Lakewood Ranch Incorporation

THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2011

EAST COUNTYObserverYOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.

OUR TOWN BEAUTY AND THE FEET

INDEXClassifieds ..........28Cops Corner ...........5

Crossword ............27Neighbors ............10

Opinion ..................6Real Estate ..........21

Sports ..................23Weather ...............27

ON STAGESteel Magnolia performs at Braden River High.PAGE 17.

INSIDEEast County families enjoy weekend of Easter celebrations.PAGE 10-11.

Vol. 12, No. 17 | One section

SPORTSMustangs upset Braden River in district final.PAGE 23.

Courtesy photo

+ Lakewood Ranch girls assist in drill

Cousins Rebekah and Sarah Meyers, of Lakewood Ranch, joined others as mock victims during an emergency disaster drill at the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport April 20.

The girls thoroughly enjoyed playing the parts of the “walk-ing wounded” and even riding on stretchers.

But it also seemed Rebekah was a bit too into her part. Toward the end of the drill, she became overheated and required real medical atten-tion to cool her off, says mom, Jodie.

However, that didn’t seem to spoil the experience.

“(The) kids had fun after-ward wearing their leftover ‘wounds’ to our remaining errands,’ Jodie says.

LAKEWOOD RANCH — The groups advocating and opposing the incorporation of Lakewood Ranch will meet for the first time in the East County Observer’s Lakewood Ranch Incorporation Debate May 9.

The debate, which will feature

both questions from the East County Observer as well as selec-tions from readers and attend-ees, will be from 7-9 p.m., May 9, at The Polo Grill and Bar’s Fête Ballroom, 10670 Boardwalk Loop, Lakewood Main St. Incorporation proponents Tom Thomaides and

Keith Davey will represent the Incorporation Study Committee, and Gary Berns and Bob Hendel will present the anti-incorpora-tion arguments for the Friends of Lakewood Ranch.

Observer to host debateThe first debate between the representatives from the Incorporation Study Committee and the Friends of Lakewood Ranch will be from 7-9 p.m., May 9, at The Polo Grill and Bar’s Fête Ballroom.

Krystle K Photography“We’ve come to the understanding regardless of what doctors say, if the good Lord wants to take my son (Adrian), He will,” Anthony Littlejohn said. “And if He doesn’t, then He won’t. It’s not his time. We (just want to) make sure he gets to the opportunity to beat it.”

SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONS

The East County Observer invites readers to submit ques-tions for consideration for the upcoming debate. To submit questions, email them to Executive Editor Michael Eng at [email protected]. Please put “Incorporation Debate Question” in the subject line.

STILL FIGHTINGHERITAGE HARBOUR — An-

thony Littlejohn lifts his son, Adrian, and lays the child against his chest as his wife, Ivette, settles on the couch beside him.

The 14-month-old whines gen-

tly after waking from an after-noon nap.

The child is so small in his fa-ther’s loving arms but still has such a big fight ahead.

For Anthony, a football and

track coach at Lakewood Ranch High School, it feels much like being in the fourth quarter of a football game down by seven with 90 yards to go and no time on the clock. There’s no star

quarterback and no time outs. In late November, the couple

learned Adrian was suffering from a stage-four atypical tera-

Anthony and Ivette Littlejohn’s son, Adrian, was diagnosed with cancer in November. The family is one of many being helped by the Payton Wright Foundation, which has a golf outing fundraiser on May 13.

talk of the town By The Observer Staff

+ Ranch alum earnsHall-of-Fame status

Look out, business world. Ashley Boccuzzi is about to make some waves.

The Lakewood Ranch High School graduate on April 12 earned induction into the University of Florida College of Business Hall of Fame. After graduation, she will move to New York, where she will work in the Operations Consulting Department at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Boccuzzi spent all four years of high school at Lakewood Ranch and also attended Braden River Middle School in the eighth grade.

SEE ADRIAN / PAGE 8

SEE DEBATE / PAGE 2

PAYTON PREVIEW By Pam Eubanks | News Editor

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Both groups said the debate process is crucial in helping de-termine the future of Lakewood Ranch.

“(Attending is) critically impor-tant,” Thomaides said. “Residents need to know the facts and make an informed decision.

“We want Lakewood Ranch residents to understand that be-coming a city 1) is not only feasi-ble but economically beneficial to the entire community, 2) gives us a voice in shaping the continued growth of Lakewood Ranch and 3) is a natural evolution from a rural collection of neighborhoods gov-erned by a distant county struc-

ture to a city governed by local representatives with a citywide vision.”

Friends representative Gary Berns said he hopes the debate will convince Lakewood Ranch resident to think more critically about the effects of incorporation.

“Inasmuch as we believe an educated group of residents is our best hope, we believe attendance is very important,” he said. “Only by becoming educated about the pros and cons of incorporation will residents be able to make the informed decision to protect what they now have.

“We hope that this debate will educate the residents on the seri-ous risks and lack of benefits of in-corporation,” Berns said. “We be-lieve that exposure to both sides will only help us and will convince residents to sign a petition oppos-ing incorporation.”

Since the idea of Lakewood Ranch incorporating surfaced more than three years ago, the ma-jority of discussion on both sides has centered on whether doing so would be financially feasible. The Incorporation Study Committee bases its support on the study conducted by Florida economist Hank Fishkind. The Friends group has refuted that study and argued that it contains inaccuracies.

Another major point of conten-tion is the change in Lakewood

Ranch’s government structure. Currently, the community is governed by Community Devel-opment Districts. If Lakewood Ranch incorporates, those CDDs would be replaced with a coun-cil/manager form of government. The Friends group maintains that change would give residents less control of their government, while the Incorporation Study Commit-tee argues the council/manager structure has proven successful in similar cities.

“(The most important piece of information is) that the risks of incorporation — including higher taxes, loss of local control, claimed benefits being exaggerated or non-existent, and that there is no going back after incorporating, among other risks — far outweigh any possible benefits,” Berns said. “With that information, residents will realize that forming a new city is a risky venture that jeopardizes the important things they have come to know and love in our neighborhoods.”

Davey said he is confident the work his group already has done will convince residents incorpora-tion is a good idea for all residents.

“We really have done our home-work over the past three years and developed recommendations that are based on extensive research, factual studies and reliable data,” he said.

THE DEBATEWHEN: 7-9 p.m., May 9WHERE: The Polo Grill and Bar’s Fête Ballroom, 10670 Boardwalk Loop, Lakewood Main St.COST: Free. Seating is limited and on a first-come, first-serve basis. DETAILS: Light refreshments will be available. Attendees will be asked to hold their applause.INFO: Executive Editor Michael Eng, 755-5357, Ext. 402 or [email protected]

INCORPORATION STUDY COMMITTEEKEITH DAVEY: A Lakewood Ranch resident since 2005, Davey has served as Lakewood Ranch Community Fund president, Civic Action Forum presi-dent, CDD 4 supervisor, Greenbrook Homeowners Association president (2007-2008) and Greenbrook Safety Committee chair (2006-2008). He has 30 years of experience at Michigan Consolidated Gas Company.

TOM THOMAIDES: Thomaides, a Lakewood Ranch resident since 2005, has more than 30 years of management and senior-level executive experience at Fortune 500 financial institutions, including MBNA (Bank of America), MNC Financial, Security Pacific Bank and Great Western Financial. He also has three years of experience in computer technology at McDonnell-Douglas Aircraft Company. He has no involvement in local government.

FRIENDS OF LAKEWOOD RANCHGARY BERNS: Berns is a retired attorney who specialized in real estate and commercial liti-gation. He has served as fire commissioner of Woodmere Fire District as well as the Summerfield Forest Neighborhood Committee, the Modification Committee and as CDD 1 supervisor. He also was on the first SRVA Board of Directors and also served as SRVA vice president and president.

BOB HENDEL: Hendel, a Lakewood Ranch resident of more than three years, is a retired attorney who specialized in commercial law. He served as execu-tive director of an international firm with 750 lawyers in New York, Asia and Europe. He also has served for several years as president or as a board member of several condominium and homeowners associations located in Connecticut and Utah.

ABOUT THE DEBATERS

Davey

Thomaides

Berns

Hendel

DEBATE/PAGE 1

THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2011



Classifieds ..........28Cops Corner ...........5

Crossword ............27Opinion ..................6

Real Estate ..........20Neighborhood ......10

Sports ..................23Weather ...............27

INDEXVol. 12, No. 19 | One section

SPORTSRanch falls in regional semifinals.PAGE 23.

INSIDEDragon Boat Festival cruises into East County.PAGE 10-11.

SPOTLIGHTLinger Lodge hosts first bluegrass fest.PAGE 12-13.

SEE EMMONS / PAGE 8

LAKEWOOD RANCH — The two groups promoting and op-posing the incorporation of Lakewood Ranch faced off for the first time during the East County Observer’s Lakewood Ranch Incorporation Debate May 9 at The Polo Grill and Bar Fête Ballroom.

More than 330 people packed into the ballroom as Tom Thomaides and Keith Davey, of the Lakewood Ranch Incorporation Study Commit-tee, and Gary Berns and Bob Hendel, of the Friends of Lake-wood Ranch, defended their respective positions and tried to poke holes in their oppo-sitions’ arguments. The East County Observer’s Editori-als Page Editor Rod Thomson served as moderator.

In his opening statements, Hendel cited his top 10 rea-sons for opposing incorpora-tion, including the loss of local control, no savings on taxes and a significant risk taxes will increase, among other con-cerns.

“We are against this city, at this time, under this charter,” he said.

Thomaides, however, called incorporation “a practical step in a normal evolution” and noted the study com-mittee is the only side of the debate “who began with an open mind” and was willing to

+ Get your cameras ready!

Lakewood Ranch-based Sanborn Studios has joined forces with the Guerilla Film Competition to find the “best of the best” of YouTube video stars.

The 48-hour Guerrilla Film Competition challenges on-line amateurs to write, shoot and edit a short film in just two days, this year beginning on May 13.

Each film will promote a sponsor, product, message or cause and be judged by industry experts. Winning films move on to collect prizes, with top honors earn-ing $5,000.

Sanborn will be flying in a representative from the winning team for a getaway weekend in Sarasota and a pitch meeting with studio executives. The team’s film also will be screened dur-ing Sanborn’s Movieville International Film Festival in mid-June.

The Taylor Emmons Scholarship Fund eventually will pay for four students to attend ODA.

Family launches scholarship program

IN MEMORIAM By Pam Eubanks | News Editor

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Not a day goes by that Mike Em-mons doesn’t think about his son, Taylor, a 19-year-old baseball star who gradu-ated from The Out-o f - D o o r Academy in 2009.

And each morning, as Mike Em-mons looks in the mirror, he can’t help but wonder what his son would want him to do fol-lowing the accident that took Taylor’s life in December 2010.

“I know he would want me to do something for the kids,” Mike Emmons said. “That’s what motivates me to do it. I know he would be very proud.”

Mike and his wife, Katie, have launched the Taylor Em-mons Scholarship Fund to provide schooling opportu-nities at ODA’s Upper School for students who otherwise would not be able to afford it. The cost to attend ODA’s Upper School hovers around $17,000 annually.

“The objective here is for a student who has proven they’re a good student and wants to (come here to be able to),” Mike Emmons said. “This school is about preparing kids to go to college. Taylor loved it here. We think the world of this school.

“Our goal is to have a stu-dent receive a scholarship ev-ery year,” he said. “At any one time, there would be four stu-dents attending (on it).”

The family already has raised $70,000 from donations made in Taylor’s honor follow-

+ Bobcats spottedin Lakewood Ranch

Lakewood Ranch resident Sean Abrams caught these bobcats on camera near the Highfield section of the Country Club of Lakewood Ranch last week.

“I snapped these photos of two bobcats that were either fighting or courting — I couldn’t tell,” Abrams says. “They were ‘talking’ to each other quite a bit which caused a group of nearby deer to stamp and chuff … which caused me to peek outside with my camera.”

Recently, we’ve received quite a few wildlife photos from readers. Let us know if you’d like to see more shots

TAKING SIDES

INCORPORATION DEBATE By Pam Eubanks | News Editor

Photos by Pam EubanksMore than 300 Lakewood Ranch residents crowded into the two-hour, standing-room only event at The Polo Grill’s Fête Ballroom.

Pro- and anti-incorporation groups faced off Monday for the first Lakewood Ranch Incorporation Debate hosted by the East County Observer.

Incorporation proponent Keith Davey, with Tom Thomaides, said incorporating would create a long-term plan for the community.

Bob Hendel of the anti-incorporation group, the Friends of Lakewood Ranch, said incorporation would take away local control.

SEE DEBATE / PAGE 2

SEE OUR TOWN / PAGE 2

Download a complete mp3 file of Monday’s debate on YourObserver.com.

EAST COUNTY OBSERVERTHURSDAY, MAY 12, 20112

41

70

Cortez Road

53rd Street

14th Street West

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*24 Month lease 2,699 due at signing plus tax, tag, title, and dealer fee of $499.95. 10,000 miles per year with approved credit through Ally !nancial. Also includes owner loyalty. ** Includes owner loyalty. Photos for illustration purposes only. The dealership or it’s agency are not responsible for late, lost of misdirected mail, typographical or production errors.

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abandon efforts if incorporation proved infeasible. He also said the study com-mittee’s task of defending incorporation is more difficult than instilling fear of the unknown.

“They don’t have to prove anything,” Thomaides said. “It is inevitable that one day Lakewood Ranch must seize its own destiny and become its own city. We believe the time is now.”

Proponents of incorporation argued an incorporation feasibility study con-ducted by economist Dr. Hank Fish-kind is reliable and has been validated by independent third-party consultant Dr. Tim Chapin of Florida State Univer-sity, while anti-incorporators said Fish-kind’s work, based on other examples, could not be trusted and chastised the pro-incorporation group for referring to Chapin’s own conclusions as if they were approved by FSU.

Thomaides said the Incorporation Study Committee worked to correct misleading statements on all the group’s documents as soon as they were noti-fied of the problem, and the group did not intentionally misuse the college’s name. He also said the problem does not change Chapin’s conclusions, which validated the Fishkind study.

Berns cited a $70,000 feasibility study Fishkind conducted for Casey Key as a prime example of why the Lakewood Ranch feasibility study should not be trusted. The Casey Key study was

deemed useless by state legislators con-sidering the proposal, and it was not ap-proved.

Thomaides, however, argued the two were an “apples to oranges comparison” because Casey Key’s study was intend-ed to discover what would be required to make incorporation feasible — a roughly $2,000 per household increase in taxes, among other components — while the Lakewood Ranch study shows no tax increase would be necessary to become a viable city. He also noted the city of Lakewood Ranch would get only about 10% of its revenues from prop-erty taxes, a stark contrast to cities such as Marco Island, which gets 75% of its revenue from property taxes and now is having financial problems.

