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Minutes 11-19-51MI~-TES 0F T~ REGD~AR ~TZNG 0F TF~I CITY_ COLR_,~CIL OF T~ CITY 0F B0¥~0N BE..ACH~ FLOR~DA, ~ELD AT T~ Ci~ H~L ON N01~7,~MBER i9~ 1951. The City Council convened at the City Hall on November 19, 1951~ at 7.30 P.M, Councilmen present: ~r. F.L.l°urint on N~. Alva Shook ~'~Lr. Henry %!erkel ~br. Clifford P~ovince City Clerk Dorothy V.Williams read the minutes of the previous regular meeting of the Co.oil of November 5, 195t. .minute s as read. Provinoe moved and l~r. Shook seconded that the of the last reg?l~ar meeting of the Council be accepted Motion passem unanimously. BILLS0 ~t~A~D FOR ?A~Zi~-T: Gen' t Fund. Allie ~illia~ 33.00 Henry Cooper Leonard Harris ~2.80 Frank ~ohnson Dave Lanier ~5.00 Sam Murray 3i.~0 Lee Thomas ~2.80 Parker Ward 3,00 Charlie :gaters 42.80 Captain Bob Noble 100.O0 YohnByrd Bstty~g.~G~i!i Yohn~l~Raml~rson A. C. Carver 136.70 N~ O. Marshall Jr. 121.00 C. C~ ~eeks 112.10 Jo A~ Klingier t01o00 Dorothy V.~itliams 109.90 John Bell 193.00 Ruth LoG~amley 89.40 Katherine Thompson 63.80 Florida Pwr. & Lt.Co. ~o97 ~tlie ~iltiams 33.00 Henry Cooper 31.40 Leonard Harris ~2.80 Fra~ Yo~uson 35.00 Dave Lanier 45.00 S~ Murray 31.40 Lee Tho~s ~2.80 Charlie ~aters ~2.80 %~ater Fund. Depositors. 116.5o 74.90 116.5o 7.50 -2- Paul R. Brake 9.55 f~uniston Cc. Inco 13.13 Aliie Wi!liars 33 · 00 Henry Cooper 31.40 Leonard Harris 42.80 Frank Johnson 35o 00 Dave Lanier 45.00 Sam M~rray 31.40 Lee Thomas 42.80 Charlie ~?aters 42° 80 Anna Clark Chase National Bank Howard Lee Cromer .~5,~$~.00 Water I.& S. 5,258.79 Water Constr. 7.50 The City Clerk read e list of bills 0'Kayed at this meeting. No qmestions regarding them were aSked. A letter was read from Caroline Boehm of the "Top Hat~ requesting a beer and ~ne license. After discussion, and verification of the fact that the Top Hat is more than the legal 500 feet frcm the nearest licensed place, it was decided that no~ sufficient informa- tion was available regarding the people requesting the license, and ~. Hood and ~gr. Province were appointed a Com- mittee ~o ma~e further investigation. ~leanwhile the matter was tablad. In a discussion on the new s5reet lighting, the general opinion of the Co~missioners %~s that there was not much difference between ~ ~ ~h~ old and new bulbs. In a discussion on Christmas lighting, it was agreed that there should be a permanent Christmas vree in a suit- able position in the par~ opposite the b ~ SC~OO~. The ~ ~h~ audience. ~yor then asked for remarks from ~ o ~f~ Mazzoni said he thought his ~axes had increased out of proportion with that of other proper~y owners he knew. The Mayor said that if anyone thought their taxes were not fair, the Board was perfactly willing to make any adjust- ment proved necessary after consideration of all fac~ors~ and tha~ any complaint should be brought to the attention of the Co~issioners at their regular ~etings at the City Hall. He added that, in spite of rumours ~o the centrary, no adjust- me~ had been made zn anybody's taxes so far, except in the case of clerical errors, and that during the next two weeks anyone could examine their cards az the City Hall and bring any complaints ~c the Council a~ its next regular meeting. Mr. Mazzoni ~aid it seemed to him that ~axes on houses and grounds which were no~ kept in good condition were less than on similar property which was keot up. IVLr. Shook pointed out that the assessed value of a house was the same whether it was painted or not, that a house de- preciates every year in any case and this depreciation must be taken into consi~deration, while the state of the grounds made no difference. Depreciation hss to be fixed by time as it is impracticable for a house to be valued each year. The Council agreed that it seemed mufair that property should be valued the same whether improved, or not, but there was absolutely nothing they could do about it. Mr. [azzoni said his house had not been examined inside, but when the details of his property were read from his card he agreed that they were correct. He was asked to give the name of the property owner who he thought was paying less taxes on similar property to his, so that the card could be examined, as being the only way to arrive at a just and correct decision. The details of the property were read from the card, from which it was shown that the assessed valuation called for a tax of only $22.00. ~/tr. Shook pointed out that other cities have plenty of commercial building, giving a good income, but that Boynton does not have this and therefore taxes on domestic property are high. The ~ayor said that hundreds of people in Boynton were not paying enough t2xes to p~yer their garbage collection, owing to various exemptions, over 75% being homesteaders. ~.