Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

The Tampa Housing Authority can now move to evict Karen Peoples. For those of you who have not been following this story, I recommend you read the original Tribune article.  But here’s the short version:

The Tampa Housing Authority (THA) is responsible for about 8,500 residents living in sixteen public housing properties around the City of Tampa, and their annual budget is nearly $80 million.

The THA Board of Commissioners sets policy for THA, and board members are appointed by the mayor and confirmed by City Council.

Karen Peoples moved into the C. Blythe Andrews public housing project in 1984, and has served as the resident appointee to the THA Board of Commissioners since 1998.

In May 2006, Mayor Iorio appointed Peoples to another four year term on the board, her third.  Peoples also signed a new lease on her four-bedroom apartment at C. Blythe Andrews.  At the time, she had four other people living with her, including two daughters and two grandchildren.

Her daughters and grandkids moved out in May 2007, and she no longer qualified for a 4-bedroom apartment.  By HUD rules, she had 10 days to notify THA of the new living arrangements, so they could find a smaller place.  But she did not tell them that.

THA found out she was living alone in August 2007, but did not do anything about it until January 2008.  Three times they offered her a one-bedroom at three other complexes, yet she refused.  It seems she desperately wanted to keep her 4 bedroom apartment.  Because from here, it just gets downright screwy.

(more…)

Pasco Sheriff’s Deputies arrested Tallie Gainer III for check fraud.  He didn’t do it.  The real criminal used Gainer’s name, but left his own thumbprint on the bad check.

Eight months passed before the Pasco Sheriff’s Office decided to compare the thumbprint to Gainer’s.

EIGHT freakin’ MONTHS.

In the meantime, Gainer and his wife missed work to attend court. He lost his deposit on a real estate deal. His savings dried up. And he lost his chance to bid on a laundromat.

So he’s rightly suing the Sheriff.  And your tax money will pay.

Sure wish there was something we could do about that.

When I was in high school, my friends and I walked about a mile from my home to the bus stop.  That was from 1982 to ‘85.  It was dark, and seemed like a long walk to us, but three to five of us walked together, and got used to it.  At the end of that twenty minute walk, we were picked up last, and from there it was a 5 minute bus ride to school.

But apparently, some Robinson High School kids on Davis Islands have to walk more than 2 miles, cross busy streets, and the Davis Islands bridge to get to the bus stop at Wilson Middle School.  Even googlemaps says “Use caution – This route may be missing sidewalks or pedestrian paths.”  From Wilson Middle, the bus ride to Robinson is almost seven miles. 

Of course, Plant High (watch volume) is the Davis Islands neighborhood school, but these parents have chosen to send their kids to Robinson High School’s International Baccalaureate program.

I’ve mentioned before that school choice is a great idea, but the board should not be responsible for getting those kids to schools outside their neighborhood.

Alas, the Hillsborough County School Board disagrees, and caters to parents who want it all, and want you to pay for it.  So, we have these bus problems.  Here is what we’ve noticed thus far:

• August 2005:  Transportation for school choice is too generous.
• September 2005:  There is a shortage of school bus drivers, because they have to deal with wild children raised by wolves.
• July 2006:  There is a severe shortage of school bus drivers, because administrators also treat them like crap.
• January 2007:  School bus troubles continue even after hiring a consultant to point out inefficiencies.
• October 2007:  Nine months later, they have spent over $340,000 on consultants. And after spending all that money, we still have kids showing up late to school.
• August 2008:  School district redesigned all bus routes, and let the parents know at the last possible second, sending the entire school transportation into a spiraling quagmire.
• August 2008:  10 year old killed - bus stop close to busy road.
• August 2008:  School Bus admin Jack Davis retires for “health” reasons.  Of course, the guy was also the chief information and technology officer, supervising communications, assessment and accountability, information services, staff development, supplier diversity, and customer service and support.  Doing all that PLUS transportation would make me sick and tired, too.
• September 2008:  Parents are still waiting for return calls and bus stop changes, but the number of callers was down to 600 on Monday, said Deputy Superintendent Ken Otero.
• September 2008:  School board contemplates fee-based busing.

For three years (at least), school transportation has been a mess, and your School District of Hillsborough County has not yet solved the problems.

Sure wish there was something we could do about it.

Did you happen to notice your property tax notice? 

As a Trib editorial says As Tax Notices Arrive This Month, Homeowners Find Ugly Shock.

It ain’t much lower than what it was 2 years ago.  When campaigning, Governor Charlie Crist promised to deal with the rising cost of insurance as well as property tax increases.  Neither of those have really been altered all that much.

We agree with the Tribune:

Taxpayers are struggling to keep their homes, place food on the table and put gasoline in their vehicles.

The governor promised to lower taxes. He should keep his promise.

