Fort Lauderdale mishandled $40 million in fire safety bonds and now there is not enough money to build the 10 stations that were promised voters, according to a blistering report obtained by Browardbeat.com.
The project’s finances are so muddled that a committee assigned to monitor bond spending can’t figure out where the money went, the report from Fort Lauderdale’s seven-member Fire-Rescue Bond Blue Ribbon Committee states.
Approved by voters in November 2004, city officials pledged that the bonds would build 10 stations over eight years.
The program is now in its 12th year and only seven stations have been completed.
“There will be a shortage of funds to properly complete the goals of the fire bond…The committee is frustrated with its inability to get a good detailed financial picture of how the bond money has been spent and the balance remaining in the bond fund,” committee members warn in the report.
The 15-page report was sent to Fort Lauderdale City Commissioners on August 25.
