http://www.news-press.com/article/20110614/NEWS01/110612013/Exclusive-Down-core-Could-you-take
Lee County parks its buses, leaving as many as 20,000 people every day without a ride to work, to the doctor or to the grocery store.
The libraries close. That robs 288,000 cardholders of access to computers, books and movies.
Parks keep their gates chained. That means 4,000 children don’t have summer programs, 10,000 recreation center members lose a place to go, and tens of thousands more lose their ball fields.
That’s the most extreme scenario Lee County leaders face as they struggle to draft a budget this summer that avoids a tax rate increase and helps fill a spending deficit set to grow to $60 million next year. It’s called stripping the budget of all but core services — an idea that has been discussed, but worries even some of the most conservative spenders.
If the county were to cut all but its most essential functions, the owner of a $150,000 house would save about $270 on a $1,600 tax bill.
Taxpayers, though, will only tolerate so much cutting. Stripping Lee to its core functions, commissioners say, promises a quality of life in the county residents just won’t accept.
“People don’t want to give up their green spaces. They don’t want to give up their libraries. They want to be sure that the environment is protected, and they want to see positive and well thought-out growth,” Lee County Commissioner Tammy Hall said. “I don’t think we’re in any businesses that we shouldn’t be in. But do I think we’re doing them at levels above what we should be doing? That’s a different answer.”
The county, Hall said, has to keep cutting.
Lee has excised 10 percent from the budget since 2008. Permitting functions are closed Fridays. County workers are taking on more tasks for less money. And countywide, 420 positions have vanished from a 5,000-strong work force. Most of the cuts were in community development (planning and permitting) and the county’s transportation department, but all departments have shared in the cuts.
Collier County has cut about the same over the past four years and trimmed 586 jobs from about 4,000 positions.
Collier plans to cut 3 percent from the budget again this year, said Collier Commissioner Donna Fiala.
“It’s not going to be an easy fix,” she said.
Lee County stands out in the region for the size of its budget hole. Leaders have to cut that much from the budget or raise taxes when its cash reserves run out in two years.
So where to cut?
Eye of the beholder
“Core services are in the eye of the beholder,” said Kurt Wenner with Florida Tax Watch, a statewide taxpayer advocacy and research group. “Especially when you get to local government. Someone would tell you that transit is very important. Somebody might tell you parks or museums or anything else. It all depends on what people want.”
Commissioner Brian Bigelow believes the county is providing the services it needs to offer. He is pushing for a cut to salaries and law enforcement expenses.
“Except for maybe baseball, I don’t think we’ve added any more services than taxpayers expect us to provide,” Bigelow said.
Name any service and there are constituents who deem it a core service.
The county commissioners — if they wanted — could pull the plug on the library system, saving the average homeowner about $51 each year.
But that would have a terrible impact on Lee County, Estero resident Karen Katz believes. A retiree and former councilwoman in a small Michigan town, Katz heads the Friends of the South County Library organization. She’s a voracious reader, and spends a lot of time at the library. It’s packed, she says, with job searchers, people on computers, kids and fellow readers. The number of visitors at Lee’s libraries rose 3 percent between 2009 and 2010.
“It’s for the community as a whole,” Katz said. “A good library is a good thing for the whole community.”
State law, though, says the library is a luxury. Lee could survive without it. The same is true of county parks. But close them and taxpayers may revolt.
“This is something we like about Florida,” said Marcia Viera, visiting Lakes Park this month with her daughter. “They are well kept and clean. It’s sad to think there would be cuts.”
Lee maintains 65 public parks, nine pools and seven boat ramps for about $25 million per year. That includes rangers, landscaping and education programs.
The budget is down 20 percent from four years ago. If commissioners want, they can keep cutting. Pinellas County did.
“We used to win all sorts of national awards for our parks,” said Pinellas County commission Chairwoman Susan Latvala. “Those days are over.”
The commission in Pinellas — with about 300,000 more people than Lee — has cut park spending in half. Weeds have taken over. The bathrooms are cleaned less frequently, trash spills out of bins and programs are all but gone. Residents, Latvala said, are pushing the county to add higher fees for parking and field use at parks to pay for better maintenance.
Lee County could take the same approach. Or it can go even further. Eliminating the department would save each taxpayer about $85 a year and halve the county’s deficit, though few would go for it.
Where to cut?
Few have studied Lee County’s budget as much as Golden Goose Committee chairman Roy Hyman. The group is a watchdog on government spending and other issues.
