Category Archives: BOCC
Financial Squeeze – Affordability
I wrote here about the deceptive way the county presented information to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). That’s not the only item of interest in the report. FDEP also touched on affordability in a tangential way. The U.S. Environmental … Continue reading
Swap Agreement – Hearing Date Set
As of right now, the only hope Key Largo taxpayers have of achieving wastewater funding equity is the anemic swap agreement. Under this agreement, the Key Largo Wastewater Treatment District (District) trades state funding it has in hand for county … Continue reading
Financial Squeeze – Four Penny Tax
Key Largo is small community of about 13,500 year-round residents. The taxpayers of this tiny community are being asked to come up with $87.3 million to pay for the sewer project. Each household will pay over $6200 just to build it. That … Continue reading
Monkey Math – Piled Higher and Deeper
Here’s another entry in the “Monkey Math” series. This is where I document Monroe County’s fundamentally dishonest way of covering up its grossly inequitable approach to the wastewater funding issue. We’ve seen Monroe County drag the federal government into its shameless attempts … Continue reading
Monkey Math – Revenue Wrap-Up
Looking at the wastewater projects makes one thing very clear, for Key Largo there is no upside to remaining unincorporated. The county simply takes Key Largo’s tax money and squanders it elsewhere. In effect, Key Largo’s tax money enables waste and subsidizes … Continue reading
Selective Amnesia – Who Pays?
There’s a story on KeysNet.com about another county project gone off the rails: Rising cost of new Upper Keys jail complex annoys county commissioners. The project was originally estimated to cost $15 million. The taxpayers are now looking at $30 million. … Continue reading
Posted in BOCC, Bubba System, Budget, Financial Condition, Monroe County
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Monkey Math – Road & Bridge
The Keys received a total of $4.3 million in gas tax revenues in FY2013. About $2 million of that went to Monroe County. There are three gas taxes. They include the ninth cent fuel tax, 1 to 5 cents fuel … Continue reading
Don’t Blame the Citizens Please
Thursday isn’t my usual Keys news reading day, but maybe it should be. I took a look at KeysNet this morning and there’s some good stuff in there. Judge tossing whistleblower lawsuit in the Acevedo finance scandal tosses justice, too. … Continue reading
Posted in BOCC, Bubba System, Cudjoe Regional, Monroe County, Wastewater
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Cudjoe Documents
I submitted a public records request to the county about the Cudjoe Regional project. Why the county? Why not the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority? The county is the entity 100% responsible for funding the project. If the county is providing diligent … Continue reading
Posted in BOCC, Bubba System, Cudjoe Regional, Monroe County, Public Records, Wastewater
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Monroe County Follows Through!
In this post, Swap Agreement Follow-up, I linked to an email exchange between me and Bob Shillinger, County Attorney. The county’s shady history combined with Bob’s evasiveness obviously did not inspire confidence. However, I was told today that the validation complaint was … Continue reading
The Real Poop 