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Non-profits might have to compete for fundingBy DAVID KARP © St. Petersburg Times, published January 25, 2001 TAMPA -- Non-profit groups have turned to the County Commission for years to get thousands of dollars to pay for programs. The money, which pays for drug treatment, public art and race relations symposiums, has come in reliably year after year. But now, County Administrator Dan Kleman has recommended that the County Commission make non-profits compete for funding. And the proposal to the new Republican-led commission, which is already looking for ways to trim the county's budget, has made many non-profit groups worry about the future of their funding. "How could we compete with the zoo?" asked Rubin Padgett, a former commissioner who is executive director of the Hillsborough County Crisis Center. "And how can the zoo compete with us?" The Crisis Center gets about $1-million a year from taxpayers to pay for its operations, to pay to transport mental patients, and to pay for nurses who examine rape victims. Lowry Park Zoo gets about $125,000 to fund wildlife awareness days. Under Kleman's recommendation, organizations would be ranked against each other before receiving public funds. Some non-profits already compete for a subsidy each year. But another set of 26 non-profits such as the Crisis Center and Lowry Park Zoo were placed in 1993 into a special category of non-profits that are basically guaranteed funding each year. The commission originally created the category to make sure that certain non-profits could count on funding. This year, those groups received about $5.5-million. "There are well-established organizations that ought to be assured of some basic annual support to stand as a model of public-private partnerships," said Lex Salisbury, president of the Lowry Park Zoo. "And the Lowry Park Zoo is one such model. The zoo has been an excellent steward of public funds." Without a steady source of support from county government, Salisbury said, non-profits can't apply for federal funds and other grants that require local matches. Commissioner Jan Platt said a competitive process will allow commissioners to gut programs, such as the Tampa Bay History Center, that they don't like. "I think there will be a very political process," Platt said. But supporters point out that Kleman has not called for reducing the amount of money awarded to non-profits, which include the Museum of Science of Industry, the Arts Council of Hillsborough County, and the Drug Abuse Comprehensive Coordinating Office. After reviewing the county's finances in 1998, Florida TaxWatch called for eliminating the non-competitive funding of non-profits. Ralph Hughes, a Republican businessman who paid $150,000 for TaxWatch to conduct the study of county finances, said "money should be given to those organizations that use the money best." The commission plans to discuss the proposal Feb. 14. - Times Staff Writer David Karp can be reached at (813) 226-3376 or karp@sptimes.com.
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