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 […]
During its ninth meeting, the City’s Ethics Panel heard testimony from Sandy D’Alemberte and Former City Commissioner Debbie Lightsey. The City’s Ethics Advisory Panel was created to review ethical standards at city hall. If the testimony of D’Alemberte and Lightsey carry any weight with the panel, current and future city commissioners should be prepared to […]
For the first time since 2007, a recently released report by the United States Department of Commerce indicates that Per Capita Personal Income (PCPI) has increased in all 366 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA). Personal income in the United States was up 5.2% in 2011 over 2010 for an average PCPI of $41,560. A MSA is […]
Over the past year or so, the Leon County Sales Tax Committee (STC) has patiently listened to scores of proposals for the use of future sales tax. We could easily have a couple of billion dollars in ideas floating around the community. No doubt, we need infrastructure in this county and we need to expand […]
The County and City Commission approved the Leon County Sales Tax Committee’s recommendation to enter into public/private partnership with Imagine Tallahassee to conduct a community visioning exercise for the economic development portion of the proposed sales tax. On February 1, 2013, the Committee approved a proposal lead by Karen Moore and Jim Murdaugh. The proposal […]
To understand where you are, sometimes it is useful to look at where you have been. With the recent approval of a 15% property tax increase to plug the hole in the COT’s General Fund, Tallahassee Reports decided to take a look back. The first task was to look back at the budgets over the previous […]
Tallahassee Reports has completed an analysis that indicates that the COT government spending has increased as a percentage of the Tallahassee’s Gross Domestic Product from 2005-2008. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the measure of all goods and services provided. Using Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) data on Gross Domestic Product and City of Tallahassee expenditure data, the analysis indicates the COT GDP grew 11.6%, while […]
During a recent public hearing on the COT budget, a number of citizens criticized Mayor Marks for having four aides. Each time a citizen leveled the charge, Mayor Marks shook his head as to say no that is not the case. A quick perusal of the budget for the Office of the Mayor indicates there are […]
Tallahassee Reports has written about the $172 million in reserve funds the City of Tallahassee has tucked away. Part of the $172 million includes approximately $95 million in a “rate stabilization fund.” During an informative discussion with Assistant City Manager Raoul Lavin, he detailed the parameters regulating the use of the rate stabilization fund. The uses […]
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. […]