Meanwhile, city government still hasn’t addressed their spending problem either, and continues to give out money like it’s water air.

But not for the great state of Florida!

Gotta love those Tribune editorial stances.

When they complain about federal spending that is distributed across the nation, it’s pork.

When those bills bring the bacon to Florida, it’s “right.”

When that spending ends up in Tampa, it’s necessary earmarks.

Because of money restraints, universities in the State of Florida are losing nationally known and respected professors such as Robin Murphy.

So how can the State of Florida afford to buy land from US Sugar for $1.75 billion?

Hey, I’m all for protecting the environment so our natural lands can be enjoyed by future generations.  But if those future generations are going to be too stupid to know what to do with them, what is the point?

Property taxes are still a mess, and it’s because there is no “common” sense.

Taxpayers try to get around paying taxes, while governments try to squeeze every last nickel from taxpayers.

Why would governments want to use “highest and best use” as a valuation of property? Because sales price is just a number on a piece of paper.

You may have seen this in buying or selling a car. You gotta fill out the sales price on that title transfer, so the state can collect sales tax. Even though you bought the car for $5,000, you may have told the state you paid $50 (or a single dollar!) in order to rip off the state.

The same goes with property. You could sell a property worth $1,000,000 for a single dollar, but what kind of taxes would that bring government? Nil. So they came up with “highest and best use.” Makes sense.

But the pendulum swung too far.

The Times tells us that Juan Lopez paid $250,000 for a house in St. Pete in 2005. A new independent appraisal values the home at $237,000. However, the Pinellas County property appraiser’s office values the house at nearly $300,000. How did they come up with that number?

Lopez investigated. He was stunned to learn the county raised his 2007 property values by cherry-picking two lot sales during white-hot 2005. Most aggravating is a sale on 25th Avenue, 11 blocks away in Crescent Park Heights.

That lot sold for $200,000, but it turned out to be a speculative purchase by a builder who went bankrupt. He built a luxury home there. It’s in foreclosure. Yet this is what passes in Lopez’s case for a “comparable sale.”

This is not new information, and Pinellas isn’t the only county that has been doing it.

To relieve it a bit, the Florida Legislature passed HB 909:

Ad Valorem Taxation: Clarifies factors that property appraiser must consider in deriving just valuation; requires DOR to develop uniform policies & procedures manual for use in proceedings before value adjustment boards; requires certain persons in certain counties to attend special magistrate training under certain circumstances; revises information required to be provided on disclosure of tax impact form, etc.

All that mumbo jumbo means is that county appraisers may no longer simply go with the “highest and best use” in determining value. Of course, the “highest and best use” is still the starting point. We’ll find out next year if it helps - the law goes into effect this September.

But it’s the greed and lack of community that necessitates constant changes in the law. People (Buddy!) will find ways not to pay, and governments will still attempt to get every nickel.

It’s a tug of war that wastes a lot of time, costs a lot of money, and makes government bloated with rules (and staff).

I can just imagine:

“Sure, I can drive this. How hard can it be?”

Maybe you should at least check out the “quick start” page of the operator’s manual.

“Naw, I don’t need no instructions. I drove one last time it snowed in Tampa. Can’t be much different than that!”

Um… It last snowed in Tampa in 1977. They may have changed since then.

“Bah! A truck is a truck is a truck. Gimme the keys.”

And with that, former Fire Chief Pete Botto jackknifed a brand new tiller truck, causing almost $6,000 in damage to the city’s new $886,000 Fire Engine.

It is a special truck, called a tiller truck, with a rear end that can be steered separately from the front end.

“As far as I can tell in driving it, you used to be able to swing the old tillers out wide. These don’t swing out the way the others did,” Botto said Wednesday.

Ya don’t say… C’mon, Petey. How much could things change in only, uh, THIRTY YEARS?

Captain Bill Wade said:

the luncheon event Tuesday was set up to bring in retirees who drove tiller trucks years ago so they could offer pointers on how to drive the vehicle. Tampa has not had a tiller truck for more than 15 years.

Captain Bill Wade also said:

“They did not know the unique operations of this modern tiller truck.”

Ya think?

Well, what did we expect. This is Tampa Fire Rescue, home of the good ol’ boys network of Tampa town rednecks.

Botto said that he might have jumped the gun in hopping into the cab and taking off during the ceremony for the truck’s debut, negotiating a wide-open training course the size of two football fields.

“We were just so gung-ho to get out there and drive it.”

You know the type. Those guys who think they can do it themselves, with or without a clue. Home Depot stays in business because of their five trips to fix a leaky toilet.

So we spend $886,000 on a new parade float, and your taxes will pay for another $6,000 in repairs before this thing sees its first strip show.

Yahoo!