Recent Communications | CITIZENS' VOICE

See You at City Hall 6 PM Tonight! OCT 29, 2024

Ask your commissioner to vote for Option 2

Option 2 - Permits Available Now!

OPTION 2:

Provides for the immediate issuance of building permits.
Will allow residents back in their homes significantly sooner than Option 1
Provides exactly what the TI residents want—the fastest way back into their homes.
Homeowners submit their permits with the estimated cost of their improvements and their structure assessments. The result is a damage to structure value report that will indicate if the work is in compliance with FEMA’s 50% rule.
Provides Homeowners time to have an Independent 3rd Party appraisal completed to increase the structural value of their house.
Will provide the city with all the permit data needed to meet current FEMA requirements and any future FEMA audits.

Why Treasure Island is not Issuing Permits

To be in compliance with the National Flood Insurance Community Rating System, Cities must document the amount of Substantial Damage incurred on a property.The FEMA handbook provides 2 options for a city to use to document substantial damages:

Option 1- Prior to issuing any permits, the city can go out and perform a substantial damages inspection and then decide based on their inspection whether or not the house can be brought back to its pre-storm condition based on the 50% rule; or

Option 2- The city can wait to complete their substantial damage assessments based on the permits being submitted by the homeowners.

FEMA prefers option 1. Guess which option Stacy Boyles and Kathryn Younkin with the support of Mayor/City Manager Payne chose. Remember their goal has always been to force you out of your single-story homes.

You are correct! The City of TI elected to go with the FEMA preferred Option 1. This option allows outside consultants, who are not yet approved by the Commission, to decide if you will ever be able to obtain a permit if your home has damages in excess of 50% of the structural value.

Option 1 was pushed on the TI Residents on October 19th with zero input from the TI Residents. To our knowledge, the Commissioners did not have any input into this decision either. Most likely, Mayor/City Manager Payne supported Stacy Boyles and Kathryn Younkin on this decision as he does on all their ill-conceived ideas and mandates.

Option 2-Permits Available Now
Our city staff and our elected officials should be advocating for the Residents of TI, not for FEMA. Our City should be doing everything possible NOW to get us back into our homes. That’s a priority and Job #1. There should have been TI Resident input into this critical decision and the Commissioners should definitely have a say in this matter.

Deciding how the TI Residents want to address FEMA documentation should be a City Workshop topic. Our elected Commissioners should vote on this matter after a thorough discussion of the options and associated risk with each one. We do not need individuals who do not live in TI making these decisions for us.

You should contact your Commissioners and Mayor Payne and tell them you want a workshop and a vote to support Option #2 on this matter ASAP. The TI Residents should have input into this decision and our elected Commissioners should vote for what the TI Residents want. Put the TI Residents first!

Fast Forward to Today:
- Permits are not being issued because City Staff have self-selected the option that denies permits and requires consultants to arrive and be trained on what they need to. These consultants are not even approved to do this work. We could be pulling permits under Option 2 right now.
- Individuals who do not live in our community are once again trying to dictate how the TI Residents live in their own community.
- Mayor/City Manager Payne, Stacy Boyles and Kathyrn Younkin continue to put the TI Residents last.
- Mold and other damage could be getting worse while you are being forced to wait for the inspections to happen.
- The upfront cost determinations by the outside consultants will be subjective.
- Option 1 is the worst option for TI Residents, period. Push for Option 2 Now!!!

No one in TI has confidence in Stacy Boyles or Kathryn Younkin to manage and execute any program that involves outside consultants. We have seen this horror movie before, and it always ends the same. Mass amounts of wasted time and money with no positive outcomes for the TI Residents.

We have options! Choose Option 2 and ask for a Workshop on this matter now.

Mayor Payne “Borrows” Decorum Rules from

Great Falls, Montana Representing Them as TI Rules

In the latest segment of TI’s “you can’t make this stuff up”… Mayor Payne, on September 3, chastised the TI residents about alleged issues related to TI’s Meeting Decorum Rules. Only to find out, the meeting Decorum Rules presented by Mayor Payne were, in fact, not TI’s rules but rules he had “Borrowed” from Great Falls, Montana! A little embarrassing, don’t you think?

Mayor Payne, deliberately misled the TI residents into believing the more restrictive rules presented were TI’s rules. They were not! The more restrictive meeting decorum rules were borrowed word for word from Great Falls, Montana. Like we have always said “Integrity Matters and Credibility Matters”.

CVTI agrees that a certain level of decorum is important for any governing body to maintain. However, CVTI disagrees with the root cause of the alleged meeting decorum issues referenced by Mayor Payne.

CVTI also vehemently disagrees with Mayor Payne attempting to unilaterally change the City’s existing meeting decorum rules to those of another Municipality without a vote by the entire Commission at a Public Meeting after allowing Public Comment on the subject. The Mayor working with City Staff to circumvent the other 4 Commissioners, is not acceptable for meeting decorum or any issue affecting the TI Residents.

So instead of just disagreeing with the Mayor, CVTI created a very simple document that will hopefully eliminate any alleged meeting decorum issues going forward albeit, TI’s version, Great Fall’s version or any Municipality’s version for that matter.

At the September 3 Commissioners’ meeting, CVTI presented to Mayor Payne the Mayoral Integrity Pledge. This document was created by TI Residents and all content is original thought with nothing “Borrowed” from another Municipality.

MAYORAL INTEGRITY PLEDGE

From this day, the 3rd of September 2024, going forward I WILL NOT:

Push a charter amendment to remove the existing debt cap and load up TI Residents with substantial new debt;
Try to do an end around TI Residents with a “special assessment” scheme designed as a second property tax;
Try to force TI Residents out of their homes with a massive, unfunded vanity project called Elevate TI especially when allowing fill dirt with simple regulations like those in other coastal cities would suffice;
Initiate schemes that are contrary to the public interest like reducing the city’s main boulevard from 2 lanes to 1 lane in each direction;
Let free grant money devalue by way more than a million dollars by failing to execute on basic infrastructure projects; The $1-2mil plus shortfall will be pushed to the taxpayers to complete the project;
Put new walkways around the golf course so TI Residents and guests (especially children) can be hit by a golf ball;
Pick silly fights with major landowners that result in half of downtown being torn down and turned into parking lots;
Grow government by 50% (since 2019) while offering TI Residents nothing for it;
Propagandize TI residents through the TI Information officer and social media channels;
Stifle TI Residents’ free speech and public comments with time and content restrictions solely on topics endorsed by city staff and me;
Vote for unvetted capital projects like borrowing $8.0 million to buy and renovate a city center and then oversee a 300% renovation bust and a 3+ year delay, Only, to end up with a building still in need of major window repairs;
Refer to the city attorney as “my attorney” and proceed with changing meeting protocols without citing any supporting code provisions, thereby forcing the city attorney to resort to an attenuated “privilege” shield to protect disclosure that, in fact, no such code provision actually exists;
Provide “fake” excuses for unduly delaying critical infrastructure projects like the lift/pump station needed to avoid polluting our precious waterways.

I WILL:

Within the next week, provide a full list of substantial capital projects that have been successfully executed within the original budget and schedule during my tenure as Mayor.
Provide timely answers from the City to all questions asked during the non-agenda portion of every meeting.
Establish an accurate planning and budgeting process which eliminates the $17mil+ carryforward (CFWD) amount. The CFWD amount is essentially TI Residents being overcharged on their property taxes in FY 23 and FY24.
Drive operational efficiencies that will lead to a FY2026 Millage Rate reduction for TI Residents.
Always put TI Residents first!!

