http://www.leeschools.net/involved/

http://www.news-press.com/article/20110628/NEWS01/106280362/Lee-budget-proposal-Spend-less

Lee County government staff Monday recommended an overall $604.6 million operating budget for 2011-12, which includes a $17 million reduction, or 2.8 percent less than this year.

The proposed budget, presented to county commissioners in their first budget workshop, also includes a $42.8 million cut in general fund expenditures, a $30 million cut in revenues and a $40 million deficit.

The revenue from property taxes fell $10.9 million – from $193.3 million to $187.3 million – reflecting a 5.6 percent drop in property values in the general fund.

The new spending plan would eliminate the furlough program for 2,400 county employees, a proposal that sparked friction among county commissioners.

The furloughs amounted to a 4 percent salary cut for employees this year.

Frank Mann, commission chairman, said stopping the furloughs amounts to a 4 percent raise for county employees in the face of a $40 million deficit.

“It is grossly irresponsible and I can’t believe staff made the recommendation,” Mann said.

“I would at the very least continue the furlough program until such time as our budget revenues begin to stabilize or come back somewhere near to the point that it used to be,” he added.

Mann and Commissioner Brian Bigelow voted against the move.

Commissioners Tammy Hall, Ray Judah and John Manning voted for stopping furloughs.

They pointed out that effective Friday, the state is requiring employees to contribute 3 percent of their pay to their pensions for the first time, which amounts to a 3 percent pay cut. Continuing furloughs would make the total 7 percent cut for employees.

The financial burden on employees has increased with rising insurance premiums, co-pays, no salary raises in the past three years, furloughs and now the 3 percent contribution to their pensions, Judah said.

Bonita Springs Fire District officials spent Wednesday struggling with ways to make up for a $4 million budget shortfall without increasing taxes.

Commissioner Ed FitzGerald suggested cutting up to seven jobs, recommended 10 percent pay cuts for top-earning employees and asked commissioners to surrender their $5,000 yearly salary.

He then specifically targeted training units and two of the department’s most recognizable faces – public information officer Debbi Redfield, who makes $65,000 a year, and public education officer Nicole Hornberger, who makes $54,267 annually.

FitzGerald said after those jobs were cut, Bonita Fire could then contract with the Estero Fire District to use its public information officer.

“It’s necessary to look at restructuring,” said commission Chairman Steve Lohan, noting FitzGerald’s plan could work in reverse because Bonita is the larger department and other departments turn to Bonita for plan reviews and training.

But Bonita Springs fire Chief Phil Kinsey disagreed with FitzGerald’s plan and said he advocated early retirement.

Kinsey said 34 department employees are eligible for early retirement and 29 expressed interest in the plan. Eleven would be needed for the plan to work, Kinsey said.

“If we can get rid of 11 people through early retirement, that might be the most bang for the buck and get us where we want to be,” Lohan said. “That way we don’t have to go around firing people.”

FitzGerald insisted no one wants to reduce service levels, but noted Kinsey’s suggestion plus his recommendation of seven additional employees would put the department in better financial shape.

“I think we need to reduce some staffing,” said Kinsey, who is in his 24th year on the job. “But we can’t selectively target someone.”

Tony Gambino, the department’s finance director, told fire officials and about a dozen residents in attendance that reserves were at $6.4 million, down from $8.9 million in 2009-10.

He said retirement incentives were the best route because they would result in lower personnel costs, won’t affect morale, may create opportunity for advancement and new employees could be hired at a lower rate.

Since adoption of the 2008-09 budget, the department’s budget decreased 16 percent to $26.8 from $32.1 million, Gambino said.

Ron Pure, founder of the Taxpayer Action Group, said there is no shortfall because the department has more than $6 million in reserves. He said the department should position itself for a tax reduction.

The next budget hearing will be scheduled at the department’s July meeting.

