The Annual Food Issue
Editor’s Note: Beware the Hands in the Cookie Jar
Whatever your opinion of Mayor Vince Lago, you can’t deny that he has run Coral Gables with a conservative fiscal policy – one recognized not only by the city’s AAA bond rating but also by the legislators in Tallahassee, who, until this year, rewarded the city with millions of dollars in state grants. Now, that fiscally conservative stewardship is being threatened by the troika of Commissioners Ariel Fernandez, Melissa Castro, and Kirk Menendez.
At the last City Commission meeting a very disturbing vote took place, in which the three commissioners voted 3-2 in favor of a resolution stating the intent to issue bonds. In other words, a green light to take on debt. Voting against were Mayor Lago and Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson. The figure which the troika has in mind is $59 million dollars, which would also cost the city millions of dollars in interest payments.
This is no time to take out bonds, which are at historically high rates, especially without voter approval. The city already has a massive debt that Mayor Lago has made it a priority to pay down: the unfunded liability for city pensions. Five years ago, that debt sat at almost $210 million. It is now down to about $140 million. Each year, the city pays a required (by state law) $21 million, on top of $5 million to $6 million in annual pensions. Under Lago, the city has accelerated those payments, last year paying another $9.3 million to shave the debt down even faster.
When Ariel Fernandez was elected city commissioner (by the lowest voter turnout in years), he first tried to reduce the pension debt payments. He wanted instead to spend it on public projects to please the voters. When that was rebuffed by the employee unions, he unsuccessfully pushed to take funds from the city’s emergency reserves; among other things, he wanted to use that money to give one-time bonus checks to all residents.
Having failed in these efforts, the troika has now voted to massively increase city debt to fund pet projects they have, including a new Youth Center.
The city is currently enjoying a small windfall from increased property values, which means higher tax bills for home and business owners. An effort to cut the tax rate by Mayor Lago and Vice Mayor Anderson was blocked by the three commissioners in a 3-2 vote. Instead, the increases were used by the trio to, amongst other things, double their salaries and their support staff. Now, they want to go on a spending spree to endear voters, instead of waiting a few years until the pension debt is paid off and the city will have access to some $30 million more per year to spend on capital projects – from revenue, and not from debt.
This is no time to mortgage our children’s futures. Let the commissioners know your thoughts.