Please contact the Mayor and ask him to:

Remove from the city record, any and all references (including posts to the September 3 Meeting Agenda) about Meeting Decorum based on the Meeting Decorum rules from Great Falls, Montana;
Review the Mayoral pledge in detail and then reflect on what might be causing his alleged meeting decorum issues;
Stop trying to unilaterally stifle the TI resident’s first amendment rights; and
Prioritize putting The TI Residents First!

Free Speech Legal

Sept. 3_ 2024 Letter to Treasure Island City Attorney_ re_ Commission meeting public comme

CVTI Initiates Legal Response to Protect Citizens Rights
On August 20th, Mayor Payne denied TI Residents the right to speak during the non-agenda public comment portion of the discrete City Commission meeting held at 6:00pm. A violation of both the First Amendment and Florida Law.

Yesterday, CVTI had the following letter delivered to Mayor Tyler Payne through the City Attorney by our attorney at Carlton Fields. Our attorney specializes in first amendment and free speech litigation.

BACKGROUND Creating Need for Action

On August 20, 2024, about 100 TI Residents took time out of their busy lives to attend a scheduled City Commission meeting at the new City Hall. As many as 25 TI Residents were not permitted in the actual meeting room and were forced to stay outside in the lobby due to space constraints.

CVTI had communicated in writing, several days prior to the meeting with the City Attorney, that more TI Residents than the new board room could hold would be turning out to speak publicly on city issues, including Elevate TI.

The letter details what happened next, and how the Mayor subsequently has doubled down on his attempts to silence the TI Residents by unilaterally imposing further restrictions without full commission approval. Yesterday, the Mayor banned clapping at meetings. We can honor first responders and give them awards but please do not clap or applaud their accomplishments under this Mayor. Ridiculous!!

There is never a government reason to push protected public comment by its citizens out of a public meeting by banning free speech. Our TI Residents were selectively prevented by the Mayor from making public comments at a public meeting under the Florida Sunshine laws.

The Mayor, despite prior written notice of a large crowd turning out, determined with the approval of the City Attorney, at the start of the 6:00pm meeting that it was in the best interest of the TI Residents to deny them an opportunity for public comment. The TI Residents were forced to wait an additional four plus hours to finally have the opportunity to exercise their first amendment right for public comment.

CVTI cannot let this restriction on TI residents’ free speech by the Mayor go unanswered. CVTI will defend the rights of the citizens of Treasure Island to “Show Up and Speak Up” in both support and criticism of its government. As citizens, we merely lend power to our elected officials such as the Mayor. We expect the Mayor to respect the TI Residents who have provided him with this privilege.

While CVTI remains committed to working together with the Mayor on issues of common interest that benefit the TI Residents, we could not let the events and egregious government overreach of August 20th and yesterday (September 3) happen without a formal response.

CVTI will always put the TI Residents First and we hope the Mayor will do the same!

Residents @ Meeting

Elevate or Devaluate?

Is Elevate TI... Really Devalue TI?

The enormous 400+ page Elevate TI document is complicated and replete with unintended (and unfortunately intended) consequences. It also includes 3 separate and distinct changes that most likely will cause individual taxpayer’s homes to become more difficult to improve or sell and therefore decrease in value. Keep in mind there are currently around 95 homes (excluding condos) for sale in TI. Any additional downward pressure is exactly what the real estate market does not need. Please share this email with your friends and neighbors and also consider posting to your social media.

1. Changing the Current FEMA 50% Rule and Back-to- Back Permits:
Any change to the current FEMA 50% rule as it exists today (allowing back- to-back permits) makes it harder for individual homeowners to remodel and remain in their current single story or on grade homes. The City staff, who work for the taxpayers, are trying to extend the time between permits in a deliberate and intentional attempt to force these homeowners to either sell their house or tear down and rebuild. Many of these homeowners are elderly and do not want to go through an expensive tear down and rebuild process thus selling will become the only option. Forced selling is not good for any market, especially a housing market. The City is also attempting to add a convoluted change to the 50% rule calculation that significantly reduces the amount of improvements that can be made.

2. Devaluing Your Home by Mandating the Use of Fill Dirt
Allowing individuals to bring in fill dirt is a good idea. But mandating the use of fill dirt is not a good idea. In fact, mandating the use of fill dirt is a terrible idea for individuals who are trying to sell their single-story/ground level house to someone who wants to tear down and rebuild. Many of the property sales in TI are for rebuilds.
Mandating the use of fill dirt will add about $200,000 to $250,000 to the cost of building the new house. This $200,000 to $250,000 cost is not only for the fill dirt, but the required retaining walls, drainage swales, terraced rear yards, sea wall strengthening and raised sea wall cap. It’s likely that existing docks will need to be raised also as they will now be up to two feet BELOW the new raised sea wall.

The $200,000 to $250,000 amount will be solely born by the individual building the new house. Individuals who buy, tear down and rebuild budget for 2 things: cost of the land and cost to build the new house. If the cost of the new house build increases by $200,000 to $250,000, most if not all individuals will reduce their bids for the land by the same $200,000 to $250,000.

The approval of Elevate TI by our elected Commissioners will force existing TI sellers to accept less for their house and land than a comparable house and land in neighboring beach communities. The actions of the Commissioners will damage TI property owners and open the City up to massive legal claims. CVTI will be providing further information regarding these damages to the residents and homeowners.

Elevate TI should have an aspirational goal of using fill dirt to raise houses in excess of existing FEMA requirements but not mandate the use of fill dirt and subsequently lower property values for TI homeowners.

Informed buyers who have the means to build value added new houses in TI will do their research and ultimately will either look to our neighboring “non-Elevate” communities for property or bid down the existing properties for sale in TI. Both actions damage the value of all individual TI homeowners, and these damages are a direct result of the proposed Elevate TI ordinances.

3. Budget for Raising Roads in Treasure Island

The Elevate TI presentation stated the cost to raise the 24 miles of road in Treasure Island would be $250,000,000 to $300,000,000 (in today’s dollars). This astronomical amount will ultimately need to be funded by the taxpayers of Treasure Island through the issuance of public bond debt, which is simply not feasible. TI City Staff said there are currently no grants available for funding the 24 miles of road elevation, so we the taxpayers are the only sources of funds to pay for this.

The amount to raise the roads will be incurred over a number of years. Even though the idea of raising all roads is economically and practically impossible, the City staff wants the Commissioners to start now with the approval of approve $8.5mil to raise the West Causeway in 2027. The West Causeway is about three-tenths of a mile long and sets between 2 bridges. Essentially, the TI Staff want to spend $8.5mil to raise a “Road to Nowhere” because the connecting roads on both sides of the bridges will not be raised. You will not be able to get on or off the raised West Causeway in a flood situation. Where’s the Commonsense Leadership?

Spending $8.5mil of taxpayer money to raise a “Road to Nowhere” only illustrates the absurdity of taking on a $250,000,000-$300,000,000 unfunded liability. This massive infrastructure program requires federal government funding before any of it can move forward. Sea level rise is a national environmental threat that will affect millions of US residents and homes along the east coast, gulf coast and west coast. Our elected Commissioners seem to think we as residents can just print money to pay for something that only the federal government can afford. Like all large unfunded government programs there will be a tremendous amount of spending at the expense of the TI homeowners but no achievement.

Elevate TI is really the ultimate irony. TI City Staff, none of which have any real economic or business experience, have spent almost every dollar of the property tax windfall attributable to a $1.5 billion increase in property values since 2019 on over-budget projects.

