How badly were you affected? I'm not talking about our recent hurricanes that hit Florida, but your recent Tax Bill. Yes, once again, non-homesteaded properties saw a 13% increase, and homesteaded properties saw the maximum of 3% allowed by law. Franklin County and, separately, our school system is rapidly converting our beautiful county into a place many can't afford. Taxpayers have an integral role to play in reining in wasteful spending.

Greetings! It has been a busy year for the Concerned Citizens of Franklin County (CCFC). Despite our meetings with county staff, commissioners, and the Sheriff, ad valorem taxes increased by another $2.4 million, plus millions more in new grants. This budget included the 5th and final year of the Evergreen Consulting Contract designed to supposedly equalize county employees' salaries to other counties. That line item increase alone is $350k for county departments, not Constitutional Officers or our schools. The net effect is that county and school employees have seen raises over the last four years exceeding inflation, sometimes by a lot! The Sheriff received a special $500k grant to plus-up his budget, which Commissioners only learned about late in the game, leading to a modest reduction in his requested budget. Every bit of the increases from all the county offices and departments were for salary increases. These were line items the county was unwilling to negotiate on.

The county budget in the past 10 years has increased from $44 million to $112 million, with employee count increasing from 164 to 192 and our population remaining essentially flat. Franklin County has seen substantial growth in housing and tourism, requiring more labor for Parks and Security. However, the growth of fee income is even higher than the growth of salaries. The county has money running out of its ears! Department heads routinely find "spare" money to make major unbudgeted purchases all the time. Franklin County is not being run as a tight ship

I continue to complement our commissioners. They remain receptive to our requests and are willing to meet individually. However, being receptive does not mean they are always good stewards of our money.

We feel that the Weems Hospital issue has been won. The county is not currently building a new facility. The county is spending $50k on a study to analyze whether to stay in the hospital business and in what ways to move forward with Weems. We believe this study will swell to $100k before it's over. We must be vigilant to ensure the county financially exits the healthcare business after spending over $25 million to keep it afloat. We are watching and don't want the public to be hoodwinked.

The county is under assault with numerous challenges on zoning and other issues. Our cherished way of life is threatened if we don't stay involved. Please consider supporting the CCFC, thereby keeping us in the fight with your non-deductible annual dues. Send your check of support to P.O Box 990, Eastpoint, FL 32328. Also include your email address on your check or, better yet, send an email to us so we can capture your email address to ensure that you stay informed on CCFC activities, and we can stay in touch. Here is the email address to use: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The CCFC makes a difference every day, leading to a Better Franklin County.

Thank you for your support.

Mason Bean

President
Concerned Citizens of Franklin County, Inc. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

www.ABetterFranklin.com
(850) 653-5571

CCFC MISSION STATEMENT

The Concerned Citizens of Franklin County serves as an advocacy group watching over our Franklin County governments to ensure that they are more open, affordable, efficient and responsive to its citizenry. The CCFC intends to hold public officials accountable for their actions in the administration of their duties and in meeting their fiduciary responsibilities to the taxpayers.

IT’S TAX TIME – HOW BADLY WERE YOU AFFECTED?

First, let me thank you all for the outpouring of support and contributions. Our unity is vital knowing that nothing will change in Franklin County until and unless the citizens demand it. It has been a busy summer and fall for the Concerned Citizens of Franklin County (CCFC). We started out on two fronts - the Budget and Weems Hospital.

THE BUDGET: You have just received your 2023 tax bill. Residents are experiencing the largest single tax increase ever. Despite meeting with county Staff, Sheriff, and Commissioners, the special interests were too great. Other than the Sheriff’s needs, the salary increases of County employees took center stage. Evergreen, an employee compensation consultant hired a couple of years ago by the County Commissioners, recommended a pay plan with incremental increases over a 5-year period. However, at the Budget Workshop, the commissioners decided to combine Years 3 and 4 to accelerate the pay increases. As a result, non-homestead properties will see a 15% increase and Homestead properties will see the maximum 3% increase. This will not end and will only grow moving forward.

I will say the CCFC is very pleased with the three most recently elected commissioners. They are receptive to our concerns and willing to meet one-on-one. These leaders do their homework so they can challenge issues and only want what’s best for Franklin County.

WEEMS HOSPITAL: The CCFC recommended to the BOCC a new Weems Advisory Board member who brings years of healthcare industry experience to that position. In addition, the CCFC has a CPA on its board who keeps a watchful eye on Weems financials. The CCFC has brought to the attention of the commissioners questionable irregularities our CPA found in them. Did you see the recent article in Apalachicola Times in the October 29th issue by Guest Columnist Michael Rindler? It’s not to be missed. Here is the link to his excellent and informed observations about our local hospital’s future: https://franklincounty.news/2023/10/29/timefor-a-new-dream-for-weems/

Mr. Rindler’s vision about Weems is exactly what the CCFC has been sharing with commissioners. For the best and most successful healthcare in Franklin County, a state-of-theart Emergency Room should be built near the population center of the county, for example on Highway 65. The majority of commissioners support the reality that politics must be taken out of our local healthcare.

The CCFC will remain vigilant to hold our elected officials accountable for a Better Franklin County. If you haven’t already, we hope you will join our efforts with your financial support. Although your membership contribution is not tax deductible, we ask for your contributions to help with the professional outsourcing we do as needed. To learn more about the CCFC and to join to support and contribute to our Mission, please visit our website at www.ABetterFranklin.com.

Thank you and best wishes for a great new year here in beautiful Franklin County.

Mason Bean, President
Concerned Citizens of Franklin County, Inc.
P.O Box 990
Eastpoint Florida 32328
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.ABetterFranklin.com
(850) 653-557

CCFC MISSION STATEMENT

The Concerned Citizens of Franklin County serves as an advocacy group watching over our Franklin County governments to ensure that they are more open, affordable, efficient and responsive to its citizenry. The CCFC intends to hold public officials accountable for their actions in the administration of their duties and in meeting their fiduciary responsibilities to the taxpayers.

Buckle you chin straps and seat belts, we are in for wild ride. It's tax time, and this ride is only going up! Look at your Trim Notice! Not just the assessment, but the money you will be expected to pay. Homestead property may only see a 3% increase, but absentee owners will see a 10% increase. There is not limit on your "Taxable Value" it will continue to escalate.

We are the Concerned Citizens of Franklin County. Our group is the watchdog to ensure that our Franklin County governments are more open and efficient.

CCFC Leadership has hit the ground running. We have met one on on with three commissioners, with positive results. Out approach will be to stay behind the scenes and feed the politicians information, so they can ask questions and challenge officials before them. Our group has brought on a CPA to out Board. This allows us to review budgets and see where there are deficiencies. Allen Feifer has remained on the board to offer is valuable advice.

Exactly what does the CCFC do?

*Throughout the year the CCFC will monitor all meetings of the County Commission. As we get interested members, we also plan to attend School Board and Weems Hospital Board meetings.

*We engage professionals to help in our efforts towards open, honest, representative governments.

CCFC maintains and operated and independant website (ABetterFranklin.com)

We will continue to ask that some meetings be help in the evenings and moved around the County so more people can attend.

We encourage the Commissioners to relax the rule of the "Speaker Card" and encourage more public comments.

We reach out through email and the Apalachicola Times and Oyster Radio frequently when taxpayers voices need to be heard.

Not it's YOUR turn! Annually, we reach out to the community for help in meeting the financial challenges to continue our work.

Please support the CCFC with your membership dues to help ensure our continued success. Please invest $50, $100, or more in our Watchdog Association to allow our work to continue. Only through your help and support will we continue to ensure good government in Franklin County.

Make your check Payable to the CCFC and mail it to P.O. Box 990, Eastpoint, FL. 32328 (Dues are not tax deductible)

Dear Member,

Have you seen the headlines in the recent edition of the Apalachicola Times? The Property Appraiser estimates a record year in property evaluations. This could possibly give the county $300 million more in increased assessments. Last year our taxes saw a 12-14% increase even with the increased values, and there was little public outrage

For the last twenty years, the Concerned Citizens of Franklin County (CCFC) has been on the front lines to hold the County Commissioners accountable and fiscally responsible. Leading the way was Allan Feifer. Allan has worked tirelessly with the County Commissioners, the School Board and Weems Hospital to analyze budgets/financials and policies to ensure the best for the citizens of our great county. Now Allan has decided to retire as President. It will take ten people to replace his talents, and I’m not sure that is enough. Allan will continue to serve on our Board of Directors.

That is where you come in. The CCFC continuously seeks new members and is currently inviting volunteers to help Board members expand oversight of various operations within the county. For example, it is hoped that interested citizens will volunteer to attend School Board, Tourist Development Council and Airport Advisory Board meetings to report on the activities and actions as they affect local taxpayers and citizens. Currently, a volunteer attends and reports to the CCFC Board on Weems Hospital Board meetings. When CCFC representatives are present at meetings, public officials act differently when they know they are being watched. So we really want you to join us.

