Commissioner Romney Rogers October Message

      Now that the Commission is back in session, we are examining both the operating and capital improvement issues line by line. As you know, we have already had a budget workshop and one of the budget hearings. If you have not attended, please come and give your input. Many of you have voiced concerns not only for the current budget, but for the budget in the coming years based on these lean times and the unknowns of the economic recovery. 

The Commission has given the City Manager the directive of not raising taxes and still maintaining essential city services. The preliminary mileage rate and fire fee call for no increases.  I believe Fort Lauderdale is the only city in the county with no tax or fire fee proposed increase.

            This is a good start, and with the help of the budget advisory board, I believe we can make more progress in right sizing government to bring savings of your hard earned tax dollars.   

            I will give my final report on the budget in next month’s edition.

            Don’t forget the International Boat Show festivities begin on October 29^th and continue through November 2^nd.  Hope to see you there.

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New Traffic Laws going into Effect

Letter from LICIA President Dirk Lowry

VALUE PLACE:  The attached information is provided for our residents of Lauderdale Isles to keep everyone apprised of the continuing attempt to prevent the construction of the Value Place Extended Stay Hotel.  This information was provided to the sitting commissioners prior to the last election.  That being said, that Commission then rejected the Plat Proposal, which was reversed by the courts last month.  On 2 June there was a Commission Meeting where the Plat was supposed to get a passing grade as 'ordered' by the court. There were residents of the Isles there to speak on our behalf.  They were Ms. Dawn Hanna and Mr. George Counts.  As it turned out the decision was put over until 16 June 2009.  The purpose being the newly elected Commission will take that time to consider the matter and look over the request in detail since they were not the Commission that first refused the propos al.

Note; these issues are still relevant at this time and will be reiterated at the Site Approval when it comes up in the future.  No date has been set for that occurrence.   This is provided for your information, the names of the authors of these documents are provided.  Please do not contact those individuals with your issues.  Rather, contact your President for the Isles Dirk Lowry at 954-584-3783 or Blackberry 954-261-2875 with your concerns or issues.  As you can see as you read the work product as submitted there was much time and effort put into this effort.   

Call if you have any questions.

Dirk Lowry
2512 Bimini Lane
Ft. Lauderdale, FL  33312
Home:       954.584.3783
Blackberry: 954.261.2875
E-mail:     dlowry137@comcast.net

and Harbordale neighborhoods recently organized and participated in a tour along with city staff.

Due to an increase in prostitution and illegal drug sales on South Federal Highway, an effort to mobilize and clean-up the area was initiated by the leadership of the Poinciana Park and Harbordale neighborhoods. Donna Mergenhagen, Vice President of Harbordale Civic Association, spearheaded a round table discussion with residents of Harbordale and Poinciana Park, Assistant City Manager David Hebert, Captain Victor London, FLPD, Valerie Bohlander, Director Building Services, Mike Maloney, Community Inspections Manager and me. As a result of the discussions, a tour of the two neighborhoods along South Federal Highway took place on Friday, May 29^th. Donna, Paula Pereira, along with contributions from others, created the master list and a map of the sites needing attention.  Also joining us on the tour were Mike Ramos from Harbordale HOA, and current and past presidents, Ray Dettman and Dwight Ledbetter from Poinciana Park Civic Association.  I think everyone involved would agree the tour was very productive. City staff is now in the process of pulling together an “action plan” based on what was observed and discussed, and is coordinating a concerted effort to address community crime and code issues.  Staff will work closely with neighborhood and community advocates to share information and ideas on how residents and business owners can assist in addressing crime and code concerns.  A follow-up meeting between City representatives and community advocates is planned for later this summer. I want to personally thank all those who were involved in the effort to “clean-up” these neighborhoods and South Federal Highway (one of the most visible gateways to our city) and for making it a top priority. If you need more information on the date and time of this meeting, please call my aide, Sharon.

The Riverside Park neighborhood is presently planning a similar bus tour. If any other neighborhoods are interested in doing the same, please contact my office.

In more neighborhood news, the Hortt School purchase closed on April 28^th.  The City purchased the property with County Park Bond funds.  The School Board has leased back the property for two years as part of the transaction, after which, the property will become a passive park.  This is just one example of the cooperative effort between the City of Fort Lauderdale and other public entities. My predecessor, Cindi Hutchinson, played a major role in making this effort a reality.

