Polk Commission to Plan for Lean Year

BARTOW | When the County Commission's first public discussion of next year's $1.8 billion county budget occurs this morning, the effects of Amendment 1 and the real-estate bust will be evident.

For the first time in recent memory, the size of the general fund - the pot of money that pays for day-to-day county operations - will be decreasing, along with the overall budget.

The 9 percent drop in the general fund, from $400 million to $366 million, is the result of a $22.5 million drop in expected property tax revenue as well as decreases in sales tax receipts and other revenues.

The overall county budget will drop by 0.7 percent, declining from $1.825 billion to $1.811 billion.

County Manager Mike Herr has recommended keeping the countywide property tax rate at $6.87 per $1,000 of taxable property value - the state formula would allow it to go to $6.99 - and will keep the taxes for parks and libraries that apply only in areas outside cities to 63 cents per $1,000 of taxable value.

Herr said he has no plans to further increase fire fees, utility fees or garbage fees. Utility rates and fire fees were increased last year.

The result, according to the proposed budget he passed out to commissioners last week will be:

Eliminating 61 positions (34 of them vacant or frozen) from the county payroll.

Merging the departments of Neighborhood Services and Human Services, which will eliminate a department director.

Transferring code enforcement from Neighborhood Services to Growth Management and reclassifying the code enforcement director position to a lower pay grade.

Eliminating a 2 percent cost-of-living raise for employees, but keeping the 3.5 percent annual raises based on satisfactory performance evaluations.

Taking $4 million from the $32.7 million property tax for road projects to subsidize the general fund.

Although many departments will lose positions or at least not gain any, there are exceptions, though none of them is paid for with property taxes.

Herr has proposed increasing the Polk County Fire Services staff by 13, adding two people to promote tourism and special events, adding two positions in the Utility Department and one person to oversee the four county Community Redevelopment Agencies.

Some of the proposed cuts are expected to provoke discussion at a commission work session today that begins at 9 a.m. in the commission chambers in Bartow.

For instance, 15 of the positions Herr has targeted for elimination make up the staffs of the Polk County Extension Office and the Polk County Historical and Genealogical Library and the Polk County Historical Museum.

When word leaked out that those programs were on the chopping block, commissioners were bombarded with telephone calls and e-mails protesting the move.

Commissioners say they oppose the cuts, too.

"I think the agriculture and historical programs will be restored,'' said Commission Chairman Sam Johnson, emphasizing the proposed cuts were simply part of the county's budget evaluation process.

"People thought a decision had been made, but it hadn't,'' he said.

Herr said restoring the programs will eat up most of the $1.8 million he had placed in the budget to carry over into the following year's budget as a cushion against further financial shortages.

Another proposal that may spark some discussion is Herr's plan to move money from the property tax-funded road construction program that was established in 2005 as part of the controversial tax increase to catch up on infrastructure.

Commissioner Bob English, who was the architect of the plan, said he's willing to accept Herr's idea, but will look for ways to restore the money.

"I don't like it, but I want to keep (the fund),'' English said.

He said there may be money available to repay the fund because at the moment, bids for a lot of capital projects are coming in lower than expected, because the economic downturn is making companies submit more competitive bids.

Johnson said he was uneasy about the fund shift because he felt the tax was levied for a specific purpose, but said he's willing to listen to the discussion today before making up his mind.

English said he favors the staffing cuts and the consolidation of county departments.

"I've always been for streamlining government and reducing the hierarchy,'' he said.

County Commissioner Randy Wilkinson said he liked what Herr has done, but said he doesn't think the cuts have gone far enough, explaining he would like to reduce the property tax rate further.

"In the past we had a kid-in-a-candy-store budget. The money was flying around everywhere,'' he said.

The tax cuts and economic downturn have created what he termed "the kid-with-his-hand-caught-in-the-cookie-jar budget.''

Wilkinson said he thinks some of the spending, such as the expansion of the South County Jail, is unsustainable and he thinks more cuts are justified.

[ Tom Palmer can be reached at tom.palmer@theledger.com or 863-802-7535. His blog on county government is at county.theledger.com. ]