.....we should be able to request clarification and technical guidance and assistance from the state's Department of Revenue if it is a matter under their purview. Right? (And when I say "when the chips are down, I am of course speaking metaphorically--not literally. No, not talking about the Joker or Poker)
Case in point: The recent initiative the county is advancing to find a more intelligent way to fund the ever growing, ever expanding budget for fire service in Escambia County while simultaneously giving a tax break to Escambia County taxpaying property owners by eliminating the MSBU for fire.
You see, because we have given significant pay increases, settled the contract with ECFR's labor union, and increased staffing for ECFR (all without raising taxes or increasing the MSBU)--we now need to find a better way to keep up with the costs of this important public safety service.
So when we brought forward the idea of replacing the MSBU with a 1/2 penny sales tax (which is permissable under state law--but also not widespread among the 67 Florida counties)--we naturally had questions. Several specific, directed, and important ones.
So we reached out for technical guidance to the Florida Department of Revenue--after first reaching out to the office of Economic and Demographic Research. EDR sent us to DOR. DOR didn't answer the phone. multiple times.
So we sent specific, detailed questions to their office of technical assistance. Specific, numbered questions that we should be able to get answers to from the agency department that handles this.
We sent a letter------- and waited. About a month later--we received this "responsive" reply. (below) Now, this letter that I am posting below gives very little guidance, a few hyper links, and cut and paste boiler-plate "information" that is comletely, totally, and 100% "non" responsive and unhelpful. Thankfully we have dedicated staff who demonstrate a can-do attitude and have expressed to me, optimistically, that they can navigate the statute and requirments without assistance (that's obviously not forthcoming) from DOR and give the board at least the option and ability to have this matter ready for addition to the general election ballot in 2024 if the BCC votes to move this idea forward. Thankfully we have staff that will not be stymied by non-responsive, non informative gobldygook from a state bureaucrat in Tallahassee that threw this thing together. Yes, when the chips are down and specific information and technical guidance and assistance was/is needed by a local government from the Tallahassee deep state---here's what we got! 😜 (And the letter writer proudly exclaims we ought to
seek assistance from EDR--whom we already reached out to and were told by them to "ask DOR!"). At this point, imagine a dog chasing his own tail......
2 comments:
Welcome to Duh Fuhrer's banana republic. This is what happens when you place sell-outs who are willing to act the fawning clown at the heads of state agencies, with the single qualifying pre-req of slavish and abject devotion to a potentate's every whim.
Wait until Zingale really gets going against Disney for Ronnie's presidential bid and the state's bond rating drops.
The worst part is, it's not as if he doesn't know how to do the job, at least in terms of presiding over a housing bubble. But he also knows he wasn't tapped as one of many placeholders in chief towards the purpose of effective governance.
Kudos to County staff on taking up the slack on this, and also for the much-needed homeless dashboard. Far better that it will be overseen by the County and the Sheriff's Department rather than the Homeless Task Force. Now if we just had a homeless HUD agent who knew how to run a proper continuum of care.
I think you find this sort of attitude/response in any bureaucracy in any state--doesn't matter the politics or the party of the Governor. Folks become hesitant to make a call over the fear of making a mistake or giving "bad advice" not a reflection on the Governor of the state--just state level "deep-state" syndrome that happens. Still very frustrating though, particularly as they put themselves out there as the gurus of technical guidance and assistance and then when asked specific questions germaine to their department--- they essentially say "we don't know....." via a fancy letter with cut-and-paste template pieces and some hyperlinks complete with multiple disclaimers.
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