Numerous Michigan communities — including Oak Park, the Grosse Pointes, Huntington Woods, Fraser and Kalamazoo — have combined safety forces. Other municipalities are studying the idea, responding to tight finances and Gov. Rick Snyder’s push for consolidation.

State revenue sharing was cut across the board this year, and in future years communities that don’t adopt “best practices,” such as merging services, could see their share of state money reduced even further.

Cutting costs and gaining state aid can sound appealing to city leaders who face declining tax revenue. But cities that want to consolidate may face resistance from voters and employees.

In general, firefighters unions strongly oppose public safety mergers, arguing that cross-trained officers don’t have the skills or expertise to safely and effectively put out fires.

“It does not even come close,” said Mark Docherty, a sergeant with the Sterling Heights Fire Department and president of the Michigan Professional Fire Fighters Union. “If you want to save money that way, you’re maintaining your police department at the expense of the fire department. You can’t maintain the same level of training, experience or the response time of a full-time fire department.”

Police officers are generally receptive to cross-training, since they expect fighting fires to be a small part of their duties.

Experts in municipal management say combining police and fire can save money and improve service, if done right.

Leonard Matarese, a research director at the International City/Council Management Association, said a public safety department is more efficient. “When you have a major event — a police or fire event — you end up with a larger group of qualified people to handle it,” said Matarese, who has worked in several states as a police chief, city manager and a public safety director.

He cautioned that with training and equipment expenditures, a municipality could incur extra expenses — at first.

“But you have to look at this long-term,” he said. “It saves money. There’s no question about it. If a city can achieve a 5 to 10 percent savings, it’s significant.”

Police and fire costs can translate to as much as 75 percent of a municipality’s budget. Kalamazoo, with about 75,000 residents, is the largest city in the state with a public safety department.

The city integrated its police and fire departments in the 1980s. Kalamazoo would incur an extra $3 million to $4 million a year in costs by returning to a traditional fire department, Matarese said.

Fire Union report says consolidation would be ineffective use of resources

http://www.google.com/search?hl=&q=combining+fire+and+police+services

Bonita Springs employees and council members will get 3 percent pay increases from July 1-Sept. 30 to offset the amount they must start paying toward their pensions.

Council voted 4-3 today to give the increase to 50 full-time and eight part-time staff members and seven elected officials.

“We made a commitment to our employees at the prior budget hearing to support them with a certain standard for that budget year and I see that as a serious commitment,” Mayor Ben Nelson said.

“The next budget cycle is a different story.”

One of the full-time employees — City Manager Carl Schwing — said he will not take the 3 percent pay increase.

Schwing, who began June 6, said he will stick with the $152,500 salary negotiated in his contract last month.

Councilmen Bill Lonkart, Steven Slachta and John Spear opposed the pay increases.

“We should not consider any increases in compensation in the current fiscal year until we find out what the circumstances are with the new budget,” Lonkart said.

Council also directed staff to do a survey comparing Bonita Springs employees’ compensation, including salary and benefits, to that of other public sector and private sector employees.

“I can’t stand up here and say with absolute certainty that the salary and benefit levels are fair or whether the city staff is overpaid or underpaid,” Spear said.

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.

County-Cost-2011

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.

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2011/may/26/gov-scott-cuts-nearly-20-billion-was-headed-collie/?partner=popular

http://www.news-press.com/article/20110526/NEWS0120/110526004/Gov-Rick-Scott-cuts-19-2-million-Southwest-Florida-spending-from-budget 

Gov. Rick Scott went beyond Florida TaxWatch’s recommendation for Southwest Florida and cut $1.5 million for a planned children’s hospital.

Scott vetoed $9.5 million for Florida Gulf Coast University, which included $4.5 million for the health building that is nearly done. Another $5 million was to start a research center.

Edison State College lost $7.6 million million for building improvements and renovation at its Lee and Collier campuses.

The governor vetoed $750,00 for the Bob Janes triage center in Lee County.

Other cuts involving Southwest Florida include:

• $250,000 for an Imperial River water quality project.

