06-01-62SpMtg ~UNE 1, 1962.
A Special Meeting was held in the Council Chambers at 8:00 P.M.~
with Mayor Walter Dietz in the Chair, City Manager' Louis J. Sr~itzes,
~ity Attorney John Ross Adams and Councilmen George Talbot, Jrt,
George V. Warren and Oliver W. Woodard, Jr., being present.
An opening prayer was delivered .by CiSy Clerk W. orthing.
Mayor Dietz rel~.nqUished-.the Chair to ~lce-Mayor Woodard who
conducted the first pa~t ~of the.meeting.
Concerning Council action on May 28th that a qualified appraise~
he hired to serve with ttxe-'Council on the Board of Equalization,
WoOdard informed the council that he had asked Mr. Robert Gracey co~r
Corning qualified men in the area and he had suggested Mrs. AnderSOn
of Anderson and Cart and Mr. Walter Puckett. City Manager smitzes
~ontacted these two appraisers and received the following informa~ic~.
1 - Anderson and Cart Mr. Anderson
per diem cha~ge - $125 ~ 3 days - $3?5.00
Plus:
$50 per residence appraisal minimum charge.
Commercial' appraisals higher, depending on type
and size.
Land appraisals depending on size.
2 - Walter Puckett
per diem charge - $100 ~ 3 days - $300.00
Plus:
$3~ per residence minimum charge.
Commercial appraisals higher, depending on type
and size.
Land appraisals depending on size.
Could onlybe available on ~une 11, 12 13,~because
he is making app~aisals on Congress Avenue for the
County and does not have additional time. (Not
comPletely~ sure abou~ June 12 because he is sched-
uled to testify in court that day.)
~icc-Mayor Woodard then stated that he feels the cost is pro-
hibitive and recommended that the Council n~t attempt to hire an
appraiser to assist the Council in this regard. Following comments
from the Councilmen, Mr. Woodard stated that the~e would be a roll
call vote and those voting yes would be in favor of hiring an ap-
praiser, and those voting no would be opposed to hiring an appraiser
at the quoted costs. The vote was unanimously "No".
Mr. Woodard read the following letter dated May 29th from Mr.
M. J. Yeoman of Y~'..oman & Smith:
To ~ummarize our discussion of today regarding annexa~tion,
Leo Blair and I will contact the property owners in the
area bounded by Atlantic Avenue on the South, Seaboard
tracks on the East and. Drainage Canals E-4 and-Lateral 11
on the West and North.
"Before we can start, however, we will need the following.
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"A list of the property owners names and addresses which
Mr. Werthing offered to supply.
"A suggested form fei, the petition for annexation.
"A letter, from the .commission Setting forth the extent
and nature of the water, and road work which .the city
will perform without direct assessment.' It might be
helpful for this letter to state the broad policy of
the city in fixing valuations of this,.land for tax
purposes such as $1%00 per acre, as we 'discussed, and
the percentage of valuation of improvements, This ·
letter will be an important selling factor with the
people we contact, so it should be as specific as possible.
"An,extract of the minutes of the councllmeeting author--
izing the disbursement, .if and .when the, major ~portion of
~ this area is annexed, of. approximately ~11,000, .for water
.and paving. '-
"Although we did not discuss it, we should consider as an
immediate problem, the extension of water lines, as and when
new buildings are constructed. Paul Levin is about to start
a building less than 100 feet north of the point where you
will install a hydrant. Shepard,s building is Just north of
Levin and I feel sure that he would want to use city water
as would we if initial costs were not excessive.
"We would like to get started on this as soon as' possible,
so would appreciate hearing further from you."
Following comments and explanations, Mayor Diets moved that any
material sent out ~to these people should first be submitted to the
City Attorney for approval.. The motion was seconded by Mr. Talbot
and unanimously carried.
City Manager Smitzes reminded the Council that 'action at May
28th meeting concerning hiring an appraiser would require full
Council action to change ~that action. Mayor. Diets then moved that
the Council not hire an outside appraiser. The motion was seconded
by ~ir. War~en and unanimously carried.
Vice-Mayor Woodard then re'll~mimhed the Chair to Mayor Diets,
Following lengthy discuss:~on c:~mc~ning the repeal' of Ordinance
No. G-445 which pertains to restricting the use of ~e Municipal
Beach, and comments on Ordinance No. G-~J!J!, City Clerk Worthing read
Emergency .ORDINANCE. NO, G-~d~.
~N EMERGENCY ORDI~ANOE..,O~,~THE C~IT¥ OF
DELRAY BE~CH,-FLORIDA~:.~4~E~EA,LIN~: 0RDINAN~E
STRICTING THE DELRAY BEA~¢H MUNICIPAL BEACH
TO CITIZENS, ~E~IDENTS AND CERTAIt~~ ~TI{ER
DESIGNATED PERSONS.