Friends of Lakewood Ranch debaters also argued the incorporation of Lake-wood Ranch would lead to a loss of local control, as the five supervisors elected for each community development dis-trict would no longer be required. In-stead, five at-large councilmen would

represent the entire Lakewood Ranch property, with thousands of more resi-dents in the future. The boundaries of those councilmen would be vastly dif-ferent than what CDD supervisors over-see today, and councilmen would not be immediate neighbors making deci-sions on behalf of their neighborhoods.

“We are going to become minority voters,” Hendel said. “We are not today. We don’t want to lose that which we have today.”

Davey and Thomaides, however, argued becoming a city would give residents more local control, allowing councilmen to create a citywide ap-proach to problem solving for issues such as irrigation problems, rather than the piece-meal solutions offered by CDDs today. Advisory boards would give council members directions as to what projects are most important to residents. They also said the city would be able to implement long-term plan-ning for the city, among other benefits.

“We tried to make our point that in-corporation will provide much more lo-cal control than we have today,” Davey said after the debate. “We tried to an-swer the questions honestly and pro-vide factual data.”

Hendel said: “I’m very pleased with our presentation. We hope we were able to provide information to the residents that will (help) them make an informed decision.”

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].

LEARN MOREFor information about the Lakewood Ranch Incorporation Study Committee and its documents, visit www.lwrincorporation.com.

For information about the Friends of Lakewood Ranch and its documents, visit www.friendsoflwr.com.

DEBATE/PAGE 1 OUR TOWN>> CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

like these — or maybe even a new wildlife feature. Email Executive Editor Michael Eng, [email protected].

+ Host homes needed for exchange program

Education First is bringing 34 Spanish and 34 Chinese students to the area this summer, and the organization is in need of host families.

Program Leader Sherree Bowman said students will be coming in July to improve their English skills, and the organization needs families to host students for two to three weeks. Families will provide a bed, three meals a day and transportation to school or field trips. St. Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church will host the students’ classroom time, family orientation meetings and the Chinese graduation.

Deadline is June 1. For information, con-tact Sherree Bowman at 545-7300.

+ Lakewood Ranch grad claims DeSoto Queen crown

Ellie Ohlman was named the 2011 DeSoto Queen at the Desoto Historical Society Ball April 29.

Ohlman is a 2010 graduate of Lakewood Ranch High School.

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L A K E W O O D RANCH — For some, the question is “Why now?”

But for others, it’s “Why not?”

For supporters of the incorporation of Lakewood Ranch, each day that passes is a day of lost state shared revenues that could be used to bet-ter Lakewood Ranch and its residents, spe-cifically.

For those who op-pose the idea, the floundering economy holds only the prom-ise of trouble for a start-up city.

Neither side is budging, and both are hopeful residents will be fully educated and have weighed all the evidence before taking a side on the issue.

NO REASON TO WAITThe pro-incorporation group

argues now, indeed, is the time to move forward with becoming a city and that there is no good reason to wait. The group touts a feasibility study conducted by economist Hank Fishkind as conclusive evidence that incor-

poration, even in the current economy, is economically fea-sible without raising taxes on residents.

And once incor-porated, some mon-ies currently going to Manatee County, specifically those from the Municipal Services Taxing Unit revenues (about $1.5 million), as well as $2.2 million in state-shared revenue, would go directly to the city of Lakewood Ranch, giving the entity more control

over when it fixes its roads as well as other issues.

“It really comes down to why not (incorporate) now,” Incor-poration Study Group Chairman Tom Thomaides said. “There is no good reason to wait.”

State-shared revenues for road projects currently go to counties and municipalities. And although CDD supervisors and their staff have pushed for months, at times, to get even potholes repaired, the city of Lakewood Ranch would be able to set its own priorities

and schedule for road improve-ments and repairs.

“The county would do county roads: Lorraine, University Parkway and Lakewood Ranch Boulevard,” fellow Study Group member Keith Davey said. “Public roads within neighborhoods could be done by the city, and you’d have $960,000 a year from the state-shared reve-nue. … We could pave all the roads in Summerfield in the first year.”

Furthermore, supporters of in-corporation also believe that the city of Lakewood Ranch would be in a much stronger financial position than many other cities because of the future city’s pro-posed financial structure, which bases only 10% of the future city’s revenues on property val-ues. The rest, under the feasibil-ity study, are based on per capita numbers from comparable cit-ies and on fixed assessments by lot (Community Development District assessments).

And those numbers bode well for Lakewood Ranch, especially when looking at county and city municipalities that obtain sig-nificant portions of their rev-enues from property values. In Manatee County, for example, $154 million or 34% of its $454 million recommended budget

comes from property values, which have dropped from $34.4 billion at their peak in 2007 to an estimated $23.6 billion now. Its other revenue sources generally include licenses and permits, in-tergovernmental monies, charg-es for services and other taxes.

In the city of Palmetto, which has a population of about 14,000 — about the same as existing Lakewood Ranch — 36% of reve-nues come from property taxes, according to Palmetto’s budget documents.

“The economic problems don’t have any affect on incor-poration,” Davey said. “The fea-sibility study already takes (that) into account.”

Thomaides agreed.“We ran 0% growth over 10

years, and it still showed a very, very favorable financial picture,” he said. “Instead of $37 million (in reserves) over 10 years, it drops to about $30 million.”

A BAD TIMEAnti-incorporators don’t be-

lieve the Fishkind study is cred-ible, nor do they believe the tim-ing is right for becoming a city, especially with many people still unemployed and so many fore-closed homes on the market.

INCORPORATION: WHY NOW?Discussions of whether Lakewood Ranch should become a city began more than five years ago. The group leading the charge has been researching the issue for the last three years and believes now is the best time to proceed. But, given the current economic situation not everyone is convinced.

timing By Pam Eubanks | News Editor

TALK OF A TOWNEDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first in a summer-long series regarding Lakewood Ranch incorporation.

CDD RESERVESNumbers indicate un-audited reserve figures as of May 31, 2011.District 1: $169,516 in operating reserves; $230,000 in reserves for infrastructure improvements (primarily irrigation)District 2: $425,074 in operating reserves; $573,915 in road reservesDistrict 4: $66,369 in oper-ating reservesDistrict 5: $60,804 in oper-ating reserves; $115,232 in road reserves. (The district has spent $654,000 in oper-ating reserves in the last two years because of litigation and stormwater drain repairs.)

SALES RECORDDespite the economy,

Lakewood Ranch’s real estate market has exceeded projections in the feasibil-ity study. In 2010, nearly 250 new homes sold, and Schroeder-Manatee Ranch anticipates hitting or beat-ing initial projections of 350 new home sales for 2011. From January to May 2011, 173 homes had sold — up 240% com-pared to the previous year.

The study projected 174 new single-family homes in 2011 and another 322 singe-family homes and 610 multi-family homes for 2012.

9 EAST COUNTY OBSERVERTHURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2011

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6810 Riverview Blvd Bradenton$1,700,000 #M5813583 941-748-6300Ann Debellevue 941-720-7614

10700 Leafwing Dr Sarasota$1,325,000 #M5817642 941-907-9595Mary Hellhake 941-544-0763

5611 Inspiration Ter Bradenton$900,000 #M5822223 941-748-6300Kym Paxton 941-932-5511

6706 197Th E St East County$719,000 #A3932332 941-907-9595Howie Drourr 941-812-6476

3384 Bayou Ln Longboat Key$699,000 #A3945020 941-383-7591Maureen Horn 941-539-3384

2958 Desoto Rd Sarasota$399,900 #C7001807 941-748-6300Laura Tracy Clekis 941-915-4167

661 Venice Ln Siesta Key$389,000 #A3939300 941-349-3444Judy Arreola & Kristina Talkie 941-266-8658

306 Snapdragon Loop Bradenton$329,000 #M5822193 941-907-9595Jan Timney 941-773-8442

7065 Del Lago Dr Sarasota$320,000 #A3944664 941-383-7591Terri Derr 941-356-6694

6502 Butlers Crest Dr Tara Golf & CC$289,000 #M5820788 941-748-6300Elizabeth Gardini 941-356-0096

10514 Old Grove Cir Bradenton$255,000 #A3945021 941-907-9595Jeffrey Porterfield 941-228-1047

323 Golden Harbour Trl Bradenton$239,800 #A3944952 941-907-9595Sandra Maslen 941-726-0035

9036 Willowbrook Cir Bradenton$209,900 #A3945105 941-907-9595Heidi Cox 941-685-1529

4781 Independence Dr # 4781 Bradenton$189,500 #M5817080 941-748-6300Judy LaValliere 941-504-3792

4907 32Nd Avenue W Dr Bradenton$180,000 #M5814622 941-748-6300Collette Quinehan 941-685-2411

4722 105Th E Ave Parrish$164,900 #A3940997 941-907-9595Kathy Lewis 941-228-1213

2350 126Th E Dr Parrish$159,000 #A3944811 941-907-9595 Diane Fogo Harter 941-445-2431

6976 W Country Club N Dr # 6976 Sarasota$149,900 #A3940874 941-349-3444Marlene & George Marshall 941-539-8850

6901 8Th W Ave # 5924 Bradenton$139,900 #M5815722 941-748-6300Kathy Valente 941-685-6767

3803 45Th W Ter # 105 Bradenton$129,500 #A3935508 941-752-2683Adam Cuffaro 941-812-0791

3219 Bayshore Gardens Pkwy Bradenton$114,900 #M5822182 941-748-6300Cheryl Roberts 941-266-1450

11809 Shrewsbury Ln Parrish$110,500 #A3937870 941-907-9595Sabrina Sullivan 941-302-0337

6348 7Th W Ave # 6348 Bradenton$72,500 #M5820468 941-748-6300Debbie Capobianco 941-704-2394

Bradenton 941.748.6300 5108

1

“This plan is being put for-ward at a bad time,” Friends spokesperson Gary Berns said. “(Pro-incorporators) admit cit-ies across the nation are having a hard time.”

Furthermore, Berns said the figures included in the feasibility study are too optimistic — and don’t take into consideration cuts at state level.

“There’s no guarantee,” Berns said. “He who gives can take it away. To build your whole (fi-nancial) structure (on that) makes no sense to us.”

The Florida Revenue Shar-ing Act of 1972, which funds the state-shared revenue dollars, was created by the Florida Leg-islature under Chapter 72-360 as a way to ensure a minimum level of revenue equality across units of local government and has funded county and city govern-ments for nearly 40 years.

On the point of $37 million, Bonita Springs, population 23,000, netted $41.6 million in

revenue in its first five years of incorporation (1999 through 2004), and Wellington, original population of 25,000, netted $31.2 million in its first years from 1996 to 2000.

RESERVESThe pro-incorporation group

also asserts that Lakewood Ranch CDDs do not have suf-ficient reserves in place com-pared to “typical” governments. Davey said many governments have reserves of at least 5% of their total revenues.

The city of Palmetto, accord-ing to its Fiscal Year 2010-2011 budget documents, is put-ting 10% to 25% in reserves — enough to fund expenses for three to six months.

At the end of Fiscal Year 2010, the city had a roughly $17 mil-lion fund balance, with $11.4 million of that unreserved.

“We have much less than that,” Davey said. “The CDDs collectively should have almost $3.6 million in

reserves. They (had) $1.3 million (in Fiscal Year 2010).”

The $200,000 line of credit sev-eral CDDs have agreed to secure — which has since been nego-tiated to $300,000 — “won’t go very far” if a true disaster strikes, pro-incorporators said.

“The purpose of the reserve is (to pay) for unanticipated expenses,” Davey said. “For ex-ample, if we have a hurricane, there’s no money anywhere to pay for cleanup. Your insurance will pay for damage (to build-ings), but (not) if it blows down a bunch of trees.”

However, Lakewood Ranch Town Hall Interim Executive Di-rector Steve Zielinski questioned the notion that the Ranch’s CDDs have insufficient reserves. A former chief financial officer for a county in New Jersey, Zie-linski said governments gener-ally reserve 10% to 15% of their operating budget, but the num-bers do fluctuate according to the entity.

Lakewood Ranch CDDs 1, 2, 4 and 5 had a combined $721,763 in their operating reserves as of May 31. Although Districts 1 and 2 have monies set aside both for infrastructure and for a “rainy day,” District 5 has nearly drained its reserves — $654,000 — over the last two years be-cause of problems with storm-water drains in the community. CDD 4, however, traditionally has not put much money aside for reserves until recently.

“Would we like to see more (reserves)? No doubt about it,” Zielinski said. “But you start crossing the line. Once you start building tremendous reserves, you might feel you are assessing the homeowners more than you should be.

“You have to look at the indi-vidual entities and assess what

their overall needs are on an ongoing basis and determine if that level is going to be suffi-cient,” he said.

In CDD 2, for example, super-visors had reserves of 22% and have opted to give some monies back to residents in Fiscal Year 2012, resulting in 5.4% decrease in the overall budget.

Additionally, Zielinski said he expects districts to have items come in under budget, and the boards could opt to put those unused monies into their re-serves at the end of the fiscal year, if they so choose.

Berns, a supervisor in District 1, said he’s “comfortable” with the level of reserves in his dis-trict — about $400,000 in total, currently.

Davey and Thomaides, how-ever, say the overall reserve numbers for districts are still too low, especially if the CDDs have to undertake serious improve-ment projects, such as an over-haul of the districts’ irrigation system.

The city would have the ability to borrow money at a lower rate and even could loan money to the CDDS, if necessary.

If a hurricane strikes, for exam-ple, CDDs can only raise assess-ments to pay back their line of credit or pay for damages, if they do not have sufficient reserves. The city, however, through fi-nancing mechanisms, could spread the costs of those repairs to homeowners over a longer pe-riod, so residents would not feel the financial impact at once.


UPCOMING: See next week’s issue to learn more about how incorporation directly could affect residents of Lakewood Ranch.

Photos by Pam EubanksKeith Davey, of the Incorporation Study Group, said Lakewood Ranch is missing out on several opportunities by not incorporating.

Summerfield resident Gary Berns, spokesman for the Friends of Lakewood Ranch, said now is not the time to incorporate.

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LAKEWOOD RANCH — Although all of the impacts of incorporation on Lake-wood Ranch residents still are unclear, supporters of the idea say it certainly will improve services and give residents more control over their futures. By bringing planning and zoning decisions into a new Lakewood Ranch City Coun-cil, the Incorporation Study Committee believes residents ultimately will have more access to the politicians making decisions for their community.

The Friends of Lakewood Ranch, the

group opposing the idea, fears the oppo-site. By adding a council and dissolving existing Community Development Dis-tricts, the group believes residents actu-ally will have less control, because each of Lakewood’s five districts would have fewer representatives and all officials would be up to a citywide vote (rather than by district).

This week, we examine the major changes that would occur according to the proposed Lakewood Ranch city charter.

changes By Pam Eubanks | News EditorDISTRICT BOUNDARIES

Under the charter, the city would be divided into five districts that are different from the existing CDDs.

DISTRICT 1 — Includes the portion of CDD 1 north of the Braden River (Summerfield) and all property north of State Road 70, west of Lakewood Ranch Boulevard, east of the Lakewood Ranch boundary line and south of State Road 64.

DISTRICT 2 — Includes all of CDD 2 in Manatee County and all property east of Lakewood Ranch Boulevard in Sarasota County.

