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State's passing the buck angers county

Officials say Florida's vaunted tax cuts only shift the burden of service costs to local governments.

For months, Citrus County commissioners have complained that while state legislators seem heroic cutting taxes in Tallahassee, many times they have really been shifting the cost of services to local governments like Citrus County and the residents who live here.

A Florida Association of Counties report released by Citrus on Monday spells out just how much the shifting has cost Citrus since 1999:

Almost $2.4-million.

"Our only alternative is to cut services or make a local tax increase," Commissioner Gary Bartell said. "It's one thing to find ways to cut expenses or to cut taxes to the residents or citizens, but to merely shift the costs from one governmental agency to another, that's not really savings."

On March 5, the Florida Association of Counties convened a statewide emergency conference call with its members to update them on the state's budget situation this year. Officials also urged counties to call local legislative representatives and complain about their continued reliance on using other forms of funding other than state taxes to pay for state services.

This year, the association and local counties are indignant over the state's proposal to shift the cost of $90-million in Department of Juvenile Justice services to local governments.

In February, Citrus commissioners approved a resolution opposing the move, saying it would cost the county an additional $859,058 a year to pay for the detention of juveniles awaiting disposition.

Commissioners passed another resolution March 9, further opposing cost-shifting or what they call "unfunded mandates," which are expensive new laws that legislators draft without finding ways to fund them.

Statewide, the Florida Association of Counties estimated local governments have felt almost $322-million in cost shifts or reduced state revenues since 1999, not including cuts legislators have made to state grant programs local governments have relied upon.

Bartell, a member of the Florida Association of Counties' board of directors, said he will lobby legislators in Tallahassee next week to stop the cost-shifting.

- Justin George can be reached at 352 860-7309 or jgeorge@sptimes.com