Now the TI City Staff’s next fiasco, Elevate TI, will actually kill the “golden goose” of ever-increasing home values that have supported their long list of ill-conceived and mismanaged projects since 2019.

Again, where’s the Commonsense Leadership by our City Administration and Commissioners?

Please contact the Mayor and Commissioners and let them know: For now, fill dirt without a mandate is a great idea, but everything else in Elevate TI should be stopped until the federal government funds the national threat from sea level rise. We as homeowners cannot afford the risk of a major downward move in our home’s value, and the City cannot afford the legal liability of causing these damages, especially with a softening market and almost 100 properties already on the market.

CVTI would like to commend our Treasure Island City Commissioners for listening to the residents at Tuesday evening’s Elevate TI Workshop.

The City Commissioners directed City staff to rework Elevate TI with no change to the current FEMA 50% rule with back-to-back permits and to allow for optional fill dirt with no mandates. We believe the Commissioners got it right and, most importantly, put the TI residents first.

Thank you to all who came out to the meetings and stayed late into the evening to have their voices heard. There was an overflow crowd of over 70 residents, and some had to stay in the lobby because of room capacity.

Science Changing

RECENT COMMUNICATIONS WITH OUR FELLOW RESIDENTS
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AUGUST 6, 2024

ELEVATE TI:

Most Recent NOAA Sea Level Rise Data Not Used—Why?

Deceptive Data Used in Numerous Presentations

During the July 30th Elevate TI workshop, the city showed a graph (below) with lines showing various representations of the rate of sea level change forecast through 2100. The lines represent data that is 7-11 years old.

The city used the NOAA Intermediate line in their planning (the solid blue line on 1st chart). We went to the NOAA sea level rise website to verify and find the data and interactive charts. It turns out that even though the NOAA sea level rise data had been updated in 2022, the city elected to present data from 2017; both NOAA graphs are below. Why would the City of Treasure Island and a paid consultant spend hours of time presenting outdated and noncurrent data to the P&Z Board, the Construction Industry, the Commissioners and Residents. Maybe it’s follow the science until it shows a result that does not support your narrative. The most recent data was surely not hard to find on the NOAA website.

It is interesting to note that the rate of sea level rise is slower, and the resulting sea level height by date is lower in the 2022 data. For example, in the 2017 data, the forecast height for the intermediate forecast line at year 2050 is 2.03 feet. In the 2022 study, the same intermediate forecast line was reduced to 1.28 feet at year 2050. The difference (.75 of a foot or 9 inches) is a material difference and begs the question why did the City not use the most current data in their presentations? Did a slower level of sea rise not support their narrative of “we are way behind and cannot start elevating TI fast enough”?

If the NOAA data shows a slowing rate of change after only 5 years, what will the data show in the next 5 or 10 years? The data points that are out 40, 50, 60 years in the future are even less reliable and shouldn’t be used to justify the 423-page marketing campaign known as Elevate TI.
Following the science (the 2022 NOAA data), clearly indicates sea level rise is slowing since the 2017 data was published. Concerns must also be raised about the paid consultant whose entire sales pitch is based on ‘the sky is falling’ and TI is way behind in starting its Elevate TI program. Despite no other beach community is promoting anything close to the marketing campaign known as Elevate TI.

The “error” of not using the correct data for countless hours of presentations is so egregious, the paid consultant should be disqualified from all future work on Elevate TI. In addition, the Commissioners should pause the entire Elevate TI marketing campaign and focus only on allowing fill dirt on an optional basis for new construction.
Integrity Matters! Credibility Matters! Treasure Island Residents do not want to be duped by the use of outdated data by City Staff and their paid consultant.

How Money Spent

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JULY 30, 2024

It is time for the Residents of Treasure Island to become fully engaged in the City’s budget process. That is the only way we can add accountability to the process. Attend the Budget Workshop at City Hall on August 2, 2024 beginning at 10am ET.

From 2019 to 2025 the taxable value of property on Treasure Island increased by 88%, from $1.7 BILLION to $3.2 BILLION. That is an increase in property value of $1.5 BILLION.

From 2019 to 2025 the property tax millage rate was increased twice by the City, first in 2020 by 5%, and then again in 2022 by another 5.5%.

Property tax revenues to the City of Treasure Island therefore increased from $6.4 million per year in 2019 to $12.0 million per year for 2025, an increase of 88%.This is an average increase in property tax revenue to the City of Treasure Island of about 15% per year since 2019.

Of immediate concern, how have our property taxes been spent to benefit the residents, businesses and visitors of Treasure Island?The obvious question is, what happened to our windfall of property tax collections from 2019 to 2025?

DID YOU KNOW?

The city of Treasure Island government has increased spending by 50% since 2021, at an almost 10% annual rate.
This City spending spree has grown government, provided a new City Hall that was completed 2 years late and 50% over budget, and overseen an economic development plan that is going backwards.
We are essentially prepaying our property taxes because of the City’s unrealistic Budgeting process. Projects are put in the budget, taxes are collected on the budgeted amounts, but the projects are not started. The City has a growing unspent tax Carryforward fund of $8.5 million from FY23 to FY24. There most likely will be a similar Carryforward from FY 24-25. Going into FY25 the total tax fund Carryforward could easily be more than $17mil.
$250-300 million dollars is the estimated cost of raising the 24 miles of road in Treasure Island in accordance with Elevate TI (Per Workshop presentation). The City of Treasure Island is attempting to mandate an unproven program called Elevate TI that no municipal, county, state or federal government anywhere has successfully implemented. The first $8.5million of spend for Elevating a road is presented in the proposed FY2027 Budget as part of the budget pro forma reporting requirements.
In spite of record property tax revenues, the City has witnessed the decline of its business community with half of its downtown business demolished and turned into parking lots, along with McDonalds, The Yacht Club and our Hardware Store all closing.
In spite of record property tax revenues, the current 2025 City budget provides zero dollars for economic development but continues to grow government expenses at a 12% rate this year.
The City is proposing to borrow around 7mil. to build a very large Public Works building to house garbage trucks on the Waterfront. Interest rates are at a 30 year high.

STOP Elevate TI

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JULY 30, 2024

WHY “ELEVATE TI” MUST BE STOPPED…

... And what element can be retained to benefit the residents and taxpayers?

Plan to attend the City Workshop today, July 30th at 2:00pm to make your opinion heard!

The only winner from all of this will be the consultants.

The City of Treasure Island is considering a new mandate it has labeled as “Elevate TI.” This mandate, in the form of a rewrite of hundreds of pages of the City building codes, pushes 100% of the cost of meeting the requirements of this mandate onto the homeowners, businesses and taxpayers of Treasure Island. If fully executed “Elevate TI” would likely bankrupt the City due to the enormous size of the undertaking required.The basic considerations the City should have made therefore are:

Where has this been done before, and
Who would pay for it?

The simple answers are nowhere, and the residents, businesses, and taxpayers of Treasure Island.

The City has expended hundreds of thousands of dollars to date on consultants to develop the rewrite of the building code, produce animations of the buildout of new houses under “Elevate TI,” and produce marketing narratives that expound on the merits of this massive unfunded program.

The amazing aspect of all this effort is that the City has missed the most obvious aspect of why the City should not move forward with this mandate at the expense of its residents and businesses. The City’s efforts to date have moved right past the glaring failure of the “Elevate TI” concept and expended a major amount of dollars and hours to technical and marketing details instead of the most basic considerations. If these basic considerations were accounted for, this mandate would have been stopped already! A new type of governmental environmental groupthink is replacing common sense.