~. Griffith explained the working of the Homestead law. ~. gohr~on asked whether Mr. Harless had been paid for his work of equalisation revaluation. Mr. Merkel said ~yes', and that his charge had been $3,000 less than the next lowest bidder; that he ~as fully qualified for the work; that the Commissioners alone are responsible for the taxation, ~Ir. Harless being responsible for the valuation only. Mr. Joi~son then asked whether it was the consensus of the Council that the work had been properly done. Shook said 'yes', so far as they ooutd see. D~, Johnson asked what general yardstick was ~Sed for valuation of property in the center of ~own and how the valuation of front footage on the Highway was first increased° The ~ayor said that heretofore this property had been taxed exactly the same as other proper~y. The City Clerk produced a chart showing the values from the corner of Ocean Avenue and the Federal, ~tarting at S90 a foe% frontage down co S20, according to location and dis- tance from the center of town. ~2r. Johnson said he thought the Com~Ltssioners had done a very gOOd job, but all kinds of rumors were ggin~ around and all that was wante~ was to have the facts given in public meeting. He asked whether the tax list could be made public and was told that all information desired co~l.d be Obtained at City Hall, where every piece of prooerty was described in detail on separate cards. ~ The Mayor referred to the published state.ant that ~r. ~lbert Dean's taxes on 8 lot had jumped from $~.18 to $76 as a gross misrepresentation, no mention having been made of the new house built on the lot. He added that a former tax of ¢3.00 on a lot alone would ~yoba~ly be raised to $5. '~. Lord asked what depreciation ~mmld be eor¢idered each year. ~. Hood replied that the valuation ran for about three years anl possibly five~ and tha~ different types of construc- tion each carry a differenv smo~ut of depreciation ove~ a period of time° - ?¥ ~s. Adams asE~d about the City being in the red to the extent of $5~000 on the budget last year~ and did ~?-r.Harless know this at the time. The %ayor said 'No~, the budgev has nothing to do with the assessing of %he oroper~y; all Hatless did ~as to find the valuation of the ~roper~y. He added that every year since 19~6 the City had gone over its budget, In 19~6 money had been received from land sales; in 19~7 ~he police took in ~27,000, last year they took in only ao 0~ The City Clerk read the Budget figures for the years 19~6 to 1951 inclusive. A lor~ discussion followed ~ *~ resara~ng budget figures, and e question was asked whe%ker money was received on revenue bonds. The Mayor ~'~ · Lorenz its budget this ~ 0 said ~5 ,000 of these bonds had asked whether the City expected year. been cancelled. to live within The ~ayor said certainly. ~. Merkel said i~ ~w~s the job of the Commissioners to live within the hddget. Mr. Hood said 'we have got to'. ~,@.-- Shook said ~sch Department~ was being allowed a certain amo~t and, when that was spent, that Deoartmant would get no more this year. - H~. Johnson referred to the Association of ?rQperty Owners which~ he thought it would be well for avery property owner ~o jo~n and help formutata e program. The D!ayor said he thoroughly agreed and that he would at once become a member so long mas the Association was kept out of politics; that it would be a wonderful thing, and that a representative of the Association should at%end all meetings of the Commissioners, so that when a project was pu~ fbrward, the represeent_ativa would know about it and why it coul~ or could not be carried out; tha~ the advantage of ths~ss discussions taking place at tha City~Hall was that ~o? que~tiOnSe . regarding, these matters c0uld be ~nswared intslli- g ~ly w~thout having the records at hand. ~V~r. Tatum thought the taxpapers should have been informed beforehand of the tax increases and the reasons for th~m. He asked whether it would no5 have been better to raise ~illage and leave ~alues. The ~ayor said Tallhassee would not allow the raising of the millage. - Mr. McGregor