Outside of suspending Conservation 20/20 — the county’s land conservation program, which taxes residents at 50 cents per every $1,000 of assessed property value — the county has no obvious options for cuts, Hyman said.
“That’s the only place to go without going into a complete review of the budget to figure out where we can find some ways to not affect core services,” Hyman said.
Everything should be evaluated, he said.
“We’re interesting in people surviving and helping the most needy,” Hyman said. “But after that, we need to reconsider cuts in every area.”
Hyman would have the county bring in outside efficiency experts to dig into the budget.
WHAT SERVICES COULD YOU DO WITHOUT?
Sheriff
The state gives the sheriff the authority to provide law enforcement, jail supervision and officers in courtrooms. The three functions each year cost taxpayers more than $150 million. It’s by far the largest office. But how much is needed?
The state outlines the duties of sheriffs but doesn’t set any staffing requirements beyond dictating they be “conservators of the peace in their counties.” The state has the final say on what local taxpayers spend on their sheriff’s office. If the commissioners try to cut the sheriff’s budget against his will, he can appeal to the state.
Amount the commission could cut: Not applicable
Annual tax savings: Not applicable
Human services
The department has no choice on Medicaid. Florida is one of nine states that forces counties to share in the cost of this federal program. This year, Lee taxpayers will spend about $5.8 million for its share of Medicaid. It’s a fraction of the $400 million the federal and state governments spend on Medicaid for Lee’s uninsured.
The county also would have to continue to pay to cremate or bury people who have no family.
The rest is at the board’s discretion.
The county helps nonprofits that provide abuse counseling, disabled care and after school programs. Those programs could lose as much as a quarter of their funding. The county also spends $4.5 million more than it has to on mental health and substance abuse programs.
Without the discretionary spending, Lee’s neediest population loses its safety net. But property owners would spend less on taxes.
Amount the commission could cut: $12 million
Annual tax savings for a $150,000 home: $32
Emergency medical services
The private sector could take over Lee’s ambulance service, though the rates would likely double without a property tax subsidy. And there’s no guarantee a private source would provide helicopters. If someone suffered a heart attack on North Captiva, for example, a boat would take him to the hospital. For some remote areas and islands without bridges to the mainland, having medical helicopters could be a matter of life and death.
Amount the commission could cut: $15 million
Annual tax savings for a $150,000 home: $40
Parks and recreation
Technically, nothing is required.
Lee County could close all its parks, ax its parks programs — summer camps, after-school programs, eco tours — and sell the land for private development.
Amount the commission could cut: $31 million
Annual tax savings for a $150,000 home: $85
Solid waste
Trash pickup is mandatory. And beginning this year, counties have to recycle. Property taxes, however, don’t pay for pickup. Instead, residents pay trash bills.
Amount the commission could cut: Not applicable
Annual tax savings for a $150,000 home: Not applicable
Transit
There’s nothing that says Lee County has to provide bus service. It now operates 22 routes with 51 buses and 11 trolleys. Less than 5 percent of county residents use the system, yet property taxes pay for about half of the $24 million system. If the county stopped using tax money and paid for the system on fares, the price of a round trip would go from $2.50 to $15.
Amount commission could cut: $12 million
Annual tax savings for a $150,000 home: $32
Library
There are no laws on the books that say Lee County needs to run libraries.
Polk County’s libraries run as an independent cooperative — though they receive funding from Polk’s cities. Lee County operates 17 branches, including six regional libraries.
Taxpayers pay a special library millage for the service. The commission could eliminate that millage and mothball the buildings.
Amount commission could cut: $24 million
Annual tax savings for a $150,000 home: $51
Animal services
As far as the state is concerned, this is not a core function. Enforcement would fall to police and area nonprofits.
Amount the commission could cut: $3.8 million
Annual tax savings for a $150,000 home: $10
What’s next
The budget and meeting schedule for Lee County commissioners is below. All meetings are at the Old Lee County Courthouse, 2120 Main St., Fort Myers.
• June 27: Budget workshop, 9 a.m. to noon, Old Lee County Courthouse.
• Aug. 2: County commission resumes weekly Tuesday meetings after summer break in July. 9:30 each Tuesday. Also on Aug. 2: At noon the county will set the tax rate.
• Sept. 7: First public hearing on the budget. 5 p.m.
• Sept. 21: Final public hearing on the budget.
