08-14-2007, 09:39 PM
Sheriff Preps For Battle Over Budget
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By CARL ORTH The Suncoast News
Published: Aug 11, 2007
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NEW PORT RICHEY - Under the gun to reduce property taxes, Pasco County commissioners might face Sheriff Bob White and union officials in a budget showdown next week.
The county commission will hold a special public meeting Tuesday to try to work out a spending plan for the law enforcement agency while it continues its hunt to cut $15.6 million from the county budget.
Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 29, the union that represents Pasco deputies, could have a thing or two to add at the public meeting.
The sheriff has asked for 109 more employees and an extra $11.2 million for the coming fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.
The sheriff has said he needs all the money in his fiscal year 2008 budget request - the total is $94.7 million - to keep up with the county's growth.
"The dollars aren't there," Chairwoman Ann Hildebrand said of the sheriff's request for a 13.4 percent spending increase.
Tax Rate Rollback
The sheriff had to put together his next budget request before state lawmakers met in special session in June to decide whether to order county and city governments to roll back property tax rates.
Money for the sheriff's office comes almost entirely from property taxes.
White declined to comment before Tuesday's commission meeting, but he posted a message on the sheriff's office Web site.
"Some citizens may ask why I am requesting this budget increase during a time when the state government is looking to cut taxes. I'm not against tax cuts, but I believe taxation equity is where the problem is concentrated."
He added, "This budget request reflects the needs of our growing agency in a county that continues to experience rapid growth, but continues my fiscally responsible use of taxpayers' dollars."
The sheriff could have a budget ally in union officials, who otherwise have been largely critical of White's handling of the agency. John Connolly is Fraternal Order of Police 29's president of the deputies' bargaining unit, and Gary Kling is president of the supervisors' bargaining unit,
"I would like to say we strongly support the request for the certified positions which are allocated to patrol and certain detective slots the sheriff is asking for," Kling wrote in an e-mail message Wednesday.
"Our patrol force is clearly understaffed and therefore reactive and not proactive to the crimes occurring in our county," Kling wrote.
"Our goal is to support every effort in providing adequate patrol staffing levels to better insure the safety of the citizens as well as the deputies of the sheriff's office."
When it comes to funding, "we are at the bottom of the barrel," Kevin Doll, the sheriff's office public information director, said Wednesday.
He cited the yardstick measure of per capita spending that shows the Pasco law enforcement budget costs $126 per resident as of fiscal 2006. By comparison, the Pinellas sheriff's budget is $285 per resident. Tampa Police Department's is $351.
The agency's budget has been "very lean" for years, Doll said.
A graph on the sheriff's office Web site indicates the cost per resident of law enforcement services here has remained barely ahead the rate of inflation during the past eight years.
"We could double our law enforcement budget and not reach the average" for the 12 largest law enforcement agencies in the state, Doll said.
Service Calls Up
The number of calls from people requesting service keeps going up, said Doug Tobin, public information officer for the sheriff's office.
Last year, the 218,000 calls were about 37 percent more than the number of calls in 2000.
Hildebrand keeps looking at the bigger budget picture, though.
"I just don't see a [13] percent increase as requested" by the sheriff, Hildebrand said.
The county faces potentially painful budget cuts of its own by trimming $15.6 million from the general fund, where ad valorem tax revenue goes.
Hildebrand is aggravated that state property tax reforms did nothing to correct inequities among businesses.
The county could face even higher hurdles in January, Hildebrand said.
Voters will get to decide on Jan. 29 whether to approve a constitutional amendment to create a homestead superexemption. If the exemption is approved, three-fourths of the first $200,000 in value of a home would be exempt from taxes, or homeowners could choose to stick with the existing Save Our Homes annual cap of 3 percent on property tax increases.
The superexemption would take a much bigger bite out of the county budget if voters go for it, Hildebrand said.
Hildebrand, however, wonders whether the exemption will pass. Constitutional amendments must pass by a 60 percent majority.
The amendment requiring a 60-percent supermajority to approve a change in the state constitution passed, but it only mustered 54 percent of the vote in the 2006 referendum, Hildebrand said.
The superexemption doesn't seem to be as good a deal for residents, Hildebrand said. Home values have been hurt by a housing slump, but they could shoot up again. That could lead to sharply rising taxes for residents under the superexemption.
RESEARCH IT
FOP Lodge 29
Go online to www.supportyourdeputies.comor (http://www.supportyourdeputies.comor) send an e-mail to pascodeputy@yahoo.com.
Pasco County Sheriff's Office
Go online to the home page at www.pascosheriff.comand (http://www.pascosheriff.comand) click on the "More" link under "Sheriff White Presents 2007 Budget."
Pasco County Budget
Go online to the home page at www.pascocountyfl.net/and (http://www.pascocountyfl.net/and) click on the link "Proposed FY 07/08 Budget" along the top edge of the page. A high-speed Internet connection is advised to open the large PDF file.
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Skip directly to the full story.
