CRA to Become Stand Alone Department, Personnel Expenses to Increase

CRA to Become Stand Alone Department, Personnel Expenses to Increase

The City of Tallahassee Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), whose mission is to reduce conditions of physical blight within the agency’s two redevelopment districts: the Greater Frenchtown/Southside Community Redevelopment Area and the Downtown District Community Redevelopment Area, will become a stand alone department in 2014. The CRA has been involved with a number of projects in the […]

Proposed City Spending Outpaces Consumer Spending

The fiscal year 2014 budget process is officially under way. During last weeks City Commission meeting, Raoul Lavin, the City’s budget guru, gave City Commissioners a progress report on the previous year and a look at the 2014 general fund budget. Mr. Lavin told the Commissioners that as of now, the general fund budget for […]

COT 2012 Budget Increases Non-Fuel Spending By $40 Million Over 2010 Expenditures

COT 2012 Budget Increases Non-Fuel Spending By $40 Million Over 2010 Expenditures

The COT press release on the 2012 budget reads: “No increase proposed for millage rate – City Manager Anita Favors Thompson today released the recommended $724.9 million fiscal year 2012 budget for review and action by the Tallahassee City Commission. The proposed amount is $2 million less than the current year budget and reflects feedback […]

Questions About Assistant City Manager Answers

On Tuesday, September 8th, Assistant City Manager Raul Lavin addressed several issues on The Morning Show with Preston Scott. Research by Tallahassee Reports indicates that answers given by Mr. Lavin on the deferred compensation and the electric utility reserve funds are not consistent with information contained in publicly available documents. Deferred Compensation On the deferred compensation, Mr. […]

COT Reserve Funds Exceeds $172 Million

With the Tallahassee City Commission taking a serious look at raising taxes and cutting services, Tallahassee Reports – and a number of other interested citizens – have begun to dig into the proposed 2010 budget. Tallahassee Reports has focused its analysis on the City’s “Reserve Accounts.”  The City has reserve accounts for the General Fund, Electric Fund, […]

City Spending Increases Isolated to Three Areas

In our last report, Tallahassee Reports analyzed the expenditure trend of the City of Tallahassee’s $133,000,000 general fund over the period of 2005 to 2008. The analysis indicated that expenditures over that period exceeded population growth to the tune of approximately $23 million. When adjusted for a inflation over that period, expenditures added approximately $12 million. This report […]

The Budget Shortfall – Revenue Options

The recent revelation that the City of Tallahassee has a budget shortfall of approximately $7 million for the upcoming fiscal year has started a debate on how to best deal with this issue. Should the city commission raise taxes, cut services, or implement some combination of both? In this article, Tallahassee Reports looks into one side […]

City Hoards Millions During Recession, While Leon School Board Cuts 150 Teachers

So you think the City of Tallahassee spends millions on electric utility conservation programs? Wrong! The City of Tallahassee collects millions for conservation programs. A data request by Tallahassee Reports indicates that the City of Tallahassee budgeted close to $15.5 million to various conservation programs for fiscal year 2008, which began on October 1, 2007. […]

City Budgeting – a Tale of Perverse Priorities

Our recent analysis of spending on “green” programs has documented the clear priority of city leadership in achieving the “living green” dream. Green expenditures in the fiscal year 2009 budget include $10 million for smart meters, $7 million for energy conservation, and $300,000 for the creation of the green department. These 3 programs total $17,300,000 in spending in […]

Green Era Priorities Trump Child Safety Programs

In the 2009 budget, the Tallahassee City Commission cut $50,000 from the elementary school crossing guard program and cut another $30,000 by eliminating the DARE program. However, in November of 2008  the City of Tallahassee found $89,000 to donate to the Leon County School system for the “Schools on Solar Program.” Why?…In a letter, responding  to the […]