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County tax cut met with discord

Commissioners disagree on whether their $3.6-million budget cut is good for the county, marking battle lines for September budget hearings.

By ASJYLYN LODER
Published August 16, 2006

BROOKSVILLE - Hernando County has managed to prune another $3.6-million from its budget.

But whether that's not enough or too much depends on your philosophy, as County Commissioner Jeff Stabins put it.

Commission Chairwoman Diane Rowden said she worried that the board was being "penny-wise and pound-foolish."

It's not the time to cut taxes, Rowden said. There are too many projects on the horizon, as well as a ballooning deficit for road building and maintenance. Failing to keep up roads and expand county parks won't help taxpayers, she said. Instead, property values will drop if people don't think this is a good place to live.

"We're going to have a third-rate county here," Rowden said.

Since 1998, the millage rate has been trimmed from 7.9776 mills to 7.24 mills, Rowden said. A mill is defined as $1 for every $1,000 of taxable assessed value.

People who own a house assessed at $100,000 saw an average reduction of $52.70 a year in their tax bills. But the county lost $32-million in tax revenue, she said.

"I certainly disagree with you on philosophy," Stabins responded to Rowden. "I believe that the best way to end the insatiable appetite of government is to limit how much it is fed."

Commissioner Chris Kingsley countered that there was a difference between trying to cut and "pandering."

Commissioner Nancy Robinson told Rowden that the county hadn't lost dollars because of tax cuts.

"I think they're not lost," she said. "They're back in the pockets of taxpayers where they belong."

The exchange Tuesday afternoon sketched battle lines for budget hearings scheduled for September. The commission has come under harsh criticism from residents who think the county has failed to control spending.

At the same time, a committee of 25 citizens recently reviewed the county's fiscal situation and told the county that it couldn't afford a tax cut this year.

The $3.6-million reduction outlined Tuesday by County Administrator Gary Kuhl is a small bite out of the proposed $120-million general fund budget, but a large boost for commissioners trying to appease dissatisfied taxpayers.

The reduction includes about $1-million in unexpected revenue combined with $2.6-million in cuts, Kuhl said. In all, the county proposed a 20.6 percent increase in the general fund - the account that pays most of the county's bills. That's $20.7-million more than last year, Kuhl said.

But a lot of that is outside the commission's control, he said. First, there are the five constitutional officers: the sheriff, tax collector, supervisor of elections, clerk of courts and property appraiser. Then there are bills for the jail contract with Corrections Corporation of America, the Hernando Beach dredge project, the cleanup of the contaminated public works compound, and $865,000 a year for upkeep on the vacant Brooksville Hospital.

The departments under commission control saw an increase of $1.78-million over last year, a difference of 4.8 percent, Kuhl said. The increase tracks pretty close to inflation in the region.

Kuhl warned the commission against postponing projects to save money. Costs will only go up, and some of those projects need to be done soon, like repairing the Pine Island sea wall and building a new headquarters for the county cooperative extension.

"We're just very concerned that as time goes on we're already in a hole, if you will, to get these things accomplished," Kuhl said.

The Hernando County Commission on Tuesday:

- Agreed to review at its Aug. 22 meeting the possibility of bringing dispatch services for Spring Hill Fire Rescue into the new dispatch center being built at the Emergency Operations Center. The EOC is under construction and scheduled for completion in November. The new dispatch center will serve Hernando County Fire Rescue and the Hernando County Sheriff's Office. The county would like Spring Hill Fire Rescue to merge, too. The district has considered the idea, but has so far been standoffish.

- Directed staff to look into building a special-needs shelter at the Enrichment Center at Oak Hill Hospital. The center has asked the board for $400,000, and said the hospital will pick up the rest of the construction cost as well as annual upkeep. Kuhl said staff will take a closer look at construction plans and estimates. He wants to draft an agreement that would protect the county from cost overruns, and assure that the county won't spend money on project that fails to materialize.

Asjylyn Loder can be reached at aloder@sptimes.com or 352 754-6127.

[Last modified August 16, 2006, 06:50:51]