The main driver of the “Elevate TI” concept is sea level rise. If for the moment, we accept at face value the rate of sea level rise put forward by the City, the glaring failure of “Elevate TI” is that this issue will impact millions of US residents living along the coasts of the country, not just Treasure Island, Pinellas County, or Florida.

The solutions to sea level rise may be applied at the state, county, or local level, but the cost of these solutions decidedly cannot. There is not enough tax money at the City, County or State level to ever fund elevating the entire island or the entire gulf coast. The only entity that can fund the impact of sea level rise is the US federal government with its ability to literally print money. And the solution will involve the homes of millions of Americans on the east coast, gulf coast and west coast.

CVTI can applaud the concern of the City of Treasure Island regarding the future of its residents in light of potential sea level rise. And the City can possibly join/lead the lobbying effort of coastal communities across the US at the federal government level to fund programs such as “Elevate TI.” But this massive, unfunded program cannot be funded by only the taxpayers, businesses, and residents of Treasure Island. The real solution will require funding at the federal government level comparable to how the US funded and built the Interstate Highway System – paid for nationally to the benefit of the nation.

This mandate must be stopped now.

CVTI CAN SUPPORT ONE ELEMENT OF “ELEVATE TI”

CVTI does recognize that the one aspect of “Elevate TI” that can bring benefits to residents is: The change in the City’s long-held environmental doctrine that no new fill dirt can be brought onto the site of the construction of a new home. This current restriction is based on the belief of the environmental ”experts” that adding fill dirt in a designated flood zone will cause not only neighboring property to flood but also push floodwater further inland and increase the overall area of flooding.

Interestingly, one of the main tenets of “Elevate TI” is that fill dirt will now be REQUIRED for new home construction. The City officials who review and approve building permits have supported the current no-fill position for years. This proposed change suddenly turns the previous no-fill doctrine on its head. Now suddenly the new way of thinking by the alleged “experts” is what others have known all along – elevating your home site AT YOUR DISCRETION protects against seal level rise and flooding.

CVTI can support a simple, direct change to the City building code to allow fill dirt to be brought onto home sites, along with the requisite stormwater adjustments. Seawall adjustments should be at the discretion of the homeowner and not mandated by the City without a City funding source. The benefit of fill dirt is to elevate the home and not necessarily the back yard.

To be clear, CVTI will not support the unfunded mandate of the massive “Elevate TI” program including any change to the current FEMA 50% rule and the other unfunded requirements that will bankrupt the City. CVTI will consider the careful application of the fill dirt aspect to the building code update as fill dirt is a technical solution that never should have been banned in the first place.

CVTI’s position has been consistent; eliminate the ill-conceived “no fill dirt on Treasure Island rule” for new construction and allow the fill dirt to be brought in and seawalls raised to the FEMA or new City Building Code standards.

A comprehensive 423-page program like Elevate TI has never been successfully completed anywhere in Florida or anywhere else in the United States. There is no logical reason for the City of TI to be the Guinea Pig in this area without comprehensive federal funding (which is not available.) The only winner from all of this will be the consultants.

If anything, “Elevate TI” should be an optional and aspirational goal driven by the ability to bring in fill dirt until adequate federal funding is made available for things like roads and other infrastructure. Most, if not all people, will likely elevate their new home construction projects to the FEMA or new City Building Code standards. A simple change to the City code can accomplish this now that supporters of the flawed environmental doctrine of no fill dirt have experienced the epiphany that site elevation does not flood neighbors or inland locations.

The commonsense approach is to allow (not mandate) fill dirt to be brought in and seawalls and garages raised for the next few years while closely monitoring the outcomes for unintended consequences. This can be accomplished by simply changing the current “No Fill Dirt” Ordinance in the City building codes. An Ordinance change could be done in a few focused pages codifying the new Ordinance. There is no need to pass hundreds of pages of complicated regulations that simply force a solution to a problem that does not even exist today and may not be a problem for decades. Sea level rise is providing us with way more than ample time to: start slow, monitor progress, and make possible modifications to our course of action in the future.

Please share this with your friends and neighbors and contact your commissioners to let them know your thoughts on this massive, unfunded group-think project. You should also plan to attend the City Workshop today, July 30th at 2:00pm to make your opinion heard!

Elevate TI Workshop

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JULY 28, 2024

CVTI Alert: The Massive, Unfunded Elevate TI Program Targets Single-Story and Ground-Level Homeowners

The City of Treasure Island is considering a radical, unproven, unfunded government mandate under the heading of “Elevate TI.” This massive program, unilaterally invented by the City, implemented nowhere else in the country, and funded by only us—the taxpayers of Treasure Island, will force TI residents out of their single-story and ground-level homes by increasing the required time between construction permits under the FEMA 50% rule.

Plan to attend the July 30th Commissioners workshop this Tuesday and voice your opinion on the proposed rule change which is a key part of Elevate TI. The workshop starts at 2:00pm on July 30th at City Hall. Public comments will be the first item on the agenda.

1. The City’s proposed change to the 50% rule is designed to push TI residents out of their single-story and ground-level houses and must be stopped.

You should want no change to the current FEMA 50% rule. Currently, you are allowed to make improvements of up to 50% of the value of your structure (not including land) for each permit and there is no waiting period to obtain the next permit after you close out the current permit. The City is attempting to impose a change not required by FEMA. The City wants to restrict your ability to make repairs or improvements that exceed 50% of the value of your home in a five-year period. The City’s proposed change is certainly not putting the TI Residents first.

2. What is the practical impact of this unnecessary change by the City?

If your home should be damaged by a storm or you desire to make your own improvements, and the repairs to your home exceed 50% of the assessed value of the STRUCTURE (not the total assessed value of the structure plus the land), you most likely will be restricted from completing the repairs FOR FIVE YEARS. Can you wait five years to return or complete the improvements to your home?

3. Why would the City unilaterally impose such a change?

One has to ask, “why would the City do this to its residents?”. Since a unilateral unfunded change is being imposed, who does it benefit? The FEMA rule as it is today allows for back-to-back permits should storm repairs or your desired improvements exceed 50% of the assessed value of the structure. There is no five-year restriction.

The City proposal intends to force residents of single-story and ground-level houses to either pay all the costs to tear down their homes and replace them with new homes elevated above the FEMA floodplain or sell your home to someone who can afford to do this.

There is no other conceivable justification for why the City intends to exceed FEMA regulations. This provides ZERO benefit to you the homeowner and puts the entire burden of the cost of this program onto you.

4. Do not be fooled by the “rolling 5-year period” City proposal

The City is attempting to hide its true purpose from us of this proposed change by creating the term “rolling 5-year period” in its statement posted on Elevate TI regarding Cumulative Substantial Improvements (“CSI”). The City proposal completely ignores the scenario where your repairs exceed the 50% limit, and instead provides a flawed example of a repair amount that is UNDER the 50% limit and then spread out over six years. Do you have six years to complete repairs that could be done in one year under current FEMA regulation? Ask your City officials who this actually benefits. This statement is a modern-day smokescreen designed to hide the true intent of this unilateral change by the City.

The City solution to their Elevate TI challenge is: make it more difficult for individuals to improve the older single-story and ground-level homes so they can continue to live comfortably in them. Hence, forcing a tear down and rebuild (which not everyone can afford) or an ultimate sale of their older home.

CVTI believes it is a terrible idea for the City to force TI residents out of their single-story and ground-level homes since many of these homeowners are elderly and have been longtime residents of TI. The single-story and ground-level homeowners and all TI residents deserve better!

Please share this information with your friends and neighbors who own single-story or ground-level homes and attend the City Workshop on Tuesday, July 30th at 2pm to make your opinion heard!