DISTRICT 3 — Includes all of CDD 6 and all of CDD 1 south of the Braden River (Riverwalk) and, in addition, all property west of Lakewood Ranch Boulevard and south of CDD 1 and east of the west Lakewood Ranch boundary line and north of the south Manatee County line, in Manatee County. It also includes all property west of Lakewood Ranch Boulevard in Sarasota County.

DISTRICT 4 — Includes all of CDD 4 (Greenbrook) west of Lorraine Road and all property north of S.R. 70 between Lorraine Road on the east and Lakewood Ranch Boulevard on the west, except for Lorraine Corners Retail Center and the Chevron Center at the northwest corner of Lorraine Road and S.R. 70, and S.R. 64 on the north.

DISTRICT 5 — Includes all of CDD 5, a portion of CDD 4 (Greenbrook) east of Lorraine and the property north of the south line of Manatee, east of Lorraine Road, south of S.R. 70 and west of the eastern Lakewood Ranch boundary and all property north of S.R. 70 between Lorraine Road and the eastern boundary of Lakewood Ranch on the east except Lorraine Corners Retail Center and the Chevron Center at the northwest corner of Lorraine Road and S.R. 70 shall be included and S.R. 64 on the north.

LIFE AFTER INCORPORATIONBy far, the largest change under Lakewood Ranch incorporation would be a completely new governing body for the community. But, how would this affect residents in their day-to-day lives?

Currently, the five Community Development Districts are gov-erned by five supervisors who all live within the districts they rep-resent. Only residents of a district can vote for supervisors within that district. The Inter-District Authority Board, comprising one representa-tive from each CDD, makes deci-sions that affect all five districts on their behalf.

As proposed, the city of Lakewood Ranch would have a council-manager form of govern-ment. There would be five city council members, and each coun-cil member would live within the district he or she is representing, but all council members would be elected by a citywide vote.

Of the five representatives, one

council member would serve as mayor and a second as deputy mayor. Council members, not the public, would select from within their group which representative would serve as mayor and deputy mayor on a biennial basis.

Supporters say having a city and city council would allow Lakewood Ranch residents alone to make decisions affecting the community, because it would give Ranch residents alone a voice in planning and other issues. The move also would simplify the community’s government struc-ture by replacing supervisors from existing CDDs — 25 in total — and the Inter-District Authority Board, which governs shared issues for Districts 1, 2, 4 and 5,

with five citywide elected officials.“We also would have a seat at

the table for economic develop-ment,” Incorporation Study Group Chairman Tom Thomaides said.

But members of the Friends of Lakewood Ranch disagree. The new boundaries, they said, take away the voice of current esidents by making them the minority group of homeowners within each future district. They also say having all five CDD supervisors living in a resident’s own CDD offers resi-dents more local control.

Additionally, Friends members said city council members would be able to take campaign contri-butions from developers — a fact that may influence future deci-sions of the board. Developer con-tributions are not an issue for CDD supervisors, currently, they said.

VOTINGThe Incorporation Study Group

anticipates conducting a straw poll of voters about incorporation sometime in August. If Lakewood Ranch residents indicate they are favorable toward incorporation, the committee will submit appro-priate documentation to the state Legislature for consideration. If approved, the issue of incor-poration will come back before Lakewood Ranch’s registered voters for a referendum, likely in June 2012. If approved by vot-ers, Lakewood Ranch’s effective date of incorporation likely would occur in the summer of 2012.

City council members would be elected after the referendum but before the city incorporates.

TALK OF A TOWNEDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second in a summer-long series regarding Lakewood Ranch incorporation.

GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE TAXES The study group said incorpo-

ration of Lakewood Ranch is fea-sible without a tax increase. Indi-vidual CDDs or Manatee County could increase assessments that would impact residents within Lakewood Ranch, but becom-ing a city itself would not change the amount residents are taxed in most cases. Only residents in Sarasota may see an increase to accommodate a charge from the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office for services, but pro-incorpora-tors said those increases likely could be offset with other sav-ings.

“The only thing that would change is, for the people in the CDDs today, the line item for the unincorporated MSTU (tax),” Thomaides said.

9 EAST COUNTY OBSERVERTHURSDAY, JULY 7, 2011

6606 Riverview Blvd Bradenton$4,295,000 #M5814148 941-748-6300Kathy Valente 941-685-6767

6211 Legends Blvd Bradenton$962,500 #M5820298 941-748-6300Kym Paxton 941-932-5511

3012 Bay Dr Bradenton$895,000 #M5818256 941-748-6300Cheryl Roberts 941-266-1450

703 Tropical Cir Siesta Key$895,000 #A3945108 941-383-7591Ian Addy Pa 941-961-8850

8203 Regents Ct University Park$865,000 #A3937421 941-907-9595Edward Haggerty 941-685-6154

4007 5Th Ne Ave Bradenton$542,000 #M5802917 941-907-9595Joe Foster 941-812-7634

5211 21St W Ave Bradenton$525,000 #M5816252 941-748-6300Debbie Capobianco 941-704-2394

7710 Us Open Loop Lakewood Ranch$425,000 #M5822319 941-907-9595Deborah Angelo O'Mara 941-730-0777

5830 Midnight Pass Rd # 86 Siesta Key$394,900 #A3945279 941-349-3444Christine Del Monte 941-266-6733

2265 Lena Ln Sarasota$389,900 #A3945214 941-907-9595Caroline Mazelin 941-302-7883

3723 59Th Avenue E Cir Ellenton$389,000 #M5820816 941-748-6300Evelyn Gross 941-773-3923

5861 Ferrara Dr Sarasota$360,000 #A3937440 941-349-3444Tara Lamb & Judy Greene 941-266-4873

6603 63Rd E Ter Braden River$339,000 #M5820561 941-907-9595Antaeus Balevre 941-400-1055

723 Foggy Morn Ln Bradenton$339,000 #A3945462 941-907-9595Howie Drourr 941-812-6476

4819 61St Avenue W Dr # 10A Bradenton$275,000 #A3944777 941-752-2683Adam Cuffaro 941-812-0791

4581 Del Sol Blvd S Sarasota$239,000 #A3945121 941-383-7591Audrey Singer 941-350-2588

5310 19Th W Ave Bradenton$219,000 #M5820842 941-748-6300Jo Anne Lanza 941-518-6507

311 11Th E Ave Palmetto$199,900 #A3945067 941-907-9595 Diane Fogo Harter 941-445-2431

5015 58Th E Ter Braden River$164,800 #A3945258 941-907-9595Stacy Haas 941-587-4359

5717 Garden Lakes Palm Braden River$150,000 #M5817113 941-907-9595Judy Browning 941-730-3183

5892 Whistlewood Way Sarasota$145,000 #M5822430 941-748-6300Laura Tracy Clekis 941-915-4167

2607 Waterford Way # B Palmetto$139,900 #M5820902 941-748-6300Dana Preston 941-705-5510

7623 Plantation Cir # 7623 University Park$109,900 #A3945220 941-907-9595Catherine Lamphier 941-400-4219

2501 3Rd E St Bradenton$43,000 #M5816385 941-748-6300Ann Debellevue 941-720-7614

Bradenton 941.748.6300

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FUNDING MECHANISMSAs per the feasibility study, the following are the sources of rev-enue and potential revenue sources for Lakewood Ranch, if it incorporates:

• Ad valorem taxes• Building permits • CDD Assessments• Charges for services • Communication Services Tax • Fines and forfeitures• Impact fees

• Local Government Half Cent Sales Tax • Local Option Fuel Taxes• Local Option Sales Tax • Municipal Revenue Sharing Program

REVENUES/EXPENSESAs per the feasibility study conducted by Fishkind, revenue and expenditure forecasts for the city of Lakewood Ranch in 2012, for example, would be as follows:

Revenues• Ad Valorem Taxes (MSTU) — $1.64 million• Local Option Fuel Taxes — $988,800• Communication Services Tax — $284,098• Building permits — $303,362• CDD assessments — $10.84 million• Municipal Revenue Sharing — $405,820• Sales Tax – Half Cent — $921,850• Charges for services — $398,163• Fines and forfeitures — $204,037Total revenues — $15.98 million

Expenditures• City council — $227,522• City manager (includes all costs of city manager and administration) — $1.04 mil-lion• Financial and administrative — $910,086• City attorney — $189,601• Planning and zoning — $284,402• Management information sys-tems — $417,123• Law enforcement — $548,352• Transportation — $988,800• Landscaping — $2.57 mil-lion• Debt service — $1.92 million• Environmental — $477,242• Operations — $1.57 million• Utilities — $1.21 million• Security — $602,778• Projects — $684,857• Reserves — $799,152Total expenditures — $14.45 million

Under incorporation, at first, Lakewood Ranch’s existing CDDs would continue to exist. The char-ter states as per Florida statute, the city would, “as soon as practi-cal and upon a finding of sufficient evidence, adopt a non-emergency ordinance providing for a plan of transfer of a specific community development service to the city for each of the Lakewood Ranch Com-munity Development Districts.”

“This whole transition is grad-ual,” study group member Keith Davey said. “On day one, the CDDs are still there. The CDDs are still go-ing to be responsible for their own infrastructure. At least initially, that would not change.”

The CDDs then would become dependent special districts under the city, each with the same bound-

ary as the five CDD districts, and a sub-account would be established for each sub-district. All funds re-ceived from non-ad valorem assess-ments for the dependent special district would be assigned to the appropriate sub-district and sub-account and would be expended only for benefits “within or for the benefit of the specific sub-district,” the proposed charter states.

The city charter calls for the cre-ation of a Special District Advisory Committee to advise council mem-bers on matters pertaining to each district.

The charter states the advisory committee will comprise one ap-pointee from each sub-district “chosen by all homeowners as-sociation or associations and the condominium association, if any, within the sub-district.

But Friends say the notion is mis-leading.

“This committee was put in there to look good, but it means nothing,” Gary Berns said. “It’s not the same (as what we have today).”

Under the current structure, CDD supervisors solicit suggestions from homeowners associations within their district regarding landscaping and other issues for which the CDD budgets and makes decisions.

Under the advisory committee structure, only one representative of the Summerfield/Riverwalk Vil-lage Association would sit on the committee and advise the council on issues pertaining to his or her district.

“The ability to make (decisions) under the charter rests solely (with the city council),” Berns said. “The new committee can give advice about it but can’t make the decision. Even there, the advice is diluted.”

Incorporation has no effect on in-corporation for the existing HOAs.

Friends members Bob Hendel and Gary Berns be-lieve the incorporation will lead to a reduction in the quality of service residents now have. With only a few direct city employees, resi-dents may have a harder time having their issues re-solved, they said.

“When there are com-plaints, how do you get to the right person?” Hendel said.

Pro-incorporators, how-ever, believe operating un-der a city structure will im-prove services to residents with the potential to reduce costs through economies of scale. Using contracts for services, the city will better be able to manage the ef-fectiveness of its contrac-

tors and improve the overall service residents now have, they said.

“The intent is to provide better services to people at the same or less cost,” Dav-ey said.

Davey said services would not be affected, be-cause most services already are provided through con-tracts. Town Hall’s opera-tions department and front desk services could remain as they are.

Davey said his group has developed a scope for a fu-ture transition plan based on other cities, but it does not plan to fine-tune a tran-sition plan unless incorpo-ration is given a favorable vote in an upcoming straw poll.

CDDS AND HOAS

FIRE/EMS/POLICEIncorporation, as proposed, would have

no effect on the amount of police, fire and other emergency services in Lakewood.

Policing services would continue to be provided by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, with which the city would maintain a contract. A similar structure would exist for fire and EMS services. Those contracts would provide the same service that cur-rently exists, although Lakewood Ranch residents would have the option to add to those services for an additional cost Adding additional patrols could eliminate the need for the roving security patrols in CDDs 1 and 4, for example — if residents desire increased levels of service. Pro-incorporators believe the costs could be offset with revenues the city receives and by eliminating CDD-contracted security services. Friends members say more ser-vices would translate to higher costs.

The proposed city charter prohibits the creation of Lakewood Ranch’s own police department without a public referendum.

RESPONSIVENESS

THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2011



INDEXBriefs .....................4Classifieds ..........26

Cops Corner .........13Crossword ............25

Opinion ..................6Neighborhood ......13

Sports ..................21Weather ...............25


Ranch gymnast wins fifth straight national title.PAGE 21.

SPORTSSPOTLIGHTChild actors bring Disney magic to Lakewood Ranch.PAGE 14-15.

NEWSRanch resident recalls work on space shuttle.PAGE 5.

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+ Bobcat surprisesLakewood golfer

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Tale Cities

ofThreeLakewood Ranch stands in a long line

of Florida cities that have incorporated in recent years, cities whose experience can teach Ranch residents whether becoming a city may be the right choice.

It’s simply less costly to learn from others.

So the East County Observer tells the tales of three communities in Florida that incorporated in the mid-to-late 1990s and now have a track record.

Those communities are:• Weston, in Broward County, which

won uncontested incorporation with 90% of voters in favor and has contracted out everything conceivable for a city;

• Wellington, in West Palm Beach County, which went through a conten-tious and close battle for incorporation and has contracted out very little;

• Bonita Springs, in Lee County, which falls between the two on both counts, but has been able to redevelop its one historic area and kept the tax rate surprisingly low.

AThe Observer examines the incorporations of Weston, Wellington and Bonita Springs and how they compare to Lakewood Ranch.

