Lauderdale Lakes adopted budget shows increased revenue through code enforcement
Code inspections, months-long delays and fines are causing frustrations for some residents of Lauderdale Lakes.
CBS News Miami investigated the matter and uncovered budgeted plans to raise revenue through code enforcement as taxpayers fight six-figure liens caused by code compliance delays.
"It's shocking," attorney Ari Pregen, who represents three taxpayers facing liens, said.
Fines to generate revenue
In the city's adopted budget for fiscal year 2025, the Lauderdale Lakes city manager said "revenues that support specific activities remained flat," the document said.
The city manager added that "future years may not be able to absorb increases in expense with no adjustments to fees."
"During the upcoming fiscal year, staff has been challenged to seek strategies to reduce expenses and/or create new revenue opportunities," the document said.
Under General Fund revenues, staff projected $300,000 from code enforcement liens and another $4,000 from code compliance citations, according to the budget.
That is a 161.6% increase, the document said.
"Obviously, times are tough," Pregen said. "But what they're trying to do is illegal. We have the excessive fines clause for a reason. It prohibits excessive fines."
City leaders fail to address questions
CBS News Miami called Mayor Veronica Edwards Phillips for an explanation and left a voicemail. She did not return the message.
This came after she and Commissioner Easton Harrison declined comment ata Chamber of Commerce event Thursday. CBS News Miami also emailed every member of the city commission for comment.
None replied.
A city spokesperson told CBS News Miami to present questions during public comment of Wednesday's commission meeting. No one on the commission answered those questions, either.
"It's egregious," Alan Levy, broker and president of Levy Realty Advisors. said. "There's no excuse."
Fines mount after days of waiting for inspections
Three years ago, one of Levy's tenants remodeled an office and made a bathroom accessible without proper permits, Levy said. His company spent thousands to satisfy code compliance officers. However, it took more than 1,000 days to verify full compliance. During that time, fines accumulated and the company's lien is $740,000.
Kenneth Bordeaux, 82, and his wife Mildred, 80, face $366,000 worth of liens on their duplex. The couple waited more than 220 days for inspectors to verify repairs to violations including a broken window handle and cracked electrical outlet cover.
"I don't have much longer," Kenneth Bordeaux said Wednesday. "I bet my life on it."
Now, their main source of income and the asset the couple hopes to pass on to their family is in limbo.
"I feel like I'm just being beaten with a sledgehammer," Bordeaux said. "I don't understand it."
A city spokesperson told CBS News Miami Thursday that "because the matters are pending litigation before a magistrate it would be inappropriate to comment."
Pregen and his clients hope staff is willing to change soon.