The CCFC’s Mission Statement is:

The Concerned Citizens of Franklin County serves as an advocacy group watching over our Franklin County governments to ensure that they are more open, affordable, efficient and responsive to its citizenry. The CCFC intends to hold public officials accountable for their actions in the administration of their duties and in meeting their fiduciary responsibilities to the taxpayers.

Please join us as a CCFC member and/or volunteer to be part of the solution to help improve Franklin County government. To join, please call or email:

Mason Bean, President	Gail Riegelmayer, Secretary
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.	This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
850-653-6734	850-683-5571

www.ABetterFranklin.com

Thank you.

Mason Bean, President

Dear Readers:

Concerned Citizens of Franklin County, Inc. is seeing positive changes in county governance.

While we still have concerns about other perennial issues, here's a list of the good things we've observed at recent County Commission Meetings. They are:

• Holding Public Hearings on important Planning and Zoning/Board of Adjustment and other projects to solicit public input
• Truly "listening" to their constituents, which translates into better decision making
• Asking specific, detailed questions to fully understand the issues and details to make intelligent, thoughtful decisions
• Doing extensive research on topics to come to BOCC meetings prepared to ask the above-informed questions
• County Staff has increased its professionalism on virtually every metric
• Fewer gotchas than in the past as planning has improved
• Attempts at transparency are showing results with generally quick turnaround times for public inquiries

But we still have concerns about these ongoing issues in our county leadership:

• At recent BOCC meetings, commissioners discussed working towards economic development, creating workforce housing, improving healthcare, and managing Franklin County's growth. The CCFC has been working towards these same initiatives for years and will do what it can to help the BOCC facilitate the achievement of these plans. However, I remain concerned that the County does not have high-level decision-making ability and is frequently influenced by outside agencies and individuals to further their own agendas. We need to hire or contract with talent that can better deliver on our County's future.
• Communication with Franklin County citizens could be much improved. Understanding that non-resident property owners and retirees pay almost the entire ad valorem tax burden is imperative. County government should be expected to explain better and justify ever higher spending so that our Golden Cows won't be chased away.
• The operations and leadership of Weems Hospital need a critical review, and current explanations are a train wreck just around the bend. Although voters were promised a brand-new hospital in 2007, with less than one patient per night, as reported by Weems's internal statistics, that 2007 promise is realistically impossible to justify.
  Now, Weems is revisiting an idea it turned down cold a few years ago: constructing and operating a new Emergency Room. All we need to understand is that there is a vast difference between what Ascension Healthcare offered us regarding money, a full-service hospital system, and accredited Emergency Room physicians, and the patchwork of care that Weems offers today and likely into the future.
• Strategic Planning for the County and its future is almost entirely absent. Perhaps it is beyond the current internal resources of the County. Yet, without such, we will likely see ourselves whipsawed by the next economic downturn, future regulations, or ever-increasing unfunded mandates.
• Control of the county budget and resources is of great concern to the CCFC, with County spending up double digits each year. Grant money may never be as plentiful as it was during Covid and after the infusion of millions of dollars in federal support. The County has significant trouble forecasting its budget concerning economic trends that could explode ad valorem taxes and force substantial cutbacks.
  Often, grants pay additional employees for the specific period and purpose covered by the grant. However, after the grant period runs out, the County is left with additional ongoing employee salaries and costs, contributing to a ballooning budget.
• The County has established an unnecessarily harsh Public Engagement policy. We'd like to see more back-and-forth communication as appropriate during meetings where issues directly impact taxpayers, some evening meetings to allow working people to attend, and meetings held throughout the County closer to where people live.

Regarding the CCFC: If you have any questions or concerns, we encourage you to review our established goals at our website, www.ABetterFranklin.com. If we can help you in any way to pursue those goals, please get in touch with us!

The CCFC has been organized on behalf of our County for both taxpayers and leadership. We hope you will help support the CCFC as it continues to work hard for a better, more representative, and transparent government for Franklin County. You can support our efforts through your membership dues (not tax-deductible due to our filing status)

Please send your contributions to the address below. Your funds will be used as advocacy tools for a better Franklin County government.

Thank you.

Allan J. Feifer

President
Concerned Citizens of Franklin County, Inc.
Concerned Citizens of Franklin County, Inc.
P.O. Box 990
Eastpoint, Florida 32328
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ABetterFranklin.com
(850) 653-5571

Commissioner Contacts:

Commissioner Cheryl Sanders - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 850-697-2534

Commissioner Ottice Amison - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 850-653-7860

Chairman Ricky Jones - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 850-670-4427

Commissioner Noah Lockley - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 850-653-4452

Commissioner Jessica Ward - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 850-323-0325

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Change is in the Air

Dear Readers:

Voters turned away both a freshman and a longtime Commissioner in last month’s election. It should now be obvious that people voted for change. Two Commissioners were up for re-election and two were shot down hard.

I have been regularly attending and reporting on county commission meetings for almost twenty years. I believe there were several reasons for the outcome of this election. Diminished public trust, the decisions county leadership has taken, higher taxes for many, and, a lack of openness to name a few. The CCFC got started many years ago at another time when sitting Commissioners thought there would be no end to future large tax increases, and, they spent and taxed accordingly.

But then, widespread spending cutbacks became necessary. Investors left the county, property values cratered and conflicts occurred between a significant number of citizens and county leadership. State leadership began to see Franklin County as a problem child since we were trailing in terms of economic development, educational attainment, and personal income.

Today, the demand for change expressed by the voters gave citizens as well as the CCFC a new bite at the apple. One new Commissioner is fired up and full of high energy on behalf of the county and the returning Commissioner brings an excellent institutional county memory together with, crucial statewide connections, strong leadership skills, and tenacity. Together, these new commissioners have the potential to carve a better, more productive, and more responsive path forward.

They also speak about having a vision. But, just what should that vision be or include? Here are a few suggestions that could make an important difference for the citizens of Franklin County and would be an easy and good place to start:

1. Invite the citizens back to county meetings. Make it friendly. Get rid of the rule preventing Commissioners from asking a question or making a comment during Citizen's Comments. No stern or formal requirements should allow dialog between the speaker and the Commission. Let’s increase the number of citizens engaging with the commissioners at their meetings from none to 3 citizens and get back to 5-10 citizens, as it was in the past.
2. Have meetings at convenient times and places for our citizens.
3. Finalize the agenda the Friday before so the People can engage with Commissioners before the meeting and understand what will be discussed.
4. Scrap the current county engagement policy. Get rid of the Speakers Card requirement that is supposed to be delivered in advance of a meeting when currently, the agenda is not finalized nor publicized until the last minute.
5. Establish independent Advisory Boards for vital assets or priorities so that the Commission can hear fresh opinions from an often very knowledgeable public. There is potential for a much-needed Airport Advisory Board, Workforce Housing Council, and a real Economic Development Council to help better plan for the future of the county.
6. Consider the use of a limited Consent Agenda that could result in shortened meetings. Franklin County has grown past the point of discussing often trivial matters for small dollars or policies that could be better managed. As is done elsewhere, with great success, any Commissioner could pull an item from the Consent Agenda and it will then be discussed as before. This should benefit everyone.

Sometimes opportunities to change static systems only come around once in a great while. The election results have shown that voters want change and that change may allow us to build out better. We are living in a time of great economic uncertainty. Prudent, proactive leadership at our local level is needed now more than ever. I hope you will engage with your own Commissioner and share your thoughts and perhaps discuss some of ours.

Change is inevitable. Nothing that lives can remain static forever. Franklin County must preserve what works and is special while looking to a future that will inevitably come, wanted or not. If we don’t meet those challenges now, then when?

As to the CCFC: If you have any questions or concerns, or if we can help you in any way in pursuit of our established goals, please reach out to us! Join us at our website at www.ABetterFranklin.com

We hope you will help support the CCFC as it continues the battle for a better, more representative, and transparent government for Franklin County. You can support our efforts through your membership dues, (not tax deductible). Our annual membership drive is underway this month! Please send your contributions to the address below.

Thank you.

Allan J. Feifer

President
Concerned Citizens of Franklin County, Inc.
Concerned Citizens of Franklin County, Inc.
P.O. Box 990
Eastpoint, Florida 32328
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ABetterFranklin.com
(850) 653-5571

Commissioner Contacts:

Commissioner Cheryl Sanders - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 850-697-2534

Commissioner Ottice Amison - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 850-653-7860

Commissioner Ricky Jones - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 850-670-4427

Chairman Noah Lockley - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 850-653-4452

Commissioner Jessica Ward - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 850-323-0325

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A Special Message to Franklin County Property Owners:

Donations, which are not tax-deductible, may be sent to the address below.We have a country today in so much turmoil that trivial things like your local taxes don’t seem to rise to the level of concern, study, or action.