Elevate TI ? ? ?

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JULY 24, 2024

Elevate TI-Questions

The commissioners will be reviewing and discussing Elevate TI on July 30th, 2024, at the 2PM workshop in City Hall. Consider attending the meeting to voice your opinion. See the Elevate TI meetings schedule below.

The following simple questions need to be answered before moving forward with a 423-page document that is full of unintended consequences:

Where has any program like Elevate TI been successfully implemented in Florida or anywhere along the Eastern Seaboard?
Who is going to pay for the cost of Elevate TI?
Why are City of Treasure Island officials, who do not live in Treasure Island, trying to force TI Residents out of their single-story ranch homes by increasing the required time between construction permits under the FEMA 50% rule?
Why should Elevate TI be a mandated requirement vs an aspirational goal?
Why did the City of Treasure Island spend countless hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars with consultants on a plan to renovate Treasure Bay, but did not include in their bid packages, raising 2,000 linear feet of Seawall to their own Elevate TI standard of 5 feet (Seawall Height)?
Why do the City of Treasure Island officials believe they have the necessary technical expertise or resources to be a first mover on a project like this?
Is there relief provided from the FEMA 50% rule for individuals who simply want to bring in fill dirt to raise their house up to the new base elevation standard provided by Elevate TI.

CVTI supports; non-mandated, aspirational goals for bringing in fill dirt and raising seawall heights. This can easily be accomplished with a simple 3 or 4-page document removing the ill-conceived “No Fill Dirt on TI” Ordinance. We do not need 423 pages of building code changes that will only frustrate everyone trying to build in TI as well as the current TI residents.

Elevate TI should not be required or mandated for TI residents.

ELEVATE TI – Upcoming Meetings Supplied by the City

July 30, 2024, 2 p.m. ﺍ City Commission Workshop to Discuss the Terrain Modification Program

August 8, 2024, 12 Noon or 6 p.m. ﺍ Local Planning Agency Board: Presentation of all ordinances related to Terrain Modification Program

August 15, 2024, After 2 p.m. P&Z Meeting ﺍ Local Planning Agency Board: Consider approval of all ordinances related to the Terrain Modification Program

August 20, 2024, 6 p.m. ﺍ City Commission 1st reading of all ordinances related to the Terrain Modification Program

September 3, 2024, 6 p.m. ﺍ City Commission 2nd reading of all ordinances related to the Terrain Modification Program

City of Treasure Island Commissioners and Mayor Contact Information

Tyler Payne, Mayor - (727) 748-5062, email: tpayne@mytreasureisland.org

Deb Toth, Commissioner District 1 – (727) 748-5178, email: dtoth@mytreasureisland.org

John Doctor, Commissioner District 2 – (727) 340-0115, email: jdoctor@mytreasureisland.org

Bob Minning, Commissioner District 3 – 727-748-6281, email: bminning@mytreasureisland.org bminning@mytreasureisland.org

Arden Dickey, Commissioner District 4 – (727)748-6368, email: adickey@mytreasureisland.org

Congratulations City Mgr.

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JUNE 21, 2024

Congratulations to Charles (Chuck) Anderson on his selection as the new City Manager for the City of Treasure Island.

CVTI looks forward to collaborating with Mr. Anderson to achieve Common Sense Leadership Driven by Integrity and the Taxpayers, Promoting Transparency and Integrity and, most importantly, Put Treasure Island Residents First.

There is much to be done to achieve these goals and CVTI will continue to represent all Treasure Island residents and focus on ensuring sound public policy.

Best wishes, Mr. Anderson, we look forward to working with you to move Treasure Island forward!

City Manager Search I

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JUNE 16, 2024

CITY MANAGER FINALISTS

The process of identifying Treasure Island’s next City Manager is winding down. We encourage you to learn as much as you can about each of the finalists and share your thoughts with your City Commissioner. To assist you in that process, we are providing resources to connect you to the information you need.

Citizens Voice of Treasure Island (CVTI) believes the following qualifications and experiences should be required when considering the list of qualified finalists:

Experience working in Florida (5-10 years)
Substantial experience managing capital projects.
Willing to commit to residing in Treasure Island
Experience leading economic development.
Willing to make a long-term commitment to the city.
Willing to listen to and put residents first.

At this time, there are four remaining finalists being considered for the City Manager Position:

Charles Anderson
Taylor Brown
James Slaton
Thomas Yates

You can use the following link to see the resumes of each of the finalists.

https://www.mytreasureisland.org/residents/departments/human_resources/updates_on_hiring_a_new_city_manager.php

The City Commission Meeting video from May 15th will provide you with the opportunity to hear from the candidates and see how each Commissioner scored them based on the information they had been provided to that point. The link to that video is provided below. Please note that there was a problem initially with the broadcasting of the sound – it was corrected after a few moments.

https://treasureislandfl.granicus.com/player/clip/819?view_id=1&redirect=true

Additionally, please note the upcoming meetings that will allow you to engage in the process. We encourage you to participate if you can.

Wednesday, June 19th @ 6:00 pm – Public Meet and Greet with the candidates – City Hall 5th floor.
Thursday, June 20th @ 7:30 am – Special City Commission Meeting during which the Commissioners will interview each candidate collectively (We assume this meeting will be broadcast live on Facebook, YouTube and on the City’s website. Please note that the city currently does not have the ability to broadcast on Spectrum Channel 644.)

City Manager Search II

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MAY 15, 2024

This Wednesday, May 15 at 6 pm, the Treasure Island City Commission will meet to choose 3-5 finalists for the City Manager position based on additional information provided by the candidates and Strategic Government Resources. CVTI believes it is important for the Residents of Treasure Island to participate in the process.

The meeting will be held in the Commission Chambers at City Hall. If you are interested in learning more about the Semi-Finalists, please plan to attend.

Semi-Finalists:
Charles Anderson
Paul Brake
Taylor Brown
Patrick Comiskey
Kenneth Griffin
Lawrence McNaul
Jeff Mihelich
Scott Moye
James Slaton
Angela Stone
Cary Vargo

Thomas Yates

City Manager Search III

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APRIL 30, 2024

CITY MANAGER SEARCH - Treasure Island

As you may know, the Treasure Island City Commission held a meeting on Friday, April 19th to narrow the number of potential candidates for the open City Manager position. The number of potential candidates was reduced from 61 to 12. On May 15th, the remaining twelve candidates will be reduced to 3-5 finalists.

Citizens Voice of Treasure Island (CVTI) believes the following qualifications and experiences should be required when further narrowing the list of qualified applicants:

Experience working in Florida Government (minimum 5 years preferably 10 years)
Substantial and direct experience managing capital projects to successful outcomes (both new and existing infrastructure improvement projects)
Willing to commit to being an active member of the community including residing in Treasure Island
Experience promoting economic development and recruiting businesses.
Willing to make a long-term commitment to Treasure Island
Willing to listen to Treasure Island residents and put the TI residents’ wants/needs first.
Willingness to collaborate with Treasure Island residents to jointly develop a long-term vision for the city.

Publix Event

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APRIL 6, 2024

Today’s CVTI Membership Drive Event Postponed

Publix has asked CVTI to postpone our membership drive event scheduled for today, Saturday April 6th.

Someone from Treasure Island called Publix Corporate Headquarters in Lakeland, Florida and convinced them to stop CVTI’s membership drive event by wrongfully alleging that we are a political organization. The person’s actions are a testament to the significant impact CVTI is having on Treasure Island Policy Issues. CVTI clearly has the attention of someone who does not want the Citizens of Treasure Island to have an organized voice driven by common sense.

