Fort Lauderdale Residents May Pay More Taxes Due To Mistake

A recent city mailer inviting residents of central Fort Lauderdale to vote on the creation of a "Safe Neighborhood Improvement District" (special taxing district) to fund capital improvements went to nonresidents. The city had hired an outside company to create the mailing list and mail the invitation. A representative of the LCS Direct Mail Advertising and Printing business said the mailing was "a real pain" because LCS had to take the City map and come up with addresses to mail to. "What's remarkable is that the city doesn't have a list of its own inhabitants," said Shari McCartney, vice president and general counsel for LCS. "We had to create it by, literally, with magnifying glasses, hunting streets and carrier routes." City community planning manager Chris Wren said those who attended filled out a sheet identifying where they live. He said most of the work will be done even if a taxing district is not created. Central area residents spent more than a year listing what projects they would like. The project total came to $62 million.