Tuesday, July 26, 2016
OK, You're Up. Whaddaya Got?
Annexation might be dead for BP. It certainly got a big punch to the solar plexus last week. It seems clear there will be no further consideration of it until at least the next County Commission. Thereafter? Who knows?
Strangely, it seems to me, we're not hearing from the anti-annexers. They should feel victorious, even though they had little or nothing to do with annexation not going forward this year. If I had thought annexation was the disaster they claimed to think it was, I would be gleeful. I'd be pumping my fists, and telling everyone I know what a complete relief it is that annexation will not be proceeding, at least for now. I wonder if I would be saying "I told you so."
We heard them argue, and plead, and threaten. They wrote e-mail blasts, made sure to accuse everyone they could in places like "Nextdoor Biscayne Park," and spoke at Commission meetings. They were very visible and very vocal. You couldn't exactly say they won, but they certainly got what they alleged was their way. So where are they?
At the last Commission meeting, at the end of it, David Coviello turned to Barbara Watts-- one of the anti-annexers-- and seemed to ask her partly in passing and partly in resignation to help us all figure out what we're now going to do about our fiscal and functional problems. You remember them, don't you, Barbara? They're what annexation was all about. We weren't trying to do this, because we're empire-builders. This was about something real. It was to strengthen and help the Village.
So it seems to me it's now time for the anti-annexers to explain to us plan B. It's their turn. We're all listening. They're now going to show us what we all overlooked all this time.
I'm so eager to hear from them. This blog would be a great place for them to show us what their plan looks like. Or if this space seems unsafe to them, as one of them has said in the past, maybe they'd like to use "Nextdoor Biscayne Park." They never before had any trouble communicating with us, to let us all know what a terrible thing annexation would be. I'm sure it will be even easier now, to tell us all how to proceed. Before, we thought we were on a mission, and we might not have given them our full, undivided attention. They have it now.
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I'm waiting too Fred. All I hear are crickets.
ReplyDeleteIt's kind of like that "be careful what you wish for.." saying, isn't it. Oops, you don't get to sit back and cry "nobody listens to me; I got outvoted" any more.
DeleteSo you and I and the rest of us can now listen to the crickets. I don't think we're going to get anything else.
I clearly recall years ago one of the leaders against the annexation suggested we build a small plaza type building on 6th ave near the log cabin(we really excel at doing that construction thing economically-don't we?) and open a coffee shop and other ma and pa charming shoppe tenants or a gallery- how cute the vision was! But mom and pop will not be able to afford rents in a brand new commercial building at market rates. Even starbucks pulled out of the NE 125th st location. I think this was the best they could come up with (a fantasy not in touch with reality or fiscal maturity with any thought)- maybe this is why there are crickets chirping! I also recall one of the commissioners saying many years ago that maybe Miami Shores would Annex us if we could no longer operate financially- Old news...they don't want us- we are 100% residential! I think the resident base has changed significantly since then with our appreciating property values and many of the new BP residents I come in contact with were hoping for the annexation and was appealing to move here knowing BP was going to grow. I really hope this effort can be revived somehow. Maybe our new commission candidates will have some fresh ideas? Cannot wait to hear them.
ReplyDeleteI am not as close to this as you, but this post feel like some misdirected anger, likely justified anger, but misdirected nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteA lot of time and effort was put into annexation and it is shameful that those efforts were for naught due to government corruption. That doesn't mean that the financial troubles BP faces are the fault of the annexation dissenters, nor that any future solution must come from the annexation dissenters. One could just as easily (and probably more appropriately) ask, what was the BP commissions' plan B, or did they put all their eggs in one basket? Just because some annexation dissenters spread his opinion throughout the process and then popped up on the internet at the last minute and questioned the direction and awareness does not put him in a position of power to lead us in a new direction.
The annexation dissenters did not win so your comments about being gleeful don't make sense either. Maybe they feel relief because they really thought this was a bad idea, but not glee. The annexation efforts lost all on their own. Again, not due to dissenters.
If the financial situation is as dire as it sounds, this is the time to come together and listen to all voices. Yes, there will be a lot of dumb ideas, but that is part of brainstorming.
H,
DeleteThanks for your comments. I agree with almost all of them, and I think I said at least parts of what you offered.
I thought I was clear in agreeing with you that our application did not fail, as far as I know, because of the annexation dissenters. Although all I know about why we failed is what Sally told me. What I don't know is where the developers got the insights they did. If some local annexation dissenters wrongly told them their ad valorem taxes would quintuple, and the developers/owners believed this, then it's back to the annexation dissenters.
Actually, in some ways, our financial problems are, in part, contributed to by some of the dissenters. For example, they want a municipality that cannot properly sustain itself to lower its tax rate. That makes things worse, not better, and challenges at least part of a possible plan B. I'm talking here about my plan B, not the Commission's plan B. I don't know the plan B thoughts of the other Commissioners. Two of them don't seem to have any (or a plan B). They just want it all to stay as it is. They didn't want plan A, plan B, or any other plan.
In the case of last year's construction projects, part of plan C was to borrow money to get the rest of the job done (the portion that wasn't covered by the grant given us by the State, which annexation dissenters also obstructed). But they didn't like borrowing, either.
