Special Town Council Meeting Today at Noon Regarding Billing of Garbage Service

The Davie Town Council has a Special Meeting at Noon today, in Town Hall, regarding the billing of garbage service. The purpose of the meeting is to approve transitioning to a billing system in which the garbage service will appear on the property owners' tax bill, rather than a monthly or quarterly billing. The idea is to change the method of payment, not add a new tax. The direct billing would be discontinued when the new system of paying with your property taxes is implemented. Some of the advantages are:

• Ease of payment--once a year, automatically with the tax bill.
  
• Ease of collection and fairness--everyone is required to pay or face the consequences of non-payment of taxes. Non-payment unfairly penalizes paying customers and deprives or delays payment of franchise taxes to the Town.
  
• Everyone is required to comply with the law and pay for service. Helps keep Davie clean and removes the incentive for people to illegally "opt out" of garbage service.
  

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Hurricane Katrina in Review

Davie Police and Fire-Rescue performed above and beyond the call of duty before, during and after Hurricane Katrina. The same can be said for Public Works, and the entire emergency team.

I wish I could say the Town came through the storm in better shape. In comparison to the Gulf States northwest of us, we did not fair too bad. Yet, if your roof got lifted off or a tree fell on your home, it's hard to be optimistic. The Town is working very hard to find short and long term solutions for those most severely affected. I spent a good bit of time today trying to help one Davie resident who lost her home in the storm. Although the effort makes me see how frustrating the process of getting public assistance can be--I'm also highly encouraged by the dedication of people in our Town and country on behalf of people in need.

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Davie's Emergency Team is Preparing for Katrina

Davie's emergency team met early this morning. We will continue meeting throughout the duration of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Katrina. After the storm passes we will do storm damage assessment and cleanup, as warranted. There is a lot of lead time required to prepare for any major storm event. Our general philosophy is to err on the side of public safety.

[*click* on the storm map for Davie Hurricane Emergency Information ]

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Championship Bullriding in Davie on Saturday

[Five Star Rodeo, part 2]

This weekend, the one and only event at the Five Star Rodeo in Davie, Florida is "Championship" Bullriding. Rodeo announcer, Norman Edwards, accurately describes the cowboy's ride on the bull as the "most dangerous eight seconds in professional sports!"

[*click* on the photo at left for a description of all of the rodeo events]

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Davie Championship Bullriding this Saturday in Davie

Davie's Five Star Rodeo "Championship Bullriding" returns to the Bergeron Rodeo Grounds at Davie, Florida this weekend. The rodeo starts @ 8:00 p.m. at the rodeo arena next to Davie Town Hall. Here's the schedule for upcoming rodeos:

• August 27 Five Star "Championship" Bullriding
  
• September 24 Five Star "Championship" Rodeo
  
• October 21*** Five Star "Championship" Rodeo Special Show
  
• October 22 Five Star "Championship" Rodeo
  
• November 26 64th Sunshine State "Championship" Bullriding
  

[*click* logo for Five Star Rodeo Home Page]

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Tax scheme to take away "save our homes" tax benefit.

One local politician is gearing up her campaign to gut the protections of the 1992 "Save Our Homes" Tax Cap. The goal was, and is, to keep the tax man (or woman, as the case may be) at bay. Florida residents recognized more than a decade ago that rising property taxes were forcing some people out of their homes. The ideas was to cap the amount by which the tax valuation could rise at just 3% per year.

The scheme to undo this protection is being pushed under the label of "portability." Actually it is a giant tax shift, moving a greater share of the tax burden onto those who can least afford it. Here's how it works:

• Allow the “Save Our Homes” tax benefit to be transferred from home to home, when sold. The 3% cap on the tax increase is “portable.”
  
• Taxes will be slashed for people who move and/or buy new homes. There are some limitations being proposed, but this is the overall effect.
  
• Local governments will face a shortfall in revenue.
  
• Local governments will have to raise the TAX RATE (increases in the rate are regulated apart from the Save Our Homes tax break) in order to balance their budgets.
  
• People now protected by the Save our Home tax benefit will be taxed out of their homes by the rising TAX RATES!
  
• Also adversely impacted by the "portability" scam: businesses and renters. The current law offers them no protection. Portability would whack them twice.
  

For more reading see the Naples Daily News article.

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Bulk Trash Pickup

Times of transition are not always pretty. This principle holds true with Davie's transition to the new garbage pickup system.

