Taxpayer Money is Not Important Enough–Now that's Port Orange Pride!
Every year millions of dollars in Drainage Fees are collected by the City of Port Orange but we don’t know how they are spent. Every year potentially thousands of taxpayers are owed rebates on their Drainage Fees but we can’t claim them. Why not? Because the Manager always has more important things to take care of.
Those pesky activists have been asking for a resolution to our Drainage Fee mess for a long time and Manager Johansson finally gave an honest answer to “when?” at the last Council meeting: whenever nothing more important is on his plate. Seems like just about everything is more important than taxpayer dollars–after all there’s always more where they came from……..
Let me get this straight. Council agrees to take money out of reserves to purchase drainage maintenance equipment. Yet they can’t track the funds we pay specifically for drainage. Seems to me that money should come from the assessed fees specifically for drainage. Perhaps the money would be better spent privatizing the Finance Department so we could count our beans. I often wonder if laws are being broken for misappropriation of funds. This council is running blind. Only the mayor had enough sense to vote no on this issue. Even if it was for the wrong reason the no vote was certainly in order.
Taxpayer–Sounds like you have a very accurate handle on what is happening. Certainly laws are being broken. The ordinance governing the Stormwater utility assessment clearly states: “All of the proceeds of this fee are deemed to be in payment for use of the city stormwater drainage system,” yet somehow management diverted those dollars to mowing medians. Bonds have been issued that are secured by funds from this fee yet we don’t know how the fee is being used. And now the idea is being floated, most recently by Councilman Ford, that we need to consider an INCREASE in the stormwater fee. How is it possible that we don’t know where the existing money is going but we know that we need more? Yes Taxpayer, we need someone who can count our beans since the current management can’t even find them. Even though laws are being broken it doesn’t matter because those responsible for enforcing the laws are the same ones breaking them.
So Manager Johansson would like us to believe that the reason he cannot resolve existing problems, is because he keeps finding even bigger problems ( ” No I can’t, it seems every day we are finding bigger more important issues to kill but we are getting there ” )
The problem with his proposition ( that bigger problems keep preventing him from resolving known problems in this instance a proper accounting and application of the Storm water Ordinance ) is that it belies the fact that in the past 6 months:
his Public Works administration has spent hundreds of hours minimizing the mold problem at the Virginia Ave offices, and fabricating the need for a Garbage Czar;
AND HIS Finance department have spent even more time scheming to back charge residents for his staffs own errors between congratulating themselves on punitive payment arrangements over a $3,000 water bill with a disabled widow on social security.
So unless Manager Johansson was hired not to resolve problems but to provide a new round of endless excuses as to why nothing can be resolved perhaps he needs to explain again how it is he has not found the time to properly apply and account for the Storm water Ordinance.
You folks point out that “certainly laws are being broken” , make claims of malfeasance and more.
Either these claims are without any merit and is merely whining on your part or the elected officials are impervious to any actions or accountability.
Concerned citizen–You may want to read, for comprehension, the following from the City of Port Orange Code of Ordinances, keeping in mind that ordinances are laws:
Sec. 74-163. – Stormwater management fund.
(a) All stormwater drainage utility fees collected by the city shall be paid into an enterprise fund which is hereby created, to be known as the stormwater management fund. Such fund shall be used for the purpose of paying the cost of stormwater drainage facilities to be constructed in the various storm drainage basins and paying the costs of operation, administration and maintenance of the stormwater drainage facilities of the city. To the extent that the stormwater management fees collected are insufficient to construct the needed stormwater drainage facilities, the cost of the same may be paid from such city fund as may be determined by the city council, but the city council may order the reimbursement of such fund if additional fees are thereafter collected. When the fund has surplus dollars on hand in excess of current needs, the surplus dollars will be invested to return the highest yield consistent with proper safeguards.
(b) The fees and charges paid shall not be used for general or other governmental or proprietary purposes of the city, except to pay for the equitable share of the cost of accounting, management and government thereof. Other than as described above, the fees and charges shall be used solely to pay for the cost of operation, repair, maintenance, improvement, renewal, replacement, design, right-of-way acquisition, and construction of public stormwater drainage facilities and costs incidental thereto, and/or to make any debt service, reserve or other payments required by any resolution or ordinance authorizing the issuance of bonds or other obligations for such purposes.
The entire Code of Ordinances can be found at: https://www.municode.com/library/fl/port_orange/codes/code_of_ordinances
Ok Mr Gardner, with that being said (stole that from the Mayor) what will be the accountability ?
A bunch of citizen activists show up at the meetings, utilize their three minutes of POG TV fame and get a “Thank You” from our Mayor.
Then they return home and vent on this blog.
Concerned citizen–Good question. What will be the accountability? I have been told that we cannot blame mid-level management because they are just doing what is necessary to keep their jobs. Likewise, even department heads cannot be held responsible because they answer to the City Manager. Even top gun Jake Johansson then answers to the City Council so we can’t even expect accountability at that level.
Ultimately, accountability must be demanded by the voters. If members of Council are not doing the job to which they were elected they need to be replaced. An informed and active electorate is the only way to change a system which avoids responsibility and accountability like the plague. Since that system works just fine for those currently in it, we get a “Thank you” or “We’ll get back to you” and nothing else. The current political mood seems to find this increasingly unacceptable–I know it is unacceptable to Ted Noftall, currently running for Mayor.
Absolutely Mike, replace the city council members as soon as possible. The problem is that city council members are building up a voting block for themselves by using tax payer money for special interests. Do those special interests again have to be named. Think construction , and mortgage money loaners. Hopefully we can start taking back the city council for the common interest with #Ted Noftall. — hank