CVTI is a 501(c)(4) organization created and maintained for the purpose of social welfare. Our main purpose is to educate and advocate to ensure sound public policy for the Citizens of Treasure Island. We are NOT a political committee.

Our Mission Statement: To collaborate with the City of Treasure Island to achieve Common Sense Leadership driven by Integrity and the Taxpayers.
Our Goal: Promote Transparency and Integrity
Our Agenda: Put Treasure Island Residents First

Hard to believe that someone would object to a Public Welfare organization with the above core values of: Common Sense, Transparency, Integrity and putting Treasure Island Residents first!

It is more important than ever that we continue our grassroots organizing efforts to add new CVTI members to our group of five hundred plus (500+) individuals. Please contact your friends and neighbors and ask them to join our CVTI distribution list and follow us on social media.

Look for more information on our next CVTI membership drive event on social media.

Congratulations Arden

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MARCH 20, 2024

CONGRATULATIONS ARDEN DICKEY - District 4 Commissioner

CVTI would like to congratulate Arden Dickey for becoming the newly elected District 4 Commissioner in Treasure Island. CVTI looks forward to working with Arden on the numerous issues impacting the residents of TI.

CVTI would also like to recognize and congratulate Richard Harris for his campaign to become the Commissioner for District 4. CVTI believes it is vitally important to have at least two qualified candidates running for each elected city position.

Part of CVTI’s purpose is to educate and advocate to ensure sound public policy for the residents of TI. There is no better way to educate the public about policy matters than to have at least two candidates running for each elected office in TI and openly debating the issues. This spring, CVTI will be opening a candidate identification process for the 2025 election cycle to ensure the residents of TI have qualified candidates debating and discussing the issues.

City Hall Cost Analysis I

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MARCH 13, 2024

CVTI is not in agreement with the City’s disclosure of the total cost of the new City Hall project.

CVTI firmly believes accurate project cost accounting and related disclosures to the TI residents for capital projects is a nonnegotiable item. CVTI’s goal is to promote transparency and integrity. The City Staff’s intentional omission of around $1.8mil of project costs is concerning on both.

CVTI is supportive of moving forward with certain projects. However, CVTI recommends a pause until a comprehensive review of: work scope, project costs, and prioritization for all major capital projects can be completed.

CVTI’s agenda is simple; “Put TI Residents First.” In this case, it means providing complete and accurate project cost information to the TI residents for all proposed capital projects and listening to what the residents’ priorities are for any and all future capital expenditures. Most TI residents are concerned, and rightfully so, about the city’s focus on the construction of new buildings while basic maintenance of city infrastructure and the beautification of public parks like Treasure Bay remain a challenge.

On another matter, CVTI is currently forming a Budget Review Committee to work with the city throughout the upcoming budget process. As you can see from the Mileage Rate Comparison below, there should be TI resident input into both the budget process and the establishment of priority projects. We definitely need to move away from outside consultants creating the “need” for high dollar projects that make their way into the budgeting process.

Mileage Rate Comparison:

Treasure Island……….3.8129

Madeira Beach………..2.7500

Indian Rocks Beach…1.8325

City Hall Cost Analysis II

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FEBRUARY 14, 2024

NEW CITY HALL COST ANALYSIS

Over the last 12 months, many of you have asked CVTI to review and gain an understanding of the total cost of the New City Hall project. To that end, we have reviewed public documentation, met with T.I. officials, and applied the most basic principles of project cost accounting. This email highlights our findings and concerns.

The new city hall project will be discussed at the February 20th 6PM commission meeting at city hall.

Please use the link below to an article published by the Tampa Bay times in 2019. The article entitled “Treasure Island plans a new City Hall Solution” clearly states T.I. City Commissioners will be borrowing $8 million dollars to cover BOTH the cost to purchase the Allied Insurance Building (“the building”) and the cost for the renovations needed to convert the building to City Hall use.

In March of 2020, the city of Treasure Island purchased the building for $6,425,867. The remaining balance from the $8 million loan was $1,574,133 and this was to be used for the renovation of the building. The ORIGINAL BUDGET for the New City Hall project was $8 million.

Costs to date on the New City Hall project have significantly exceeded the $8 million dollar budget. The total project cost as of February 2024 is approximately $12 million. The original renovation budget of $1,574,133 has increased by 250% to approximately $4,000,000.

We arrived at the $4,000,000 by: starting with the city provided total spend number of $11,286,354 and adding the $605,000 of Interest Expense paid to date (on the $8 mil loan) and $108,646 of miscellaneous expenses. Some miscellaneous expenses not properly accounted for in the posted total include but not limited to: Legal fees, repairs for the window failure, elevator equipment relocation, insurance, building maintenance and utilities, etc. during the four-year construction period. T.I.'s decision to not include interest expense attributable to the $8 Million city hall project financing is perplexing.

The original $8 million loan has a current balance of approximately $6 million remaining to be paid. The loan amortization schedule indicates another $800,000 of interest expense to be paid over the remaining life of the loan.

If you include the $800,000 of additional interest along with all the other miscellaneous projects cost during the construction period, the total project costs for the New City Hall could easily be $13 million versus an $8 million-dollar Original Budget.

Arguably, the biggest concern raised by the taxpayers of TI is the following (paraphrased): How can we spend this much money and not have hurricane proof glass in our City Hall. Essentially, our “New” 40-year-old city hall building is no more prepared for a hurricane than our current 60-year-old city hall building.

In Summary we are now:

· 4 years since the project started.

· Around $4 million plus over the Original anticipated cost for the New City Hall

· Have a remaining loan balance of $6 million for the new City Hall Project

· More vulnerable to a hurricane now because of location and non-hurricane proof windows on our City Hall building, and

· Still waiting to move into our New City Hall

It is no wonder the Residents of TI are asking for a pause on large project spending and a resetting of the Priority Projects for Treasure Island.

Traffic Study Workshop I

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FEBRUARY 8, 2024

Lane Reduction at 107th Ave has been REMOVED from the Downtown Mobility Plan

On Tuesday, February 6th, TI’s Mayor and City Commissioners held a workshop to discuss the proposed Downtown Mobility Plan (Plan). Because of numerous TI residents attending the meeting and clearly voicing their opposition to the Plan, the commissioners came to a unanimous consensus vote to remove the proposed lane reduction at 107th Avenue from the Plan.

Citizens Voice Treasure Island (CVTI) would like to thank all of TI residents who attended the workshop and made their voices heard. The TI residents’ opposition to the Plan was overwhelming and the Mayor and Commissioners listened.

CVTI would also like to commend Mayor Payne and all the Commissioners for allowing an interactive workshop with the TI residents. And most importantly, CVTI recognizes Mayor Payne and the Commissioners for their Commonsense Leadership. CVTI stands for Commonsense Leadership Driven by the Taxpayers.

Mayor Payne also committed to having the TI residents’ full participation in any future discussion of the remaining parts of the Plan. Again, a notable example of Commonsense leadership.

One thing became clear at Tuesday’s workshop; the TI residents do not want any outside consultants telling them how to live within and travel about their community. TI residents quickly saw right through the $18.1 million of proposed changes to fix a “traffic problem” that does not exist.

TI Residents were clearly not happy with the cost of the Consultants ($100k+) or the value of the final work product. There are also two other and very similar Consulting studies that have been recently completed. One Consulting study is: “TI Connectivity.” The other Consulting study is: “Gulf Blvd Safety.” CVTI encourages everyone to follow these studies closely and plan to participate in any upcoming workshop discussion. The two additional consulting studies combined will most likely have a cost in excess of $200k. Similar to the Plan, these studies will include substantial costs for lifestyle changes that may or may not make sense to the TI residents.