The Franklin County Board of Commissioners and the School Board are unwittingly cruel. How? They seemingly have no concern for what large tax increases may cause financial strain to some people and may put some non-homestead property owners in danger of losing their dreams. Our local government is enjoying a bonanza of increased tax revenues, grant money, and Covid money. The Franklin County School District also is seeing its coffers swell as well, even as the number of students is near historic lows and yet another tax increase is being requested. In addition, the Charter School is still not on an equal footing with the K-12.

In the county, employees are seeing the largest pay increases in history and headcounts are rising. Yet this wealth effect is not translating over to the rest of us. We are overrun with poverty, drugs, and a lack of economic opportunity.

We’re not sure, of course, but with experts predicting a recession, this year might have seen the peak of property value increases for now. Franklin County is not immune to a recession.

We, as the CCFC, remain very concerned with several areas within county government:

1. Our perennial concerns with Weems Hospital. Always in perpetual crisis, Weems continues to lose monies. The Hospital Board meeting in September was canceled amid an inability to provide accurate and up-to-date financials. The most recent Chief Financial Officer recently walked out without notice.
2. 2. The Board of Commissioners continues to be too insular and self-serving. Although mouthing promises of economic development, real planning for growth and development, and even code enforcement, important matters rarely, if ever, get resolved.
3. We see continued growth in county government staffing. Look back twenty years, for example, to see that there was no Tourist Development Council. Today, its multi-million-dollar budget has its own staff and lacks the scrutiny and financial controls such public monies deserve. We see unfettered growth in certain Constitutional Officer's budgets, including padding of staff, that we all pay for. Commissioners have a Constitutional responsibility to oversee all Constitutional budgets yet they ignore that responsibility.
4. Commissioners regularly demonstrate a negative attitude towards the citizens they are sworn to serve which is off-putting, and, too often disrespectful. Artificial barriers have been created to obstruct participation in local government. Handicapped individuals have trouble entering Commission Chambers. This failure to install an assistive door has been brought up to Commissioners previously.
5. Despite the efforts of our excellent Sheriff, Franklin County remains somewhat lawless and reckless with ordinances being flouted including inappropriate homestead designations, improperly zoned properties, and the unexplained financial troubles at Lanark Village St James VFD. The ongoing good old-boy structure of the commission discourages proactive thinking and action.

Let me share with you some of this year’s CCFC efforts made to achieve transparency, seek fiscal responsibility and fair and accountable government in Franklin County.

1. Our most visible function is to answer questions from members. We receive and appreciate taxpayer feedback from the many people who call, write or just spread our words on behalf of good government.
2. We engage professionals (lawyers, investigators, additional accountants) to help in our efforts towards open, honest, representative government for Franklin County.
3. CCFC maintains and operates an independent website (www.ABetterFranklin.com). In addition, we incur mailing and other expenses to bring taxpayers the news, behaviors, decisions, and actions of local leadership, including for County Commissioners, elected Constitutional officers, and others. Also, visit our Facebook page and “Like” us and/or “Follow” us to always be in the know!
4. We have attended all online County Commission Meetings in 2022. When appropriate (under unreasonably restrictive Public Comment rules) we speak up with facts, concerns, and alternatives on matters we believe to be important.
5. We analyze and actively participate in the County’s budget process. We make recommendations and suggestions that would allow officials to reduce their spending, and in that way, help to keep taxes as low as possible. Unfortunately, too often the commissioners ignore our suggestions. We are confident that without the CCFC’s continued oversight, inquiries, and the spotlight we place on the commissioners’ actions and decisions, the county’s budget and spending would be even more bloated. Commissioners know that, because the CCFC exists and exposes what they would rather the public did not know, commissioners must work harder to justify their actions. Ultimately, they know the public is watching and being informed.
6. The CCFC researches best business practices, freely sharing them with appropriate officials.
7. We have repeatedly asked that some meetings be held in the evenings and return to some being held in Carrabelle.
8. We attend Hospital Board Meetings to hear reports and budget facts as presented. We push for accountability and logic in the expenditures for Hospital operations. We also review and analyze Weems’ financial statements whenever hospital management makes them available.
9. We reach out through emails and messages to the Apalachicola Times frequently when taxpayer voices need to be heard.

Please feel free to share this letter with your friends; encourage them to learn more about the work of the Concerned Citizens and to join the CCFC as new members. It is our strength of numbers and the financial support you provide that ensures someone is watching.

Annually, we reach out to the community for help in meeting the financial challenges of continuing our work.

Please support the CCFC with your membership dues to help ensure our continued success. Please invest $50, $100, or more in our Watchdog Association to allow our work to continue. Only through your help and support will we continue to ensure that good government in Franklin County can and will become a reality.

Make your check payable to the CCFC and mail it to P.O. Box 990, Eastpoint Florida 32328. (Dues are not tax deductible)

Please include your email address on your check to ensure you receive our communications and updates.

Thank you for your generous support.

Sincerely,
Allan J. Feifer

President
Concerned Citizens of Franklin County, Inc.

Commissioner Contacts:

Commissioner Bert Boldt - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 519-4966

Commissioner Smokey Parrish - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-8790

Commissioner Ricky Jones - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-8861

Chairman Noah Lockley - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-4452

Commissioner Jessica Ward - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-9783

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URGENT! - Crunch Time

Dear Readers:

This Tuesday, September 6th at 5:15, the County Commission will hold the first of two Budget Adoption Hearings at the Courthouse Annex Building. The first Hearing is always the most important of the two. At this point, we expect little or no movement from the original tentative budget presented by the Commission. This is especially true without a major turnout by Franklin County Citizens. It is vitally important that our Commission and staff know that their constituents are watching their activities, plans, budgets and how they’re spending your tax money!

Look at your TRIM Notice. Examine not just your assessment, but the taxes you will be expected to pay. If you are homesteaded, that’s great for now. But your taxes will go up each year by another 3% until your Taxable Value and Your Just Value are the same. As our Property Appraiser Rhonda Skipper wrote to me: “If you have a non-Homestead parcel that you have owned for one full tax year, the market has NO limit. However, the taxable amount can only increase 10% per year, excluding the school portion of your taxes and any new additions to your parcel such as, for example, new construction, or additional land added to the original parcel.” If you’re a business or are non- homesteaded, you’ll be experiencing the greatest tax increase.

Do you accept the taxes that you’re being assessed? Then do nothing. If you think the County Commissioners need to revisit their spending and sharpen their pencil, then have your voice heard and either attend the Hearing or contact your commissioners. Your silence sends the message that their spending is acceptable. If you’re not engaged nor participate, then expect that nothing will change and your taxes will increase. Everyone must do his/her part. It will take grassroots critical mass to get the commissioners’ attention. Ask the commissioners to use the “rollback” rate to keep their spending at this year’s level.

Folks, we have problems with several budget-busting aspects of the budget. There is little budget rigor evident. Next year, with the likelihood of a recession, we may see property values decline which will make paying your taxes even more onerous. This should be an ominous concern for a county on the wrong side of the growth curve.

Folks, rapid and usually unnecessary increases in our local government spending get you nothing other than higher taxes. If you agree, please make your voices heard. Come to Tuesday’s meeting and let our commissioners know that we want them to live within their means. That is especially so during these inflationary times that are putting so many under great financial stress. If you’re unable to attend the Hearing in person, please email or call the commissioners and, please send me a copy or tell me what Commissioners told you. Their contact information is below my signature.

Can’t attend in person? Here’s the link to participate via Zoom: Click Here

If you have any questions or concerns, or if we can help you in any way in pursuit of our established goals, please reach out to us! And please help support the CCFC as it continues the battle for a better, more representative, and transparent government. Donations, which are not tax-deductible, may be sent to the address below.

Thank you.

Allan J. Feifer

President
Concerned Citizens of Franklin County, Inc.
P.O Box 990
Eastpoint, Florida 32328
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
ABetterFranklin.com
(850) 653-5571

Commissioner Contacts:

Commissioner Bert Boldt - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 519-4966

Commissioner Smokey Parrish - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-8790

Commissioner Ricky Jones - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-8861

Chairman Noah Lockley - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-4452

Commissioner Jessica Ward - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-9783

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Dear Readers:

Sometimes these pieces write themselves and this is one of them. Having been involved in the Franklin County budget process for about 20 years, I’m very familiar with both the process and politics of budget making. Commissioners hate to be seen as tax raisers but their implicit loyalty to their employees trumps their concern for you. Being a politician means you belong to an exclusive club. It shouldn’t be that way

TRIM Notices should be in your hands right about now. You will likely see a significant increase in your assessment. Mine went up a mind-boggling 40% and with the county millage rate currently projected to be the same as last year; that translates into a 40% increase in county taxes if I was not homesteaded. What the heck is going on? Let me tell you a story.

