Laserfiche WebLink
_I <br />Baerd or arWmr <br />Bowie arow"" <br />"r" wa <br />March 21, 2000 <br />PAW san.n <br />s• via Prwam <br />eHCUMM <br />Vim PmkWd <br />Indian River County Board of County Commissioners <br />VW wn, tW <br />1840 25`h Street <br />Trwurer <br />Vero Beach, Florida 32960 <br />Roeut t). JaMwr <br />S°Qemy <br />Thomm &=ra <br />Dear Chairman Adams and Commissioners: <br />an <br />awnw anpe" <br />It has come to our attention that the published meeting agendas of most, if not <br />Bwaawrdnor <br />all, local government bodies contain no mention of the costs ofthe respective <br />agenda items. Any mention of the cost impact of the proposed action can only <br />An amen <br />be found in the backup materials (which are not as readily available to the <br />Tirtjr°0p <br />majority of taxpayers as the agendas themselves). For example, when you <br />Jam" Gnu= <br />advertise the letting of a consultant contract (which may even be a consent <br />Ida armnm <br />item), the general public, unless they seek out the backup materials, has no <br />^av wmm Pawn <br />idea whether it is a $ 5,000 contract, a $50,000 contract, or a $250,000 <br />wamro k%a <br />contract. It follows that, while a taxpayer may choose not to research the <br />$5,000 item, he or she may be very concerned about an item five, ten, or <br />Mwk Mxtw <br />twentyfive times that amount. <br />Edward Tram <br />Another example is the matter of cost overruns. without a great deal of <br />research, the public has no way of knowing if the overrun is 1% or 40°/w. <br />The Taxpayers' Association of Indian River County, Inc. hereby requests that <br />you place the dollar amount of the cost of every appropriate agenda item in <br />parentheses following the description of that item <br />If you have any questions or concerns about our request, please contact the <br />undersigned in writing. In any case, we would like to be apprised of your <br />decision. <br />Thank you in advance for your cooperation. <br />- Bobbie Greenlees, President <br />7 <br />BOOK JJJ PAGE 1 9 <br />ISTRt1JUTI0N UST <br />Commissionan�� <br />Administrotcr '� <br />Attorney <br />— <br />i <br />Public Works --;— <br />COMM -.01, DO— <br />Wiiities <br />Finance <br />OMB�— <br />Emnp. k » — <br />Risk XV__— <br />others^' 211— <br />0� <br />Chairman Adams brought this letter to the Board for discussion. Since the agenda is <br />a work product of the County Administrator's office, she asked Administrator Chandler to <br />explain how it is done. <br />Administrator Chandler explained that it is a time-consuming process and deadlines <br />have to be met. The process has already started for next week's agenda; the deadline for <br />May 2, 2000 <br />92 <br />9 49 <br />