asked as to the tax, saying that this should have duction of property taxes. disposition of the cigarette been allotted to the re- The ~ayor said this tax had been inotuded in the budget and this year wou~d amount to approximately $12,000. Mr. Griffith explaina~ that this tax had been allotted to· the~ budget~ in accordance with the Stave law, as approved a~ Tazlah~ssee. ~r. Duncan objected to the way his property had been valued. The d ~ ~ e~az~s of the property were read from his ~ caI~o After a long discussion, ~[r. ~e~kal moved, and was sec- onded by ~. Shook, that ~Ar. D~can be given 25% reduction Motion°n his passedbUilding~aanimously.because of the fact that it was nov completed. After discussion, a motion was made by ~.Provinoe, seconded by ~.Hood, that 10% depreciation on the assessed valuation of his property be granted to Er.Cottrill in line with the same type of property adjacent ~o his. Motion p~ssed ~uuanimously. -6- -Mr. Johnson spoke of one taxpayer objecting to his tax being based on a $10,00~ prgperty valuation, although admit- ting he would not sell ~or $30,000. The Mayor said that many of the previous taxes had been ridiculously low because of improper valuation. l~l~rs. Adams objected to the tax of $77 bein~ charged on 20 acres of property which she owns. The Mayor said $3.50 an acre did not seem excessive. Mr. Adams said no tax should be charged on property without roads or other improvements near it. !Ar. Hood asked if there was any property around hers which had been assessed at a lower rate, and Mfs.Adams re- plied that hers was entirely um_developed and that a possible buyer had refused to buy because of the increased taxes. She thought a fair assessment would be fifty cents an acre. Mr. Shook said he had 60 acres way out from the City and paid si~ty cents an acre tax. In reply to a ouestion from ~Lr. Johnson, read out the figures for disability, widows' exemptions for 1950 and 1951: the City Clerk and homestead For 1950 these were $ 857,~0. For 1951 $1,&99,030. The total assessed valuation for 1950 was approximately ..... For 1951 ..... $2,000~000. $4~780,0~0. The ~iayor said that if the taxes had been raised gradually over the last five years, it would not have seemed so sudden this year. He added that several ~axpayers had been paying on the tot only, and now had buildings on them, so preferred to remain as is. ~r. Mimms, in objecting to his tax, described his build- ing as a garage divided by partitions with a ~a~s~e bathroom attached. He said the assessors bad not looked inside and he had not been allowed any depreciation and nearby homes were allowed 10~. After a tong discussion, ~f~. Hood made a motion, second- ed by ~v. ~erkel, that D~. ~imms be sent a corrected bill based on ~0 a front footage on Lake Worth, to include Reserve E. -7- of former Palm Way, Reserve W. of former Palm %fay and rorer Palm Way. Motion passed unanimously. A letter was read from Mr. Johnson requesting a City franchise got a taxi cab service. There was a long discussion on the matter and it was the general opinion that this franchise should be granted to him, -_'--.~- 4_ ._ ~ . .~_:.. ~r. Paul ~ereer~ s ~ ' peaming for the Zoning Board said they had been approached_ on s-evera~ occasions rega~flin~ the' zoning of the Eastern side of Palmetto between Dads and ~b&lbright and the %~est side of the Federal High.ay from Dads to ~ool- bright, and that the b' ' ' u~!d~ng of a proposed hotel in that neighbourhood is being held up until the Status of this property has been decided. He said the Zoning~Board recom- mended to the Council that this be restricted to high class me,sis, restaurants, etc. 1@. Eazzoni objected and it was explained that the Board's plans were ail in his favor, but in view of his objections ~o the 'high priced food places,, y~. Mercer suggested~ ~ this. , be~ stricken out as Mr. I~zzoni had already been es~aolzsnem in this zone before this re-zoning sugges- tion was made. i~,~ Shook made s mozion, seconded by ~£~, Hood, t~a~b ~ the recommendation of the Zoning Board that all property on the West side of the Federa[ Highway from Dads Stre~ to ~ ~ ~oo~- bright Avenue be re-zoned 'restricted co~mmercia!,, and prop- erty on the East side ~f Palmetto between Da de and ~oo!bright be restricted to private homes, motels and duplexes, be accepted.' Motion passed unanimously. There being no farther business the ~ .,:ayor adjourned the meeting.