Covid. But not the way you might think. Covid barely moved the expense meter in our county for either the county itself, the school system, or Weems Hospital. Sure, there were some extra expenses But, Uncle Sam anticipated that and way over delivered with the Cares Act, the American Rescue Plan, and for schools ESSER relief funds which were doled out as follows:

• The County received approximately $5 million
• The School System received approximately $5.3 million
• Weems Hospital received approximately $3 million

That’s a lot of money! And, they spent every dime they could on normal operations, capital costs, and yes, even a few dollars for direct Covid costs. Now, these sources are drying up and the great wealth every one of these entities felt with these enrichments is seeking a new source of money. That’s where you come in. The County is proposing a new budget that brings in another $1.8 million in new spending. Coincidentally, the School System wants another $1.5 million and Weems expenses are up approximately 30% from three years ago. We don’t have accurate and up-to-date numbers from Weems because the Chief Financial Officer quit without notice last month (the 7th CFO in the last 10 plus years) and the last Weems financials are from last April and they are highly suspect.

I witnessed more capital spending on both needed and unneeded items in the last two years than perhaps in the last five. That’s what money burning a hole in your pocket does. Some of that spending was wasted, especially at Weems.

What I am asking each of you to do is to look at your TRIM Notice when you get it and then get on the phone and tell your elected leaders at the County and School System to take that pencil they have, turn it around and start erasing spending. (Below my signature is their contact information) Do you remember the movie “The Matrix”? That’s where you are given a choice of taking a blue pill and you will be blissful forever after or taking the Red pill and see things for what they truly are.

The County took the blue pill last year and put its Compensation System on autopilot and steroids. I had one employee tell me he is looking at a $ 10,000-a-year raise in the new pay plan. He’s not alone! The county is phasing in a massive pay increase over several years. This year’s employee compensation increase to the budget is for an additional $350,000 for about 187 employees after a sizzling increase last year. And, Cost of Living raises are built in on top of that!

The School System is asking for another ½ cent sales tax for CAPEX, i.e., capital spending on the November ballot that will raise another $1.2 million. But wait, not factored into their capital spending plans is that the School System is retiring its K-12 School Note, which gives them another $1.5 million back, and additionally, they have over $2 million on hand in their Capital Account at present. None of this has been explained. The CCFC has looked at the numbers and the Capital Spending requests and they are way overfunded for their stated goals. I must point out though that the CCFC Board has decided not to take a position on the School Systems ballot initiative.

Not to kick a dead horse, but if the school systems budget is approved as is, they will take in $22.4 million for approximately 802 students in the K-12 and 350 students at the ABC school (per the Superintendent). Ad Valorem proceeds are not shared per student with the majority of those funds being retained by the K-12. We will be spending over $20,000 per student at the K-12 if this budget is enacted. I believe we are not getting our money's worth.

The Big Picture. We have entered a recession. Property values have likely peaked for now and it would not take much to see the County Tax Digest be significantly reduced next year. What then? Will we have a repeat of the last time when the county had to cut jobs, reduce services and raise the millage rate yet again? No one seems to examine the budget in detail or do any forecasting.

Please consider taking the Red Pill with me. I’d rather know the truth than listen to a politician explain away this massive increase in spending as ‘prudent’ oversight. Think you are protected by the Save Our Homes Amendment? Only temporarily, as thousands of people found out last time. Your 3% increase will occur over and over again until you catch up with your assessed value even as property values decline. SOH only delays your increase; it does not eliminate it.

Now it's your turn! I’d love to hear your opinion.

If you have any questions or concerns, or if we can help you in any way in pursuit of our established goals, please reach out to us! And please help support the CCFC as it continues the battle for a better, more representative, and transparent government. Donations, which are not tax-deductible, may be sent to the address below.

Thank you.

Allan J. Feifer

President
Concerned Citizens of Franklin County, Inc.
P.O Box 990
Eastpoint, Florida 32328
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
ABetterFranklin.com
(850) 653-5571

Commissioner Contacts:

Commissioner Bert Boldt - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 519-4966

Commissioner Smokey Parrish - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-8790

Commissioner Ricky Jones - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-8861

Chairman Noah Lockley - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-4452

Commissioner Jessica Ward - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-9783

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Dear Readers:

County taxes have been going up (that is above the rollback rate) every year for the last 8 years as property values continually rise. With this year’s Tax Digest rising around another 6%, County Officials will claim once again that they are great stewards of the public’s money by not raising the millage rate. While at the same time, taking more of your money in taxes this year vs. last year by not selecting the rollback rate. Various dynamics are working together that cause government costs to rise even as they are the beneficiary of more money in grants than they have ever experienced.

Next month, in the second half of July, the county will hold its annual Budget Workshop once again. And, as before, Commissioners have not expressed guidance to the Finance Department to keep the spending down to as close to current spending as possible. The growth of Franklin County Government should be easily evident in the table below:
 

Year	Final Budget	Adjusted for Actual Operational Outlays	Operational Increase %
2017/2018	52,254,490	$38.37 million	Base Year
2018/2019	50,838,272	$38.54 million	+ 0.44
2019/2020	58,679,230	$40.38 million	+ 5.20
2020/2021	62,287,079	$42.48 million	+2.92
2021/2022	77,344,340	$43.72 million	+4.57

There’s no denying it. Franklin County has been on a spending spree with more in the pipeline driving costs each year. But, there’s more to the story than we can impart in this article. Those large ‘Final Budget’ numbers reflect vast increases in Grant, i.e. free money, except it’s never really free.

Another part of the reason budgets exploded was the millions of dollars the county and Weems received due to Covid but that was largely unnecessary. But what I’d like to remind commissioners once again, is, that there is no free lunch. County expenses to maintain all those shiny new things bought must be maintained forever with your tax money driving future demands for every higher government cost.

Labor costs have leaped in recent years with the majority of county employees, including Constitutional employees receiving hefty increases tied neither to productivity nor to meeting what a “market rate” is here in this county. When you talk budget and personnel, the Sheriff has the largest budget, and for good reason. He’s one of the primary faces of government. I have had discussions with the Sheriff in the runup to this year’s budget cycle. He’s indicated that he plans to add four new Deputies in the new budget primarily for a greater presence on our roads. The CCFC supports this action and notes that in comparison, Wakulla County has a smaller land mass to patrol but has twice the sworn officers. Granted, they also have almost three times the population we do, but frequently, on summer weekends, we have an additional 20,000 people on top of our normal population load.

We believe that, while the county did a salary survey comparing salaries, benefits, and job descriptions, they inadvertently hopped on a runaway train. When salaries were raised here, Wakulla raised theirs as well as did other counties. Not because of Franklin’s actions only, but in a kind of arms race. Each county keeps trying to outdo the next, continually pushing wages higher. This is a “keeping up with the Jone’s” scenario.

I think the time has come to stop this kind of one-upmanship and let the market tell us what the right salaries are. Go by the number of county positions that go unfilled, rather than manufacturing numbers that don’t necessarily mean anything. With heavy government benefits, guaranteed pensions, cost of living raises, a relaxed work environment, and the best job security of anyone; why have wages risen so far and so fast above what ordinary citizens can make? Resentment and a desire to find a way onto the gravy train is where we have arrived. Have you seen how many families have multiple relatives on the county and school payrolls? I’m sorry if that ruffles feathers. It’s just a fact. County employment should be spread far and wide, instead. Not even some Commissioners are immune to this issue. It may be legal, but it has a strong whiff of corruption.

While salaries make up the lion’s share of County costs, there are other long-neglected points to consider. Several of these items deserve a closer look.

• Recently, there have been several requests for project bids that have come up with only a single bidder. You can bet that costs are higher with only a single bidder. The county purchases millions of dollars a year in products and services. The CCFC believes it's time the county hires an incentive-based Manager to oversee the entire purchasing process and who will also scour all county budgets for inefficiencies. This ensures higher scrutiny of purchases but also might help us to discover where we are overbudgeting each year which the CCFC believes is a significant problem.
• The lack of vision by the County Commission. There is no overarching process for positioning the county on several fronts: Tourism, Economic Development, and Affordable Housing come to mind, for example. The county would be wellserved to move toward an annual process that positions the county for future growth and development. Too often, many things that the county suddenly presents in a meeting come as a surprise to everyone listening. Agendas lack context and an ability to anticipate some of these major items. This needs to cease.
• Improving governance. The lack of a professional manager overseeing the dayto-day operations of the county is both inefficient and political. Without a doubt, a professional manager could be tasked with creating efficiencies and meeting goals that simply are not on the table at this time. In essence, you don’t know what you don’t know.
• A critical review of Weems is long overdue. How has Weems faired under Aliant Management since its inception? Has the financial needle been effectively moved? Is Weems competitive with other hospitals? Are the citizens of Franklin County getting value for the money spent? Are we losing more lives than we should when considering patients that are transferred who have bad outcomes? We don’t think so.

