State lawmakers favor disbanding the city of Weeki Wachee
BROOKSVILLE — State lawmakers representing Hernando County voted this week to support a local bill to disband the city of Weeki Wachee. They cited concerns about a lack of transparency, potential conflicts of interest and the city’s failure to conduct elections through the county Supervisor of Elections, as required by law.
State Rep. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, presented the local bill to fellow legislators Sen. Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, and Rep. Ralph Massullo, R-Lecanto, at the county’s annual Legislative Delegation meeting on Monday.
Weeki Wachee city officials don’t live inside the city limits, yet they tax local businesses, Ingoglia explained. And while a bill passed in 2004 required the city to run elections through the Supervisor of Elections, that has not happened. Ingoglia also noted that getting answers to basic questions about the city was difficult.
In 2014, an audit by the Florida auditor general said the city was in "a state of financial emergency'' and owed its attorney, Joe Mason, more than $1 million. Despite levying property taxes every year, Ingoglia said, "none of it goes to benefit the city.'' Much of the revenue goes toward Mason’s bill, including $25,000 in the current year.
Read more: https://www.tampabay.com/news/hernando/2019/11/19/state-lawmakers-favor-disbanding-the-city-of-weeki-wachee/