I fielded several calls today from residents who had grievances about the most recent change in the bulk trash pickup. First of all, I should say that I apologize for the inconvenience of the transition. In our efforts to fix the problems with bulk trash pickup, it has been extremely difficult to get the word out to all residents. As a consequence, some residents got caught short in putting out bulk trash on days which should have been regular bulk trash days--only to find out the bulk trash schedule had changed.

As I wrote yesterday, we are transitioning to a new system. You should have a letter in hand within the next few days explaining the system. If not, check back on this blog, or the Town web site in a few days for more details.

Suggestions, for right now:

1. If you have not put out bulk trash yet, and you can possibly delay doing so for a few days, please wait for instructions.
   
2. If you already put bulk trash on the curb, and you can not pull it back, then call Town Hall. We are going to try to arrange pickup as needed during the short transition period.
   

Thank you for your patience. As always, you may write or call me if you want to discuss further.

-- Mayor Tom Truex

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Town Council Meeting last night

The Davie Town Council met at Davie Town Hall for our regular meeting on Wednesday, August 17, 2005. The full Agenda is online.

Among other things, the Town Council took the following action:

1. Oak Scholar Academy Charter School, on Shotgun Road: Site Plan (4.17) and Rezoning (6.3): denied.
   
2. Discussion of proposal for modification of Contract with Waste Management (8.1): approved, changing to monthly bulk pickup of virtually EVERYTHING (within reason). The Town will send information to every customer via regular U.S. Mail to explain the changes.
   
3. Discussion of proposal for new Mitigation Guidelines (9.1): tabled
   

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Miami Dolphins Sponsored August Davie-Cooper City Chamber of Commerce Breakfast

The Town of Davie's most famous home team--the Miami Dolphins--hosted this morning's Davie-Cooper City Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting at the Pine Island Ridge Country Club.

The Dolphins, whose headquarters and practice facilities are in Davie, are finishing their summer practices which are open to the public for free. The open practices at Nova Southeastern University are scheduled for another week.

[*click* the Dolphin logo to go to Miami Dolphin web site ]

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Mail In Ballot on Bond Issue

The Mail In Ballot on Davie's bond issue will be coming out soon. This is the first time that the Town of Davie will utilize a mail-ballot election. Registered residents will receive ballots via the mail between September 9 and September 19, 2005.

The ballot must be properly filled out and mailed back to the Broward County Supervisor of Elections. Her office must receive the ballots by 7p.m. on election day, September 29, 2005.

Here's what the Town is estimating for the cost to taxpayers:
$38.00 per hundred thousand dollars of taxable value.

1. EXAMPLE: Your home is assessed at $425,000.00 (including
   homestead exemption)
   
2. ($ 25,000) Subtract homestead exemption
   
3. $400,000 Net taxable value
   
4. 4 x $38 = $152.00 annual tax increase
   

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Town Council Agenda is Online

The Davie Town Council Meets at Davie Town Hall for our regular meeting on Wednesday, August 17, 2005. The Agenda is online.

Note the following items, in which there may be general public interest*:

1. Oak Scholar Academy Charter School, on Shotgun Road: Site Plan (4.17) and Rezoning (6.3).
   
2. Discussion of proposal for modification of Contract with Waste Management (8.1).
   
3. Discussion of proposal for new Mitigation Guidelines (9.1).
   

*Items on the agenda may be tabled. Links to agenda items are PDF files and require a PDF Reader

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Davie Town Council Workshop on Airport Issues, Today at Noon

The Davie Town Council is going to meet at noon today (August 12, 2005) in the Town Council Chambers to discuss Airport issues.

Photo: On the runway at Ft. Lauderdale airport, earlier this year. [*click* photo to enlarge]

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Canals, Guardrails

Several recent tragedies have reminded us of the danger of cars leaving the roadway and ending up in a canal.

Personally, I do not think it is practical or desirable to have a guardrail along every stretch of every canal. I believe Davie will undertake a renewed effort to identify dangerous locations, and attempt to mitigate those dangers where possible.

Photo: Guardrails were installed along 70th Avenue a few years ago. At the time, one argument was safety vs. preserving a rural look. [*click* photo to enlarge]

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Town Budget, Interesting Fact No. 3: How to Cut the Budget

My father used to say, "it's not how you play the game, but who keeps the score." This principle holds true in many areas of government financing as well. For example, I heard during our budget process in the Town of Davie that we were going to cut the budget for the Police Department. Well, not exactly. It turns out the truth of that statement lies with who is keeping score.
[*click* MORE, below, for details]
More...