There’s always more, but our time and yours are limited. We hope that each of you thinks about these issues and urges your commissioners to step up their game or retire.

It’s your money! And remember, we have an election this November.

Now it's your turn! I’d love to hear your opinion.

If you have any questions or concerns, or if we can help you in any way in pursuit of our established goals, please reach out to us! And please help support the CCFC as it continues the battle for a better, more representative, and transparent government. Donations, which are not tax-deductible, may be sent to the address below.

Thank you.

Allan J. Feifer

President
Concerned Citizens of Franklin County, Inc.
P.O Box 990
Eastpoint, Florida 32328
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
ABetterFranklin.com
(850) 653-5571

“The Concerned Citizens of Franklin County, Inc. serves as a citizens’ advocate to ensure that our Franklin County governments are more open, affordable, efficient, and responsive to our citizens. The organization seeks to hold public officials accountable for their actions in the administration of their duties and in their fiduciary responsibilities to the taxpayers.”

Commissioner Contacts:

Commissioner Bert Boldt - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 519-4966

Commissioner Smokey Parrish - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-8790

Commissioner Ricky Jones - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-8861

Chairman Noah Lockley - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-4452

Commissioner Jessica Ward - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-9783

Please feel free to redistribute this email to your friends!

Dear Readers:

Last month, the Florida Legislature did something remarkable. It punished ostensibly family-friendly Disney for its stridently Woke policies This is not a straightforward issue either. My wife and I just got back from a trip to Mouse Land. We saw some of the issues that could cause rancor with many conservative Franklin County residents. The word “Diversity” slipped out in way too many attractions. Yes, we heard the term “birthing parents” used at one attraction at the park, the flying of Gay Flags, and climate change predictions that would scare any 4-year-old to his/her core. This is not the main story today though. It’s the aftermath of the Governor and then the Legislature’s actions that have swept up Eastpoint Water and Sewer into controversy. Five other taxing districts are also set to expire along with Disney’s Reedy Creek District. Let’s talk about Eastpoint Water and Sewer District for a moment (EPWS).

Right off the bat, I want to state that I have not studied EPWS for several years. I have read their current year budget which seems to comport with past budgets and financial statements I’ve read in the past. With the information I have at the moment; EPWS is financially shaky. Its stated financial reserve is $1,000. Meaning that if everything goes perfectly, they can pay their bills and break even. If not....? Let’s compare that to the much smaller Alligator Point Water Resource District with a reserve of over $1.3 million, or Carrabelle Water and Sewer with more than $2 million. Think there might be problems?

Now, here’s the real issue. The county has had a hankering for at least the last 10 years to create a regional water and sewer authority to replace all the existing agencies and even privately held Water Management Services on SGI that provides water to the Island. The attempt to appoint a Water Czar previously was not successful mostly due to a lack of consensus by the BOCC and many detractors. However, among the several possibilities for a threatened EPWS is a plan, now just in the consideration stage of resurrecting that old plan and ultimately replacing the existing providers.

What are the pros and cons? To the good, centralized policies, billing, pricing, and perhaps universal access could be good things. To the bad, a loss of local control and accountability that exists at present, higher cost of service would be likely, and the big one...this could lead to universal sewer. Environmentalists love universal sewer as protection for our beaches. Developers love sewers to justify housing densification to achieve greater profits. Now let me share another scary topic.

At the final meeting of the County Commission in April, there was a discussion by the Commission to change the current land use policy of 1 house per acre on land which is not presently platted for higher densities. The discussion also included allowing a reduction in the size of houses from the current county minimum of 1,000 sq ft to 750 sq ft; ostensibly to allow for so-called ‘affordable’ homes. As a former builder, I can state with reasonable assurance that the cost difference for dropping 250 sq ft, all other things being equal, i.e., number of bedrooms and baths being the same, would be about $6,250 +- When wrapped up into a mortgage, that changes the cost to the borrower about $40 a month. Not a material change to my mind for a significant loss of privacy and resale value.

Well, what about the land, you might ask? High-Density lots generally cost more per sq ft of land area due to it what it takes to increase density. Additional costs like sewer tap fees, fences, additional engineering and approvals, and other development costs all add up. The net effect is that lower-cost sewer-served rural land like we have here does not materially reduce delivered home costs.

So, who wins and who loses with smaller houses and higher densities? The Developer does. There is a direct link between denser land development and the cost to develop a project. Over the long-term, sewer and public policy will inevitably create smaller lots with maxed-out home sizes if this change comes to pass. So, the problem of affordability is not fixed while we could lose that special place that Franklin County is.

The availability of sewer on Alligator Point and St George Island will result in long-term harm. Here on Alligator Point, there was a proposal for one new development to put in an oversized AWWT (Advanced Waste Water Treatment) sewer plant that could allow for the “hooking on” of area properties. Some of these property owners even jumped the gun, asking for variances to allow them to split their lots ahead of any official zoning change. This action disclosed a picture of the future, allowing for a head’s up of what was to come if sewer became available. That AWWT project thankfully never came to fruition.

Politicians love crises. It gives them the ability to do things that ordinarily they’d never be able to do. With the above two crises on the table, we predict that Franklin County may find it too irresistible not to reach for the golden ring. How the perception of largely good but unschooled (in city planning and urban development) Commissioners might think this is a good thing for Franklin County is understandable. While in reality, this is how places like Panama City, and Destin got off the ground. Sewer extension is the enemy, especially for barrier islands. For Franklin County as a whole, it will be the death of childhood memories and a major change to the current draw that brings so many people here who seek a glimpse of Old Florida that still lives on as the “Forgotten Coast” like nowhere else in Florida.

It's your turn! I’d love to hear your opinion.

If you have any questions or concerns, or we can help you in any way in pursuit of our established goals, please reach out to us! And please help support the CCFC as it continues the battle for a better, more representative, and transparent government. Donations, which are not tax-deductible, may be sent to the address below.

Thank you.

Allan J. Feifer

President
Concerned Citizens of Franklin County, Inc.
P.O Box 990
Eastpoint, Florida 32328
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
ABetterFranklin.com
(850) 653-5571

“The Concerned Citizens of Franklin County, Inc. serves as a citizens’ advocate to ensure that our Franklin County governments are more open, affordable, efficient, and responsive to our citizens. The organization seeks to hold public officials accountable for their actions in the administration of their duties and in their fiduciary responsibilities to the taxpayers.”

Commissioner Contacts:

Commissioner Bert Boldt - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 519-4966

Commissioner Smokey Parrish - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-8790

Commissioner Ricky Jones - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-8861

Chairman Noah Lockley - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-4452

Commissioner Jessica Ward - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-9783

Please feel free to redistribute this email to your friends!

Dear Readers:

I want to tell you a tale today of why you must continue to be suspicious of government. This is true, be it Franklin County, our School System, State or Federal government. I know I am not alone in this thinking. The demands for ever more money will almost always outstrip any increase in your income. The first part of today’s message is some history. Then I’ll get more specific.

The US government spends money it does not have like a drunken sailor on its first liberty in six months. Whether hearing numbers expressed in the millions, billions or trillions, the numbers are too large for most of us to comprehend. Large numbers of people tune out as they can’t understand those incredibly large numbers continually being thrown around. The problem is it's just not our national government, but every level of government is spending money beyond their means. This runs the gamut from inflated county budgets to over-the-top state budgets, to finally, the United States budget itself. This later, is no longer a budget at all, just a make-believe set of numbers that is supposed to comfort us that somewhere, somehow, the green-eyeshade people are keeping the numbers in check and balancing the budget.

No such luck.

The problem we are confronting is that government runs its own Ponzi scheme. Al Capone would see through the scam right away. He’d see the various transfer of monies from the Mob (US Government) to Judges, Police Departments, and Politicians (state and local governments) as nothing more than the price of doing business to achieve a certain level of protection through association. It wasn’t always this way. Something happened along the way that made all of this sleight-of-hand possible.

I believe it was four things:

• The absence of term limits
• The 17th Amendment
• Federal Revenue Sharing
• The lack of a Balanced Budget Amendment

I go into much more detail on the above in my weekly blogs at www.1plus1equals2.com if you are interested. But, back to Franklin County.