In that same partnership vein, the Broward County Commission and your Commission held a joint meeting on May 19^th.  The purpose of the meeting was to highlight issues of mutual concern.  The City Manager and County Manager have assigned staff as the liaisons on these issues.  The majority of our time was spent discussing the plans for the new courthouse, Port Everglades (security, proposed hotel and expedited permitting), Airport Expansion (south runway) and the Wave (downtown light rail).

The plan for the new courthouse (to be built on the site of the parking garage west of the courthouse) is to fund the construction with reserve funds and savings from existing bond indebtedness which is due to be paid off.

Both the 2010 Super Bowl XLIV and the Pro Bowl are being hosted in Broward County and numerous events are scheduled for the Convention Center. Pushing back the Port checkpoint is in progress to make access easier. Naturally, the NFL has its own security force to insure safety for all involved. We will continue to work on the checkpoint, security and traffic impact on the neighborhoods and I will be providing you updates on the proposed convention center hotel.

The FAA has formally approved the expansion of the south runway so we discussed moving forward with the construction. While I believe the expansion is vital to both our tourism and business communities, I want to make sure that the impact to our District IV neighborhoods is mitigated especially when runways are shifted for construction purposes. There are federal programs available to assist with the mitigation. Please call my office for details.

The Commission and staff are continually looking for ways of attracting and entertaining visitors to our City and to our beaches.  We have been discussing an action plan for the Fort Lauderdale Aquatics Complex and the role the Swimming Hall of Fame will play within the complex.  It was decided to place the task of formulating the different activities for the complex on the market place.  We asked staff to draft an RFP with the components of a world class swim facility, the International Swimming Hall of Fame, a water park and restaurant and retail facilities with sufficient parking to not only serve the complex but also other beach events such as the Boat Show.  This RFP will be made available to the public and we look forward to your input. Please let me know your expectations for this venue.

If you haven’t already noticed, we are almost in the dog days of summer. A great way to spend those summer evenings is at the 31^st Annual Starlight Musical concert series, presented by the City’s Parks and Recreation Department. These FREE outdoor concerts provide a great way to enjoy the summer with family and friends. The concerts are held in Holiday Park, on Friday nights, 7:00 – 10:00 pm, and will run June 19 through August 7, 2009. The concerts will feature an exciting line up of bands ranging from pop to country, rhythm and blues to tropical rock. Why not take advantage of this excellent series?

Finally, don’t forget to attend my District IV Pre-agenda meetings here at City Hall on the first and third Mondays at 5:30pm. We have 3 more meetings then the Commission takes their summer recess for the month of August. As always, you can contact me by phone at 954-828-5028 or by email at: RRogers@fortauderdale.gov.

 New Article 8-12-09

“Ask Lori…Parrish on Appraisal”

“Understanding Who Sets Your Tax Rates”

Dear Lori,

I am a small business owner.  With the housing market still in decline, we now have local governments struggling to find tax revenue.  How do you decide how high to set our tax rate?                                                  E.R., Fort Lauderdale, FL

This is a common misconception about the Property Appraiser’s Office.  The Property Appraiser does NOT set any tax rates.  Although we are responsible for assessing property, the various tax rates and special assessment fees are actually set by the Broward County Commission, Broward County School Board, South Florida Water Management District, your City Commission and other special taxing districts which apply to your property.

The Property Appraiser’s Office is responsible for fairly determining the value of properties for the purposes of “ad valorem” taxes.  To determine the fair market value, we simply hold a mirror to the market.  We analyze sale prices from the previous calendar year in every neighborhood, improvements made upon the property, and other legally recognized factors to determine value.  This process ensures the assessments are fair and owners will only have to pay their fair share.   No more, no less.

The value of Broward County properties dropped on average 10.6 percent in the past year.  It’s the second year in a row property values have declined, and next year it could be worse. The numbers reflect both falling real estate prices and recent changes in state law.  The downward trend affects everyone.  It means less revenue for local governments and other taxing authorities unless planners working on the 2009 -2010 budgets raise tax rates. 