TALK OF A TOWN By Rod Thomson | Editorial Pages Editor

WESTON: PAGE 2 • WELLINGTON: PAGE 3BONITA SPRINGS: PAGE 3


10708 Riverbank Ter Bradenton$2,365,000 #A3933376 941-907-9595Stacy Haas 941-587-4359

3461 Bayou Sound Longboat Key$1,999,000 #A3939678 941-907-9595Jeffrey Porterfield 941-228-1047

1900 Gulf N Dr # 7 Holmes Beach/Bradenton Beach$1,200,000 #M5812546 941-748-6300Peggy Horlander 941-932-7199

6326 Midnight Pass Rd # 107 Siesta Key$899,900 #M5820626 941-748-6300Laura Tracy Clekis 941-915-4167

1425 Gulf Of Mexico Dr # 105 Longboat Key$679,000 #A3945723 941-383-7591Susan Fox 941-544-6648

5421 46Th W Ct # 104 Bradenton$595,000 #A3945621 941-752-2683Adam Cuffaro 941-812-0791

7617 Portstewart Dr Lakewood Ranch$589,000 #M5820193 941-907-9595Deborah Angelo O'Mara 941-730-0777

3503 10Th W St Palmetto$559,000 #M5821149 941-748-6300Dana Preston 941-705-5510

1891 Buccaneer Cir Sarasota$550,000 #A3945600 941-383-7591Marcia Salkin & Paulene Soublis 941-376-6121

12723 Penguin Dr Bradenton$449,000 #M5822553 941-907-9595Stephen Strong 941-201-9662

3772 Aster Dr Sarasota$325,000 #A3944270 941-349-3444Alix Wexler PA 941-350-2742

4317 Oak View Dr Sarasota$314,000 #A3945349 941-907-9595Valerie Telfair 941-315-5488

6240 Champions Row St Bradenton$300,000 #M5820283 941-748-6300Kym Paxton 941-932-5511

5987 Benevento Dr Sarasota$299,900 #A3945246 941-349-3444Susanne Cosgrove-Lee 941-400-9068


140 Riviera Dunes Way # 306 Palmetto$229,900 #M5821819 941-907-9595Joe Foster 941-812-7634

4307 Gulf Dr # 103 Holmes Beach/Bradenton Beach$199,000 #M5818802 941-748-6300Cheryl Roberts 941-266-1450

7187 Boca Grove Pl # 204 Lakewood Ranch$189,000 #A3933357 941-907-9595Sherwin Taradash, PA 941-448-3301

728 Estuary Dr # 728 Bradenton$172,900 #M5820630 941-748-6300Jo Anne Lanza 941-518-6507

8733 Spruce Hills Ct # 8733 Lakewood Ranch$155,000 #A3945633 941-907-9595Sabrina Fusco-Sullivan 941-302-0337

3218 Cambridge W Dr Bradenton$139,900 #M5821346 941-748-6300Neddy Harkins 941-730-4941

4508 Park Lake N Ter # 9 Bradenton$129,900 #M5818316 941-748-6300Kathy Valente 941-685-6767

6101 34Th W St # 32G Bradenton$125,000 #A3939000 941-907-9595Phyllis Woodroof 941-350-0951

3304 Cambridge W Dr Bradenton$123,900 #M5817616 941-748-6300Debbie Capobianco 941-704-2394

Bradenton 941.748.6300 5108

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Of all the chamber of com-merce-type promotions for Weston, there is one thing that screams its success as a young city.

It is not the 14 city parks in which leaders take great pride. It’s not the rather lavish new city hall building. It’s not the full range of police, fire and rescue, building and zoning and community ser-vices in place. It’s not even the full control of its growth future and self-determination, which is indeed one of the major ben-efits proponents of incorporation sought.

Rather, it’s this rather eye-pop-ping stat for a city of 64,000 resi-dents. Total number of city em-ployees: nine.

Weston is as fully contracted out a city as is possible. All nine employees are directors of a de-partment of the city but largely act as contract control agents with the 30 major private con-tractors handling the work of the city.

“We kept our promise; it works,” said City Manager John Flint, a longtime resident who was a CDD supervisor before the city incorporated.

Like Bonita Springs and Wel-lington, Weston has outsourced its police department to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office and also kept the fire and rescue operations through the county. But Weston went even further, contracting out for everything from planning and zoning down to the receptionist at the desk entering City Hall.

“We have the lowest tax rate in Broward County,” Flint said.

But there is more to it. A recent study for Bro-ward County found that when all taxes, fees and other gov-ernmental assess-ments on citizens are combined, Weston be-comes the cheapest place in the county to live — at least as far as government expenses go.

And unlike some other cities,

particularly Wellington, Weston breezed to city-hood with little opposition and an ultimate vote of 90% in favor. Getting nine out of 10 people to agree on anything is a rarity, but the city did it in a post-Labor Day election that drew a surprisingly high 40% vot-er turnout.

Nearly obstacle freeWeston was an Arvida Corp.

master-planned com-munity known as Indian Trace and origi-

nally approved for 25,000 dwell-ing units, later reduced to 17,000. The developer created the In-dian Trace Community Develop-ment District to govern the com-munity. The structure is similar to Lakewood Ranch’s own CDDs.

The first homes were built in 1984, and by 1991, there were more than 5,000 residents in In-dian Trace and residents became the majority on the Board of Su-pervisors of the CDD. In 1994, an incorporation feasibility study

was conducted, con-cluding that if the community incor-

porated, it w o u l d

gain control of its own growth management and would keep more if its property tax dollars in Indian Trace.

“Prior to incorporating, we were under the governance of the Broward County Board of County Commissioners sitting in down-town Fort Lauderdale 20 miles away,” Flint said.

That rankled residents, who did not feel the county commission-ers, often consumed with other issues, paid much attention to the city’s growth needs. Indeed, the community had no represen-tative on the county commission.

Plus, like so many upscale, un-incorporated areas, Indian Trace was a net donor of tax dollars, meaning that more taxes were sent to the county coffers than the community received back in services.

Flint sums up the driving fac-tors for incorporation in two

words: “Zoning and cash.”There were not many obsta-

cles. Arvida Corp. was worried it might lose its entitlements to de-velop its properties the way the county had approved. So propo-nents included in the charter that the developer would retain all of its vested development rights,

WESTON: CITY GOVERNMENT LITEWeston has put the concept of contracting out for government services on steroids — and wouldn’t have it any other way.

Weston contracts out every service in the city, including police, to the Broward County

Sheriff’s Office, to keep overhead low. The city of 64,000 residents employs nine people but has services including motorcycle patrol dedicated to Weston. SEE WESTON / PAGE 8


Wellington is renowned as the “Winter Equestrian Capital of the World,” but the West Palm Beach County city is more than that as an example for Lakewood Ranch residents to consider.

Wellington presents a com-pletely different incorporation model as compared to the city of Weston, with Bonita Springs fall-ing somewhere between the two. But it also offers some close com-parisons to Lakewood Ranch in its quest to become a city.

Wellington’s municipal setup is more of a traditional city. The city, incorporated in 1996 (the year after Weston), contracts out only for police through the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and firefighting through the county. Wellington has 265 employees and a $74.5 million budget — although that is down from the peak a few years ago.

City Manager Paul Schofield said Wellington took a long look in 2001 at the Weston model of contracting out everything and having only nine city employees. But in the end, the city “discard-ed” that operational method for one reason.

“It was responsiveness for us,” Schofield said. “Customer service was more important.”

Wellington leaders believed the city could provide better cus-tomer service on everything from utilities to planning approvals to code enforcement by having it done by city employees, rather than contracted out to private companies.

It is a somewhat counterintui-tive line of thinking for those who believe the private sector gener-ally does things better than the government, as Weston city lead-ers believe they have shown.

Strawberries and horsesWellington’s well-known

equestrian industry is actually pre-dated by the land known as the largest strawberry farm in Florida at the time.

The Acme Drainage District had been created by the Florida Legislature in the early 1950s to drain the land and protect it from flooding for agriculture. More than 2,000 acres turned it into the largest strawberry patch in the world at the time and set the stage for the later horse events.

The district was uniquely quasi-governmental, with municipal powers except law enforcement, including zoning and code en-forcement.

The developers, who eventu-ally went through two bankrupt-cies and multiple sales to other companies, won approval in 1973 for the first Planned Unit Devel-opment in Palm Beach County.

A joint venture between the In-vestment Corporation of Florida and Alcoa Aluminum was formed to begin building houses after the PUD was approved. ICOF later bought out Alcoa and then sold its properties to Gould Florida, a division of Gould Electronics, which built the Palm Beach Polo and Country Club, thus establish-ing the equestrian culture that has come to identify Wellington.

The area grew rapidly. What had been 100 boondocks resi-dents in the 1960s grew to about 20,000 by 1995, when members of the community began the move for incorporation. It was an afflu-ent community with high prop-erty values.

“(Backers) felt they weren’t getting good services from Palm

Beach County, that they were an afterthought,” Schofield said. “It was true.”

So it came down to the same reason as for so many others.

“The most important issue was home rule: You control your des-tiny with incorporation,” said Dr. Carmine Priore, a longtime Wel-lington resident, proponent of incorporation and a city commis-sioner during most of the city’s life.

Intense battleFrancine Ramaglia is a native of

Wellington, growing up in one of the first houses built in 1976. She moved away for jobs in govern-ment but returned home when the city was birthed.

“I came back to do incorpora-tion. I came back to make his-tory,” said Ramaglia, now the as-

Bonita Springs may be the post-er child for incorporation.

Because of many wealthy, gat-ed communities, the area was a tax donor to Lee County coffers because it sent far more than it received in services. But it also had some older, blighted areas far from the Fort Myers political cen-ter of the county.

Eleven years into life as a city, the community has a dedicated police force of 16 officers on con-tract from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, new parks and cleaned-up blighted areas, a downtown band shell and park that can hold 10,000 people, beefed up code enforcement, multiple environ-mental lands purchases and one salient fact for everyone involved: Taxes are lower living within the city than in the unincorporated county.

In essence, the city is far ahead of where it would have been, while saving money for residents.

For a resident of Bonita Springs, the tax rate on top of the basic county rate is .826 mills. (One mill is $1 per $1,000 of assessed property value.) Residents in unincorporated Lee County, pay a rate on top of the basic county rate called the un-

incorporated MSTU of one mill.That’s because the promise of

keeping Bonita Springs’ high-property-value gated commu-nity taxes within the city has been kept.

“It’s counterintuitive, but it’s ac-tually cheaper to live in the city,” said Mayor Ben Nelson, who has been on the Bonita Springs City Council since its inception in 1999.

Second time aroundIn a quirk of history, Bonita

Springs’ 1999 incorporation was actually its second time around as a city. It was a municipality from 1925-1932, but dissolved dur-ing the Great Depression, so Lee County could pay for the light bill. Literally. A 1965 attempt to incor-porate was voted down 441-99.

But by the late 1990s, things were different. The Bonita Bay Group had built several large, upscale gated communities with golf courses. The area was boom-ing with people and money and the sense was growing that the residents were subsidizing other parts of Lee County.

The Bonita Springs Area Cham-ber of Commerce commissioned an incorporation study in 1997

that found incorporation made financial sense. (Ironically, one-and-one-half years later, the chamber voted against incorpo-rating, feeling services were good enough and its members fearing tax increases — a fear that turned out to be unfounded.)

In March 1998, the Bonita Springs Incorporation Committee was formed to study and educate the population on the issue, start-ing out with a neutral position. But by spring 1999, the committee was fully committed to creating a city. “It was a no-brainer,” Hal Brenner, president of the commit-

tee, told the Naples Daily News at the time.

The goal was to deliver higher services and cut taxes slight-ly while gaining local control. “Government lite” was the catch phrase; most government servic-es would be outsourced and Bo-nita Springs would avoid creating a big bureaucracy.

By comparisonNo two communities are exact-

ly alike, but of the three cities the East County Observer is profiling, Bonita Springs is probably least like Lakewood Ranch.

Bonita Springs has some his-torically old communities, an old-Florida flavor in places and even some old-Florida shtick parks, such as Everglades Wonder Gardens on Old U.S. 41. It also has some small, impoverished areas. But near the Gulf of Mexico, the city boasts rows of upscale condo high rises and exclusive gated communities. In some ways, it is early Florida Oneco meets Long-boat Key.

Lakewood Ranch makes up a much narrower swath of demog-

WELLINGTON: CITY BY A NECK

A CLOSER LOOKITEM WELLINGTON BONITA SPRINGS WESTONIncorporated 1995 1999 1996Govt. type Council-Manager Council-Manager Commission-ManagerPopulation 55,600 43,900 65,800Ave. home value $211,200 $222,900 $274,500Tax rate 2.5 mills 0.83 mills 2 millsEmployees 265 60 9Budget $74.5 million $22.0 million $100.4 million*

Sources: Cities of Wellington, Bonita Springs and Weston, Zillow.com* Includes the Indian Trace water and sewer district and other Indian Trace development district funds totaling

$45.7 million.

AMENITIESWeston: Community center, skate park, 14 municipal parks and rec-reational facilities

Wellington: Wellington Ampitheater, Wellington Aquatics Complex, Patriot Memorial, community center, 26 community parks

Bonita Springs: Community park (including B3 Skate Park, softball fields, tennis courts, community pool, disc golf course and more), Riverside Park, 10 beach access points

ONLINEWeston: www.westonfl.orgWellington: www.ci.wellington.fl.usBonita Springs: www.cityof bonitasprings.org

SIZEWeston: 26.28 square milesBonita Springs: 41 square milesWellington: 31.4 square milesLakewood Ranch: 48 square miles

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

BONITA SPRINGS: SECOND TIME’S THE CHARM

Wellington overcame intense opposition to become a city, maintaining its equestrian culture but seeing taxes rise.

Wellington decided contracting out most services was not the best way to go for customer service, Wellington City Manager Paul Schofield said.

Bonita Springs seems to have everything going for it from a 1999 incorporation into a city, including lower taxes and self-determination.

The popular Riverside Park band shell sits on the site of a former run-down old mobile home park and came about as a result of incorporation.

SEE WELLINGTON / PAGE 9

SEE BONITA SPRINGS / PAGE 9


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and those would only change if the developer requested it.

Also, Broward County fire-fighters were apprehensive that the new city would start its own fire department, risking their job security.

“They worried those of us in favor were empire building,” Flint said.

It was a matter of education and promise-keeping to assuage those fears.

The education paid off when 40% of the residents voted the day after Labor Day in 1996 to become the city of Weston.

Promises keptFlint makes the conversion

from upscale subdivisions and golf courses to city sound pretty easy. In fact, it was for Weston.

With almost no opposition and overwhelming resident sup-port, the leaders of the new city

needed only to not overplay their newfound powers and cre-ate a monster.

They didn’t. As Flint repeats, they kept their promise and have shaved the city to as small a size as possible.

But the city parents also de-veloped a good handle on what the first five years of being a city would cost and whether an in-corporated Weston was up to the task of maintaining infrastruc-ture. Surprises in that area could have changed the Weston tale, but they turned out to have good order in those first years. Flint said there is nothing they would change in the charter.

On the promise of keep city overhead small, Weston unar-guably has met or exceeded ex-pectations. The entire staff of the city of Weston, population 64,000, is the city manager, assis-tant city manager, chief financial officer, chief operating officer, treasurer, city clerk, director of

communications, director of parks and recreation and direc-tor of landscaping. Everyone else is a private-sector employee on contract with the city.

But Weston also has been in-creasing its millage rate every year since 2006 — when it was about 1.5 mills — to the current level of 2 mills.

Weston has built itself a well appointed, $6 million City Hall. The 15,000-square-foot facility houses the department heads, contract secretaries, meeting rooms and the commission chambers.

Weston has some other unique arrangements, including main-taining the Indian Trace CDD as a simpler development district that issued bonds and assessed fees for infrastructure needs. But it was retained as a “dependent district,” meaning the Weston City Commissioners and the dis-trict’s board are the same people.

Weston also has annexed some properties since becoming a city, including land along U.S. 27, which is now the city’s western border with the Everglades, and property along Interstate 75 and State Road 84. The development of Bonaventure also voted to be-come part of Weston in 1997.

But it is not the unique ar-rangements, the tiny size of city government or the lower taxes that makes Weston’s story. The story is written by a lot of people who find a unique home in the city in the middle of Southeast Florida’s 5.5 million-person hub-bub.

