By: Sharon Aron Baron
The city is holding a special election in March to raise $77 million through general bonds. Whether or not voters pass the bonds, the special election will still come in at a hefty cost for taxpayers.
Although there is a general election on November 6, the commission voted to move forward and hold a special election on March 13 for voters to either approve or deny three general obligation bonds. According to the Broward Supervisor of Elections Office, the special election will cost Coral Springs taxpayers up to $190,000. By putting the bond vote on the November ballot, along with the other state and local elections, it would cost the city significantly less money.
Resident Andrew Ladanowski, data analyst and information technology consultant at AddinSolutions supports the improvements and said the March date was probably selected because voter turnout is far lower at special elections than at general elections.
“Coral Springs will focus on encouraging voter turnout among their employees, employee’s spouses, members of city committees, associated contractors, businesses, parents of kids playing sports and focus on seniors who are currently using the senior center. They will make up a larger percentage of the overall voters at a special election than at a general election,” he said.
Mayor Skip Campbell said he was outvoted when the decision for the special election came up. He believes the many improvements to the city were the fiscally responsible thing to do, and if it weren’t for Hurricane Irma, he wouldn’t have increased the taxes, however, Irma depleted the city’s reserves.
If the bonds pass, Campbell said that he will look into reducing the millage rate next time around.
City Manager Michael Goodrum said that they discussed the options at length, and the commission decided that the improvements were long overdue and they needed to move forward as soon as possible.
Divided on the ballot as three separate questions: Bond for Public Safety, Bond for Parks and Recreation, and Bond for Streets and Drainage. Voters can then choose to vote for or against each one.
The November ballot is already cumbersome, said Commissioner Joy Carter, and the general bond items are important and shouldn’t get lost in the rhetoric of a heavy ballot.
“Some of the needs are urgent,” said Carter. “A big one being we are worried that the facility building is not able to survive another hurricane, and that’s how we keep all of our city trucks, fire trucks, police and everything running. It’s past its useful life.”
A big supporter of the public safety bond, Vice Mayor Lou Cimaglia said that senior staff highly recommended the special election. “The worst thing that could happen is that they could bring it back [bond vote] in November.”
Commissioner Dan Daley said that he supported March because he didn’t want to lose another year without making many of the improvements.
All three were asked if they knew how much a special election would cost.
“No I don’t know how much a special election costs. No I don’t know,” said Cimaglia.
Both Carter, and Daley didn’t know the exact number. Campbell believed it was around $150,000.
Full list of city-wide improvements on related story here.
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4 comments
Just another example of greed stupidity arrogance and no regard for the tax payers. The streets have not resurfaced in 30 years now there is a hurry and they can’t wait another 8 months. The commission is very much aware that an election held in November will probably defeat this bond issue. They want to slide pass the majority and cater to the special interest groups who are only thinking of themselves . It is extremely important to the residents that we spend hundreds of thousands of tax payer money on fake grass and almost 2 hundred thousand just to sneak it by in a special election. a group with a child’s mentality is trying to run this city and failing miserably just look around and think about what has been happening in the last few years. They may get their buildings pay raises and fake grass however it will cost the Citizens big bucks for many years to come long after the nitwits are gone.
Only in coral springs do the commissioners excluding the mayor order something and after getting it ask the price. No shame to quit or not enough brains. This is just one example of very bad judgment I can guess that these people never had a clue what was going on at city hall and what they were voting for. As I stated in the past some are on a leash just being led around sad very sad no dignity. Just think these commissioners are voting on a budget now you have an idea how we got here. I guess walking around town being called commissioner is good for the ego no matter how bad a job your doing.
17 million dollars for our parks added on to the millions we spend on regular upkeep equipment and salaries this must stop . Just don’t give into the special interest group that is never satisfied with our parks. Reduce the taxes and forget the 8 million dollar fake grass this is Florida and grass grows just fine and is suitable for all our sports as far as resurfacing our streets what have we been paying for all these years all cities have a part of their budget for maintenance of their streets . I can only assume that our politicians thought that the streets will never have to be resurfaced . The game might be coming to an end lying and mismanagement by the politicians and staff is now taking its toll. The citizens now are aware now lets hope they react and show up to defeat this bond issue.it will be difficult to defeat because of the special interest groups and of course the thousands of city employees who will benefit by a approval.
Im sick of these forced ads popping up every time you move to page on this website…