Like many things in life, there are governing principles that help you understand the how and why of all the moving pieces that at first are just baffling. But, if it is, understand that government exists principally for those who have jobs and political positions within those entities and that the term ‘Public Servant’ largely no longer applies, then things start to make sense. It must be said that many people working in Franklin County government want to believe they are real Public Servants and work hard in their vital roles. But they are sucked up, like so much dust in a whirlwind into a system that promotes internal loyalty to each other –even more than to their constituents- and onto a path that can lead to higher levels of comfort and security, not available to the majority of the citizens who live here.

Strong words. Let me put some meat on the bone so you can decide if my assertions are nothing more than hyperbole:

1. Weems Hospital. The definition of a hospital is:
   
   
   • “An institution which is managed, staffed and equipped for providing healthcare services, including inpatient care, surgery, emergent, and urgent care, and has facilities for the diagnosis and treatment of disease.”
   
   
   • Weems provides basic emergency services utilizing a contracted Emergency Medical company that also acts on occasion as the hospitalist. Most of these Doctors, if not all are just General Practitioners, not Emergency Medical specialists. Weems performs no regular surgery, has no specialists like a Radiologist on staff or providers for any other services expected at real hospitals. Weems loses millions of operating dollars a year and depends on sales tax money and many, many undependable grants to fill in their extensive financial gaps, while still providing only minimal services to patients. That economic fact that has not changed in the past year is that high-priced Alliant consulting has been involved. We believe your chances of dying at Weems under many life- threatening scenarios are much greater than at other full-service hospitals.
     
   
   
   • Why does it exist then? Weems averages less than one inpatient per day, by their own statistics. The facility has become a very expensive county jobs program for well over a hundred people. Commissioners have traded a jobs program vs. better healthcare and positive outcomes in Franklin County. Don’t let them fool you on that point and the even bigger lie that a long-promised new hospital will turn anything around. That will just cost more.


2. County Pay
   
   
   • The average county employee received a 10-20 percent raise this year on average with built-in increases coming next year and the year after to reach “parity” with other similar counties. At least that’s the story. Franklin County employees, especially Constitutionals are in some cases, overstaffed and overpaid for the number of hours worked and the benefits packages they receive. Plus, for many, their jobs are essentially lifetime employment.
   
   
   • It’s great if you can get it, but what have we done? Everyone can’t work for the county or the similarly highly paid failing school system. The average pay of a County employee is well over $40,000 a year, plus a benefits package equal to another $10-$15 thousand a year on top of that. In a supposedly poor county
   
   
3. Transparency:
   
   
   • This is the drum that the CCFC bangs loudly and continually. Three of our Commissioners strongly frustrate Open Government. Frankly, I believe they should call their Public Engagement Policy the ‘Allan Feifer Disengagement Policy’ instead since it was designed to effectively silence appropriate public discourse. The county commission often pursues anti-constituent policies and decisions that don’t make sense or may even have a whiff of corruption. Yet now, hardly anyone speaks at county commission meetings. Compare and contrast that to Gulf and Wakulla counties that frequently have 10-20 speakers during their Public Comments section of a meeting vs. the typical 0-3 at ours. This Franklin County's Public Engagement policy stinks and all of us are losing out when the county conducts business with minimal citizen input or oversight. It is evident that the Florida Attorney General’s policy on public access is not being followed here, at least in spirit.
   
   
   • “Every meeting of any board, commission, agency or authority of a municipality should be a marketplace of ideas, so that the governmental agency may have sufficient input from the citizens who are going to be affected by the subsequent action of the municipality.” 10-910_JurisIni_ada PDF
   
   

I could go on, but space does not allow it. The Franklin County budget now stands at over $77 million a year. Franklin County's finances are no longer quite so poor and stretched thin as it once was. And yet, Poverty in Franklin County is on display for all to see. Just drive a street or two off of 98 and prepare to be shocked if you haven’t already.

I have been head of this Association for more than 20 years. There have been real improvements in some policies thanks to a couple of good hires recently. What has not changed is that our county is still run inefficiently, with too strong a dependence on the personalities of sitting Commissioners and Constitutional Officers who run their own fiefdoms instead of doing what is right for all county citizens and taxpayers.

A firm example; with all the rhetoric commissioners spout about Alligator Point being such a drain on the county, would you believe that the reality is the county has not paved a single road with organic county gas tax money in over 45 years? Similar problems exist on St. George Island and other less politically powerful, but high taxpaying areas of the county. SGI, Alligator Point, and a couple of other areas where “outsiders” sometimes live, provide the vast majority of tax revenues to Franklin county. Isn’t it time that the county willingly spends some of the incoming Ad Valorem money in A manner fairer to taxpayers?

I often state we get the government we deserve. I hope you will take the time to become more involved. Support good government and good candidates. From Franklin County to the world at large, the evidence of our disengagement stares us in the face.

We must do better!

If you have any questions, concerns, or we can help you in any way, please reach out to us! And please help support the CCFC as it continues the battle for a better, more representative, and transparent government

Thank you.

Allan J. Feifer

President
Concerned Citizens of Franklin County, Inc.
P.O Box 990
Eastpoint, Florida 32328
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
ABetterFranklin.com
(850) 653-5571

“The Concerned Citizens of Franklin County, Inc. serves as a citizens’ advocate to ensure that our Franklin County governments are more open, affordable, efficient, and responsive to our citizens. The organization seeks to hold public officials accountable for their actions in the administration of their duties and in their fiduciary responsibilities to the taxpayers.”

Commissioner Contacts:

Commissioner Bert Boldt - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 519-4966

Commissioner Smokey Parrish - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-8790

Commissioner Ricky Jones - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-8861

Chairman Noah Lockley - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-4452

Commissioner Jessica Ward - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-9783

Please feel free to redistribute this email to your friends!

Dear Readers:

Both Franklin County Board of Commissioners and the Franklin County School Board ostensibly function for the good of the people. Government, in general, is a necessary evil; good government is a blessing. Like most things in life, there’s good and bad in Franklin county’s two government agencies. Perfect, they are not. Bureaucratic, they are. All government agencies inevitably prioritize their own self-interest vs. their stated purpose of being public servants. It happens here, in Tallahassee and Washington. Every government entity has conflicts aligned along three opposing axes:

1. Leadership—how good or how bad?
2. Organizational Challenges—every government agency eventually starts to think it exists for their own needs and desires
3. The needs of the people—are their needs being met and do they trust the government they have?

Working in government is very much like working in a for-profit company, except they’re not the same. Government employees don’t get laid off, don’t necessarily have to be as productive to keep their positions, and frequently make more than the people they serve measured in pay and benefits. That’s just a fact of life; get over it if you think differently. This takes nothing away from some really great people I’ve met working for the County and the School District.

I’ve been stirred up over the dialysis clinic issue that’s recently been discussed by the Commission. I’ll share with you an edited Letter to the Editor that I wrote for the Apalachicola Times and then share some additional thoughts with you

---

End-Stage Renal Disease. Sounds bad, and it is. More than a dozen Franklin County residents (at least 8 of them who are indigent) suffer the effects of requiring thrice- weekly kidney dialysis. All will likely require dialysis for the rest of their lives. With the closure last year of the dialysis clinic located on the Sacred Heart campus, the nearest dialysis clinic is either in Tallahassee or Panama City. That is a grueling long day, three times a week for each patient. I watched my father struggle with dialysis for the last couple of years of his life. It was hard.

These individuals were thrown a rare lifeline by neighboring Gulf County when they voted to subsidize the start-up costs for a new clinic, now to be run by Fresenius Medical Center. Jim McKnight, director of the Gulf County Economic Development Coalition received unanimous support from the Gulf County Commission for an annual subsidy of $100,000 for five years to defray start-up expenses that will likely be over a million dollars. Gulf County Chairman Sandy Quinn reached out to Franklin County to chip in a maximum of $25,000 a year for five years in support of those dialysis patients.

At the Franklin County Commission meeting on the 18th, of January, I watched a very sad discussion unfold. It started with a discussion of the next big pot of Covid money Franklin County is expecting. Salivating at the prospect of more free money from the next installment of the American Rescue Plan, Commissioner Lockley broke in to ask the consultant who was briefing Commissioners if he could get some of that relief money for himself personally! That set the tone for what followed.

When the Agenda item for the dialysis discussion came up, it became apparent early on that Commissioners had all kinds of ideas for taking care of the problem and not chipping in with Gulf County. Lockley stated, “This is not something we should do this year...we got no money.” Commissioner Boldt, not to be outdone, had a lightbulb moment when he suggested that Weems should start up its own Kidney Dialysis Clinic since Weems Hospital was "The Mecca of healthcare in Franklin County!" He actually said that. Unstated was where Weems would get the million dollars plus to create the clinic or how it could financially survive by splitting the small number of Franklin County dialysis patients with Gulf who might choose Weems. What was he smoking?