Weston was named one of the 25 most affordable suburbs in 1996 in the United States by Busi-nessWeek.com and was named “One of America’s Best Small Cit-ies” by Money Magazine in 2008, one of only three Florida cities.

sistant city manager.Like Priore, she is intimately

familiar with the dynamics driv-ing incorporation, and the split within the community. The rea-soning for incorporating was the same as in Weston and Bo-nita Springs and the argument that backers make for Lake-wood Ranch: Keep tax money within the affluent community and provide for home rule.

“We didn’t keep any money; it all went downtown,” she said, as developers were building roads and putting in infrastructure. The Wellington community was a nearly 100% donor commu-nity, because newer structures rarely burned down and crime was almost non-existent.

“We wanted home rule, self-determination and the money to do what we wanted to do,” said Priore, as passionate a pro-moter of the city as anyone.

But maintaining lifestyle as a city was a key element of the opposition. This was particu-larly true for those involved in Wellington’s equestrian culture, who worried that their way of life would be endangered, that the large acreage would be di-vided up for more parcels and that taxes would soar.

“We had a very well orches-trated group who did not want to incorporate,” Priore said. “Some individuals made it their life’s work to stop us from incor-porating. They were vehement-ly opposed.”

Similar to some of Lakewood Ranch’s opposition, those op-posed to the Wellington in-corporation were from New York and New Jersey and had seen corruption and powerful unions running Northern cit-

ies and did not want to see that happen to Wellington. They ex-trapolated their experiences up North onto Wellington and they were ardent.

Proponents changed some charter elements to placate op-ponents, such as setting a 5-mill property tax cap and instituting term limits.

Both sides hired top lobby-ists in Tallahassee to stop the incorporation bill from passing the Legislature — a fairly un-usual event — and then both mounted regular campaigns to win over a majority of residents.

It was tenuous and in the end, the pro-incorporation people won narrowly by 400 votes.

“We overcame by proving the fact that we would benefit more from being a city than part of the county,” Priore said. “We focused on the principle of self-determination.”

Working through divisionThat difficult fight to incorpo-

rate meant the city’s first lead-ers were faced with governing a divided population. In the first election, 30 people ran for the five city commission seats, making for a chaotic start.

The city charter required a runoff if no one reached a ma-jority of votes, and that hap-pened every election until the charter was changed to allow a plurality if the winner received more than 35%.

The result was a fractious be-ginning. But those elected, en-tirely backers, were committed to fulfilling their promises. Over the years, most of the oppo-nents moved from Wellington. Those who ran never won.

City leaders have maintained

Weston City Manager John Flint and his department directors are more contract managers as they have no in-house staffs. Even the receptionist at City Hall is a private sector employee.

WESTON/PAGE 2

WELLINGTON/PAGE 3

WELLINGTON/PAGE 9


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raphy, dominated by middle-class and upper-middle-class commu-nities.

And there are plenty of differ-ences between the 1998-99 Bonita Springs incorporation effort and the 2010-2011 Lakewood Ranch effort as well.

First, there was no organized opposition to incorporation. Part of the reason, according to many involved at the time, was that al-most no one gave incorporation a chance at passage. Of course, the Friends of Lakewood Ranch has organized well in advance to op-pose it here.

Second, even after the Legis-lature approved Bonita Springs holding a referendum for city-hood, there was little public in-terest at first. Four information meetings in the spring of 1999 — the year of the vote — averaged a sleepy 26 residents. By com-parison, a debate sponsored by the East County Observer in May attracted more than 300 people long before the Legislature even votes on any Lakewood Ranch in-corporation, if it ever does.

Of course, that is largely a result of having organized opposition.

By the time of the vote in No-vember 1999, residents were con-vinced it was a good idea, con-vincingly voting in favor 4,262 to 3,101 with 58% turnout.

But Bonita Springs was starting from scratch.

“We literally didn’t own a pen-cil,” Nelson said.

The first order of business was buying office supplies. The first Bonita Springs City Council was elected in April.

Timing, timing, timingBonita Springs could not have

incorporated at a better moment.

The next decade saw enormous growth in both population and property values.

The population was about 32,000 in 2000, shortly after in-corporation, and grew to about 44,000 in 2010. Property values went from about $160,000 in 2000 to $470,000 during the peak of the bubble in 2006. They are now at about $223,000.

A major challenge was keeping to the “government lite” promise.

But city leaders largely have done so, albeit not to the same degree as Weston. Bonita Springs has about 60 full-time employees. For a city of 45,000, that is quite low. Sarasota, for example, with a population of about 52,000 has 721 employees.

“‘Government lite’ works amaz-ingly well if you are not wed to it,” Nelson said.

The city found that as it grew, it made sense to bring some things in-house. Code enforcement was one of those, because it can be such an intimate relationship with residents and businesses.

The Bonita Springs Fire Depart-ment and all utilities remain in-dependent of city government — but are devoted to the city. Plus, the police department is on con-tract from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.

A decade of changePeople who have lived in Boni-

ta Springs for more than a decade marvel at the change that has oc-curred. Some of it was bound to happen, because all of Southwest Florida was engulfed in the hous-ing boom and associated com-mercial construction that fol-lowed the rooftops.

Tamiami Trail through Bonita Springs was an open stretch of road whisking people through at 55 mph. No real reason to stop.

Today, it is six lanes to eight lanes lined with shopping centers cov-ering the range from affordable to upscale.

Much more impressive, how-ever, is the old, poor parts where Old U.S. 41 crosses the Impe-rial River (more of a lazy stream) that had been the epicenter of the city 50 years ago but by 1999 was a rundown embarrassment. In fact, right on the shores of the river were two dilapidated mobile home parks.

One of the early orders of busi-ness for the new city was to buy those parks and remove the mo-bile homes. On one side, the city built Riverside Park that features the large band shell, the historic Liles Hotel as a small community center, fountains, a playground, a kayaking center and other ame-nities. Most people you talk to have been to events at the park and love it, from the Christmas festivities that include “snow” to the Fourth of July parades.

People who have been around do not doubt that incorporat-ing into a city was the key to the renovation of historic old Bonita Springs and that without it, the area would remain an impover-ished backwater of neglect.

Another element that came only with the city was increased levels of service, from several fire department stations within the city to a full-size police force and stronger code enforcement for what the city has agreed it wants.

Dep. Mayor John Spear sums up the incorporation this way: “The feasibility study … prom-ised modestly increased levels of service and the same or very modest decreases in property taxes. … The result was very high increased levels of service and more than modest property tax decreases.”

the important equestrian cul-ture. Driving from the north part of Wellington, where the subdivisions and golf courses are located, to the south end is a dramatic change. The large lots, the narrower roads, the polo facilities. On the lifestyle point, the opponents were wrong.

“We have indeed preserved the diversity of lifestyles,” Ra-maglia said.

But it is also true that taxes are higher. Just not much. A resi-dent of Wellington pays about 25 mills total on their property tax bill, with one mill equal to $1 per $1,000 of assessed property val-ue. Of that, 2.5 mills is collected by the city. The rest is assessed by the county, school district and special taxing districts at the county level. And if the commu-nity were still unincorporated, residents would be paying a Mu-nicipal Services Taxing Unit not far from the city tax.

Wellington has reaped some normal dividends of being a city, mostly in controlling growth,

identity and facilities. The city has created a medical arts dis-trict for future growth around the existing Wellington Regional Medical Center. Plus, the city has built a public amphithe-ater, children’s park, an aquat-ics park, 16-court tennis facil-ity and most recently finished a 9-11 memorial. City leaders claim that much of this has been done with money that would have been going to the county to be spent elsewhere.

The debate periodically comes up about Wellington having its own police force. But Schofield thinks it is unwise. He said the city has 54 patrol offi-cers, plus sergeants, a lieuten-ant and a district commander — who is referred to as police chief. They all act as Wellington police, staying within the city limits.

“If they are assigned to Wel-lington, that is where they work,” Schofield said.

If Money magazine is any guide, Wellington has done all right with its decision, taking the 72nd spot on the magazine’s top 100 Best Places to Live.

Wellington’s 9-11 memorial is nearly complete, including two piec-es from the World Trade Center. The memorial is an example of the sense of united community that can come with being a city.

WELLINGTON/PAGE 8

BONITA SPRINGS/PAGE 3


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1. What is the effect on Manatee County should Lakewood Ranch incorporate?

Incorporators claim the city would get a share of the taxes paid by Lakewood residents that now go to Manatee. If true, the county would suffer a revenue loss exactly equal to the revenue gain of the city at a time when the county can ill afford it. In 2012, Mana-tee’s loss is projected by the incorporators’ feasibility study to be $2.6 million, with a cumula-tive 10-year loss of about $27 million. The county will have to make up for this by increasing other fees and/or taxes and/or cutting services and/or increasing the city’s price for contracted services (law enforcement). The feasibility study does not provide sufficient information to calculate any reduction in county expenses.

2. Should incorporation pass, how do you envision your role in the new government?

None of Gary Berns, Bob Ste-pelman, Nancy Johnson, Reg Tit-combe, Bob Hendel, Mike Spring, Joan Brummer, Charlie Brummer, Fred Braun, Stan Pearlman and Bob Swiatek — the members of the executive committee and steering committee of the Friends of Lakewood Ranch — has any intention of running for the city council or seeking any posi-

tion with the city. All will remain concerned residents. Inasmuch as we have hundreds of members, we cannot be further specific —

we have not polled our entire membership.

3. What are the spe-cific problems with the way that Lakewood Ranch is currently being managed that would warrant a substantive change?

We cannot think of any substantive prob-lem except irrigation, a problem that is being ad-dressed. Incorporation will not fix it any faster. We now have five nearby supervisors to handle our issues with rapid responses, no waiting for five councilpersons who have the whole Ranch to supervise. We don’t pay for choices made

by other villages. Our county services are good — the county is resurfacing several Summerfield roads — not so under incorpo-ration. The county will keep all the monies we have paid it for road improvement purposes as part of our taxes. Assessments are flat; we have economies of scale in outsourcing services and staff support for Lakewood. Our HOAs share these services; under incorporation they will have to find alternative financial support. Under CDDs, we enjoy a strong voice in our neighbor-hood, village, variable expenses and Lakewood tax rates.

4. If the straw poll shows the majority of residents support in-corporation, how will your group respond?

The straw poll must have been fair and unbiased, and must have been conducted in a valid, impartial manner to have valid-ity — conducted by a nationally-recognized, third-party polling firm; all residents included via mailing with substantial time for vacationers/snow-birds to re-spond; unbiased questions; and observers from the Incorpora-tion Study Group and Friends of Lakewood present during ballot count. If all the aforementioned is met, and a majority of 60% or greater of residents are in favor of incorporation, we still have to present our signed petitions that oppose incorporation to our legislators and point out the de-ficiencies in the Fishkind report to them and the Legislature as a whole.

5. Are there any changes that could be made to the proposed city charter that would make you support incorporation?

If the residents wish to change their mode of government, the whole drafting process should be opened up to give the residents a chance to choose what kind of a city government they may want. Charter questions should start at the bottom and work up to the neighborhoods and homeown-ers associations. The residents should be given a chance to go forward without losing the things that made them buy here in the first place, the things that make

Lakewood special. This process would take time, which would let the economy recover.

6. Dr. Hank Fishkind men-tioned risks in his feasibility study conclusion, but nowhere in the 45 pages does he have a table, figures or text regard-ing those risks. What are these risks?

A key justification for incor-poration has been the Fishkind study. However, the report doesn’t contain any analysis of the risks that could significantly affect its conclusions. On Fish-kind’s website, he admits, “Every analytical tool has its limitations. … Furthermore, the projection of costs and revenues associated with land use decisions can only be as accurate as the data used for the assumptions.” Under-standing the risk, the model’s conclusions are grossly wrong. Data and model inaccuracies are critical to making an incorpora-tion decision. This is problem-atical because much of the data with respect to costs was calcu-lated in the same way as it was in the Casey Key study rejected by a committee of the Legislature.

7. What is your funding source?With the exception of one

corporate donor that contrib-uted equally to both sides and about $75, all funding has come from members of the executive and steering committees — all Lakewood residents. The funds have been used for printing and internet purposes with a reserve for advertising.

8. Explain the effects of incorpo-ration on small-business owners.

The effect on business own-ers would likely be an increase in taxes. This would occur because the ratio of homeowners to busi-nesses is high. Business owners do not have a vote unless they reside in Lakewood. Whenever a need for increased tax revenue occurs, the first place politicians look for rev-enue is the business community. This avoids raising taxes on ho-meowners because they have the votes. Taxing businesses solves the revenue problem in the short run but creates problems in the future. When the tax burden on business becomes too high, the business relocates and that revenue is lost. Homeowner taxes will increase to make up for the lost revenue.

9. Is there a problem with the amount of reserves the CDDs have currently?

The adequacy of reserves depends on a creditable bench-mark for the necessary amount of reserves. Fortunately, we have two. The Government Financial Offers Association guideline is 17% of budget and the bond rating agen-cies’ is 8% to 15%. With the excep-tion of CDD 4, which is essentially controlled by the incorporators, the other CDDs have total reserves that satisfy at least one of these guidelines. Reserves generally are not intended to meet a once-in-a-generation catastrophe such as a Category 5 hurricane. This is the role of insurance and lines of credit. It would be grossly unfair to assess today’s homeowners for millions of dollars that may never be spent or spent in 20 years when they are no longer residents.

Q&A: Friends of Lakewood RanchOpponents of the incorporation of Lakewood Ranch answer readers’ questions.

Bob Hendel

Gary Berns

Visit our website to read the full Q&A.www.YourObserver.com


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1. Should incorporation pass, how do you envision your role in the new government?

Thomaides: I have no desire to ever run for any kind of political office.

Davey: Based on my experience and knowl-edge as a member of the study group, I would volunteer to assist with the transitional activities required to successfully become the city of Lake-wood Ranch. I have not made any other decisions at this time.

All other members of the group have indicated they do not intend to run for City Council.

2. What are the specific problems with the way that Lakewood Ranch is currently being managed that would warrant a substantive change?

The current management system with five CDDs (25 CDD supervisors) and the IDA is fragmented and ineffective as documented in recent CDD and HOA workshops.

CDDs have no long-range plans. Aging infrastructure and major landscaping issues will need to be addressed. Adequate reserves have not been estab-lished to cover contingencies or necessary infrastructure mainte-nance/ replacement. The overall look and feel of the Ranch has been declining for several years. CDDs have a limited ability to borrow money. The only way

CDDs can increase revenue is to raise taxes. They have no other sources of revenue.

A five-member council would replace the 25 CDD supervisors and IDA. Many safety and security issues could be improved with the passage of local ordinances and increased patrol services contracted on a citywide basis with the sheriff. Zoning and code compliance would be controlled by the city. The city could establish lines of credit and issue bonds at more favorable rates. The city would be able to start building appropriate reserves for natural disasters without needing to raise taxes. Public roads would be paved by the city, instead of waiting for the county. The City Council would be able to ensure that the

overall look and feel of the Ranch is maintained at a consistent level as we continue to grow.

3. If the straw poll shows the majority of residents oppose in-corporation, how will your group respond?

If the straw vote fails, we will disband and put our work on the shelf. It is possible that another group will take the matter for-ward at a future time.

