Budget Crisis solved - Do we have any one shot wonders left for next years Budget?
We discussed it a while back but imagine my surprise when the County sold tax liens for $22m to solve the budget crisis.
Gee, I thought the unFAIR plan did but…
The liens were sold on Dec 27 (just in time) and here is the deal per the D&C.
….county finance officials sold nearly all of the tax liens tied to properties owned by delinquent property taxpayers for $22 million to a private company.
[snip]
“We really feel we got the best deal for county taxpayers,” he said. “This is an extraordinarily favorable one-shot. … We almost got it dollar for dollar.”
Four companies expressed interest, Two companies were interviewed (I suppose they submitted bids). One, based on Florida, was selected.  Geez, when I hire a contractor, I get three bids. Sounds like Monroe County got two bids.
Wonderful. So my question is this. Has the County reduced its need for $22 million dollars in the budget for goods or services it provides.
I mean this is a one shot deal. The County needed $22 million to close a gap that exists because the county is scheduled to spend $22 million more than it has.
Are we eliminating the need or will we looking for something else to sell to fill next years gap?
My guess is we’ll keep selling and profiting off of taxpayers who can’t pay their high taxes. Love that 18% penalty, such an incentive for keeping our taxes so high we can’t all pay them on time. Do I have that right? I read it and I couldn’t believe it. Can someone with tax expertise elaborate?
[...] isn’t that special. We wrote about the County selling tax liens and executing yet another one shot budget deal. In today’s D&C we discover that the [...]