County locks in maximum tax rate

Florida Keys News

Friday, July 27, 2012

County locks in maximum tax rate

$77.2 million operating budget balanced by tapping into reserve funds

BY TIMOTHY O'HARA Citizen Staff
tohara@keysnews.com

Despite a couple of budget uncertainties, the Monroe County Commission locked in a maximum property tax rate for the upcoming fiscal year that will cost taxpayers slightly less than this year. The commission can lower the rate in the months ahead, but not increase it.

The commission on Thursday approved a property tax rate for next year that will cost property owners $414 pe...

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The government boys

Submitted on Fri, 07/27/2012 - 12:43pm by Sal Gutierrez

have learn how to bend you idiots over down here....Looks like you might be enjoying it.

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raiding reserve funds

Submitted on Fri, 07/27/2012 - 9:42am by shrimpdipper

Shame on our commissioners for raiding reserve funds, as Roman Gastesi is a two-legged money spender. What problems did they really solve by borrowing against deficit spending? Kicking the can down the road will only magnify next year's budget woes. And where will the 5.7M come from next year? What's the old saying,"Don't tax you, don't tax me, tax the baby on my knee." Taxpayers need a break and a commission that lives within its means without borrowing our savings, even if it is an election year.

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Three Cheers!

Submitted on Fri, 07/27/2012 - 9:28am by Chi Chi

I wish the city and mosquito control would learn to balance a budget without raising taxes.

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It's not balancing the budget if you raid reserves.

Submitted on Fri, 07/27/2012 - 12:38pm by *.* CLEARLY the original

It's kind of like 'force balancing' a cash drawer. It's fraudulent activity.

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Grossly Under Estimated Pension Liability

Submitted on Fri, 07/27/2012 - 8:46am by Fletch

The county's potential payment to the state retirement system is estimated between $700,000 and $1.4 million.

Key West and Monroe County (like the state of Florida) currently assumes that its pension system investments will return 7.75 percent annually.

But private pension plans can only assume at 5-6 percent rate of return currently- approximately the same rate of return that corporate bonds get historically

Safe rates of return are substantially smaller than those projected by the city, county and state.

Consequently, the pension shortfalls will be that much greater, because these pension and health and welfare funds don’t realize those unrealistically high rates of return.

The reported liabilities are understated by a factor of two or three times by using an optimistically high rate of return .

and this fraud/deceit and incompetence is soon all going to come crashing down on the taxpayers

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City of Key West, Pensions

Submitted on Fri, 07/27/2012 - 11:15am by *.*

The City needs to get smart and look at their pension plans. It is crazy to calculate pension benefits based on salaries incuding overtime, unlimited years of service and a multiplier of 3%(+). There have been a few employees that have retired and draw a pension mking more in retirement than when they were woking. This is a liability the City and residents can not afford, this has to corrected or the City will have an unfunded liability they cannot afford. Maybe the new City Manager, Bob Vitas will look into these pension plan benefits, he will see what we are talking about.