CVTI agrees with Commissioner Minning’s request that TI Residents send their suggestions and questions in writing to the Mayor and their Commissioner. CVTI is encouraging everyone to contact the Mayor and their Commissioner and tell them “To stop all outside consultant fees” for projects that try to tell us how to live and travel in our community. It was noticeably clear Tuesday evening that the TI residents are willing to and want to make their own decisions about how they live in our little slice of paradise.

Traffic Study Workshop II

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2024 - Commission Workshop

Lane Reduction at 107th Ave has been REMOVED from the Downtown Mobility Plan

Mayor Payne also committed to having the TI residents’ full participation in any future discussion of the remaining parts of the Plan. Again, a notable example of Commonsense leadership.

Traffic Study Workshop III

* * * * * * * * * * * *

FEBRUARY 1, 2024: Important Information Alert

PROPOSED CHANGES TO TRAFFIC IN OUR DOWNTOWN AREA!

The City has posted the Agendas and Agenda Packets for next week's Commission Meeting and Commission Workshop. The Commissioners will be discussing the Downtown Mobility Study which proposes changes that will impact all residents of Treasure Island.

The study proposes reducing 107th Street from 4 lanes to 2 lanes among many other changes.

It is our opinion that no changes should be made to traffic patterns until there is actually an approved downtown development plan. Once there are firm plans from property owners/developers, then and only then, should there be conversations about improvements or changes to the traffic patterns.

We encourage you to use the link below to go to the City Website to review the Mobility Study that will be discussed. The link will take you to the Agenda for the Workshop. From there, click on the "Agenda Packet" link which will provide links to the Mobility Study documents. It is important that we are informed and share feedback with our Commissioners.

It is important to let your neighbors know about the proposed changes as well!

The Commission Workshop will begin after the 6:00 meeting on Tuesday, February 6th.

Please attend and share your feedback on this topic with our commissioners.

https://d3n9y02raazwpg.cloudfront.net/treasureislandfl/40a7cd53-990e-11ee-a93d-0050569183fa-a10b4f21-195a-48a5-99cd-a34b9799d86d-1706803311.pdf

2024 January CVTI Update

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JANUARY 8, 2024

Citizens’ Voice Treasure Island (CVTI) 2024 Update

CVTI would like to take this opportunity to wish each of you a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year! We look forward to more shared successes in 2024.

The New Year is only 10 days old, yet there has already been a significant amount of activity that will impact the Citizens of TI. Following is a recap of the current and future events that will be important to all Citizens of Treasure Island.

RESIGNATIONS

Amy Davis, City Manager, has resigned her position and will be leaving in February. Amy will be starting a new position with Pinellas County. It is our understanding that an outside search process for Amy’s successor will be starting soon.

Saleene Partridge, Commissioner for District 3, has resigned her position effective December 31, 2023. The remaining City Commissioners and Mayor will appoint a person to complete Saleene’s term. Stay tuned for more information on this important appointment process.

CITY ELECTIONS: March 19, 2024

Congratulations to Tyler Payne (Mayor) and John Doctor (Commissioner of District 2) who ran unopposed for their respective positions, and both will continue their service to TI. CVTI looks forward to working with both Tyler and John as well as the other Commissioners to achieve: Common Sense Leadership Driven by Integrity and the Taxpayers.

DISTRICT 4 COMMISSIONER ELECTION

Richard David Harris will be running against Arden Dwight Dickey. CVTI will be posting additional information about the candidates and their policy positions which will affect TI going forward.

UPCOMING ITEMS of IMPORTANCE

CHARTER AMENDMENTS

As you may recall, the City of TI proposed two major Charter Amendments during the March of 2023 election cycle. There is an expectation of more charter amendments with some being proposed in the 2024 election cycle. Like the 2023 election, the 2024 election cycle will include only the district 4 Commissioner’s race. CVTI believes a “Common Sense” approach would be to hold off on any proposed Charter Amendments until there is more than a single district commissioners’ race and/or a citywide Mayor’s race. Charter Amendments affect all TI Taxpayers and should not be decided by a small group of voters from a single district. Like the March of 2023 election, CVTI will be reviewing closely any proposed charter amendments and will be making voter recommendations as appropriate. Nonetheless, if there are proposed charter amendments it is important that all TI voters participate in the March of 2024 election. Much more to come on this topic.

CHANGES TO TI’s COMPREHENSIVE PLAN: Ordinance No. 2024-01

TI’s Comprehensive Plan is being rewritten and this will govern the land use for the future. CVTI has received several inquiries about the status of this project. Surprisingly, nothing is listed about rewriting of the Comprehensive Plan under the “Projects tab” on the City’s website. Nonetheless, the first reading of the Ordinance will be on January 18, 2024, at city hall following the 2:00pm Planning and Zoning Board meeting. CVTI understands that certain individuals have requested copies of the work completed to date on the Comprehensive plan but have not yet received anything. It does appear that copies of the proposed Ordinance can be picked up at City Hall from the City Clerk’s office during business hours, which are 8:00am to 4:30pm, Monday through Friday. CVTI encourages you to reach out to your commissioners and request information on the proposed changes to the Comprehensive Plan and provide input. More to come on this project.

CVTI MOVING into 2024

CVTI is humbled by the tremendous amount of support the Citizens of TI have provided to us since our start up in 2023. We graciously appreciate the vast numbers of TI Residents who are: signing up to be included in database; making financial contributions, volunteering their time and functional expertise, and serving on our Board of Directors and Executive Committee.

During 2024, to prepare for the many upcoming opportunities to achieve “Common Sense Leadership driven by Integrity and the Taxpayers”, CVTI will continue to: drive an increase to our membership; conduct fundraising activities; and educate/advocate to ensure sound public policy for the Citizens of TI.

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO TO BE INVOLVED

Help us grow our database of TI Citizens by encouraging your friends and neighbors to join us. Signing up to receive informative emails is as simple as sending an email to CitizensVoiceTI@gmail.com. If your friends and neighbors would like to sign up in person, CVTI will have a table set up at Publix on February 3rd to introduce our group to neighbors who might not have heard about us yet.

We always encourage member attendance at City Commission Meetings, however, if you are unable to attend in person, tune into City Commission Meetings, on the city’s Facebook page, the city’s website, or Spectrum Channel 644.

Finally, follow CVTI’s Facebook and Instagram pages (CitizensVoiceTI) or visit our website at www.CitizensVoiceTI.com.

CVTI will always promote Transparency and Integrity and with everyone’s continued support the “Best is Yet Come”!

Beach Beacon Article

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NOVEMBER 15, 2023

BEACH BEACON ARTICLE published after the November 7, 2023 workshop.

By MARK SCHANTZ, TBN Correspondent Nov 15, 2023

https://www.tbnweekly.com/beach_beacon/article_ace140b2-8315-11ee-b2c6-3ffce7e913bc.html

Assessment Stopped by Citizens

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NOVEMBER 17, 2023

Special Assessment Ordinance 2023-11: Stopped by Concerned Citizens

Citizens Voice of Treasure Island’s (CVTI) mission is to collaborate with the City of Treasure Island to achieve Common Sense Leadership driven by Integrity and the Taxpayers. For the Mayor, City Commissioners and City Staff, Common Sense Leadership must begin with listening to the Citizens/Taxpayers of Treasure Island (TI).

