The State Auditor is onto the same thing the Brevard County Clerk’s Office has fought for over a year, buying land with inflated appraisals. Evidently reason and logic and market conditions be darned, decisions have been made to buy land at any price. The County has lined up $55 million in immediate EELs (Environmentally Endangered Lands Program) purchases to exhaust the current bond issue, but the lands listed are probably worth less than half the amount. Then the County will be in the same boat as the state, the boat of exhausted former horns of plenty.

Both the State and County think they can just bond out some more money and the horns will be replenished.  Well, that is one tired dog not leaving the porch.  The state bonds documentary stamps, dead in the water with the Housing Bubble implosion. The County bonds a fixed EELs millage (tax rate), which is due to have declining revenue as taxable values continue their voyage to the bottom of the sea.

Of course we still have people who have no concept of price and value, especially when using other peoples money to keep on buying land at inflated prices. Every single one of us has items we feel are priceless. But, the hard fact is this: if we passed on, the items hit EBay prices, and their actual value would be established.  The Thousand Islands and every other piece of property has a market value. You can bet when the current owners bought the land they made a financial decision to buy the land, not because they too thought it was ‘priceless’.

When the County pushed the first Parks Bond Referendum, that was enough money to fund ‘everything’ on the list. Okay, we were not truthful there. But would you believe if you vote for a second Parks Bond Referendum, it will be enough money to fund ‘everything’ on the list plus get it done in two years? Now, the county staff brags bizarrely about getting done in three years, conveniently ignoring the promise just one year ago of finishing in two. Would you believe they still think they have enough money?  Well, the voters may finally get smart when they discover in a few years there is neither money nor time to complete ‘everything’ as promised.

The real granddaddy of a problem for next year will be the budget. The Brevard County budget continues to be built with increasing recurring expenses while revenues will be falling. This year they truly cut nothing (tax revenue is the same as last year) but did shift some money around. More to a few, less to others. Next year should really be less if the tax rolls fall on paper like they have in real life. Beside the declining tax roll factor, local governments put a stick in the Legislature’s eye by (1) blaming the Legislature for sky is falling tax cuts, then (2) not cutting much of anything, and (3) blaming the Legislature for the lack of tax cuts. If the maybe-not-to-be-fooled-again Legislature really makes a cut happen this spring, then you’ll hear the wailing all over again as the sky abruptly drops on our heads.

For more information, see the Miami Herald’s article “Audit criticizes Babcock Ranch, other state land deals” from Oct 2, 2007.