By CARL ORTH The Suncoast News
Published: Aug 11, 2007
ADVERTISEMENT
More from this channel:
Search for more information:
Site Search Archives Keyword
TBO.com Site Search | Tribune archive from 1990
NEW PORT RICHEY - Under the gun to reduce property taxes, Pasco County commissioners might face Sheriff Bob White and union officials in a budget showdown next week.
The county commission will hold a special public meeting Tuesday to try to work out a spending plan for the law enforcement agency while it continues its hunt to cut $15.6 million from the county budget.
Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 29, the union that represents Pasco deputies, could have a thing or two to add at the public meeting.
The sheriff has asked for 109 more employees and an extra $11.2 million for the coming fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.
The sheriff has said he needs all the money in his fiscal year 2008 budget request - the total is $94.7 million - to keep up with the county's growth.
"The dollars aren't there," Chairwoman Ann Hildebrand said of the sheriff's request for a 13.4 percent spending increase.
Tax Rate Rollback
The sheriff had to put together his next budget request before state lawmakers met in special session in June to decide whether to order county and city governments to roll back property tax rates.
Money for the sheriff's office comes almost entirely from property taxes.
White declined to comment before Tuesday's commission meeting, but he posted a message on the sheriff's office Web site.
"Some citizens may ask why I am requesting this budget increase during a time when the state government is looking to cut taxes. I'm not against tax cuts, but I believe taxation equity is where the problem is concentrated."
He added, "This budget request reflects the needs of our growing agency in a county that continues to experience rapid growth, but continues my fiscally responsible use of taxpayers' dollars."
The sheriff could have a budget ally in union officials, who otherwise have been largely critical of White's handling of the agency. John Connolly is Fraternal Order of Police 29's president of the deputies' bargaining unit, and Gary Kling is president of the supervisors' bargaining unit,
"I would like to say we strongly support the request for the certified positions which are allocated to patrol and certain detective slots the sheriff is asking for," Kling wrote in an e-mail message Wednesday.
"Our patrol force is clearly understaffed and therefore reactive and not proactive to the crimes occurring in our county," Kling wrote.
"Our goal is to support every effort in providing adequate patrol staffing levels to better insure the safety of the citizens as well as the deputies of the sheriff's office."
When it comes to funding, "we are at the bottom of the barrel," Kevin Doll, the sheriff's office public information director, said Wednesday.
He cited the yardstick measure of per capita spending that shows the Pasco law enforcement budget costs $126 per resident as of fiscal 2006. By comparison, the Pinellas sheriff's budget is $285 per resident. Tampa Police Department's is $351.
The agency's budget has been "very lean" for years, Doll said.
A graph on the sheriff's office Web site indicates the cost per resident of law enforcement services here has remained barely ahead the rate of inflation during the past eight years.
"We could double our law enforcement budget and not reach the average" for the 12 largest law enforcement agencies in the state, Doll said.
Service Calls Up
The number of calls from people requesting service keeps going up, said Doug Tobin, public information officer for the sheriff's office.
Last year, the 218,000 calls were about 37 percent more than the number of calls in 2000.
Hildebrand keeps looking at the bigger budget picture, though.
"I just don't see a [13] percent increase as requested" by the sheriff, Hildebrand said.
The county faces potentially painful budget cuts of its own by trimming $15.6 million from the general fund, where ad valorem tax revenue goes.
Hildebrand is aggravated that state property tax reforms did nothing to correct inequities among businesses.
The county could face even higher hurdles in January, Hildebrand said.
Voters will get to decide on Jan. 29 whether to approve a constitutional amendment to create a homestead superexemption. If the exemption is approved, three-fourths of the first $200,000 in value of a home would be exempt from taxes, or homeowners could choose to stick with the existing Save Our Homes annual cap of 3 percent on property tax increases.
The superexemption would take a much bigger bite out of the county budget if voters go for it, Hildebrand said.
Hildebrand, however, wonders whether the exemption will pass. Constitutional amendments must pass by a 60 percent majority.
The amendment requiring a 60-percent supermajority to approve a change in the state constitution passed, but it only mustered 54 percent of the vote in the 2006 referendum, Hildebrand said.
The superexemption doesn't seem to be as good a deal for residents, Hildebrand said. Home values have been hurt by a housing slump, but they could shoot up again. That could lead to sharply rising taxes for residents under the superexemption.
RESEARCH IT
FOP Lodge 29
Go online to www.supportyourdeputies.comor (http://www.supportyourdeputies.comor) send an e-mail to pascodeputy@yahoo.com.
Pasco County Sheriff's Office
Go online to the home page at www.pascosheriff.comand (http://www.pascosheriff.comand) click on the "More" link under "Sheriff White Presents 2007 Budget."
Pasco County Budget
Go online to the home page at www.pascocountyfl.net/and (http://www.pascocountyfl.net/and) click on the link "Proposed FY 07/08 Budget" along the top edge of the page. A high-speed Internet connection is advised to open the large PDF file.
Get Weekly Deals | Write to the editor | Subscribe/two weeks free | Place an Ad
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