My position on funding improvements on private property with taxpayer dollars:

The Town of Lauderdale-By-The-Sea is currently being sued by the Palm Club. Palm Club is a private property, a horizontal condominium, located north of Bel Air in the North part of Town. The lawsuit contends that the Town should put $5million+ sewers on their property.

Keep in mind that the property is private, it cannot be accessed by residents or visitors, and is not maintained by the Town. The property is currently using a septic system which is in compliance and must remain so with environmental and other regulations.

My opponent publicly states that he would spend the $5million+ on installing the sewers on the property. That price tag is a majority of the property tax revenue that the Town receives annually. Spending this amount would mean that other neighborhoods, that have public roads and require imminent improvements, would have to forego renovations and beautification for many years. Additionally, this would put pressure on the Town to raise taxes, a harsh reality that comes with spending above our means.

I would vote against spending taxpayer monies to a private property. The Town would not renovate my home or make improvements on a condo building. Using taxpayer funding for the benefit of a select few is a misappropriation of funds that I cannot and will not support. I will always put the residents first while my opponent needlessly put the Town at risk by making this promise while Lauderdale-By-The-Sea is being sued by the property.

I don’t think its fair to the residents and taxpayers to give taxpayer money away, do you?