Behind flashy unveilings, Hollywood facing fiscal crisis

The city has been holding ceremonies lately to celebrate new and shiny things.

Last month there was a groundbreaking for a $7.9 million fire station on the beach. Last week, the signature water tower was unveiled after $680,000 in renovations.

And next month, 1990s musical acts Exposé and En Vogue will be in town for free concerts to mark the grand opening of a $5 million amphitheater in the nearly completed ArtsPark in Young Circle downtown.


For visitors, Hollywood's newest trophies create the aura of a city overcoming a down economy. But for residents who closely follow the city's budget, the new additions gild with rose paint a much more drab portrait of a city in dire financial straits.

"You look at all these new things, but we are not progressing at all," said activist Sara Case, who for years has edited an online watchdog newsletter about city finances. "The city is going backwards."

On Wednesday, city commissioners were forced to dip into the city's rainy-day bank account after learning that staffers are predicting an $8.5 million shortfall by the end of this fiscal year. Staffers said the city is bringing in less money than predicted, and spending more than expected.

Commissioners responded by pulling about $7.3 million from the reserve fund, a move that leaves only about $2 million for such emergencies as a hurricane.

Staffers are looking at slashing a total of about $2.1 million from nearly every city account. That includes cutting membership fees, uniform costs, overtime pay and even sums spent on pens and pencils. Commissioners also declared a "financial urgency," allowing the city to strike new deals with its unions.

On Thursday, Hollywood Mayor Peter Bober told the Sun Sentinel he wants the city's budget director, Cynthia Forrester, fired for making bad revenue and expenditure projections.

"In a year of financial budget crisis, you just can't be off by a number like that and expect to still be working for the city of Hollywood," he said. "They get paid for one thing, and one thing alone, and that is to make those projections. We can't afford to be wrong."

In a written statement issued Thursday, City Manager Cameron Benson said he is looking at "addressing all aspects of the city's finances, from staffing issues to a reorganization of the budget office and other departments."

City activist Mel Pollack, a retired accountant, said he is not surprised by the financial mess.

"I've been talking and writing about this for years," he said. "I've always been the doom-and-gloom guy. But people don't want to hear the facts until it hits their pocketbooks."

In a video of Wednesday's city meeting, Forrester and other budget staffers attributed the shortfall to the very same problems other Broward cities cite for their budget woes: a down housing market and lucrative pension deals for workers.

Staffers also said they are getting less than anticipated from the city's red light-camera program, a gambling revenue-sharing compact with the Seminole Tribe, and a number of state funds. Forrester vowed to keep a closer eye on every expenditure, no matter how tiny.

"We will be looking at every pen and pencil," she told commissioners. "We can't continue to spend, spend, spend. We don't run our checkbooks at home like that."

City officials on Thursday defended as necessities the fire station construction, the amphitheater and the renovations to the water tower. Much of the funding comes from grants and fees, they said. They said the long-anticipated improvements did not lead to the current fiscal crisis.

At the same time, Bober said, some expenditures approved over the last few months would have been more closely scrutinized had staffers alerted the commission sooner to the budget shortfalls.

That includes the water tower.

Commissioners approved spending $590,000 in July 2010 to fix, paint and install new lighting at the 50-year-old water tower on Sheridan Road just west of Interstate 95.

Five months later, the commission approved spending $86,000 more on the tower for an LED screen that flashes the time and temperature. The funds were generated by rising rates of water and sewer fees.

Activist David Mach said he understands spending money on things such as revamping the water tower to attract tourists and give the perception of a happening city. However, he believes city staffers and commissioners need to plan better.

"You still try to do your best to keep the tourist even in a bad economy," he said. "But you have to do this with proper management."

ijrodriguez@tribune.com or 954-356-4605