• $370,000 for WGCU television and radio stations.

• $5 million for the Glades County emergency operation center.

FGCU President Wilson Bradshaw said Thursday he is extremely disappointed in the vetoes, especially the $4.5 million eliminated for a health professions hall. That state-of-the-art facility was slated to open this fall, but instead will be the college campus equivalent of a boarded-up, foreclosed home.

“We will be able to finish construction, but we will not have any equipment or furnishings, rendering it unusable,” Bradshaw said. “We will have to mothball it until the funding comes.”

The project has been on FGCU’s construction list since 2002. The university has received $23.5 million over the past three years, and the $4.5 million would put the finishing touches on it. As a result of the veto, Bradshaw said the university won’t be able to increase enrollment in its nursing, physical therapy or other medical programs, and that means area hospitals and medical offices will continue struggling to fill vacant positions.

“This region will suffer until we finish that project,” Bradshaw said.

Scott also vetoed $5 million for FGCU’s innovation hub, a public-private research park aimed at spawning economic development in Southwest Florida.

Gov. Charlie Crist also vetoed that project in 2010.

At Edison, administration is trying to figure out how it will repair and remodel buildings. More than half of buildings on the Lee County campus are at least 30 years old. Stalled projects include upgrading a dental lab to meet safety codes, replacing air conditioning and electrical systems, repairing facility damage and other general maintenance.

List of Sheriff employee buyouts

http://www.sheriffleefl.org/

The buyout offered by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office has 46 takers, with 882 years of service and salaries totaling $2.85 million.

The agency is in the midst of restructuring in response to a declining economy and the stress that puts on the budget, Sheriff Mike Scott said Tuesday.

This year’s buyout is designed to avoid furloughs or layoffs, Scott said. The state also is handing police what is in essence a pay cut, by requiring them to contribute 3 percent to their retirement, he said.

How much will the savings actually be?

“Well, it depends on what we do with their positions,” Scott said. If the positions are not filled, “it will save a lot,” he said.

Each position is being evaluated, he said. Those jobs that are replaced will be filled with entry level personnel. For example, the first person on the buyout list is Joseph R. Ragen, a corporal with 27 years of service and a salary of $67,529. If Ragen is replaced, the new employee will make about $34,000, Scott said. “You are talking about half, if we replace him.”

There also are savings in benefits to take into account, he said.

Of the 46 employees on the list, 21 have more than 20 years of service, or almost 46 percent. The employee with the most longevity is John P. Dowdy, an auto mechanic with 38 years.

The highest salary on the list is $94,221, earned by Capt. Edward R. Tamayo, with 25 years of service.

Albert Palmer, 64, was a civilian communications clerk for 22 years with the sheriff’s office before accepting a buyout this year.

Palmer had thoughts of retiring when he learned of the buyouts. He was in a car accident in August 2010 that critically injured him.

“I thought, well, now’s a good time because my health’s not getting any better after the accident,” Palmer said. “It just seemed like everything fell into line.”

Staff had until Friday to take advantage of the buyout offer: Two weeks pay for each year of service, based on their annual salary, with a maximum of up to one year. That means an employee with 30 years would receive a maximum of 52 weeks of pay, not 60 weeks.

In addition, the positions of two captains and eight lieutenants on the buyout list will be filled by moving around existing personnel internally, with no promotions or new hires, Scott said.

“The goal is to replace as few as absolutely necessary,” Scott said.

About 25 percent of the agency’s employees, or 387 of 1,541, were eligible for the buyout. Those who took the offer must stop working by June 30.

In 2008, Lee County offered a buyout to all its employees and 46 in the sheriff’s office, who made a total of $3.3 million in salary, took the offer.

Scott’s 2010-11 budget was 2.6 percent lower than the year before. The sheriff’s $152.5 million budget included 45 fewer positions this year.

The sheriff’s office budget takes up about one third of Lee County’s general fund. The county is operating at a $50 million deficit this year.

