According to the latest estimates from Property Appraiser Chris Jones, property valuations in the city of Pensacola have increased $234 million (6.9 percent) over last year’s valuations. It is the largest percentage…
Tag: City of Pensacola
City Interactive Financial Transparency Platform never updated
In February 2017, the City of Pensacola launched the Interactive Financial Transparency Platform module of its OpenGov software. It would revolutionize how taxpayers could track city revenue and expenditures. “The OpenGov financial transparency platform…
District 2 produces most property taxes for city
Escambia County Property Appraiser Chris Jones provided us with the 2017 City of Pensacola, Certified Roll values by city council district. The District 2, which is represented by Sherri Myers, has the…
Barker lost the council when he stretched ‘facts’
Last week, the City of Pensacola’s chief financial officer, Dick Barker, tried to use his 38 years of experience in the city’s finance department and a slide presentation to convince the Pensacola…
Other financial trouble spots for city of Pensacola
The city’s Osceola Golf Course continues to lose money, even the the taxpayers subsidizing the facility. In his report, CFO Dick Barker tried to explain the $23,900 decrease in revenue from the…
City outside legal fees top $600k for second consecutive year
The outside legal fees for the first six months of FY 2018 once again topped $600,000. They were down from the same period last year, which set a record of $651,629. In…
Various Codes of ethics for the City of Pensacola
The 2010 City Charter mandated the establishment of a code of ethics. Mayor Ashton Hayward and his staff drafted a code that was approved by the Pensacola City Council in April 2011….
City voters overwhelmingly want ethics reform
In a poll last month, City of Pensacola voters said they support ethics reform in local government. The News Journal reported on the survey conducted by SEA Polling and Strategic Design, a…
What now for Bruce Beach
The city of Pensacola has an opportunity to “activate” its waterfront at Bruce Beach if the Pensacola City Council agrees with Mayor Hayward and will terminate the lease with the Florida Fish…
Pensacola Recycling Cover-up
The City of Pensacola’s Sanitation Services Department has an annual goal for recycling: “Recycling percentage (by tonnage) of the total garbage & recycling collection – 22 percent.” The goals are in the…
Transcripts give insights into Bayview Center budget hike
Pensacola citizens and the city council had only three opportunities to discuss the budget of the Bayview Community Resource Center before the council voted to increase it from $6.05 million to $8.25…
Hayward will spend a third of LOST funds before November election
The collections of the Series IV Local Sales Tax Fund began on Jan. 1, 2018. The total anticipated collections through Dec. 31, 2028 are $87 million. This is a $9 million…
Hayward spending 12 percent of LOST IV project allocations on Bayview Center and Boathouse
The Local Option Sales Tax – Series IV Plan covers all of the city of Pensacola’s capital projects through Dec. 31, 2029. The project allocations total $82,837,954, which means the $9.6 million…
Should City of Pensacola give sanitation customers rebates
Since Oct. 1, 2017, the City of Pensacola’s Sanitation Services has collected its customers recycling every week and dumped the recyclables at the Perdido Landfill instead of actually recycling them, and the…
Hatchery Headache: It does not comply with city code or comp plan
The City of Pensacola and Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission may have bigger issues with their fish hatchery than the standing of the citizens who sued to stop the construction on…
Community input period extended for CRA design criteria
The City of Pensacola Community Redevelopment Agency has extended the Community Input period for the draft Urban Design Standards Overlay to include additional Public Input Sessions on Tuesday, April 3 at 5:30…
Buchanan announces candidacy for mayor
Press Release: Veteran and small business owner Drew Buchanan announced Wednesday that he would run for Mayor of Pensacola. “I’m running for mayor because we can do better than business as usual, 
Fish hatchery hearing set for April 3
City Attorney Lysia Bowling today notified the Pensacola City Council that its motion to dismiss the lawsuit concerning the construction of a fish hatchery on Bruce Beach will be heard Tuesday, April…
Poll: District breakdown on raising pay for mayor
In 2014, I suggested the Pensacola City Council considered a charter amendment that would tie the mayor’s salary to that of the county’s constitutional officers, such as the clerk of court, property…
Grover asks City Council not to raise salary for mayor
Escambia County Commissioner Grover Robinson, who is the only candidate that has pre-filed to run for mayor of Pensacola, has sent an email to the Pensacola City Council asking them not to…
