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Think you can't make a difference? Read this

By ANDREW SKERRITT
Published March 14, 2006

Once in a while, someone gets a crazy idea. What if? they ask.

Last fall, Hernando County resident Linda Hayward had one of those. Hayward, a 47-year-old horse farmer and bookkeeper, figured she'd try to circulate a petition asking county commissioners to significantly lower the millage rate. No problem.

"I thought they would welcome it with open arms," she said.

The most time-consuming part was recruiting business owners to post the petition in their establishments for customers to sign.

In the end, 120 businesses agreed. A month ago, Hayward submitted petitions with more than 11,000 signatures, including that of U. S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, who recently moved back to Brooksville from Citrus County.

Of course, Hayward has attracted her share of critics. Some call her naive, uninformed, a gloryseeker.

Others have said that commissioners aren't doing anything different from what they've done in previous years when they worked around the edges to announce a nominal decrease in county tax rates.

Along the way, Hayward also had to ignore those who have lost faith in government.

"People thought it wouldn't do any good, that I was wasting my time," she said.

Others told her county commissioners didn't care and wouldn't listen.

"They felt disenchanted," she said.

Score one for civic involvement. Although some commissioners were initially dismissive, in the end they listened.

Hayward's petition drive has stimulated a lively dialogue on public spending and government priorities. Her initiative has taken the debate outside the stuffy walls of government to a place where people want to participate.

It's still only March, and people are paying attention to how Hernando County will spend money for the coming year.

Hayward asked commissioners for a 2-mill cut in taxes spread over three years. There is a consensus for a half-mill cut this year, which should be enough for folks to actually see a difference in their tax bills.

Hayward argues that there's too much waste in government. How about county employees picking up some of the tab for their health insurance? How about not automatically replacing cars, computers and other equipment after a certain number of years?

Coincidentally Hayward is asking for a tax cut at the same time that a committee, which was created to come up with a list of recommendations of big ticket items the county needs, wants commissioners to raise taxes, not reduce them.

Whose voice carries the most weight: 11,000 on a petition or 25 members of an advisory committee?

County Commission Chairwoman Diane Rowden thinks the advisory committee deserves to be taken seriously. Rowden is all for cutting county property taxes but thinks that any serious discussion of a property tax cut should include talk of a penny sales tax.

For those who forget, Rowden was a major promoter of the half-penny sales tax proposal that was rejected by voters several years ago.

But not everyone is ready to talk about the penny sales tax just yet, even though a sales tax increase has proved to be a politically pain-free way to increase tax revenue in places like Pasco County.

Hayward believes that focusing on the sales tax allows county officials to find new ways to finance their spendthrift habits instead of looking to tighten their belts.

Commissioners Rob Schenck and Jeff Stabins both are unimpressed with any talk of a sales tax. But they like the healthy dialogue surrounding Hayward's petition drive. It shows that people care about what commissioners do. It puts pressure on commissioners to produce results.

In the end, taxpayers win.

--Andrew Skerritt can be reached at 813 909-4602 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 4602. His e-mail address is askerritt@sptimes.com

[Last modified March 14, 2006, 00:54:19]