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State Road 7 / U.S. 441 Corridor

The Davie Town Council heard a presentation on May 16, 2005 from the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council (see the Blog entry for 05/17/2005). Now the Town Council is being asked to sign off on the proposal. Now, as then, I support much of the concept of the proposal. I think the idea of improving the U.S. 441 corridor has a lot of promise. But now, as then, I have concerns, a couple of which I would consider absolute deal killers: [*click* MORE, below, for details]
More...

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Crist, Marino and Truex Attend Ground Breaking for Florida Community Bank

Last weekend former Miami Dolphin quarterback, Dan Marino, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. However on July 27th, Dan Marino was in Davie at the groundbreaking for Florida Community Bank on University Drive.

Photo: (from left) Florida Attorney General (and candidate for Governor), Charlie Crist; Hall of Fame former Miami Dolphin quarterback, Dan Marino; and Davie Mayor Tom Truex. [*click* photo to enlarge]

Photo by Ellen Truex

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Davie Police Officers Promoted

Today I attended a ceremony at the police station for the promotion of two Davie Police Officers. Reading the biographies of these police officers brings to mind two words: dedication and professionalism. Davie's newest Lieutenant is a 20 year veteran of Davie's police department, having received many honors along the way. He is currently working on his Master's Degree. The Sergeant who replaces him is a seven year Davie officer, whose credentials are also quite impressive.

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Town of Davie Budget Workshop

The Davie Town Council met tonight (8-5-2005) for our first Budget Workshop. As it turns out, my prediction about rolling back the advalorem tax rate many have been too optimistic. Although Councilmember Mike Crowley and I expressed strong support for a tax break, the majority was less than enthusiastic, under the circumstances.

A couple of alternatives to make up the shortage of a tax rollback were discussed:

1. A tax on corporations for the use of gas lines which run under Davie. This may be an untapped source of revenue, but needs further investigation, and may take some time to implement.
   
   
2. A tax on water use. About 80% of communities levy this tax, which Davie does not. The end user (businesses and residents) would pay the tax, no matter who supplies the water. The problem is that it's hard to justify starting a new tax to lower another tax. I have consistently opposed new taxes on Davie residents.
   

Town staff said that taken together, these taxes have the potential of raising about $1.4 million dollars--more than sufficient to roll back the advalorem tax rate, and put aside more money in our reserve funds.

Administration will also look at the intitial proposed budget to see if they can find any areas where some costs can be shaved.

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Town Council Agenda is Online

The Davie Town Council Meets at Davie Town Hall for our regular meeting on Wednesday, August 3, 2005. The Agenda is online.

Note the following items, in which there may be general public interest*:

1. SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT OF LITIGATION WITH COOPER CITY - resolving United Ranches annexations, since the Florida Legislature put the matter on the ballot for much of the affected area [4.10]
   
2. Several Site Plans and Rezoning requests, including those for Oak Scholar of Broward, LLC, on Shotgun Road [4.16] and [6.4]
   
3. Discussion of the recent Supreme Court Decision on Eminent Domain [8.1.]
   
4. Discussion of the Garbage Contract with Waste Management [8.2.] (See also the Town Website)
   

*Items on the agenda may be tabled. Links to agenda items are PDF files and require a PDF Reader

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Davie Considers Advalorem Tax Rate

The Davie Town Council met for a workshop meeting to consider the millage rate for 2005-2006. I have tried to get our millage rate decreased since coming onto the Town Council in 2001. Increased real estate values have resulted in big tax increases for many residents and businesses. Although many residents are protected from huge tax increases by the Save Our Homes tax provision (limiting the percentage of annual increase), the following groups get no relief:

1. Renters—landlords pass the costs to them directly or indirectly
   
2. Businesses—Save Our Homes does not apply to business property
   
3. Residents who move
   
4. Residents who buy new homes
   

Our combined rate for both voter approved debt service and the advalorem property tax rate is a little lower than midpoint, compared to other Broward Municipalities. And Davie's overall tax rate is down from a little under six percent (total advalorem and voter approved debt service) when I first took office.

PREDICTION: Davie will be able to cut our advalorem tax rate this year!

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Davie Hosts National Girls' Fast Pitch Softball Events

Davie played host to two important national championship tournaments in girls' softball in July: the Rising Stars "Summer Showcase" and the Pony National Tournament.

I attended part of the Pony National Tournament, held last weekend at Pine Island Park. Girls softball, at this level, is an exciting, fast pitch game.

Davie's home team, the Goldcoast Hurricanes beat out teams from across the country to win the Pony National championship.

Photo: Davie's Goldcoast Hurricanes playing in the semifinal championship game of the Pony Softball National Tournament. [*click* photo to enlarge]

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