4. Why is the proposed city char-ter is the best option for Lake-wood Ranch becoming a city?

We studied more than 50 char-

ters and focused on the demo-graphically similar city charters in Weston, Bonita Springs, Wel-lington and Palm Coast. It was clear these newer communities adopted a viable system, and we came to the same conclusion — that professional manage-ment through the council (as policymakers) and city manager (as administrator) was the most effective way to operate a city. All 24 cities incorporated in Florida since 1984 have chosen this council/manager form of govern-ment. Five districts with resi-dency requirements and citywide voting would assure the council members have a citywide view.

The contract city concepts in practice in Weston, Sandy Springs, Ga., and other cities across the country allow these cities to more effectively respond to economic upturns and down-turns and avoid labor issues, employee benefit cost and other problems. The city government would not be another layer of government because the CDDs will be transitioned to a city council-governed special district. The existing CDD boards as well as the Inter-District Authority would be eliminated.

5. Dr. Hank Fishkind mentioned risks in his feasibility study conclusion, but nowhere in the 45 pages does he have a table, fig-ures or text regarding those risks. What are these risks?

Because the purpose of a fea-sibility study is to determine fi-nancial viability of incorporation, the primary potential risk would

be a major flaw in the validity of the data, assumptions, methodol-ogy or calculations contained in the study. To that point, the study was conducted by one of the leading economists in Florida. Estimates used were intentionally conservative (revenues low end/expenses high end). Our group spent months reviewing the study to confirm we understood the de-tails and were comfortable before moving forward. We performed a sensitivity analysis assuming zero growth for the next 10 years. We also contracted with Dr. Tim Chapin, chair of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at FSU to conduct an indepen-dent evaluation of the study.

When submitted to the Florida Legislature, committees will per-form their own review and reject the study if they find any issues.

6. What is your funding source? Since the study was published,

52 contributions totaling $31,600 have been received from resi-dents and businesses. These have been used to fund Dr. Chapin’s re-port, development of formal city and district boundary descrip-tions, the straw poll, IRS filing requirements and advertising.

7. Explain the effects of incorpo-ration on small-business owners.

Incorporation would be extremely beneficial for the business community. It imme-diately raises the overall stature and brand identity of the Ranch. Decision-making responsibility will be with a five-member City Council — all residents of the

Ranch — versus Manatee and Sarasota commissioners. The Ranch could become a hub for business activity and economic leadership on the Gulf Coast. As a city and a brand, the Ranch will be a player at local and national industry conferences to promote the Ranch, specifically, and not just the two-county area. We will have access to state block grant funds and tax incentives to bring new corporations to the Ranch.

8. Is there a problem with the amount of reserves the CDDs have currently?

CDDs are responsible for maintaining appropriate reserves to cover unanticipated expendi-tures, revenue shortfalls, main-tenance/replacement of infra-structure, as well as contingency reserves in case a natural disaster occurs (such as a hurricane). The Government Finance Officers Association recommends an unrestricted reserve balance of a minimum of two months of gen-eral-fund operating revenues or expenditures. Restricted reserves for infrastructure items should be based on estimated useful life and repair/replacement cost. Reserves should be built over time. If the above criteria are ap-plied to the CDDs today, there are major shortfalls. And it’s actually going the wrong way. Total CDD reserves as of Sept. 30, 2010, were about $2.21 million. As of May 31, CDD reserves were about $1.64 million — a decrease of more than 25%. By comparison, Palmetto, with a smaller popula-tion than the Ranch, had reserves as of Sept. 10, 2001, of more than $17 million.

Q&A: Incorporation Study GroupProponents of the incorporation of Lakewood Ranch answer readers’ questions.

Tom Thomaides

Keith Davey

Visit our website to read the full Q&A.www.YourObserver.com


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L A K E W O O D RANCH — To date, much of the debate about the incorpo-ration of Lakewood Ranch has settled around its impacts to residents. But busi-nesses certainly will feel the impact as well.

Ranch business owners, like residents, offer mixed feelings on the topic. For some, there are still too many unknowns. But for others, taking the leap of faith to become a city — or at least to send the idea to the state Legislature for review — is worth the potential impacts.

“We’re split,” said Realtor Craig Cerreta, who chairs the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance’s Gov-ernmental Affairs Committee. “Just like in the residential com-munity, we’ve got people (for and against).”

WHAT’S IN A NAME?The community of Lakewood

Ranch already has received acco-lades nationwide for its use of gre-enways and trails, green building and other characteristics.

The U.S. Postal Service opened a Lakewood Ranch branch, giving the community more of its own

identity in November 2008. And in October 2010, Lakewood Ranch became the first place in the country to utilize Microsoft’s new TAG technology, a new 2-D bar-coding technology.

Although some busi-ness owners say those a c c o m p l i s h m e n t s, along with Lakewood Ranch’s maturation, have given — and will continue to give — the business commu-nity the recognition it needs, others feel incorporating will add more benefit to the

discussion.For example, Cerreta said the

U.S. Office of Management and Budget includes only incorporat-ed areas — North Port, Sarasota, Bradenton, Venice and Long-boat Key — on its metropolitan statistical area list. Becoming a city would give Lakewood Ranch more stature in the region and more influence in economic de-velopment, he said.

Although the Ranch would not have its own economic develop-ment council, the city would work with the Sarasota and Manatee groups to better business in the area and have more of an impact in decisions as they are made.

“It literally gives you more weight at the table,” Cerreta said.

The designation also would of-fer more long-term benefits in terms of branding and name rec-ognition. Cerreta said people out-side the area already are recogniz-ing Lakewood Ranch as a unique community, but incorporating would only further that momen-tum.

Business owner John Fain, co-owner of Grapevine Communica-tions, agreed.

The Lakewood Ranch resident makes his livelihood in the value of marketing businesses. Fain said his company immediately adopt-ed the use of the Lakewood Ranch name when the postal service recognized it back in November 2008.

“It gave us a unique identity,” Fain said. “In doing that, it’s al-lowed us to be more independent. In the local market, it has been a positive to be Lakewood Ranch because we are able to market into both Sarasota and Manatee counties easily.

“We’ve encouraged other cli-ents in Lakewood Ranch to adopt the Lakewood Ranch brand right away,” he said. “It’s one of those things that allows you to have a (distinct) identity. That was the first step in creating a new brand.”

The name change, he said, has fostered a more cohesive iden-tity for Lakewood Ranch, which is considered “Bradenton” in Manatee County and “Sarasota” in Sarasota County even though the area is miles away from ei-

ther county’s downtown.Incorporating, as Fain sees it,

would benefit Ranch’s businesses by giving them a unique identity.

Don Baugh, co-owner of Van-essa Fine Jewelry, agreed.

“It would put Lakewood Ranch more in the spotlight and make it more of a destination location,” Baugh said.

But Leslie Swart, managing partner for Blue Skye Lending, said Lakewood Ranch businesses already are getting that brand rec-ognition.

“It’s already considered Lake-wood Ranch,” Swart said. “People already think it’s a city.”

John Saputo, owner of Gold Coast Eagle Distributing, and Jack Cox, president of Halfacre Construction, shared Swart’s sen-timents. Moreover, Saputo has pledged his support to the anti-incorporation group, the Friends of Lakewood Ranch, citing he would rather work with Lake-wood Ranch developer Schroed-er-Manatee Ranch than a Lake-wood Ranch City Council.

“A corporate staff like SMR is much more responsive and time-

ly,” he said in a Friends press re-lease. “Their educated and prac-tical staff has more of a ‘can-do’ attitude than any bureaucrat I have ever met. The SMR structure is customer friendly.

“It would be a shock to all of us to deal with the red tape that bureaucrats would surely intro-duce,” he said.

DECISION CENTERMGA Insurance owner Lou

Marinaccio sees the step of incor-poration not only as giving Lake-wood Ranch its own true identity but also as giving it a role of self-determination.

Although he’s cautious, Mari-naccio said the ability to have more influence in the Ranch’s fu-ture outweighs potentially nega-tive impacts from incorporating.

“The community itself would benefit by having its own leader-ship, its own ability to create op-portunity for revenue growth,” Marinaccio said.

Fain noted a City Council of Lakewood Ranch residents — all people with a vested interest in the community — would be mak-

BUSINESS ALLIANCE REMAINS NEUTRAL

INCORORATION: Better for Business?

TALK OF A TOWNEDITOR’S NOTE: This is the fifth in a summer-long series regarding Lakewood Ranch incorporation.

in-depth By Pam Eubanks | News Editor

This week, business owners in Lakewood Ranch share how incorporation may affect their ability to do business locally and beyond. The Lakewood Ranch

Business Alliance will not take a formal position on the issue of incorporation.

Alliance President Bobbi Larson said both sides of the debate have offered valid arguments, and the alliance

remains uncertain.“There’s a lot of information

we feel like is missing,” Larson said. “Many of our members may work in Lakewood Ranch but they don’t live in Lakewood Ranch so they would not be included in the straw poll.”


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ing decisions about taxes, zoning, image, signage and other issues that may arise.

“You could have control over the whole community, not two sets of county commissioners,” Fain said. “It would make it more cohesive.”

But whether more localized control of issues such as zoning and planning is good or bad for business, ultimately will be de-termined by Lakewood Ranch’s elected city councilmen and their stance on growth and other is-sues, Cerreta said.

“It’s a risk,” Cerreta said. “Right now, we know what the game plan is for the county. You know the game.”

Manatee County commission-ers, for example, each represent different areas of the county in making decisions that affect par-ticular districts. Under the city of Lakewood Ranch’s proposed structure, however, City Council members would represent areas more similar in demographics and therefore may be more in-clined to vote in similar ways, es-

pecially considering representa-tives will be elected by a citywide vote. The scenario, Cerreta said, makes it ripe for a council that leans heavily one way or the other.

Baugh also noted SMR’s fore-sight in development, as well as its partnerships with Sarasota and Manatee counties, have been important to the Ranch’s success. Moving forward, however, there would be nothing to guarantee a Ranch City Council would carry forward with the same spirit of cooperation and vision.

But, Fain said, the situation with either Sarasota or Manatee counties could change just as eas-ily, and a board that once proved itself pro-business could turn the other way.

“All the issues we’re talking about are outside our control to-day,” Fain said. “There’s nothing to say Sarasota County couldn’t raise a tax tomorrow. I don’t even live in Sarasota County, so I don’t even have a voice not to vote for that county commissioner (mak-ing a bad decision).”

However Saputo, whose busi-

ness is located in the Lakewood Ranch Corporate Park, said he is happy with how Sarasota County is handling business.

“I don’t think there’s any need for Lakewood Ranch to incor-porate,” he said. “I get great sup-port from everyone in Sarasota County. I don’t need another layer of bureaucracy on top of my busi-ness.

However, although Ray Neff, a former CEO and president of FCCI and current Lakewood Ranch business owner, agreed with Saputo that bureaucracy generally is not good for business, he also said he does not believe a City Council would be an added layer of government. The council, he said, would have a more vested interest in the community than the counties and quality of deci-sions and response times would likely improve.

“As I understand the model, this is not a large bureaucracy that is going to be built,” he said, noting the city is proposed to function on contracts. “It just seems like it’s a very efficient way to do things. Some of those folks who are pro-viding tremendous services today will continue to provide (those services).”

FINANCIAL FINDINGSAlthough economist Hank Fish-

kind’s study projects a surplus in revenues for Lakewood Ranch, business owners are still wary of unanswered questions. Should the new city fall short in revenues, business owners believe they would be the first to be taxed.

“If the need arises to raise taxes, they usually hit businesses first,” Baugh said. “A lot of business (owners) in Lakewood Ranch are not necessarily voters in Lake-wood Ranch. They wouldn’t have any vote.”

Scott Bollingbroke, owner of Kids Supergym, agreed.

“My major concern with this turning into a city is that it does not affect the taxing — that taxes don’t come up or other fees aren’t added in the picture,” he said. “For a small business like this, I don’t know if there’s any other pluses or minuses (beyond that). The uncertainty part is the part that worries me.”

Fain, however, pointed out there’s an equal opportunity for revenues to come in 5% above projections as there is for reve-nues to fall short by 5%.

Additionally, Manatee or Sara-sota counties could initiate new taxes or other changes that could affect costs at any time.

“Millage rates, taxes, permit-ting fees — all that stuff (can be) changed whether or not you’re a city,” Cerreta said.

Businesses in Sarasota County, however, are in a unique position because they would potentially see a tax increase equivalent to Manatee County’s MSTU tax — .6109 mills. Pro-incorporators say they intend to have the differ-ence offset through some sort of tax credits or rebates for affected businesses. And some business owners, such as Neff, also said the increase, if it’s not offset, is a small price to pay for the larger pot of money the city would get in state-shared revenues.

Saputo, whose multi-million operation is in Lakewood Ranch Corporate Park, said he already pays a six-figure property tax and does not need the new tax, which would equate to about $11,000 or more annually.

“I assure you — that’s a very low number,” Saputo said. “This is a ridiculous idea.”

Cox agreed.“The services we get from Sara-

sota County and (SMR are good), and I don’t know why I’d want to pay additional taxes for the ser-vices I’m getting,” Cox said.

Cerreta said there also is a con-cern that impact fees collected from Lakewood Ranch are not being used proportionately for the community. Although as a city, Lakewood Ranch would have to continue to share impact fee dollars with the county, the city would, at least, have more control over how and where those dollars are spent.

“Businesses and residents don’t fully understand where money from impact fees go and by in-corporating, they’d (have a say),” Cerreta said. “There’s new money over the next 10 or 15 years that’s going to be generated right here.”


STUDY GROUP LAUNCHING POLL

The Lakewood Ranch Incorporation Study Group is moving forward with a straw poll of Lakewood Ranch resi-dents.

A third-party firm will be mailing straw polls to all registered voters Aug. 1, and individuals will have three weeks to respond. The poll will determine whether incorporation should be considered by the state Legislature. If approved by the Legislature, the issue of incorporation would go to a vote by registered voters.

Incorporation Study Committee member Keith Davey said the group expects to have results of the vote back by the end of August.

Pam EubanksMany local business owners remain undecided on incorporation.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2011


BEAUTY AND THE FEET

INDEX

OUR TOWN

NEWSEva Rey gets comfy in new community.PAGE 7

WEATHERSee inside for this week’s contest winner.PAGE 24

SPORTSEast County ump tapped for regional tourney.PAGE 19

Briefs .....................4Classifieds ..........25

Cops Corner ...........5Crossword ............24

Opinion ..................6Neighborhood ......10

Sports ..................19Weather ...............24


SEE ARREST / PAGE 2

Courtesy photo

+ Ranch Chabad kids enjoy Camp Gan

Chabad of Bradenton and Lakewood Ranch are helping kids create lifelong memories through its summer-long Camp Gan Israel.

The camp has featured a variety of Jewish-themed activities as well as field trips and more.

+ Meridian offers $1 haircuts for kids

Children 12 years old and younger can receive haircuts for just $1 at Meridian College’s Lakewood Ranch campus this month.