'BE IT 0R~INED BY THE CITY OOUNCIL OF 'THE CITY OF DELRAY BEACH,
FLORIDA, AS FOLLOWB:
SECTION 1,- Omdinano~ ~o~ G~44~ of this City, be and the same
is hereby repealed,
PASSED AND ADOmTED on the first day of June, 196~, to be
eff e'e~tiw~ immed iatety~
Emergency OrdinarY. e No. G-~9 was unanimously passed on first
and final ~'eading on mo't~on by Mr. 'Woodard 'and seconded by. Mr. Warren.
Regsmding ~he meap~raisal of real e~s~tate in Delray Beach, Mr.
Wsm~_en ~ommented as :fol.lows~: !'As one. 'of the five Co~iasioners who
last year retained the services of Eb_Penborg A~i~rai's&l' OOmpa~y, by
bidding, they were hired to evaluate the tax assessments on all city
pr~l~erty. There was the opinion~of the'COuncil that~ce~tain sections
of ~t~ne city were not paying their proper proportion of taxes. The
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125
June l, 1962
overall city revaluatlon.haabeen completed.fo~ about.a month. New
assessments have been applied to most.property iD th~ city which was
done in a very professi~naimanner at a cost of ~20,000.00 which~was
n the.~udg~t last yea~. ~ever, ln m~.opin~on, the ~riginal ob~
ective was not aocomp~ished..and Delray Beach is not ready for
0ation of the general increase in property taxes. The entire progp~
can be worth it's cost to the c.ity in the futur.e, timing of whic~
~e determined by future C.ouz~Cils. The normal increase in lmprove~,.
properS2 valuations as of January 1, 1962 will provide some four to
six million dollars of increase in assessment valuations, which c~
be applied to this year~s budget for opera,ion of theCity. Now,
Mr. Chairman, I would move that the e~tire revaluation amd assess~e$$
~oll as submitted by Ehrenb. Org AppraiSals, be s~t aside, for futur~
~se and not applied to assessments thio ye:a~. That the City~Oler~
d Tax Assessor be advised to use last year's assessment roll pl~
he normal increase in;as.sessments as the property taxes-to be
plied to the current budget for city operation."
M~. Woodard seconded the motion and stated that he ~dtd not fe$~
the values on ~OceanBouleva~d and :on Atlantio. Avenu~ are what the~
were a year or~-so.aEo, also there has'been achange in East Fifth'
Avenue, the Post Office area and other locations in town, and further
that sales of two and three years ago are not any indication as to
potential prices that might be derived in sales today.
City Attorney Adams asked: "Mr. W0rthing~ if this was done
could you prepare a new assessment roll in time .to levy taxes this
year?"
~. Worthing: "Neither time nor available help would permit
such action as you Just identified, however that wouldn't be my in-
tent in attempting to com~ly with a request of the City. Council.
It is most fortunate in. my opinion that a great portion of the ap-
praisal by the employed appraisers~appears .to be fair, Just and:
equitable."
Mayor Dietz asked Mr. Worthing: "In viewof your statement as
to modifications in land values, the benefit of your wide experience
could, be given to the Board of Equalization and consequently the same
brought about, is that correct, si~?"
M~. Worthl~g replied: "I believe that is correct, sir."
In Mayor Dletz,s f~ther comments he stated that he understood
from a recent, meeting th'at Mr. Worthing had given more weight to im-
proved property than to unimproved property with the result that
there had developed an unbalance and the tax roll, as a result, has
not been too fairly distributed. That there are three classes of
property, unimproved land, residential property and business property,
and that he gathered from said recent meeting that the burden had
been placed unproportiona~ely on the residence owner. Mayor Dietz
stated that he received the impression, a~ said meeting, that the
Appraisal Firm knew what they were talking about, also that the
former Council would not.have ordered a reappraisalif, in their
opinion, they had not felt that there was something unequal in the
assessed values in Delray Beach. That Delray Beach would be stimu-
lated if some of the vacant properties are sold.. Mayor Dietz then
asked the City Manager to stat~ his opinion on the Appraisal Firm,
to which Mr. Sr~tzes answered: "Gentlemen, although most of you were
not here when the selection was made, selection was made from what
was considered to be the top three firms of the nation. One firm
was located in Ohio, the second in Texas and the third firm in
Florida. Each took bids on exactly the same specifications and the
Council at that time felt that they were selecting, and we felt that
we were rec~mmending, the most capable firm .for the price quoted,
with 'the price~being secondary and quality being first. We still are
of that opinion. .We would like to make one statement~here that the
entire purpose of an appraisal isto equalize the valuations en the
properties. ~ It is not their:purpose to ~alao o~ lower ta~xes. That
poweris in-the Council and the time to exercise~hat ~we~ im after
you have been completely satisfied in ~ourminds, in each of
minds, that every property in the city is equal in value compaPed' to
its basic concept of appraisal, then Whether you raise or lower
taxes depends on how much money you th~nk it takes to run the city
: '3- 6-1'62
June l, 1962
and to give these services to the various ~axpayers at the time that
the budget iS p~esented to You. You coutd~ra~se them or you could
lower them. An appraisal is not to raise o~ lower taxes but~ to
equalize. T~at Was the ~'~rpose that'.'~?bro~gl~t' forth when they were
.hired and we ~t~nk ~hey ha~e' aCco~sh%~ ~'~'at.~ ~os~."