On Tuesday, November 7, after listening to numerous individuals (both from CVTI and other Citizens) speak against the Special Assessment Ordinance, the Mayor and Commissioners decided “to get rid of” the Ordinance. The Mayor and Commissioners did the right thing by listening to the Citizens/Taxpayers of Treasure Island. They should be commended for their action.

The City Staff’s attempt to “Piggyback” onto the Isle of Capri’s request for a specific Taxpayer Generated Special Assessments process lacked both Transparency and Integrity. Numerous Citizens/Taxpayers were concerned about the City Generated Special Assessments (which were added to the Isle of Capri’s Taxpayer Generated Special Assessments request) becoming akin to an HOA Fee or a Disguised Tax. Ironically, City Staff proposed; City Generated Special Assessments would have Zero taxpayer approval, while Taxpayer Generated Special Assessments would require 80% taxpayer approval. TI Citizens/Taxpayers across the board were disappointed in how the City Staff handled the Isle of Capri’s request for a specific process for Taxpayer Generated Special Assessments. As one Isle of Capri resident stated, “Our request was hijacked by the city.”

CVTI would like to thank everyone who got involved by attending the November 7th Workshop, contacting their commissioner and/or the mayor to express their concerns about the proposed Special Assessments Ordinance. CVTI wants to provide the opportunity for all TI Citizens/Taxpayers to have a voice in the future of TI. As CVTI’s membership continues to grow, we are proving that the TI Citizens/Taxpayers speaking with one voice in the sunshine can make a difference.

To assist with our Mission to Achieve Common Sense Leadership, please invite your neighbors and friends to join CVTI.

Assessment Workshop

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NOVEMBER 3, 2023

Citizens' Voice of Treasure Island (CVTI) is a hard “NO” on any City of Treasure Island initiated Special Assessments that do not include a rigorous taxpayer final approval.

Plan to attend this Tuesday night's WORKSHOP meeting at City Hall - City initiated Special Assessments will be discussed
The workshop is scheduled for 7:00 PM. However, get there early since it starts immediately after the 6:00 PM Commissioners meeting, which could mean it starts earlier.

On September 18, 2023, Treasure Island Citizens overwhelmingly expressed their opposition to any City of Treasure Island initiated Special Assessments. Taxpayers voiced their strong opposition by attending and speaking at the Commissioners meeting, calling, and e-mailing their Commissioners and the Mayor, plus sharing their opposition on Social Meeting with their neighbors.

The Mayor and the Commissioners did the right thing and “tabled” the Ordinance which included City of Treasure Island initiated Special Assessments. By tabling the vote on the Special Assessment Ordinance, the Commissioners sent the Ordinance back to a workshop which will be held on November 7th, 2023.

While we are hopeful, the Mayor and Commissioners will continue to listen to the taxpayers and permanently shut down any City of Treasure Island initiated Special Assessments, we cannot sit back and hope for the right outcome.

Just like September 18, 2023, Taxpayers should attend the November 7, 2023 Workshop to voice their opposition, Call and E-mail the Mayor and Commissioners, and most importantly share this information with their neighbors.

Citizens Voice of Treasure Island (CVTI) is a hard “NO” on any City of Treasure Island initiated Special Assessments that do not include a rigorous taxpayer final approval.

CVTI believes until we receive a transparent accounting of the costs for the “runaway” City Hall project all other Capital Expenditures except specific life/safety/utility ones should be put on hold. The taxpayers deserve full transparency.

CVTI supports Taxpayer Initiated Special Assessments provided there is rigorous approval process which includes all taxpayers affected by the Assessments.

Beach Beacon Article

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SEPTEMBER 27, 2023

The Beach Beacon wrote an article about our recent (twenty-six page) Special Assessment Ordinance delay at the September 18th meeting.

The issue is a little more complicated than the article explained. Had this ordinance passed as written the city could have proposed a special assessment and even if they chose the option to place a referendum for approval before the voters, the city commission would have had the option to override the voter’s wishes.

LINK TO BEACH BEACON ARTICLE:

https://www.tbnweekly.com/beach_beacon/article_e5bd8d5c-5c80-11ee-a824-938cf1f2a3a0.html

CVTI Commitment

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SEPTEMBER 26, 2023

Citizens’ Voice Treasure Island (CVTI) is committed to working with the City of Treasure Island (TI) to achieve Common Sense Leadership driven by Integrity and the Taxpayers.

CVTI commends the Mayor and Commissioners for listening to the taxpayers and tabling City Ordinance 2023-11. This Ordinance, among other things, would have given the City of TI the right to create Special Assessments of Taxpayers without any Taxpayer input. The Mayor and Commissioners were correct to stop this attempted Government overreach by the City of Treasure Island.

CVTI does not support the City of Treasure Island’s initiated Special Assessments without Taxpayer approval by those Taxpayers impacted by the Special Assessment.

The discussion about the need for a Special Assessment tool was started by a group of Residents from your Isle of Capri. This group of taxpayers simply wanted a way to “get things done” specific to their neighborhood and property. The citizens of Isle of Capri (provided they had the required votes to approve the project) were willing to pay for their specific projects through a special assessment.

CVTI applauds and supports the Isle of Capri Taxpayers’ efforts to obtain a Taxpayer Driven Special Assessment Process. In addition, CVTI supports any citizens’ taxpayer group who wishes to obtain a special assessment for their property.

By tabling Ordinance 2023-11, the Mayor and Commissioners sent the City of TI back to the “Drawing Board” to rethink how the City of TI can support the residents of Isle of Capri. This new discussion about Special Assessments will begin on November 7th at the Commission Workshop.

CVTI believes any new or revised Special Assessment Ordinance should only be supported by the Mayor and Commissioners if the new or revised ordinance focuses solely on taxpayer initiated Special Assessment requests. CVTI respectfully asks you to contact the Mayor and your Commissioners to express your desires to not have any City Initiated Special Assessments without the same taxpayer approval process as the Taxpayer Generated Special Assessment process.

CVTI finds it ironic that, the way Ordinance 2023-11 was presented:

A City Initiated Special Assessment requires ZERO Taxpayer Approval
Taxpayer Initiated Special Assessments Require 70% taxpayer approval for a feasibility study and 80% taxpayer approval to start a Taxpayer Initiated project.

CVTI is sure there is an opportunity for improvement in the thought process around taxpayer involvement in any Special Assessment Process.

Please consider joining many other TI Residents in supporting our quest for Transparency and Integrity. Join us in our mission by emailing us at CitizensVoiceTI@gmail.com or by providing your contact information on our website at www.CitizensVoiceTI.com.

Please be on the lookout for a City Wide CVTI meeting – time and place coming soon on our website www.CitizensVoiceTI.com . Visit us also on Facebook, Instagram and NextDoor.

Thank you,

Citizens’ Voice of Treasure Island

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Contact Information: City of Treasure Island Commissioners and Mayor:

Tyler Payne, Mayor - (727) 748-5062 - email: tpayne@mytreasureisland.org

Deb Toth, Commissioner District 1 – (727) 748-5178 - email: dtoth@mytreasureisland.org

John Doctor, Commissioner District 2 – (727) 340-0115 - email: jdoctor@mytreasureisland.org

Saleene Partridge, Vice Mayor, Commissioner District 3 – 727-748-6281 - email: spartridge@mytreasureisland.org

Beth Wetzel, Commissioner District 4 – (727)748-6368 - email: mwetzel@mytreasureisland.org

CITIZENS' VOICE

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JULY 30, 2024 ​WHY “ELEVATE TI” MUST BE STOPPED…

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JULY 30, 2024

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