Opinion
By Steve Nicklas, 6-16-25
Complicated problems can often be resolved with simple solutions, like in a small town weighed down by a big government.
In Fernandina Beach, the city government has become a 2,000-pound albatross. And the quickest remedy is to starve the bloated government like it’s on a Weight Watchers diet. This simply requires laying off employees and selling city-owned assets.
Otherwise, Fernandina Beach officials will push ahead with another installment of taxing/spending/regulating, like in a failing TV series. The latest grift is to charge for parking in the charming downtown. More areas would follow, like at the city beaches, pocket parks, etc.
The looming dilemma is whether the paid-parking scheme will pay off, or cause more consternation than it’s worth. In addition, how will it impact workers in downtown or coveted visitors?
Like typical bureaucrats, several city commissioners are pushing for more taxes to resolve self-created problems. Yet this follows a nearly unprecedented period of prosperity, where tax revenues poured in with the regularity of the incoming tide on the St. Johns River.
However, the answer lies within. The city has 230 full-time employees, for only 13,000 residents. That equates to one city worker for every 55 residents. In contrast, most towns and cities in Florida have a worker for every 100 residents (according to online sources).
So pare back employees. To meet the $2.5 million bounty the city contends paying-for-parking would generate, simply lay off 25 employees at an annual cost of $100,000 per person (approximately). And you don’t have to lay off any police, by the way.
For a yet-to-be specified replacement for the existing Brett’s Waterway Café building and the wooden pier it sits on, another $8 million would be required. And probably another couple million for a sea wall, which is a concrete monument to the ineffectiveness of government.
As fortune would have it, the city’s assets exceed $100 million in appraised value. The street value would be much more.
So sell property and equipment that is unneeded. A couple of examples would be the old fire station just off South Fletcher Avenue, or one of the fairways at the municipal golf course or one of the runways at the airport.
If you search for Fernandina Beach on the Nassau County Property Appraisers website, you’ll find a library of assets we could sell (with accompanying values). Therefore, with a few layoffs and a few sales, all the hopes and dreams of fiscally negligent city officials can become reality.
The nagging conundrum would be rectified within six months. None of the projects is pressing, so waiting for the layoffs and sales is not a problem. The problem lies in ignoring this pathway of frugality.
What will happen when there is another brutal recession – and tax receipts decline? Will the city tighten its tax rate so much that it strangles residents or businesses? We cannot continue down the current path. Taxing and spending your way to financial bliss is unattainable (look at the previous Biden administration).
In the meantime, restaurants and stores are opening with abandon on the south end of the island, as well as in Yulee. This is prime competition for downtown businesses.
Already, you hear complaints about inadequate parking in downtown. When you then charge for parking, it gets even stickier. Will residents and tourists alike take on the downtown parking woes?
At some point, they won’t. They’ll stay on the south end, like at one of our prestigious resorts, or head down the Amelia Island Parkway to restaurants and shops off the island.
In summary, the city’s inept government must curtail its insatiable appetite for spending, and curb its never-ending pursuit of taxes and fees to pay for it. Is that simple enough? Let’s not over-complicate things.
Steve Nicklas is a financial advisor and columnist who lives and works in Nassau County.