The Prime Salon at Meridian, located in the campus at 7020 Professional Parkway E., will offer $1 haircuts for children, Mondays through Thursdays, throughout the month of August.

Individuals should make appointments, but walk-ins also are welcome. Haircuts are avail-able between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.

For more, call the salon at 377-4880.

+ New church plans clothes giveaway

The Source Church will host its second City-Reach Clothing Giveaway beginning at 10 a.m., Aug. 13, at the church, 5412 S.R. 64 E.

Last year, 1,600 to 1,800 people received clothes from the church’s first drive.

“It is wonderful to see orga-nizations making a difference in communities overseas, but we feel we have been called to start in our own back-yard,” said Lead Pastor Ralph Hoehne.

For more information, visit www.tapintothesource.org.

CRIME By Pam Eubanks | News Editor

LAKEWOOD RANCH — At 77 years old, David Weiss never dreamed a stranger at his front door would take him for the most terrifying ride of his life.

But on July 17, a man showed up on his doorstep in the Edgewater community, and by the time Weiss realized the man had inched clos-er as they talked, the man pushed his way into Weiss’ home at gunpoint and later tied Weiss to a chair, shoved a gun barrel in his mouth and threatened him if he didn’t give up his money. The man took Weiss, in Weiss’s car, first to the bank, then to Checkers and then to the end of University Parkway, where he dropped Weiss off and told him to walk home.

“It was harrowing,” Weiss said of the experience, which lasted several hours. “I’m greatly relieved he’s caught. I came out of it in one piece. He could have done a lot of dam-age.”

The Manatee County Sher-iff’s Office believes they have apprehended the suspect, 26-year-old George Hand of 2904 58th St. Court E. Hand was arrested July 28 and charged with armed home invasion, two counts of false imprison-ment and two counts of aggra-

George Hand has been arrested in connection with an armed home invasion July 26 in Edgewater. Hand also is the key suspect in a similar incident.

Suspect’s arrestrelievesLakewoodresidents

POLL POSITION

LAKEWOOD RANCH — A straw poll seeking voters’ input on whether Lakewood Ranch should become its own city is un-der way.

A poll of Lakewood Ranch’s 11,000 registered voters began Aug. 1 under the oversight of indepen-dent certified public ac-counting firm Kerkering, Barberio & Co. If voters are out of town, ballots will be forwarded to the address on file with the U.S. Postal Service.

The ballot asks voters if they favor submitting a bill to the Florida Legisla-ture to consider incorpo-rating Lakewood Ranch.

“This is not a vote to become a city,” said Tom

Thomaides, chair-man of the Lakewood

Ranch Incorporation Study Group, the group leading the charge. “This is a poll. It allows the pro-cess to continue (and) gives all of us a chance to take the next step.”

Voters will be provided with a return envelope but not postage. Individuals have three weeks to return the ballot.

If results of the poll are favorable for incorpora-tion, the Incorporation Study Group will submit a bill, or “special act,” to the Legislature. There, a com-mittee of legislators will review the proposed in-corporation, including the proposed city charter and feasibility study, during the next legislative session to determine whether it believes incorporation would be beneficial to the

community.If the Leg-

islature ap-proves the p r o p o s a l , the decision

then would go to a pub-lic referendum of regis-tered voters in Lakewood Ranch, as required by law, likely in June 2012. If leg-

islators find flaws with the proposal, it will not

be approved and there-

fore will not go to a public vote.

Straw polls are being sent through certified mail and will be tabulated by Kerkering, Barberio & Co. as results come in. The company, which has an office in Lakewood Ranch, has donated its services for the project.

“We believe it’s impor-tant to give back to the communities in which we work and live,” Man-aging Partner Rob Lane said, noting the firm has not taken a position on in-

Lakewood voters will receive straw poll ballots regarding incorporation beginning this week.

time to tell By Pam Eubanks | News Editor

STRAW POLL QUESTION“Do you favor submit-ting a bill to the Florida Legislature to consider the incorporation of Lakewood Ranch as a city?”

Read the final piece in our sum-mer-long Talk of a Town series on Pages 8-9.

INSIDE

George Hand

SEE POLL / PAGE 2

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corporation. “When we were asked to assist in this important process and determined that we could independently oversee it, we agreed to donate our time.”

The Incorporation Study Group hopes to have results back by the end of August so it can meet a requirement to submit the “special act” to the Legislature 90 days prior to the start of the legislative session, which begins in January.

Thomaides said the group researched its options for conducting a straw poll, includ-ing phone calls, petitions and statistical sampling, but was not satisfied with any of those methods. The group decided on poll-ing all registered voters in Lakewood Ranch because it would be most comprehensive.

A straw poll of residents is not required of law, but has become standard practice so a community’s legislative delegation, which would be bringing the request forward, has confidence in doing so.

“I don’t think it could be done better,” resident Douglas Schugg said of the straw poll’s format. “It’s a good step for voters. I think it’s the fair way to do it.”

Resident Paul Jackowski agreed.“They’re the ones making the decision,”

he said of voters.However Jackowski said he wished all ho-

meowners could vote in the straw poll as well.

Incorporation Study Group members said the cost of the straw poll is about $10,000.


vated assault with a firearm for another home invasion that occurred July 26 in the 8400 block of Misty Morning Court in Edgewater. And although Hand has not yet been charged for the crime against Weiss, detectives consider him the key suspect.

During the July 26 incident, Hand en-tered the home, bound a guest of the homeowner with zip ties in a bedroom and then bound the homeowner’s hands with zip ties before attempting to take him out of the residence in the victim’s vehicle, which was blocked by another car. The guest was able to free herself and call 911.

The suspect fled before authorities ar-rived, a sheriff’s office report states.

In both home invasion cases, Hand knocked on the front door and asked for someone who did not live at the residence before barging into the home and telling the victims he would not hurt them, a sheriff’s office reports state.

As of press time Tuesday, Public Infor-mation Officer Dave Bristow said charg-es against Hand in Weiss’ case were still pending, but he expected them to be brought forward in the near future. Bris-tow confirmed surveillance from Weiss’ bank, where the suspect tried to use his ATM card, helped in the case, as well.

Hand’s bail, as of Monday, was set at $19,500.

The most serious of Hand’s charges — home invasion with a deadly weapon

— carries a penalty of up to life imprison-ment, Bristow said.

Bristow said the break in the case came July 27 when a deputy responded to a do-mestic disturbance at Hand’s East County residence. Hand fled the scene before deputies arrived, but during the investi-gation, deputies discovered information linking Hand to the home invasions.

Hand was arrested July 28 first for car-rying a concealed firearm and possession of marijuana, and he was later charged in connection with the home invasion and

an unoccupied burglary in east Braden-ton that morning.

Edgewater resident and Lakewood Ranch Community Development Dis-trict Supervisor Don O’Leary said he has asked the district’s director of operations to check into pricing for security cameras.

Edgewater is a gated community, but there are several pedestrian accesses.

Sheriff Brad Steube is slated to speak with residents this week, O’Leary said.


Courtesy photoSurveillance video from a bank near the Edgewater community provided a visual of the suspect for investigators.

POLL/PAGE 1 ARREST/PAGE 1

EAST COUNTY OBSERVERTHURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 20118

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6

The question of fi-nances is perhaps the most contentious part of the debate over Lake-wood Ranch becoming a city.

Would there be more or less money for city services? Would taxes go up, down or neither?

The Lakewood Ranch Incorporation Study Group hired Orlando-based Fishkind & Asso-ciates in 2009 to study the financial feasibility of the Ranch becoming a city. Fishkind is one of the most renowned economic groups in Florida and has done other studies on the fi-nancial feasibility of communities incorporating.

The goal was to obtain a profes-sional, objective take on financ-ing. Although the results have been criticized by opponents of incorporation, who also have criticized the proponents of in-corporation and the East County Observer’s coverage of the issue, the Fishkind study remains the primary source of data for evalu-ating where Lakewood Ranch becoming a city makes financial sense.

The bottom-line results of the study state: “Lakewood Ranch has the capability to produce a finan-cially viable community and es-

tablish an appropriate level of reserves.”

First, the study showed what common sense suggested: Lake-wood Ranch is a major donor community to Manatee County — it gives more than it gets.

From all tax and fee sources in 2009, the Ranch paid $31.74 mil-lion to Manatee County and $1.78 million to Sarasota County, a to-tal of $33.52 million. On the expenditures side, Lakewood Ranch in Manatee County

received $22.42 million in ser-vices while the Ranch in Sarasota County received about $742,000, for a total of $23.16 million.

So in 2009, Lakewood Ranch sent out $10.36 million more in taxes and fees to the two coun-ties than it received in services, according to calculations taken from the Fishkind report. The community received back about 68% of what it paid in. This is a common situation for any un-incorporated community that is wealthier than the county in which it is located.

ASSUMPTIONSAs with any analysis of possible

futures, assumptions play a large role. And the Fishkind report is

no exception, proving the reputed Yogi Berra comment that “it is dif-ficult to make predictions, espe-cially about the future.”

For revenues, the study as-sumed continuing most taxes and fees currently being levied by the county, plus getting a city share of what is currently all going to Man-atee County from the state. These rely on the assumption that a city of Lakewood Ranch would qualify for the state money and that most revenues would increase at 3% per year.

The following are the revenue sources that Fishkind determined were likely to be available to a new city:

• A property tax rate of 0.6109 mills, the same rate being applied to Lakewood Ranch property tax bills by Manatee County as part of being in the unincorporated coun-ty — what’s known as the Munici-pal Services Taxing Unit, or MSTU;

• CDD assessments on all prop-erties within each district would flow to the new city;

• A city share of the local govern-ment half-cent sales tax, for which the study assumed the city would qualify;

• A communications services tax, which the county now collects, would be spent within the city;

• Local option fuel tax revenues that go to all cities would be avail-able;

• A share of the municipal reve-

nue sharing program that comes from the state sales tax and is re-distributed to local governments;

• Building permit fees, fines and forfeitures and service charges.

From these revenue sources, the Fishkind report projects 2012 revenues would be $15.98 million and that amount would climb to $32.89 million in 2020, based on regular increases in revenues, plus assumptions on population and employment growth.

But the study was done in 2009, and the further out projections are made, the more inaccurate they can become.

On the expense side, it costs lo-cal governments to provide ser-vices to residents, visitors and workers that come into the local jurisdiction for their jobs. The study employs a weighting proce-dure that calculates the time each category of person is in the county, and therefore how much that per-son will cost in services.

Using that formula, total expen-ditures projected for 2012 would be $14.45 million and climb to $31.34 million in 2020, running a surplus each year and reaching nearly $10 million after 10 years. Again, that relies on a range of as-

INCORPORATION: Costs in a new city

TALK OF A TOWNEDITOR’S NOTE: This is the last in a summer-long series regarding Lakewood Ranch incorporation.

finances By Rod Thomson | Editor/Editorial Pages

For more residents, the debate regarding becoming a city comes down to finances. However, without a crystal ball, the only source of that data is the criticized Hank Fishkind feasibility study.

PROJECTIONSProjected revenues and expenses for a city of Lakewood Ranch over 10 years. Total Revenues: $135,629,159Total Expenditures: $126,350,773Net Fiscal Impact: $9,278,386

CHANGESWhat would change finan-cially for Lakewood Ranch residents and businesses.• RESIDENTS. Residents would initially see no change in their taxes. The current line item on a Lakewood Ranch homeowner’s property tax bill for being in the unincorporat-ed county falls under what is called an MSTU, or Municipal Services Taxing Unit. The cur-rent rate of 0.6109 mills is proposed to remain the same. The elected City Council could increase or decrease it at any point thereafter as is the case with any city, or with Manatee County.• Businesses. Businesses in Manatee County would see no change in their tax bill, either, having the same MSTU line item as a resi-dent. However, businesses in Sarasota County, including all those in the Lakewood Ranch Corporate Park on the south side of University Parkway, would see a tax increase because Sarasota County does not charge an MSTU. So that 0.6109-mill tax would be new. Backers of incorporation hope to negotiate some sort of tax credit with Sarasota County to offset that, but there is no guarantee that will be the case.• CDDs. The CDDs would become “dependent dis-tricts,” meaning the City Council would represent them, the same as has been done in several other recent incorporations in Florida. The CDD structure stays in place, but not an individual set of supervisors for each CDD.

9 EAST COUNTY OBSERVERTHURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2011

2419 Landings Cir Bradenton$2,195,000 #M5822907 941-748-6300Elizabeth Gardini 941-356-0096

13605 Legends Walk Ter Lakewood Ranch$1,199,500 #A3938151 941-383-7591Sylvia Zimmerman 941-350-5022

10506 Winding Stream Way East County$689,000 #A3937828 941-907-9595Howie Drourr 941-812-6476

7047 Twin Hills Ter Lakewood Ranch$689,000 #M5819569 941-907-9595Mary Hellhake 941-544-0763

7517 Weeping Willow Blvd Sarasota$650,000 #A3934246 941-907-9595Karen Grant 941-504-4952

804 N Bay Blvd Anna Maria$625,000 #A3936148 941-907-9595Stacy Haas 941-587-4359

3321 7Th Street W Cir Palmetto$519,500 #M5822615 941-748-6300Dana Preston 941-705-5510


6666 Windjammer Pl Lakewood Ranch$499,000 #A3946470 941-907-9595John Camino, PA 941-685-5060

6350 Watercrest Way # 204 Lakewood Ranch$389,000 #A3942987 941-907-9595John Camino, PA 941-685-5060

7011 Riverview Blvd Bradenton$375,000 #M5816076 941-748-6300Ally Howell 941-224-6378

1504 80Th Nw St Bradenton$375,000 #M5822880 941-748-6300Kathy Valente 941-685-6767

360 Snapdragon Loop Bradenton$349,900 #M5820781 941-907-9595Stephen Strong 941-201-9662

5109 E 97Th E St Bradenton$290,000 #A3942279 941-907-9595Edward Haggerty 941-685-6154

6607 Rosy Barb Ct Lakewood Ranch$275,000 #A3919333 941-349-3444Tara Lamb & Judy Greene 941-266-4873

4527 Swordfish Dr Bradenton$275,000 #M5815262 941-748-6300Ann Debellevue 941-720-7614

8483 Idlewood Ct Lakewood Ranch$244,000 #M5818158 941-907-9595Mary Vargo 941-321-8385

5954 Willow Bridge Loop Ellenton$199,900 #A3943373 941-349-3444Sarah Mcguire 941-809-1478

7711 San Juan Ave Bradenton$199,000 #M5815865 941-748-6300Maria Christenson 941-920-3583

3631 57Th Avenue W Dr # 46 Bradenton$189,000 #A3941607 941-752-2683Adam Cuffaro 941-812-0791

6501 Mourning Dove Dr # 216 Bradenton$149,000 #M5811551 941-748-6300Jo Anne Lanza 941-518-6507

3500 El Conquistador Pkwy # 272 Bradenton$139,200 #A3939008 941-383-7591Sherri Mills 941-350-7112

4302 Chinaberry Cir Braden River$139,000 #M5822810 941-907-9595Joe Foster 941-812-7634

1003 39Th W Ave Bradenton$115,000 #M5803817 941-748-6300Cheryl Roberts 941-266-1450


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sumptions, which could be off in either direction.