The bottom line:  If you think the assessed market value of your property is wrong – meaning you believe it does not reflect the true market value of your property on January 1, 2009 – please contact us.  If you think the tax rates are too high, you should contact the County Commission, School Board, City Commission and other taxing authorities listed in your TRIM (proposed tax) Notice.  The TRIM Notice will include phone numbers for each taxing authority, as well as the schedule of budget public hearings.

Sincerely,

Lori Parrish, CFA

If you have a question for Lori, please email her at lori@bcpa.net or write to her at the Broward County Property Appraiser’s Office, 115 South Andrews Avenue, Room 111, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301. (August 2009)

Dear Teachers at New River MS & Meadowbrook Elementary. 

A few minutes of your time is needed to help our local students & their families.

.

The county is considering closing our Riverland Library branch.  It is a place where our students go to use computers in summer & after school when they don't have one

at home.  Many of our students find themselves on the wrong side of the digital divide.  Their parents also can walk to this library to use computers & books for information searches including free adult classes and to file for unemployment.  This branch has built a multicultural collection of books, CDs, tapes and film in Spanish & French and programs to learn English.  Research has shown that students' access to books & libraries will increase their reading skills which impacts their performance in school.

Will you please email the Broward County Commissioners and ask them to keep the Riverland Branch Library?  EMIAL JOHN RODSTROM. jrodstrom@broward.org

PLEASE READ BELOW. SEE SECOND EMAIL & COPY THE LIST OF COMMISIONERS TO YOUR EMAIL.

Thanks so much for all you do for students.

Dear Broward County Commissioners:

On behalf of the members of the Southwest Coalition of Civic Associations I

am writing this tonight imploring you not to cut the funding for the

Riverland branch of the Broward County Libraries. If something must be done

because of budget constraints, please consider just cutting back the hours.

This library is really well used by every segment of our neighborhood. It's

especially become a mecca for the children of our area who make use of the

computers and the quiet to complete homework assignments. The library is

always crowded, regardless of the time of day. If our Association can be of

any assistance to you in helping to keep our neighborhood library alive,

please let me know. Thanks!

Craig Canning

Chair, Southwest Coalition of Civic Associations

craigcan@gate.net

(954) 263 9291

TO ALL SOUTHWEST COALTION REPRESENTATIVES AND RESIDENTS:

For those of you that were not at the Southwest Coalition meeting on Monday, May 18^th a motion was made to send a letter to all the County Commissioner’s requesting not to close our Riverland Branch Library. Below is the letter Craig Canning, the Chairperson sent to all the commissioners.

I personally spoke to Commissioner John Rodstrom’s aide, Susan Smith (954-357-7007) and she suggested that concerned residents send an e-mail letter to all the Broward County Commissioners with their comments in regard to the Riverland Library.

PLEASE WRITE AN E-MAIL LETTER AND LET THEM KNOW HOW IMPORTANT THIS NEIGHBORHOOD LIBRARY IS TO THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY.  You can go to www.broward.org.  Click on County Commission and it will bring up all the commissioners (9). If you click on each commissioner’s name it will bring you to their home page with a link to their e-mail.  PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU WRITE TO EACH ONE OF THEM AS THEY WILL ALL VOTE ON THIS ISSUE.

On June 16^th there will be a public meeting on the Budget Proposal for Libraries.  It will be held in the Broward County Commission Room from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  It would be great if we could get a big turn out from our neighborhood. Since this is a workshop meeting I do not believe they will allow the public to speak, however we could wear name tags that say “DON’T CLOSE RIVERLAND” or something like that.

On September 10^th and 22^nd there will be a PUBLIC HEARING starting at 5:00 p.m.  Community can sign up to speak at these two public hearings.

PLEASE pass this information on to ALL YOUR RESIDENTS and your HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATIONS so they can ALL write letters to all 9 BROWARD COUNTY COMMISSIONERS.  It also makes a difference when a request is made from a Civic Association Board that represents and entire neighborhood. We need as many letters as possible. I think our local schools should get involved along with all the children that use this wonderful neighborhood library. If you have children in school please spread the word.

NOW IT IS UP TO YOU TO GET INVOLVED TO TRY AND KEEP OUR RIVERLAND BRANCH LIBRARY OPEN!

Sincerely,

Joan Sheridan,

954-581-0816 Home

954-609-5140 Cell

joancs@bellsouth.net