million people at C is and they ought to be shouting about that. And again, if that money goes out of our hands and we have to sit with our hands out waiting for someone in Tallahassee to reapportion it back to us, we can't function nearly so efficiently that way.

SPEAKER_02 19:10

We we can't. And and let me uh I made a statement earlier about you know this property tax, you know, reform, I think being and by the way, I just saw this morning, um, this ballot initiative is is already being challenged. So Leon County's already, you know, uh filed an action with the court. So we'll see where this all goes and where it ends up. That I talked about maybe what's misleading. Um I have a lot to say about this, yeah. But but um, you know, here we are local government and and with with our with our you know bloated spending and property taxes, you know, that that we're charging for services, um I almost don't even know where to start. So um one thing I'll say is that um I brought I brought my personal tax bill. Okay. And uh so and I I don't mind saying this to the world, so so I'm using air quotes uh that the listeners can't hear me, but you know, my tax bill is uh a little over five thousand dollars a year.

SPEAKER_00 20:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 20:16

Um, you know, I okay, you know, I bought a house uh you know kind of shortly after COVID, um, you know, and and prices were up. Fine. And so I've got a I've got a tax bill here. When I look through this bill, I'm paying about $2,100 in property tax. In property tax. Okay. The rest of that money, by the way, is going to um so county uh so municipal services taxing units. So I live just outside the city limits um, you know, in unincorporated Polk County. And so while I'm paying, you know, uh $2,100 to the Board of County Commissioners on top of that, uh, and it's not ad valorum. So so this is what people need to understand. There are non-ad valorum special assessments that you can be charged for. Yeah. So I would like for all of you listening to go go pull up your tax bill, pull it up on a property appraiser site and look and see what you're you're you're actually paying. So I'm paying, you know, $170, $171 to Polk County Parks, yeah, municipal services taxing unit. So so this property tax reform is not gonna impact that. It's uh there's a lot, there's a county library MSTU. Um, it's not gonna impact that. That's still gonna come on the tax bill. Um, there's uh stormwater, ESTU um, or MSTU, that's 30 bucks. So this reform isn't gonna impact that. School board, I love this one. So uh nearly $2,000 uh my tax bill is going to the school board. So this property tax reform isn't going to touch that either. The way that the the current bill is written. Um, and then we've got uh good gosh, another, oh, here I love this one, $60 going to the Southwest Florida uh water management district. So that's going to the state. Yeah. And then we've got another uh good gosh, I'd say, you know, $751 of my tax bill in other um, you know, non-ad Valorant special assessments. So for example, you know, the fire fee um in the case, so it's about $400 of my tax bill is going to a fire assessment. That won't be impacted. So the truth is, you know, my own personal property tax bill is uh, you know, even if they totally went away, it would be less than 50% of what if I'm actually paying.

SPEAKER_00 22:47

Yes, yes. And you're that's a great challenge that I would encourage every local citizen to do. I did it. Um, it's the first time I've actually looked at my property tax bill for quite some time. And it's the same, yes, all the same thing. That once you back out all of those assessments, it you really are not gonna realize that great of a savings.

SPEAKER_02 23:09

No, what they'll likely see are new assessments.

SPEAKER_00 23:13

Yes. Yes. So let's talk about that. Again, so that's that's the impact that while it it you it looks like a real sleight of hand, you're getting everyone to pay attention to one specific tax. And anytime you say we're gonna cut taxes, everybody goes, yay. But what they don't understand is money is gonna come from somewhere, and so there's gonna be a pass-through cost somehow. So nothing's free. Probably what it would at I I may not have been completely accurate, but I think I got a basic understanding. I've I found out it's probably gonna save me maybe twelve hundred dollars. Maybe that's after you back every all of those other things out of my property taxes. Okay. But um two uh just here's an idea that I I got from someone else. The state um sales tax is 7% right now, results in $42 billion a year in income to the state. If the state really wanted to save us money and they just can't cut the sales tax by one percent, I'd save a lot more than twelve hundred dollars in the course of a year.

SPEAKER_02 24:19

You're right about that. So, so I'm so glad you opened up this topic. Yeah, yeah. You you've got a you know, you know, the governor and state legislators, and you said sleight of hand, right? So, so so they're they're pointing at us, right? Local government. Have you heard any of them say we're gonna do the same thing? We're gonna start cutting fees for Florida residents at the state level. They're not doing that. The state of Florida has the fourth largest budget in the entire nation. So let me just tell you who leads us California, New York, Texas, and then finally Florida. Right. Fourth largest budget in the entire nation. Do you hear any of them talking about reducing any of their fees or costs? No. They're not talking about that. And you know, they're they're pointing at local government again, they're gonna reduce funding or trying to reduce funding. Now, granted, it's gonna be up to the electorate. So, so so now they did rush through, you know, the this bill, it's gonna be up to the electorate to decide. But at the end of the day, the services we provide impact people every single day. Sure. And this is the thing, this is where we want to save money. How about how about homeowners insurance? Anybody's homeowners insurance gone up here in the last couple of years?