Mayor Dietz~ "Have you seen ~yt~g ~hat thby have done that
would cause one ~to have a loss of oo~id~b~ce in the f~m."
City Manager s~tzes.: "No. Sir~ I'would like to say also that
no fi~m is perfect, no individual is pe~ec~j and the tax procedures
fo~ the 8ta~e of Florida ~d the C~ty of De~ay. hdvea facility for
correcting such i~erfeotions and ~t'is ~e~Board of Equalization
where a De~ay Beach t~ayer c~ ~0me ~ -and state his~ case ~d ask
for 'considegati~j~ At that~ t~e, that,s ~en Justice on the part' of
the .Council i~ extended to each ta~aYeV if:he .h~-'a PP'ope~~ :~d .~
legitimate claim f0~
~. ~albot state~ that he'' w~ted tO do w~t ~as best for the
City but ~at it ;had not' been e~lal~ed tO h~~ sufficiently 'why the
R-3, Cai, 0-2 and 0-3 apparently/bears the. :-~ru~t of the increase in
t~s new appraisal'.
Following other co~ents,' ~, Wor~g stated: "I want to take
this opportunity of making public ~d a matte~ of record, my only
exception to the appraiser,s work ~d l't is no ill reflection of
their work.~ Time or ~owledge did not Petit 'them to ~ow what every-
one in this room ~ows about De~ay Beach as of yesterday, today and
will ~ow ab~t it tomorrow. }~ ch~ges would have been on Atlantic
Argue fr~ West-~th Avenue Eastward to Ocean Boulevard, and that
part of N, E. lSt. Street and that part of East 3rd, 4th, 5%h ~d 6th
Avenues in 0~2 District would be reduced 40% from the proposed front
f~t l~d val~e established bY the'~'apP~aisers. ~at p~t of East 2nd
Avenue zoned C-2 w~ch goes appro~mately from 8th Street North to
10th. Street 5curb, their valuation or front foot established price
would be reduced 33 1/3 %. La~s on Ocean Boulevard from their
proposed land value Would be reduced 50 %."
~-. Talbot stated t~t, as he views it, such a Ch~ge would
b~ing it more in line with an overall assessment.
~. Wor~tng continued: ,~at .would ~:ve been ~ operation if so
ordered and that would have been the extent of the operation to ac-
co~sh what I th~ is fair, Jua't, equitable and acceptable, not
only to".the Council but to the public of Delray Beach."
Ma~0r DietZ: "Ca~ot the EqUalization ~Board. de 'that~ ~.
~. Wo~thing: '~es Bit, and in answer ~to ~yeur recent question,
that is Wha~ I thou~t you had i~ ~nd, ~bu~ ~i had $c ~t it in at
this time~d make it a matte~ Of recO~d.''~
~e City Attorney asked ~.~ ~or~ing if some front foot assess-
ments were towe~ed,~ WOuld the~residen~ia~ ~rOpe~Y have t0 be raised
, It '
'*o cO' ls get into ~ po.~tlon 'W~re they have .~ inv'a~d t~X roll
y~. We woul~ have a ~ng' row to hoe next 'Y~ar ~thou't any taxes.'
~. wo~t~:' "[ ~ suggest that be~een now ~d Equalization
time., possibly you' ~ %h~'~un~iX take this' map 'wi'th ~he front foot
v~l~s', ind'Xcale~ by .$h~.-'app~sat ft'~ and see ~h~ther You' thi~
6-1-62
June l, 1962 127
Mr. Woodard stated that in~sm~ch as the full Council is not
present at this time that if Mr. Warren would withdraw his motion
until all five members of the Council are together in a meeting,
he would withdraw the second. Mr. Warren and Mr. Woodard then
withdrew the motion and second concerning the setting aside of the
revaluation by the appraisal company.
Mr. Harry McKean commente~ on a very fine talk given by Mr.
Worthing before the Board of Realtors recently concerning the re-
appraisal of property and that it was ~he co~semsus of the Board
that they thought this reappraisal was very fair, in fact. that the
appraisal values were much lower than the Board of Real~ors thought
the real values were. Mr. McKean stated that he did not think the
property values are out of line, and that such an appraisal should
not be thrown out but it c~uld be adjusted as suggested.
The meeting adjourned at 9.~00 P.M. on motion by Mr. Warren.
R. D. WORTHING
City Clerk
APPROVED:
MAYOR
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