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Watering fines siphoned for state court system

Money that was once used for conservation efforts locally now flows to state government.

By BILL VARIAN
Published April 17, 2006

TAMPA - There used to be a little good news that came when the water police in Hillsborough County cited someone for sprinkling their lawn too often.

The fines went into a pool used to promote water conservation. It paid for programs that taught people how to plant gardens that thrive on little rain, for instance, or enticed them to install low-flow toilets.

No more.

Now that money evaporates, in a sense. It flows to state government to help pay for the court system, thanks to revisions to state law. Some of it ends up in other counties, paying the salaries of their judges and clerks.

None of it is used for water conservation.

With West Central Florida weathering another brutally dry winter and spring, Hillsborough County faces the barren conditions with one less weapon in its arsenal for encouraging good stewardship.

"That's what really hurts is that this is money that was going to water conservation efforts," said Michelle Van Dyke, spokeswoman for Hillsborough County Water Resource Services. "Now it's going to court costs."

Some county commissioners weren't even aware of the nearly 2-year-old change to state law. The board had intentionally earmarked the fine money toward conservation to provide a carrot and stick approach when it created the local ordinance that governs how often people can sprinkle their lawns. It punished people who used too much, but then spent the fines to educate people in how to use less water.

"That's ridiculous," said Commissioner Ronda Storms, informed of the change last week by a reporter. "What kind of disincentive is that?"

Storms has now added the topic to Wednesday's commission meeting agenda for discussion.

The disappearing fines were not so painful last year, when the spring brought above average rainfall. But in particularly dry years, like this one, fines can add up to upward of $300,000 annually, most of it was being used to promote conservation.

The fact that the state sucks up fines for violating a county ordinance has its roots in a 6-year-old change to the state Constitution that county governments pressed, one recommended by the Constitution Revision Commission and passed by voters. It mandated that the state pay the costs of running circuit courts throughout Florida. Counties had been paying much of the costs to run the state court system.

In 2003, the Legislature enacted the first round of changes to make it happen, largely by assessing and hiking an array of charges and fees for everything from filing a lawsuit to paying off a traffic ticket.

In the dual role as court clerk and county finance officer, the Clerk of the Circuit Courts collects fines for violating local ordinances and works with judges who hear the cases when people contest them. So the Legislature decided it was entitled to keep county fines to defray the costs.

"That's the whole purpose of the thing," said Hillsborough County Clerk of the Circuit Court Pat Frank. "Any time someone uses the court system, the fines, fees and costs are collected to pay for that, to pay for all the court system."

In a quirk in state law, the fine forfeiture doesn't apply to cities, who only have to turn over a small percentage of what is collected, and get to keep the rest. The city of Tampa and the city of St. Petersburg keep the bulk of the fines collected.

Lawn watering citations are not the only fines affected for counties. Hillsborough County now loses a little more than $100,000 annually in what used to be collected for animal-related citations handed to people whose dogs are running loose or bite someone.

Hillsborough County officials have met with Frank's office, most recently last month, to see if there is some way they can still receive their fine money. They have been told no, as long as they use the clerk's office to collect them and hear cases when there's a dispute.

"We can only do what the Legislature directs us to do," said Dale Bohner, Frank's legal counsel.

One Tampa Bay-area county has figured a way around the law. Hernando County created its own system for collecting fines and deciding disputes, the latter by hiring hearing masters.

Hillsborough and other counties would need to analyze whether that would cost more than the fines collected. Hernando County officials say they use it for animal citations, parking fines and building code violations, and say it works for them.

"We keep all the money," said Frank McDowell III, code enforcement director for Hernando. "So far, we're in the black."

In fact, Hillsborough County already has a similar system to hear code violations.

Florida counties could also seek change in legislation, but don't hold out much hope for that. They are already trying to get significantly more money to pay the cost of public defenders.

"I really think this was an unintended consequence," said Edith Stewart, public affairs officer for Hillsborough County. "But the will of the Legislature is not there to fix this problem."

Frank, too, is frustrated by the massive rewrites that dictate how much money her office gets from the state. Her office takes in more revenue than the state says she needs to run her office, even though Frank said she gets by only by holding positions open.

Last year, she had to turn over $5-million of what the Hillsborough County Court system collected to the state. The money is used to pay for courthouse operations in other counties.

A former commissioner, she expressed sympathy for the county position, but only so much.

"Join the parade," Frank said. "Because I'm upset about all the money I'm sending to Tallahassee instead of keeping it here to run the office."

--Bill Varian can be reached at 813 226-3387 or varian@sptimes.com

[Last modified April 17, 2006, 01:20:11]