SPEAKER_00 25:43

Yeah, huge.

SPEAKER_02 25:44

Mine quadrupled a couple of years ago. And then I personally had to go on the you know citizens' insurance until I could find another private provider. But it's still and it's it's it is really hard to find a private provider. It is, and so it's it's more than double. Do you hear to your legislators or governor talking about those high insurance costs and what they're gonna do to bring them down? No, I don't hear any of that. And it and by the way, I pay more in in in in homeowners insurance than I do in property taxes. And so um let me just go down a list that maybe people aren't really thinking about or don't think about on a day-to-day basis on what the state's charging. You mentioned sales tax. Yeah, everything you buy in the state of Florida all day long, you're paying sales tax on that. There's a corporate income tax in the state of Florida. You get a corporation in in Florida, you're paying tax on that, paying tax on that uh corporate income. Doc stamps, real estate transactions, you're paying dock stamps to the state. And this is the one I love. We just talked about the the high cost of homeowners insurance. The state has an insurance premium tax. Every if you're gonna offer any type of insurance in the state of Florida, and that includes this ridiculously high homeowners insurance that are going to, you know, multi-billion dollar corporations, the state gets a piece of that. More insurance policies that are written, the more expensive they are, the more money the state gets. Anybody talking about that? I don't hear the state talking about it. Uh so whether there's an insurance premium tax. Uh we've got, oh, you've got uh taxes for tobacco, uh, alcohol, um, there's communication taxes. You got an internet service or you have a cell phone or or or uh a um you know landline telephone. Right. You're paying the state.

SPEAKER_01 27:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:39

So so you're you're paying the state for that. And then how about the vehicle fees? Annual registration, you got to pay for your license. There are title fees the state collects, license plate fees. If you're gonna hunt or fish in the state of Florida, you're gonna pay the state for that. Professional licensing, if you're gonna be a general contractor, real estate agent, you're paying this the state for that. You don't hear them talking about reducing any of those fees. And at the end of the day, those are the things that we're paying all day, every single day, right, that impact costs. Um, but you know, I I'd say the worst offender of which is the the homeowner's insurance. State doesn't care about that, but but they want to reduce the funding that provides emergency services and in libraries and roads and parks. Right. It's crazy on the local level.

SPEAKER_00 28:23

On the local level. Stuff that if that you use every single day.

SPEAKER_02 28:26

That you use every single day. Right. Right. So so they're not offering to cut their their their their money.

SPEAKER_00 28:32

And take it out of the hands, again, of people that you can look in the face and talk to about how that money gets spent. Yeah. So so it is a and and by the way, uh again, I I don't know how much time we want to spend on this, but there were at there was the carve out of the school system. Why why did that happen? I mean, if we and again, I'm I'm not trying to go after the school system, but in Polk County, that's a $2 billion budget as compared to a $38 to $40 million budget. So why that carve out? And if and again, I think that the appeal, and I understand it, is that there's all kinds of bloat and waste and and they don't need this tax income. That's one appeal. And then the other appeal is I've paid this house off and I shouldn't uh face the um the prospect of losing this home because of property taxes. But that won't go away. That's the first thing I would say for that one. That's not going to go away. They're not solving that problem for you. And by the way, I think that that's probably where I as a, not only as a conservative person, but as a Christian person would say, I think there are legitimate taxes. If you live in a community, there are legitimate reasons why you should continue to pay taxes because you continue to use the services. Absolutely. Um but then the other, I think the other that's the first thing that I don't want to keep paying rent on my or keep rent paying rent to the government for a home that I've already paid for. But the other thing is, and we're getting after all of this bloat and waste. But the question is, but where's the biggest bloat and waste happening? And where do you have the most control over spending? If you take it away from your local government, the the control goes far, far away from here.