Weems made it clear they don’t want to chip in using Healthcare Trust Fund money. And, they gave the impression that they were so cash strapped that $25,000 a year would bankrupt them. County attorney Shuler stated the Healthcare Trust Fund can’t spend money that is going out of the County. Well, that’s funny. Don’t we spend thousands of dollars each month with Alliant; our hospital management company which is out of county? There are myriad other healthcare dollars that go “out of county” all the time. Why is this different?

The reality of the situation is simple. Franklin County spends thousands of dollars every year to transport frail dialysis patients on hundreds of distant trips. We could slash that expense by partnering with Gulf. We likely would save money overall. And, oh by the way, not inconsequentially, maybe one or two lives a year in the process. People miss their dialysis appointments all the time because of the stress involved in those long commutes and the very real fear of contracting Covid on one of those long commutes to very busy and crowded dialysis centers. One more thing. Gulf County voted to go it alone and then asked Franklin if they wanted to chip in. How do you think we would look if we snub them? Pretty much like dog doo. Another shining example of shooting yourself in the foot.

Come on Commissioners. This is a true no-brainer. Find the money and help the most unfortunate among us. After all, you might be the next one needing dialysis. I wonder what Lockley would have said if he was the one who needed dialysis?

Here’s the point ladies and gentlemen. At least with the Franklin County Commission, the distinction of being a representative of the people vs. being Kings and Queens have started to blur. When a commissioner asks questions publicly on how they can tap public money for their own purposes or another commissioner tries to figure out how to undertake unneeded projects for his political advantage, that might not be illegal, but it stinks to high heaven. The people’s business should never be entangled with the personal goals or aspirations of any commissioner. Frankly, this is old news. Commissioners all too often put their personal needs in front of the needs of their constituents. Commissioners must be honest and open when they communicate to the public. There can be no compromise on this issue.

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I’ve gotten the impression that Commissioners don’t want to deal with issues with either the VFDs or water systems inside the county. Lanark Village VFD is the latest problem that has been brought to the Commission for a much-needed resolution.

Here’s a link to the so-called “Audit” of the Lanark Village VFD. https://abetterfranklin.com/images/PDFs/LanarkVillage-CPA.pdf As you can plainly see, it was not an audit. The CPA firm Roberson titled the short document “Report on Accounting Services.” From what I can see, this was basically a made-as-instructed inexpensive document designed to tamp down on high public concern and to make it look like the commission is on top of things. They aren’t. The CCFC is not passing judgment on the underlying issue, though there are obvious problems that must be addressed. We are focusing here on the dissemination and accompanying statements that had the effect of misleading the public. That’s our paramount concern on this issue, at this time.

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Weems Hospital. We have mentioned before our concern that the Commission’s wholly- owned Weems Hospital may have illegally received over $900,000 in forgiven PPP loans. The CCFC has requested documents and tried to corroborate statements in support of the Franklin County Commission requesting and receiving Payroll Protection Plan proceeds. We have been blocked in our endeavor. The CCFC just received from Weems CEO an email that states in part “Our legal counsel has advised us to not meet with you.” I think you would agree with me that’s the opposite of transparency. The penalties for making false statements can be harsh, whether overtly or inadvertently:

“Making false statements to the Small Business Administration (SBA) is a federal criminal offense under 18 U.S.C. § 1014. The statute imposes penalties for anyone who, “knowingly makes any false statement or report . . . for the purpose of influencing in any way the action of the . . . Small Business Administration.” This verbiage is broad enough to include statements made on companies’ PPP loan applications (including their Borrower Application Forms), as well as companies’ certifications for loan forgiveness.”

We ask once again that Weems Hospital provide the supporting statements that would have allowed for the legal acquisition of PPP loans and subsequent forgiveness. Why is this even an issue? I sincerely hope that this has just been an oversight and bureaucratic inertia at its worst is on display.

Three issues demonstrate essentially the same hubris and attitudes. Our relationships with our government at multiple levels have been strained as of late. It does no one any good when we feel as if we cannot trust our governments to tell us the straight truth and do not display a willingness to fix mistakes. Love’em or hate’em, we need the government to work and achieve our shared societal and practical living needs. Come on Franklin, make peace with your detractors and those that rightfully prod you to do better.

Finally, the CCFC is finishing up its 2022 fundraising campaign. If you have already written your check to support us, many thanks. If you have not, or are sitting on the fence, please support the only organization in Franklin County devoted to representing your interests! Please write your non-tax deductive check to the address below.

Regards,

Thank you.

Allan J. Feifer

President
Concerned Citizens of Franklin County, Inc.
P.O Box 990
Eastpoint, Florida 32328
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
ABetterFranklin.com
(850) 653-5571

Commissioner Contacts:

Commissioner Bert Boldt - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 519-4966

Commissioner Smokey Parrish - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-8790

Commissioner Ricky Jones - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-8861

Chairman Noah Lockley - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-4452

Commissioner Jessica Ward - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-9783

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Why More Citizens Aren’t Engaged

Dear Readers:

My job with the CCFC is to point out what’s wrong with county government, not necessarily what’s right. Commissioners publicly pat themselves on the back too often. They want you to believe they’re behind you, even if the reality is they are not. Recently I spoke at a Wakulla County regular Board Meeting on a subject of interest to me. Let me compare and contrast the difference in process difference between Wakulla and Franklin counties:

1. The meeting was held at 5:00 (as most are) so that citizens who work could attend.
2. The Chairman spent at least two minutes describing ways citizens could participate in the meeting by filling out a speaker’s card to speak to commissioners.
   • At the beginning of the meeting
   • At the end of the meeting
   • On any Agenda item they may wish to speak to as the meeting developed.
3. Commissioners smiled at constituents and did not make any snide comments as they frequently do at Franklin County meetings.
4. They made sure to engage with speakers to the extent necessary to understand the concern expressed. (Franklin has a strict written policy against commissioner engagement)
5. More than 50 citizens were in the audience (many more watching on live television), and many people spoke to their issue of concern. In Franklin County, the unwelcoming environment results in fewer than 3 people typically speaking and sometimes none since the newest Public Engagement policy commenced.

Why is it so hard for Franklin County Commissioners to understand and accept that citizens not only have the right to speak but that it is disrespectful to constituents to run meetings as they do? It is anti-constituent in design and implementation. Franklin County meetings run in this manner do not meet the spirit, if not the law for minimum State Standards for public access as set by the Florida Attorney General.

Next, the issue of how the Commission handled the recent SGI Incorporation issue bothers us immensely. The CCFC takes no position on the issue and in fact, some real challenges and hurdles would likely need to be overcome. However, the manner that all five Commissioners discarded out of hand, the option to allow a non-binding counting of the noses at zero cost to taxpayers was heavy-handed and wrong. The Chairman was clear on the issue, that this was his district and he knew what the people wanted. That was the end of the issue as far as he was concerned.

Stifling debate is what the Commission seems to do best. This is not something to be proud of and proves to the public that our Commission needs serious coaching on the subject of being public servants. I could write a book on the inappropriate manner that people have been treated that A. Do not have 10 generations of relatives here. B. Are not 100% supportive of wild oyster harvesting and the importance of the seafood industry in general. C. Disagree with Commissioners publicly or privately. D. Threaten their standing and continuation of a lifetime job as Commissioner.

God help you if you voted against a commissioner. Somehow, they seem to know how you voted. That’s small-town politics I suppose, but it is still wrong for Commissioners to hold a grudge after an election that makes them opposed to anything a non-supporter wants or needs from the County. I have witnessed this numerous times.

On another subject, Weems Hospital has seemingly dropped out of public view. The recipient of about $3 million in special Covid assistance has masked continuing major monthly losses at the hospital. Commissioners used to get monthly reports, then reports every other month and now I can’t remember the last time finances were presented or discussed. Recently, Weems stated its desire to seek $7 million in state funds to combine with Capital funds on hand to build a new hospital. Their strategy this time is to keep it very quiet until they are successful. According to Weems statistics reported, Weems averages less than one in-patient a night.

A year with a contracted consulting company has not improved the numbers much at all. This is all the more shocking since Covid should have been a major revenue producer but was not. We don’t know if any of the ventilators purchased at great expense were even used and have no idea if the huge amount of money spent on Covid testing equipment did much better. A weak Board and weak oversight, in general, has not made a material difference in Weems's finances. An even weaker County Commission seemingly has dawned rose-colored glasses and is just thankful that someone else dropped millions into Weems coffers instead of them.

Weems applied for and received about a million dollars for the Paycheck Protection Program that was reserved for private companies. Weems is wholly owned by the Franklin County Commission and is just another government agency. Concerned Citizens back in September requested records that may prove that the money was taken illegally and as a consequence might have to be paid back with subsequent penalties. We have not received the documents that will allow our professional staff to judge the legality of what the Weems Board did, ostensibly without Commission approval. Supposedly, these documents were mailed to us more than a week ago. We are still waiting.