OBJECTIONSOpponents of incorporation

take exception with some of these assumptions. But they raise broader concerns about the Fish-kind report, which they label “se-riously flawed.”

One objection is that the report is light on projected expenses. Three pages are committed to ex-penses out of the 44-page report. Further, the expense projections are based on a comparison to Bra-denton and Palmetto, which op-ponents say are so demographi-

cally different from Lakewood Ranch, they should not have been used.

Both of those cities have a more challenging demographic than Lakewood Ranch, and providing services there could be more ex-pensive than in a new city with the Ranch’s more favorable demo-graphics.

But perhaps the largest issue opponents have with the study is that they argue it does not meet the statutory requirements for incorporation. They believe the backers of incorporation will need more data after the straw poll to submit to the Legislature to meet

the law. If so, that still falls before the official June vote by the com-munity and could be taken into account by voters.

Opponents also point out there is no mention of liability issues for a new city and should be a part of the expense structure.

The study also does not in-clude any impact fees for the new city, which likely would be exempted from paying Manatee County impact fees. Such fees would not be paid by existing residents but would add to the city’s coffers. But they are left out of revenue projections.

Other possible taxes assumed

not to be levied include occu-pational licenses, franchise fees, public service taxes and others. The Fishkind study assumes they will not be levied and no revenue is included from them.

CHAPIN’S ASSESSMENTIn response to criticisms of the

Fishkind report, the proponents hired Tim Chapin, with Florida State University’s Department of Urban and Regional Planning, to assess the methodology.

Chapin wrote: “As a whole, then, I would characterize the overall quality of this work as very good. The consultant accurately

and appropriately responded to the direction of Florida statutes. The data employed appear to be the best available, derived using appropriate, professionally ac-cepted methodologies. The pre-sentation of the results is clear, and generally transparent as to the data used and the methods employed.”

Chapin concluded: “The re-port’s finding that the proposed incorporation of Lakewood Ranch is financially feasible ap-pears to be based upon solid empirical evidence. I believe this work to be of a high professional quality … ”

FINANCIAL FEASIBILITY (FINANCIAL FEASIBILITY DATA FROM APRIL 20, 2010 REPORT)

REVENUES 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020Ad Valorem Taxes $1,640,885 $1,785,100 $1,999,789 $2,287,323 $2,559,763 $2,863,750 $3,109,584 $3,385,146 $3,638,065Local Option Fuel 988,800 1,018,464 1,049,018 1,080,489 1,112,904 1,146,291 1,180,680 1,216,100 1,252,583Communication Services 284,098 331,774 391,740 443,380 510,491 559,443 620,945 672,743 726,320Building Permits 303,362 354,271 418,302 473,444 545,106 597,377 663,049 718,360 775,569CDD Assessments 10,836,049 12,452,086 14,374,126 15,788,619 17,873,491 19,106,717 20,801,405 22,034,632 23,268,473Municipal Revenue Sharing 405,820 417,995 430,534 443,450 456,754 470,457 484,570 499,107 514,081Sales Tax Half Cent 921,850 949,506 977,991 1,007,330 1,037,550 1,068,677 1,100,737 1,133,759 1,167,772Charges for Services 398,163 464,980 549,022 621,396 715,451 784,058 870,252 942,847 1,017,934Fines and Forfeitures 204,009 238,876 282,765 320,543 369,677 405,482 450,498 488,392 527,590Total Revenues $15,983,036 $18,013,052 $20,473,287 $22,465,974 $25,181,187 $27,002,252 $29,281,720 $31,091,086 $32,888,387

EXPENSES 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020City Council $227,522 $265,703 $313,727 $355,083 $408,829 $448,033 $497,287 $538,770 $581,677City Manager 1,042,807 1,217,805 1,437,914 1,627,465 1,873,801 2,053,485 2,279,231 2,469,362 2,666,018Financial and Administrative 910,086 1,062,812 1,254,907 1,420,333 1,635,317 1,792,132 ,989,147 2,155,079 2,326,707City Attorney 189,601 221,419 261,439 295,903 340,691 373,361 414,406 448,975 484,731Planning & Zoning 284,402 332,129 392,158 443,854 511,037 560,041 621,609 673,462 727,096Management Information Systems 417,123 487,122 575,166 650,986 749,520 821,394 911,692 987,745 1,066,407Law Enforcement 548,352 630,131 727,394 798,974 904,478 966,884 1,052,643 1,115,050 1,177,488Transportation 988,800 1,018,464 1,049,018 1,080,489 1,112,904 1,146,291 1,180,680 1,216,100 ,252,583Landscaping 2,567,200 2,950,060 3,405,416 3,740,527 4,234,460 4,526,628 4,928,121 5,220,288 5,512,601Debt Service 1,920,206 2,206,576 2,547,172 2,797,828 3,167,278 3,385,812 3,686,120 3,904,654 4,123,298Environmental 477,242 548,415 633,066 695,363 787,185 841,499 916,136 970,450 1,024,791Operations 1,571,969 1,806,405 2,085,233 2,290,431 2,592,880 2,771,783 3,017,629 3,196,531 3,375,522Utilities 1,214,576 1,395,712 1,611,146 1,769,692 2,003,378 2,141,606 2,331,558 2,469,786 2,608,083Security 602,778 692,674 799,591 878,275 994,251 1,062,851 1,157,122 1,225,723 1,294,358Projects 684,857 786,993 908,469 997,867 1,129,635 1,207,577 1,314,684 1,392,626 1,470,607Reserves 799,152 900,653 1,023,664 1,123,299 1,259,059 1,350,113 1,464,086 1,554,554 1,644,419Total Expenditures $14,446,673 $16,523,073 $19,025,480 $20,966,369 $23,704,703 $25,449,490 $27,762,151 $29,539,155 $31,336,386Net $1,536,363 $1,489,979 $1,447,807 $1,499,605 $1,476,484 $1,552,762 $1,519,569 $1,551,931 $1,552,001

Source: Fishkind & Associates

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2011



INDEXBriefs .....................4Classifieds ..........21

Cops Corner ...........5Crossword ............20

Opinion ..................6Real Estate ..........14

Sports ..................15Weather ...............20


+ Ballet schoolto host auditions

The School of Russian Ballet will host auditions for its production of “The Nutcracker” Sept. 3, at the school, 8029 Cooper Creek Blvd., University Park.

Directors Sergiy Mykhaylov and Darya Fedotova and guest teachers from Ukraine provide world-famous Russian-style instruction in ballet, pointe, character, pas de deux, variations and jazz classes.

“The Nutcracker” fea-tures original choreogra-phy by Ukrainian ballet master and choreographer Vadim Fedotov set to the Tchaikovsky musical score. Students will rehearse and perform with International guest artists.

Auditions are open to bal-let students; new students must register for fall classes to audition. Audition fee is $10. For audition times and more information, call 962-6664 or 962-6607 or visit www.schoolofrussianballet.com.

+ Where wereyou on 9/11?

The East County Observer still is accepting submis-sions from readers for our Sept. 8 Memorial Edition to commemo-rate the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

To share your story, memory, tribute or photo, simply email it to [email protected]. Be sure to include your name, address and phone number.

Courtesy photo

NEWSEast firefighters, deputes engage in belly battle.PAGE 10

A SALUTELook inside for our photo essay honoring laborers.PAGE 3

Lakewood makes splash at annual bash. PAGE 12-13

IN FOCUS

SEE SANDIES / PAGE 8

Brian BlancoBraden River quarterback Steven Ross connected with his brother, wideout Justin Ross, for the Pirates’ first score in the Kickoff Classic Aug. 26 against Booker. The Pirates won 17-6. For more, see page 15.

LAKEWOOD RANCH — After more than a year of debate, the question of whether Lakewood Ranch should become a city has come to an end. At least for now.

Results of a straw poll released

Aug. 29 showed 56.5% of respon-dents did not favor moving for-ward with incorporation at this time.

If results had been favorable, the group leading incorporation

efforts would have submitted a special act to the state Legislature for review. If approved by legisla-tors, the issue then would have gone to a public referendum for approval next year.

Kerkering, Barberio & Co., the independent accounting firm conducting the straw poll, said 4,154 out of 11,961 registered voters who were mailed ballots responded, with 43.5% voting in

favor of moving forward with in-corporation and 56.5% opposed to it.

To be counted, ballots had to have been postmarked by Aug. 22 and received by Aug. 29.

“We spent a year-and-a-half trying to lay out facts to (residents about why we shouldn’t incorpo-rate) and obviously they listened

VOTERS: NO CITY YETtalk of a town By Pam Eubanks | News Editor

Results released Aug. 29 showed 56.5% of Lakewood Ranch residents who responded opposed moving forward with incorporation.

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Judges have selected finalists for the first Sandies Awards, a partnership between the Lake-wood Ranch Business Alliance and The Observer Group Inc.

The Sandies seek to recog-nize outstanding businesses and citizens within the Lake-wood Ranch community. Awards will be given in four cat-egories — Business of the Year, Citizen of the Year, Corporate Philanthropy and Entrepre-

Alliance,Observer announcefinalists

SANDIES AWARDSWHEN: 6:30 p.m. Oct. 5WHERE: The Polo Grill and Bar’s Fête Ballroom, 10670 Boardwalk LoopTICKETS: $65INFORMATION: www.LWRBA.org or www.YourObserver.com

SANDIES By Michael Eng | Managing Editor

The winners will be announced at the Sandies corporate awards dinner Oct. 5, at The Polo Grill and Bar’s Fête Ballroom.

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Fol-lowing two armed home inva-sions in the Edgewater commu-nity, supervisors of its governing board, Lakewood Ranch Com-munity Development District 2, have decided against making specific provisions for increased security in their $2.3 million Fis-cal Year 2012 budget.

The majority of residents who

attended the district’s budget adoption hearing Aug. 25 op-posed the idea of using $15,600, previously set aside for land-scaping modifications, as “seed money” for potential security enhancements in Edgewater.

The three neighborhood chair-men in Edgewater had asked the board to remove the $15,600 al-together rather than using it for

security enhancements, based on feedback from homeowners in their respective neighbor-hoods.

Although many Edgewater res-idents are still on edge because of the invasions, HOA represen-tatives said most homeowners they’ve corresponded with have

Ranch CDDs approve new budgetsSupervisors in Community Development District 2 will move forward with a pilot landscaping program rather than saving money for potential security enhancements.

money talk By Pam Eubanks | News Editor

SEE CDDS / PAGE 2

SEE STRAW POLL / PAGE 9

GO LONG!

EAST COUNTY OBSERVERTHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2011 9

and agreed,” said Gary Berns, spokesper-son for the Friends of Lakewood Ranch, the group opposing incorporation efforts. “It’s been a long time and a lot of hard work.”

Representatives of the Lakewood Ranch Incorporation Study Group, the entity pushing for incorporation, said they now will put their efforts “on the shelf.”

“While we are disappointed in the re-sults of the poll, we are at the same time proud that we were able to get a very im-portant discussion started, which engaged thousands of residents,” Study Group Vice Chairman Keith Davey said. “We gave ev-erybody a chance to voice their opinion. It is what the people want. That’s what it’s all about. We did enough research to let peo-ple make an intelligent decision.”

Group Chairman Tom Thomaides agreed.

“It was quite an adventure,” he said. “I’m very proud of the team (that worked on this). I don’t think there are any regrets at all about how this was done.”

Thomaides said group members still be-lieve the case for incorporation is compel-ling, and they do not believe they promoted the idea of incorporating prematurely.

Kerkering, Barberio Managing Partner Rob Lane said he was pleased overall with the straw poll process.

“It was certainly good to give residents a chance to speak their minds,” Lane said.

Kerkering, Barberio received about 200 inquiries from Lakewood Ranch residents who did not receive ballots. Investigation showed some inquirers were not registered voters, some did not receive forwarded mail and some simply did not receive ballots.


STRAW POLL/PAGE 1

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Ranch High School football coach Anthony Littlejohn, who died in May from cancer.

CORPORATE PHILANTHROPY1. GOLD COAST EAGLE DISTRIBUTING. The

Lakewood Ranch-based Anheuser-Busch/InBev distributor supports about 400 community, non-profit and charitable events each year. The company’s Bud-weiser Hospitality Center offers a place at which organizations can host benefits and fundraisers. The company supports many organizations, including SERTOMA, Rotary Club, Kiwanis, Knights of Columbus, Junior League and more.

2. PITTSBURGH PIRATES/BRADENTON MA-RAUDERS. The Pittsburgh Pirates/Braden-ton Marauders teams have a long and rich history of philanthropy in Manatee County. Through the organization’s an-nual Pirates Charities Golf Tournament, the team raises nearly $30,000 annually for a variety of programs in Manatee. All players are required to serve 10 hours of community service each season, which results in a myriad of events throughout the community.

3. WILLIS A. SMITH CONSTRUCTION. Found-ed in 1972, Willis A. Smith Construction is the oldest construction firm in Manatee and Sarasota counties. It is a recipient of the 2010 President’s Volunteer Service Award at the Gold Level for contributing more than 2,000 hours of community service in one year. The company’s employees support dozens of organizations throughout the re-gion, including more than 10 years of sup-port for the Cancer Support Community (formerly the Wellness Community).

ENTREPRENURIAL SPIRIT1. THE POLO GRILL AND BAR. In 2007, at the

exact time when virtually every other com-pany was tightening its budget, Tommy and Jaymie Klauber opened The Polo Grill and Bar. Building on Tommy Klauber’s fam-ily’s history at The Colony Beach & Tennis Resort on Longboat Key, The Polo Grill has enjoyed success in Lakewood Ranch. The restaurant has posted steady growth in rev-enues in the last four years. The business is on pace to generate $3.2 million in 2011.

2. TIDEMARK FINANCIAL SERVICES AND IN-SURANCE. Tidemark owner and President Amanda Panico started the business at age 27 after three years as a financial pro-fessional with Prudential. Using savings she had accumulated through bonuses at Prudential, Panico launched Tidemark in September 2007, in Lakewood Ranch. To-day, the full-service financial planning firm employs four full-time employees and one part-time employee. The company report-ed annual revenues of $345,000 in 2008 and is on pace for $550,000 this year.

3. WASTE PRO OF FLORIDA (BRADENTON/SARASOTA). In May 2008, District Manager Andy Toller moved his pregnant wife and 2-year-old son into a Manatee County ho-tel room so he could open the company’s new operation in Manatee, Sarasota, Hill-sborough and Pinellas counties. That Sep-tember — in addition to hiring a full staff and readying the new Waste Pro operation — Toller purchased his family’s new home, welcomed his new son, Andrew, Sept. 17, and assumed the company’s municipal contract with Manatee County Oct. 1. Un-der Toller, Waste Pro has grown from an-nual revenues of $8.6 million in 2009 to an estimated $10.5 million this year.

SANDIES/PAGE 8

Lakewood Ranch Incorporation

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