Shaking the Money Tree

Shake, shake, shake! Shake your booty!

Those were the words of song by KC & The Sunshine Band in the mid-70s. Soon, there’ll be a whole lot of shakin’ goin’ on during the annual Hernando County Budget Hearings. After the shakedown, booty on the money tree will be slim-pickin’s because of Amendment 1.

On that cold day in January, when Florida voters gave Amendment 1 the right of passage, these days of pinching pennies were already foreseen. The after-affects of property tax reductions are just now about to take interested residents through the economic abyss of fire and brimstone.

Things are so bad… How bad are they? This will become known as “The Year Of The Fussbudget”. Succeeding years will have a Roman numeral.

Freshman County Administrator Dave Hamilton has been given the authority to hold town hall meetings to give residents the opportunity to be an integral part of the budget process by letting them air out their wants and figure out what will become have-nots. It’s like nitpicking, or removing lint off a wool sweater. Residents can pick away at parasitic expenditures and the fluff of government spending.

Somewhere along the way we may also be introduced to an alternative source of revenue. That’ll come later in the budget campaign.

Hamilton has prior Administrator experience in Crow Wing, Minnesota. His comrade is Budget Director George Zoettlein. I can envision them having spent hours in running over some preliminary numbers, making preparations for the public meetings, coming up with a game plan and standing up, giving each other a high-five while shouting out the battle cry, “Let’s DO IT!”

This is an unlikely scenario but that level of adrenalin might be needed to get through the budget hearings. Right now, these two men are the most important of all public servants. The public of Hernando County will be doggin’ them around through a process that will reshape the very heart of our local government.

Hamilton must already realize that the annual raises given to government employees will be at the top of the “black list”. During last year's hearings, such was an often sought-after means to bring the budget in line with reality. Many residents submitted the suggestion during last year’s budget hearings but as the Commission clearly explained, it is mandated for all constitutional officers by the Florida State Constitution.

Apparently, the no-raise option is a taxpayer pipe dream, making it a mute subject. Complain at the dinner table but not at the hearings. Force reduction, down-sizing, right-sizing… whatever you want to call it, this is the primary means to chip away at expenditures.

County employees are not gauranteed pay increases.

THE Bus will once again be a major object of contention. To discontinue the operation of public transportation would put a hardship on the elder, the infirm and other unfortunate residents, creating situations where health problems are likely to be remain untreated. Making trips for food and other life necessities would become other objects of concern. Denying those in need of low cost public transportation denies people a means of having mobility. They would feel left behind, outcasts to society.

Low ridership on THE Bus has, in part, been attributed to limited routes and schedules. Since THE Bus has proven to be poorly planned and much too costly, alternatives should be in order. Perhaps the use of vans would afford additional routes. Called “Da VAN” they would be less expensive with reduced pollution. Funding might be a problem but the idea may warrant consideration.

In this election year, it should be rather intriguing with Commissioners Kingsley, Rowden and Stabins up for reelection. Each of them has been a participant of willy-nilly spending of tax dollars over the past few years. Commissioners Rocco and Russell are serving terms that began January 2007 so they’re in an enviable position that by Election Day 2010 the economy will be on the mend and their challenges may be less taxing, so to speak.

There’s an aforethought that the hearings will have a good degree of dramatics. An array of candidates will play the role of spoilers to the incumbents. These are the ones to watch as they try to position themselves to gain supporters. Hopefully they will follow protocol, adhering to the allotted three minutes of prime time speaking. Dribble talk isn’t needed. Criticizing, pointing fingers and making token suggestions that others have already made won’t make the grade. Without offering solutions, their words will give pause to their political aspirations.

Of course, reducing or eliminating services, thus employees, will be the main topic at the public workshops where everything can be put on the chopping block. It will be a tedious process, perhaps better presented to citizens with current line-by-line expenditures with residents given the option of using the line-item veto process. A show of hands would prove less obstructive than people yelling Yeas and Nays or even profanities.

Somewhere down the road of the budget process, Hamilton will propose the option of importing prisoners from elsewhere as a last stop before being transferred to a penitentiary. Select local low-risk offenders would be released with ankle bracelets, making space available for convicts that would bring in funds from State and Federal governments.

The savings of eliminating local inmates at the jail facilities would be $3-million this year (and $5.7-million next year) but there would still be a shortfall of $2.6-million of available budget funding. If the county takes the route of the risky investment of housing prisoners, it could bring in $1-million.

Hamilton worked with law enforcement agencies during his job as Administrator in Crow Wing County, Minnesota, where the population is but a third of Hernando. Apparently, it worked out well there. Brainerd is the county seat in Crow Wing, one hour north of St. Cloud and two hours away from Minneapolis. Although the cumulative population of these cities rivals that of Tampa/St. Pete, the metro area south of here sprawls far and wide and is but 40 miles from the Hernando County Jail. Our distance from a much larger overall metropolitan area means more prison traffic.

This would be a valid concern of residents living within close proximity to the jail. Notification letters to those living within a three mile radius would likely be in order.

As the budget hearings are about to begin, identifying and gaining support for reducing government spending will be a slow, painful process. County Administrator Dave Hamilton appears to be ready for the challenge, the first of many. I hope he’s good at dodge ball; flexibility and resilience will be needed, as citizens are going to play hardball.

If residents can be patient, thoughtful and realistic about how the county can make respectful budget cuts, perhaps the end result will bring a broader acceptance of the inevitable loss of services.

As the town hall meetings begin in May, show your support of making Hernando County an example to other budget-wrenched counties. As you enter the door, hold those five digits in the air, ready to give Dave and George a hearty “Let’s DO IT!”