Daytona Beach city management has an addiction! They're addicted to taxing and spending! They raise our property taxes and fees in a never ending cycle, spending hundreds of millions more than other Florida cities that supply the same services to their residents! They use misinformation and scare tactics to justify spending even more of our money! They've done it for years and it's time for voters to stop them!

It's a Fact!

Our city budget has doubled from $100 million to over $200 million in just five years! Property taxes, which are only one-sixth of the city's annual budget, have increased by 118%! The number of city employees have more than doubled to over 1,100 in just five years! (Click here for Florida Tax Watch Article Page 1) (Pg 2).(Click here for evidence)

But, wait a minute... The number of Daytona residents, 64,000, hasn't changed in ten years! No population growth means we shouldn't need more money or more city employees to provide the same city services, to the same number of people. The cost of living (consumer price index) has risen 16 % in seven years. This means the city budget and spending should have only increased a little over 2% annually or $10 million in five years. Daytona's budget increased by over $100 million! (Click here for the evidence)

So, why did the city's budget and number of employees double in only five years? Because Daytona Beach city management has mislead our Mayor and City Commissioners to make more money for themselves and build their resumes for their next career move! City management has sold our City Commission so well on this financial misrepresentation, that they've never faced any consequences for their bad business decisions and years of wasting our tax dollars! (Click here for story)

Don't Believe It? Click here for the List Of Shame-Bad Ideas, Poor Decisions & Questionable Ethics made by city management, city employees and elected officials through the years!

How Did This Happen? Few of our City Commissioners have any significant budget or financial experience when they're elected. They must trust city management to provide them with accurate, unbiased information to base their decisions on. That just doesn't happen. City management has no reason or incentive to save our money. The only way they can make more money and be promoted is by showing increasing levels of financial responsibility and managing more employees. To enrich themselves and build their resumes, city management wastes more and more of our money, hiring unneeded city employees, wasting millions of our tax dollars on failed business ventures and bad decisions, while providing misleading or incomplete information to our City Commission! The majority of Daytona Beach city employees don't even live in our city! The property tax and fee increases they cause by over spending and over hiring don't affect them because they don't live here!

Don't Believe it?! Here's Other Florida Beach Cities With Similar Or Larger Populations That Operate On A Lot Less Money Than Daytona Beach!

Deerfield Beach Florida, has 15,000 more in population than Daytona Beach. They run their city on $100 million less per year and almost 400 less city employees than Daytona! (www.Deerfield-Beach.com).

Boynton Beach, Florida has 1,000 more in population than Daytona Beach, and has decreased property taxes ever year for six years, while running their city on $47 million dollars less than Daytona! (www.Boynton-Beach.com)

Delray Beach, Florida has 3,000 less in population than Daytona Beach. They run their city on $130 million dollars less annually with 460 less city employees than Daytona! (www.DelrayBeach.com).(Click here for evidence)

These are just a few examples of many other Florida beach cities providing the same services to their residents as Daytona Beach and spending millions less to do it. There's no logical, realistic reason why we can't spend millions less too!

It's time to take a STAND and change Daytona Beach for the better, creating real transparency in how our government operates and controlling how our money is spent. These six Daytona Beach city charter amendments will eliminate waste, reduce and control spending, provide voters direct input regarding city growth and development, make city accounting 'transparent' and reform our election process, limiting influence peddling and conflicts of interest resulting from companies and unions that make the majority of campaign contributions to our Mayor and City Commissioners.

Is This Legal? Yes! It's every citizens right to petition their government for change. Each city charter amendment was prepared by a constitutional attorney and will survive legal challenge.

How Will This Work? Charter Amendment petitions must be signed by 20% of registered voters in Daytona Beach with 5% being from each city zone. That's approximately 9,000 residents. The petitions will then be presented to the City Clerk for verification. After verification, the City Clerk will present them to the City Commission for consideration. The City Commission can choose to accept our petitions containing these amendments and vote to change the laws they apply to; place the amendments on the next election ballot for a vote by Daytona Beach residents or refuse to consider the petitions entirely, having the city attorney question the constitutionality of each one in court. The Daytona Beach city attorney and STAND would then argue the constitutionality of each amendment in Florida state court. STAND is prepared to do what it takes to get these amendments on the ballot for Daytona voters to consider.

How Do I Sign-Up On Line? You can't. To be legal, we have to make sure you're a registered voter, live in Daytona Beach and obtain your signature in person. Volunteers will be knocking on Daytona Beach doors randomly for the next few months. If you'd like a petition immediately, please email us with your name, address and phone number. One of volunteers will come to you as soon as possible for your signature.

Be Heard! Make A Difference! It's Your Government! It's Your money! Take A STAND For Better Government! Take A STAND For Change! Request a petition! Tell Your Friends! Volunteer Your Time!