Scott’s budget, due June 1, will again be less for the third consecutive year, he said.

Safety remains the No. 1 priority, Scott said. “My family lives here. I’m not going to compromise public safety at the risk of saving money.”

CenturyLink has won a court judgment that it’s entitled to a $215,000 refund for its 2002 Lee County tangible property tax bill — and possibly millions more for overpayments in subsequent years.

The ruling comes as the county faces its toughest financial situation in years as falling real estate values drag down property-tax revenues, leaving Lee with a $50 million deficit in its general fund this year.

Sprint-Florida, now known as Embarq Florida dba CenturyLink, filed a civil lawsuit in 2002 alleging that the county property appraiser’s office had overvalued its tangible personal property — items such as switching equipment and telephone lines.

While the property appraiser said the tangible property was worth $329.8 million, Sprint maintained it was worth only $211.2 million. Like real estate, tangible property is taxed at about a 2 percent rate.

Based on findings by Special Magistrate William Blackwell, Lee Circuit Judge Sherra Winesett ruled last year that the county had to refund the $215,000. A month ago, the state Second District Court of Appeal upheld that ruling unanimously without comment.

What’s next?

Neither Property Appraiser Ken Wilkinson nor CenturyLink spokesman Brian Hamman would comment on the remaining lawsuits that cover tax years 2003 to 2010 because they’re still being litigated. But the suits raise essentially the same issues on which CenturyLink won the 2002 suit.

Michael Hagen, a Fort Myers-based attorney who handles property tax disputes and was on the property appraiser’s legal staff in 2002 when the first suit was filed, said more refunds likely will be on the way.

CenturyLink has made what are called “good faith” payments each year for the amount it claims to be its true obligation.

But Hagen said big companies typically play it safe with good faith payments, giving more than they think they owe in case the courts rule against them.

“If they don’t, they can be stuck with interest over the years and they also can be stuck with what can be up to a 50 percent penalty,” Hagen said.

Districts on hook

Whatever CenturyLink overpaid, Hagen said, will have to be paid back by the taxing districts such as the school district, county and city governments. “If there’s a refund due, the tax collector may have to go knocking on doors to collect some of those funds,” Hagen said.

Because the exact tax obligation of CenturyLink hasn’t been calculated for years after 2002, it’s not possible to say how much the refunds may be.

In 2010, for example, the assessment was $402.8 million, the tax bill was $7.2 million and the good faith payment was $2.9 million, according to the latest lawsuit filed by CenturyLink.

It’s a scenario being played out across the state as the big tangible property taxpayers such as utilities and amusement parks challenge their assessments, said Virginia Weber, a Tallahassee-based attorney for the Florida United Tax Managers Association, a loose organization of the state’s big taxpayers.

That group filed a legal brief in the 2002 case in support of not considering computer code tangible property. That position was upheld by Winesett’s decision.

The software issue comes up from time to time but the main battlefield is the methodology used by appraisers to calculate how much the assessed replacement value should be for tangible property, Weber said.

“In most cases they end up working it out,” she said. “It’s pretty normal to get it resolved.”

Charlotte County Property Appraiser Frank Desguin said that several years ago he settled a lawsuit by CenturyLink that was similar to the ones in Lee County.

Hamman said CenturyLink is still litigating similar suits in Okeechobee and Leon counties.

Hagen said it’s common for big tangible taxpayers to challenge their assessments because “if you get a reduction like that it’s a huge tax savings.”

But challenging or defending an assessment is a risky proposition, he said — much less precise than dealing with real property where recent sales and lease rates can be used to calculate value.

“You go out and try to look at a bunch of telephone lines and switches and telephone poles and figure out how much it’s depreciating,” Hagen said. “That’s subjective and subject to the opinion of the expert.”

That was the case in the 2002 CenturyLink case, he said, where it came down to a difference of opinion between the expert for the property appraiser and the expert for the phone company.

Meanwhile, the remaining cases hang over the county’s finances to an undetermined degree.