One idea of some of them-- let's call it plan D-- was to avoid adding a commercial component to the Village, by constructing a small retail/office building next to the new Administration building, and relying on the income to support us. There was no construction or P&L projection, nor a consideration of what the possible rents could be, let alone the absurdity of deflecting commercialization by erecting a commercial installation. When I was in college, during the Vietnam war days, a bumper sticker you sometimes saw said "Fighting for Peace is Like Fucking for Chastity." Like building a retail building next to Village Hall, at our most conspicuous municipal site, is our way of not contaminating the Village with a commercial component. But that was plan D.
Other than that, they offer nothing. I can't think of anything that hasn't already been rejected by the dissenters, and it sounds like neither can Chuck or Andrew or you. Everything in the world has pros and cons. The annexation dissenters have given us every suggestion, or adverse fantasy, they can of the cons of annexation. But that's no help. They offer nothing in its place. Although a rare one or two of them has said that a satisfactory goal would be for us to fail, so we could get absorbed by Miami Shores. Won't happen.
I agree it would be great if we could, as you say, "come together," but coming together will have to involve more than just criticizing each other. It will have to include offering helpful ideas. Chuck hears nothing but crickets. I'm still waiting for something else.
Fred
H,
ReplyDeleteI want to be clear about something. It is exceedingly rare that any municipality can survive without a commercial component. I know Indian Creek Village and the Town of Golden Beach do, because their property values are so high that even scaled back millages produce ample ad valorem revenues. No one else can do it. Municipal costs are just too high to be met by protected (homesteaded) residential property values and taxes.
Municipalities have to rely on the ability to tax income-producing properties more than they tax residential properties. The theory is that income-producing properties produce income, so they can sustain the expense of taxes. Homesteaded residential properties do not produce income (not legally, anyway), so the concept of the exemption was intended to protect people from taxes that could get high enough to cause them to have to leave their homes. And most of our homes here are of the protected type. Expenses can go up as high as they want, but revenues for those properties can only go up by 3% per year. Rising expenses can outstrip that in a hurry, because properties that have been protected for a long enough time fall far behind reality.
I've mentioned this in various settings before, but I have an office in CNM, on 125th Street. For years, my Local Business Tax from the City was $76 per year. Until the City decided it needed more money, and they added $100. So now, it's $176 per year. That's what municipalities can do to businesses. And if the theory is that my business is profitable enough for me to be willing to pay an extra $100 a year to keep it as it is, it's a correct theory.
But anyway, here's another idea. Maybe we can get every property owner in BP to surrender his or her homestead exemption, so we can tax ourselves at whatever value will produce the revenue we need. We can use all our residences as other municipalities use commercial presences. Just like CNM decided it needed to hit me up for an extra $100 a year, VBP can hit up me, and you, and everyone else, for whatever it needs to do what needs to be done. You know, like fix the streets, improve drainage, develop the medians, add lighting, and whatever else. That could be plan E. What do you think? Somebody's got to come with something to replace the theory of annexation.
But I still don't understand where the anti-annexers are. Very few of them said they didn't want annexation, because they wanted us to fail. (Only a couple said that.) So if the rest don't want us to fail, and they don't want us to annex, what would they describe as a meaningful mechanism for us to thrive, with the understanding that we have never thrived before. What've they got that's new and different, and no one thought of it before, and it will work?
Fred
Actually some of our former commissioners did play a role to a large degree to this setback at the County.
ReplyDeleteBefore the apartment complex Alta Mira, now called Advenir was constructed we were ready to put in an application for annexation, this was prior to the last election in 2013. If we had been able to accomplish this, we would have avoided a conflict with North Miami by submitting our application first (This turned into a major stumbling block and created a faceoff with North Miami that likely would have not been generated) and avoided a vote of the resident renters as there were not 250 qualified electors in Bay Winds the only apartment complex in the proposed area. However, Noah, Bryan and Barbara would not consider moving forward with the application.
By moving forward three years ago there may have been a different sentiment by the County Commission and Carol Keys currently one of our principal opponents in North Miami was not in office. Also Advenir played a large role as well in the proceedings at the County, they were just a piece of vacant land when we started this process.
Getting back to revenue alternatives, there really aren't a lot of options for additional revenue as things stand.
However, there is a possible development for a special assessment for the Police department that may be on the horizon.
PS I just saw this article:
Alta Mira sold to Advenir for $52.7m
Published at: 2016-06-21 16:53 | Author: CIJ USA
A North Miami apartment complex, Alta Mira, has been sold to Aventura-based investment firm Advenir Inc. for $52.7 million. The 240-unit community, located at 12010 N.E. 16th Ave., was once a trailer park. The property was developed by Atlanta, Georgia-based Wood Partners in 2013. The transaction was completed with a $38.7 million mortgage provided by CBRE Capital Markets. Advenir, founded in 1996, has a portfolio of roughly 7,400 units located throughout the U.S. and valued at $550 million.
Thanks for the replies guys and for your service to the village. I hope we figure something out. Happy to join a workshop or other brainstorming session.
ReplyDelete