SPEAKER_02 30:14

That that's a good question. Yeah. And so, you know, I and I can also understand the the argument about, well, if I, you know, I don't pay my property taxes and I could lose my home, um, that you know, maybe I've spent a lifetime right trying to trying to buy. I get that. So, so state, address that issue. Address that issue. The the funding doesn't take that issue away, as you just stated. So address the ramifications of not paying your property taxes. You know, the legislators have the ability to do that. Yeah. Just make it so that people can't lose their homes. Come up with some other punitive measures. Right. But instead they're gonna hurt local government. And so it's not just about you know, local government and and you know, we're afraid about you know losing money. It's that we we're here to provide the services that people need every single day. Sure. So the state then, uh their proposition is to uh, you know, virtually, it's virtually gonna eliminate a lot of property tax, especially for small communities like ours. Um so that they're gonna do that and it's gonna cause more people. And I believe this this is uh probably the intent. It's gonna cause more people to want to move from other states into Florida. Well, good idea, except the more people move in, the more they need local government services. Yes. So again, I just I don't really understand it. And so I know that they've got that provision in there whereby, you know, you move from out of state, you gotta wait five years before, you know, you you can get the full, you know, exemptions. But okay, yeah, who's not gonna do that? Yeah, yeah. It's only five years. That that's a that that's that's kind of a blank of an eye. That just takes it. And so it just hasn't been, it has not been uh I I think the the impetus is suspect um to begin with, but it just hasn't been thought through. And um I, you know, you you guys would not allow me to bring you something crazy like this with no thought process behind it and and no ramifications behind what we're doing. So why are they why why are we gonna do this at the state level and why we vote for something?

SPEAKER_00 32:20

Yeah. Well, so you said, and I think we're we're getting close to going ahead and wrapping this one up, but I felt like it, well, I just think it's important. Uh I think this is an important topic. And again, I I have waited, I've waited some time to say anything about it because I'm generally very supportive of conservative tax policy, and I'm generally going to come out in favor of almost every tax cut, especially anytime you want to talk to me about income tax or about sales tax. I'm almost always going to jump on that. Um, but I I agree with you. I guess I would say to the folks that are listening to us, while I'm a big fan, I I can say this personally, while I'm a big fan of the kind of leadership we've had in general in the state of Florida, the impetus behind this one seems odd. It's it seems suspect. And the implications are going to be real if it passes for us. The implications on us as local citizens in Lake Wales is going to be real and they're not going to be positive. I don't think that this bill will do accomplish anything that's being promised to us. That's what I would say.

SPEAKER_02 33:29

Well, yeah, and you know the work that we're doing, you know, in in the CRA, right? I mean, look at how close we are after all these decades um to getting the wells built, getting the wells built done. Yeah. Um, and we've gone over the kind of you know, the financial impact analysis of that, right? Uh the visitor spending. Um, it's going to generate jobs. And we we don't do that without without money coming into the CRA. Right. Right. Those things just don't happen. Yeah. So so I again nothing nothing's nothing's free. And while, you know, the the out of one property tax system may, you know, I don't know. Maybe it's not the best way, right, to collect revenue. Yeah. But but we have to collect it if people, if we want to continue to provide services.

SPEAKER_00 34:15

And you're right. Okay, but that's the point. If it's not the best way, come up with another way. Exactly. Don't just um don't just this is really an unfunded mandate that's being handed down. Um so that's I think that's the whole source of frustration. Maybe not the whole, but that's the big source of frustration for people who are in local municipalities, is it we're it's basically a mandate. Um, and and it's it's you're handing us something and telling us to solve a problem that we did we certainly didn't create. And uh, and and the heat is going to show up at the local commission before anywhere else, even though we didn't create the problems. Absolutely. And I think for people who really care about the leadership of local communities, who really care about providing a high quality of life. So again, I I can we're you're the manager of the city of Lake Wales. I'm the mayor of the city of Lake Wales. And I would, I would, I would put up what we have done here over the last six years in serving our community, in managing finances, in bringing good things to downtown Lake Wales up against anybody. And that all will be severely impacted if this bill passes. Again, not really well thought out, seems to have been very rushed and will have implications that have not been well considered at all. I could not agree more. Okay. Well, I think that that's a fair summary. And uh maybe if important people listen to this and have a counterpoint or some explanation, we have reached out to our local uh leaders, our state leaders, and ask and have been a little frustrated that we've not gotten much response. Uh, we would certainly love to hear from them. Maybe there's something we're not seeing, but boy, I I think we've got a pretty good handle. And I felt like we owed it to um the people that will be voting on us at least to hear what a local official would think about this. Okay. Anything else, man?

SPEAKER_02 36:08

Uh I could keep going, but but I think I think people uh, you know, I think the the citizens and voters uh I think get the picture. And, you know, at the end of the day, you know, we'll together, right? Uh the city administration and the elected officials, whatever happens, you know, we we we'll just deal with it. We'll have to adjust it. We just have to adjust. And what that adjustment looks like, you know, here in Lake Wales, you know, it's hard to say today.

SPEAKER_00 36:36

Okay. Good enough. Well, thank you, James, for your time. Thank you, uh, folks, for listening. Again, we always want to remind you if you have questions, send them our direction. This episode really was created. I knew this was a big issue, but because so many of you were asking questions, and we will continue to try and respond uh to those. We appreciate you listening. Thank you, Mayor. Thanks for listening to this episode of the Mayor and the Manager. The goal of this podcast is to keep you up to date on all that is happening in the great city of Lake Wales. To that end, we would love to take questions from you and take the time to answer them. So if you have any questions, just click on submit a question in the description above this podcast.