Thursday, during one of several budget-shaping meetings, Finance Officer George Zoettlein gave Hernando County commissioners several options for finding about $2-million to balance the budget for fiscal year 2004-2005:
Raise the property tax rate about three-tenths of a mill. (One mill is equal to $1,000 of assessed property value. That would equate to an additional $34 a year for the owner of a $125,000 home who claimed the $25,000 homestead exemption.)
Make deeper cuts in the funding requests submitted by department heads and constitutional officers (County departments have already trimmed $1.3-million from their initial budget proposals, and none is more than 5 percent higher than last year. If the constitutional officers can be that frugal, it would save an extra $650,000.)
Have the property appraiser come up with an extra $100-million in taxable property value, which would generate an additional $700,000 in revenue for the general fund. (Alvin Mazourek is good, but he's not that good.)
Transfer funds from already-low reserve accounts that are set aside for emergencies. (We're only one good hurricane away from the poorhouse.)
To be sure, these are difficult decisions for the commissioners. The failure of the half-cent sales tax referendum in March assured that circumstance.
But if the commissioners think that reaching their goal is an uphill climb this year, it will be a stroll in the park compared to what may be waiting for them - and the School Board - next year.
A Vero Beach couple, Jeffrey and Karen Saull, are sinking millions into a petition campaign that would allow a November vote to raise the homestead exemption from $25,000 to $50,000. Saull also is running for U.S. Senate, and she and her husband are exploiting this voter initiative to her political advantage.
You may have seen their lackeys hanging out in front of supermarket and public buildings for the past few months, urging registered voters to sign their petition, which they call a "property tax cut amendment." They hawk it as a move that will save every Florida homeowner $500 per year in property taxes."
What a bunch of bilge.
True, the amendment will save homeowners, at least those whose houses are valued at more than $50,000, money on their property tax bills.
What they don't tell you is that the impact of lost revenue on local governments will be so dramatic that county commissions, city councils and school boards will be forced to raise property tax rates to make up the difference.
Statewide, that deficit will be $2-billion a year. In Hernando County, it will be $19.1-million, with the County Commission and the School Board each taking about an $8-million hit. The remaining $3-million in lost revenue will be absorbed by the city of Brooksville and other taxing districts, such as Swiftmud, the fire districts and basin boards.
The county commissioners are wringing their hands about how to come up with an additional $2-million. What will they do when they have to find an additional $8-million?
Answer: Raise taxes.
The people who will pay the most are businesses and people who rent their homes. Businesses can't claim homestead exemptions, so they will be taxed at a higher rate without a write-off. They will pass those increased costs along to consumers, including another large segment of Florida residents - renters.
In Hernando County, 12,293 homes are valued at less than $50,000, according to the property appraiser's figures for 2003. The estimated loss of assessed value, if the higher homestead exemption is approved, is $137-million, and the actual dollar loss is $2.7-million. But most homes - 32,720 to be exact - are valued at more than $50,000.
The lost revenue for those is $818-million, and the actual dollar loss is $16.3-million.
And what of the School Board? It will be in a worse bind than the County Commission.
The commission, no matter how distasteful it may find the prospect, has the option of raising the tax rate to cover the lost revenue because, at 8.32 mills, it is still comfortably below the Constitution-limited 10-mill cap on property taxes. The School Board is already at 9.56 mills. If the board raised it to 10 mills it would still be more than $7-million short. And that would come at a time when the district also is looking for money to hire more teachers to comply with the class size amendment that passed in 2002.
If the Saulls' deceitful amendment makes it on the ballot - and they are close to the 488,722 signatures needed - there's a very good chance voters will approve it.
Too many uninformed people may not be able to resist the chance to lower their taxes.
That's why people who recognize it for what it is - a shell-game shift of the tax burden, not a tax break - need to tell their friends not to sign the petition. And if they already have, then please explain to them why they should vote against it if the measure makes it to the ballot.
Putting together a balanced budget that will not reduce services, raise the property tax rate or sap the reserve fund is already a problem in this county. Heaven help us if voters approve this foolhardy amendment.
