People Are Asking

How have the Key Colony Beach City budget (and our property taxes) skyrocketed?

Fresh on the heels of denying you the right to vote, the runaway Gang of 3 will pass a TWENTY MILLION DOLLAR BUDGET at the end of the day on Thursday.

Key Colony Beach has raised property taxes at least 73% since 2018 to pay for extra employees, extra vehicles, extra lawyers, extra boodoggles, and years of trailer houses. Now, the Gang of 3--Commissioners Harding, Ramsay-Vickrey, and Trefrey--will pass a resolution with that huge and unexplained spending.

The approved budgets over just the past few years show very worrisome trends.
» From 2018-22, KCB carried forward a lot of reserves that just plain disappeared in 2022-23.
» The city claims about a million less in 2023-24 Ad Valorem Tax "Revenue" than the county calculation yields based on millage rate and property values.
» The city claims to budget $7.8 million in 2023-24 expenditures but Resolution 2023-13 budgets $20.5 million for the same period.

Fiscal
Year
Property
Taxes
%
Increase
Total
" Revenue"
%
Increase
Total
Expenditures
%
Increase
2018-19 $1,732,677 - - $3,855,068 - - $3,855,068 - -
  "Revenue" will increase by $2,152,738 carried forward from 2017-18
Expenditures will increase by $3,128,148 transferred to "Reserves"
Source: http://PeopleAreAsking.org/resources/budget/fy-18-19-budget-summary.pdf

2019-20 $1,804,165 4.1% $6,013,449 56.0% $5,496,295 42.6%
  "Revenue" will increase by $5,997,971 carried forward from 2018-19
Expenditures will increase by $6,515,125 transferred to "Reserves"
Source: http://PeopleAreAsking.org/resources/budget/fy-19-20-budget-summary.pdf

2020-21 $1,878,301 4.1% $5,512,552 -8.3% $5,313,568 -3.3%
  "Revenue" will increase by $6,505,127 carried forward from 2019-20
Expenditures will increase by $6,702,111 transferred to "Reserves"
Source: http://PeopleAreAsking.org/resources/budget/fy-2021-budget-summary.pdf

2021-22 $2,300,383 22.5% $6,436,199 16.8% $7,224,462 36.0%
  First "Turner" budget, last budget with funds carried over
"Revenue" will increase by $6,954,415 carried forward from 2020-21
Expenditures will increase by $6,166,162 transferred to "Reserves"
Source: http://PeopleAreAsking.org/resources/budget/fy-21-22-buddget-summary.pdf

2022-23 $2,627,390 14.2% $7,737,390 20.2% $7,737,390 7.1%
  "Revenue" includes $500,000 from 2021-22 fund reserves
Expenditures will increase by $ transferred to "Reserves"
Source: http://PeopleAreAsking.org/resources/budget/fy-22-23-budget-summary.pdf

Two official data sources for the upcoming fiscal year contradict each other.
The "official" city budget presentation offers a rosy picture of financial good health but the Resolution the commission passed 4-0 shows a $17 million dollar shorfall. Here are the two sets of figures:
2023-24 $2,999,042 14.1% $7,778,784 0.5% $7,778,784 0.5%
  Amounts claimed in "KCB Proposed Budget Presentation" by D. Turner
"Revenue" includes $124,829 of "internal transfers"
Expenditures include by $457,833 transferred to "Reserves"
Source: http://PeopleAreAsking.org/resources/budget/fy-23-24-budget-approved-9-7-23.pdf

2023-24 $3,946,224 50.2% $7,778,784 0.5% $20,494,491 164.9%
  Amounts from calculated revenue and Commission Resolution_2023-13
"Revenue" includes $124,829 of "internal transfers"
Expenditures are the total approved in Resolution 2023-13
Source #1: http://PeopleAreAsking.org/resources/budget/fy-23-24-budget-approved-9-7-23.pdf
Source #2: http://PeopleAreAsking.org/resources/budget/budget_resolution_2023-13.pdf


» These numbers alone underscore the need for a forensic analysis of city finances.
»

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