Our last subject today will be Code Enforcement. Code Enforcement protects lives and property values. I think it is likely that the Commission will move forward with Code Enforcement. Commissioners correctly engaged a third-party organization to conduct workshops all over the county to collect information and ideas. Here’s the problem as we see it. Commissioners have put the cart before the horse. Poorly written Ordinances or no Ordinances at all, covering a multitude of issues have resulted in both private property loss and injuries to people including the loss of human life. How ordinances would be enforced is the most critical issue facing us. Commissioners protect their power. Unlike almost every other Florida County, Franklin has no County Manager. You don’t want a Code Enforcement Officer (CEO) beholden to the commissioners for their job, it’s a natural conflict. When a commissioner leans on the CEO over this or that issue, we’ll have the same problem that currently exists at the county department level and Weems today. Start with a professional County Manager and then create a set of interlocking ordinances (largely copied from other successful counties) to enforce them and only then hire an independent CEO to enforce said ordinances. Doesn’t that make sense? Leave it to Franklin County to do it ass-backward for the sole purpose of protecting their power. Want a great example? Paving funds are not distributed by need, but equally to each Commissioner. Why not rank Franklin County roads by need and fix the worst roads first? I guess that just makes too much sense.

Lest I not say something positive, not all commissioners are predatory. It’s just difficult not to “go with the flow” at times as one commissioner explained to me. It is important to note, that while leadership may be lacking, county staff and most Constitutional Offices do great work serving the interests of Franklin County.

Oh, one more thing. We are currently running our annual fundraiser. Please support the CCFC by mailing your dues check today; while it’s top of mind. (Address is below) Not a member? Please consider joining today. Dues are not tax-deductible. We are the only Association that looks out for your interests all year long to keep the county honest. Think about that when you are deciding whether to support us or not. If not us, then who? Read about us at ABetterFranklin.com

Happy Holidays to everyone from myself and the rest of the crew here that supports us and makes the CCFC possible.

Once again, thank you for reading and sustaining better government.

Thank you.

Allan J. Feifer

President
Concerned Citizens of Franklin County, Inc.
P.O Box 990
Eastpoint, Florida 32328
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
ABetterFranklin.com
(850) 653-5571

“The Concerned Citizens of Franklin County, Inc. serves as a citizens’ advocate to ensure that our Franklin County governments are more open, affordable, efficient, and responsive to our citizens. The organization seeks to hold public officials accountable for their actions in the administration of their duties and in their fiduciary responsibilities to the taxpayers.”

Commissioner Contacts:

Commissioner Bert Boldt - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 519-4966

Commissioner Smokey Parrish - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-8790

Commissioner Ricky Jones - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-8861

Chairman Noah Lockley - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-4452

Commissioner Jessica Ward - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-9783

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A Special Message to Franklin County Property Owners:

On the 28th of September, in five minutes and with nary a comment, Franklin County passed the largest budget in its history at $77 million for this tiny vestige of Old Florida. That is approximately $7,300 for each non-incarcerated resident. Per Citizen—not taxpayer! For almost 20 years, Concerned Citizens of Franklin County have quietly and persistently attempted to save YOU, the taxpayers, from wasteful spending, lack of transparency, and policies and practices that are anti-constituent which continue year after year by our county leadership.

The Property Appraiser Tax Role shows 18,858 individual property Parcels in the county. Of these, roughly 8,000 are individual homes, condos, and/or apartments. Of those about 3,100 are homesteaded. Many county residents pay little or nothing in taxes due to various exemptions they have been granted. This makes it easy for commissioners to vote for higher taxes on everybody else. It’s legal but not ultimately fair. Aren’t Commissioners supposed to keep things fair? We, at the CCFC, believe they are not.

When county commissioners passed this year's budget, they spent about $1 million more than last year. They also handed out significant raises, some, way overdue while others were unconscionable increases, patting themselves on the back at how fiscally astute they were. This is a major sleight of hand. Deceit is created by highlighting a homesteaded property valued at $150,000 that will pay slightly less in county taxes than last year. That’s a minority situation of about 3,100 homes; allow me to explain:

The majority of properties in Franklin County are not homesteaded and consequently don’t receive the protections of Save our Home (SOH), the Florida Constitutional Amendment that slows down the growth of property taxes for homesteaded individuals but does not eliminate it. MOST non-residents have no such protection.

So, a more correct statement should have been that For the Sixth Straight Year, county taxes will be rising an average of 6% for the majority of property owners in the county. And, that while SOH Homestead Cap will slow down the increase for those affected, everyone’s will eventually go up to meet actual taxes assessed, only delayed, on unsuspecting property owners who are encouraged to believe falsely that they won again on their tax bills.

The Concerned Citizens of Franklin County presented at least 22 comments and suggestions to Commissioners this year that, if seriously studied and implemented, would have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars this budget year. Few, if any, commissioners can answer detailed questions concerning the budgets they annually assess on taxpayers. The budgets presented by Constitutional Officers and Department Heads are rarely questioned or seriously challenged. An additional one million dollars is being spent this year. Commissioners refuse to even consider the financially responsible idea of Zero-Based Budgeting.

Nothing will change in Franklin County until and unless the citizens demand it. We have a country today that is so much in turmoil that trivial things like your taxes don’t seem to rise to the level of concerned study or action. On behalf of myself and the CCFC, I am truly sorry.

The CCFC published our comments on its website. You can view the comments by clicking Here

This budget letter was made available to county staff and commissioners earlier this summer in time for the 2021-2022 budget Cycle. It is too late to do anything more this year. But when next year's budget cycle begins starting now, there should be an entirely new approach to next year’s budgeting cycle.

Let me share with you some of this year’s CCFC efforts made to achieve transparency, seek fiscally responsible, fair and accountable government for Franklin County.

Let me share with you some of this year’s CCFC efforts made to achieve transparency, seek fiscally responsible, fair and accountable government for Franklin County.

1. Our most important function is to answer questions from members. We receive and appreciate taxpayer feedback from the many people who call, write or just spread our words on behalf of good government
2. We have attended all online County Commission Meetings in 2021. When appropriate (under unreasonably restrictive Public Comment rules) we speak up with facts, concerns and alternatives to matters we believe to be important.
3. We have asked that some meetings be held in the evenings and return to some being held in Carrabelle.
4. We attend Hospital Board Meetings to hear reports and budget facts as presented. We push for accountability and logic in the expenditures for Hospital operations. Weems is, at best a very basic Emergency Room, not a hospital equipped or staffed for serious illnesses like Covid. Weems Doctors frequently have had past legal issues and are not Board Certified in Emergency Care. Just in: Franklin County is requesting $6 million from the State to construct a new hospital. Weems just hired its fourth CFO in the last 3-4 years. No reliable financial information.
5. The CCFC constantly researches best business practices, freely sharing them with appropriate officials.
6. We expect (sadly not always successfully) that public meetings be held with decorum and respect toward the citizenry. We ask that the public again be heard before a vote is held on each agenda item which was the rule as recently as 2017. Now, a three-minute limit for each public comment is only permitted at the beginning of each meeting and to speak for one minute for items on agenda items. Worse, you must file a Virtual Speakers Request Card before the meeting commences. And, sadly, Commissioners sit in stony silence completely disengaged with the very few people who actually come forward. Typically, zero to three people will run the gauntlet to speak.
7. We reach out through emails and messages to the Apalachicola Times on a frequent basis.
8. We engage professionals (lawyers, investigators, additional accountants) to help advise in our efforts toward good, honest, representative government for Franklin County.
9. CCFC built, maintains and operates an independent website (ABetterFranklin.com). In addition, we incur mailing and other expenses to bring taxpayers the news, behaviors, decisions and actions of local leadership, including County Commissioners, elected Constitutional officers and others. Also, visit our Facebook page and “Like” us and/or “Follow” us to always be in the know!

Please feel free to share this letter with your friends; encourage them to learn more about the work of the Concerned Citizens and to join the CCFC as new members. It is your strength of numbers and financial support that ensures our continuing oversight.

Annually, we reach out to the community for help in meeting the financial challenges of continuing our work.

Please support the CCFC with your membership dues to help ensure our continued success. Please invest $25, $50, $100 or more in our Watchdog Association to allow our work to continue. Only through your help and support will we continue to ensure that good government in Franklin County can and will become a reality.

Make your check payable to the CCFC and mail it to P.O. Box 990, Eastpoint Florida 32328.(Dues are not tax deductible)

Please include your email address on your check to ensure you receive our communications and updates.

Thank you for your generous support.

Sincerely,
Allan J. Feifer

President
Concerned Citizens of Franklin County, Inc.