Spending couldn't exceed 95 percent of anticipated revenues under the proposal.
By WILL VAN SANT
Published February 6, 2004
BROOKSVILLE - County Commissioner Robert Schenck on Thursday released details of an ordinance he believes will restrain government spending.
Schenck, who in the past year has successfully campaigned for sweeter economic incentives to lure industry to Hernando and to have board members' voting records posted on the county government Web site, wants to put a limit on the general fund budget based on projected revenue.
Under his plan, county commissioners could not approve a general fund budget for a given year that exceeds 95 percent of anticipated general fund income. To exceed the 95 percent threshold, a supermajority of the board - four of five commissioners - must find that "extraordinary fiscal circumstances" justify doing so.
"I think this policy makes us good stewards of taxpayer money," Schenck said. "It allows us to have a very conservative budget."
The ordinance is designed not only to bring fiscal constraint in the near term, but also to set the stage for reductions in the property tax rate in the future. Property taxes feed the general fund.
Unspent general fund revenue freed up by the spending limit would go into reserve each year. County Office of Management and Budget projections show that with the ordinance in place, accumulated reserves would exceed 30 percent of the general fund by 2008.
State law prohibits a reserve greater than 30 percent. So, a property tax reduction or increased spending would be forced at that time.
Schenck's aim is a tax cut.
Office of Management and Budget director George Zoettlein, who helped Schenck develop the idea, said it is in the county's best interest to boost its general fund reserve. The reserve now stands at $9-million, a figure Zoettlein would like to see grow.
Although he supports the ordinance, he cautioned tough choices would have to be made.
In 2003, general fund revenue was anticipated to be $52.5-million. As is usually the case, income exceeded the projected figure. Actual general fund revenue in 2003 was $59.7-million and actual spending $59-million.
Under Schenck's ordinance, the county would have had to base its budget on 95 percent of the $52.5-million figure, or $49.9-million. The $2.6-million difference between the two figures would have gone directly into the general fund reserve along with any other carry-over money.
The $2.6-million figure equals the amount the county is now taking from the general fund to make debt payments on bonds it has issued. It is also enough to pay for the road paving program that was at the heart of a contentious budget debate last year.
"It might be hard to implement," Zoettlein said of the ordinance. "That last couple of million is always the hardest to cut out of the budget."
Still, Zoettlein said the effort should be made. The general fund should only cover the county's operating costs, he said, but increasingly the money is going elsewhere.
Alternative sources of income should be found and the general fund made operating-cost specific, he said. Under such a scenario, Zoettlein said, Schenck's ordinance would not jeopardize the general fund because yearly growth in property tax income is keeping pace with operating cost increases.
County Commissioner Mary Aiken said the idea sounds enticing, but may prove difficult in practice. She said she needed more time to consider the ordinance, which she called "sound fiscal thinking," before deciding whether to support it.
"It will be wildly popular with the electorate," she said.
A public meeting on the ordinance will likely be scheduled sometime in March.
- Will Van Sant can be reached at 754-6127. Send e-mail to vansant@sptimes.com
