CLGF Sub-committee Meeting 4/5/25 Public comment by Judith Miller
First Public Comment Period
Good morning Chair Rackley and other members of the subcommittee,
I want to thank the subcommittee, Department staff and IVGID’s finance division for all their hard work trying to address the problems with IVGID’s finances.
Unfortunately, there were more problems than could be tackled in just a few weeks or even a few months. As the work progressed, new problems emerged. It wasn’t just the audit and the Tyler implementation. The chart of accounts needed revision as did the simplistic and unfair central services cost allocation plan. And the lack of system integration means inefficient manual processes must continue, creating a high risk of error as well as a high risk of fraud.
I believe that IVGID’s facility fee is the underlying cause of many of the fiscal issues we are dealing with today. I have 2 points I’d like you to consider and bring to the attention of the Committee.
- The facility fees have enabled IVGID to acquire more than it can properly manage and maintain. As a result, it violates 354.685 2(q) ”The local government has allowed its accounting system and recording of transactions to deteriorate to such an extent that it is not possible to measure accurately the results of operations or to ascertain the financial position of the local government without a reconstruction of transactions.” You’ve already seen how IVGID is unable to keep track of its food and beverage operations. Our internal services fund has repeatedly had expenses exceed its revenues. At the 3/12/2025 IVGID Board meeting, IVGID’s IT director, Mike Gove, acknowledged that the District’s venue managers (not just food and beverage) lack the data to accurately measure the performance of their commercial activities. He outlined a plan to integrate and replace various business systems, but it will take years and millions of dollars before these tasks can be completed. In the mean-time IVGID cannot reliably measure performance, leading to poor business decisions and creating a continued high risk of fraud. Every day these operations continue without proper monitoring it increases potential loss and requires more subsidy by property owners. I believe these circumstances are concrete evidence it violates 354.685 2(q).
The Facility Fee is an unfair tax, not a fee. This imposed non-exchange transaction circumvents the statutory limits on property taxes and the normal process of a bond election and ad valorem taxes to support capital projects. Rather than making a profit at its assortment of poorly managed commercial recreation operations, they nearly all operate at a loss forcing an undue burden on district property owners. If it were a valid fee, then why doesn’t the governing body of every city, County and political subdivision in the state pass such a fee to fund whatever they choose?
Second Public Comment Period
It’s Robin Hood in reverse. IVGID’s fees rob from the poor to benefit the “rich”. This regressive fee may be no problem for the country club set, who benefit enormously, but it’s a heavy burden for the less wealthy who derive little or no benefit. We do still have many working-class families here who can’t afford golf clubs, let alone a $3000 golf season pass. 52% of our elementary school children are Hispanic. Many of these children live in the roughly 3000 older, smaller condo units in the town center so the parents, who work in various service industry jobs, can be close to the District’s largest employer, the Hyatt. Some are homeowners, some rent.
Tenants don’t necessarily get any resident discounts. Instead, the owner must sign a form assigning privileges to them. Only 5 individuals per parcel can get the golf discounts, so owners often retain these privileges for themselves.
Annually nearly a third or $2M of the facility fee has been used, not for free or low-cost public recreation programs, but to subsidize things like that season pass that brings the average cost of a $250 retail round of golf to $51 for a few dozen property owners. Every dollar of loss at IVGID’s recreational venues is made up by the facility fee.
Please share these and other findings of my neighbors with the Executive Director. Protect our taxpayers, especially those in lower income brackets. We ask that she recommend placing an item on the CLGF Agenda for the April 29, 2025 meeting for a hearing to determine if a severe financial emergency exists and to consider the underlying cause, IVGID’s tax in fee’s clothing.