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!”

Luck has a price

*This commentary is a supplement to my commentary “Lucky, Lucky Me”

I appreciate the feedback of Christopher Miles to the letter I submitted regarding the passage of Amendment One and how I felt the inequities of property taxes reinforces the shortcomings of Save Our Homes.

I held the same opinion of many major newspapers, including the Tampa Tribune, with their viewpoints that the legislation was poorly written, although Hernando Today’s Editor, Chris Wessel, seemed to have been one of the giddiest of all supporters in his pre-election article.
My primary contention lays to rest with the often-experienced scenario that when I sold my previous home in 2005 and moved to a home that is valued much less, I had to assume a tax bill more than twice the previous amount. In all fairness, a roll back to allow myself and others the newly passed benefit of limiting the increase to the 3% would make us happier homeowners. That would put to test county commissioners throughout Florida to compensate taxpayers for the out of control spending.

Those neighbors I spoke of had initiated the conversation on my property taxes when I first moved to my new home. I didn’t mind them poking their noses in my affairs – they were the ones who were aghast at the difference in tax liabilities. If they had been responsible citizens they would have been justified to support Amendment One but they didn’t vote – their votes weren’t necessary.

Also, I meant no insult to senior citizens. They are the most civic minded of all residents; their needs are immediate and of considerable concern. I wish they could use their “windfall” of lower tax bills for something other than medical expenses, but it is unlikely. (I recently heard an advertisement offering a doublewide mobile home for $39,900 – I would gladly have any of them as neighbors. We would all benefit from the portability of the 3% cap.).

I sincerely hope the constitutionality of the passage of Amendment One proves to be an unwarranted legal matter. Other people’s distresses overshadow my opinion.

A final comment in response to Mr. Miles’ letter, citing his suggestion that I donate my savings to a charity. NAMI (National Alliance On Mental Illness) is my immediate choice. Although I definitely won’t see the annual $3,700 savings of a couple in South Tampa that Governor Crist so proudly brought to our attention during his campaigning for the Amendment and, since I can’t commit to that $240 amount because I doubt the my home is valued at whatever the “typical” value may be, I will keep you posted on the amount of my donation this November when my postal worker delivers the letter that shows a return address of Juanita B. Sikes, CFC, Tax Collector, Hernando County.

At that point, I will forward a copy of the receipt of my charitable contribution to Editor Chris Wessel.

Lucky Lucky Me

Whew! Aren’t I the lucky one! I figure there’s a whopping $240 savings on my typical, average home value now that Amendment One is said and done. And yet, I’ll still have an end-of-the-year tax bill that’s three times that of my neighbors.

A recent call to the Property Appraiser’s office informed me that I had the misconception that I would have an additional savings because the value of my home plummeted in 2007; property taxes are billed a year in arrears. The kind County employee explained that the $25,000 increase in the Homestead Exemption would be closer to $15,000 because school taxes are not inclusive of the tax reduction and that the 3% increase of Save Our Homes still applies. So, that $240 is the total sum of possible savings. Governor Charlie Crist poorly represented the understanding of Amendment One, just as The Times had professed. And yet, I’m still a bit confused!

So, I’ll still owe the County twice the amount of my neighbors who have stayed in their homes in excess of ten years and three times that of those of twenty years. I’ll still be paying a far higher share of taxes than those same neighbors who will continue to benefit from the same level of County services. Hundreds of other homeowners across the state are right there beside me.

Those same neighbors whose tax bills are a third of my own can downsize to another location and save their homes much more easily than myself. If I should downsize, I would still pay three times as much in property and school taxes as they. I’ll cross my fingers when County Commissioners give approval of the 2009 budget and hope they don’t inch up the millage rate.

I can take the overall savings in may devalued property taxes of maybe $240 and apply it to my home insurance premium reduction that failed to materialize as promised by Governor Crist.

Some homeowners made out like bandits from the passage of Amendment 1, but there are just as many of us still behind the proverbial bars of financial woes with little chance of reprieve. We’ve been sentenced to a foreseeable future of inequity because the Florida Legislature will rest easy that the people have mandated what boils down to the status quo. It may be deemed unnecessary to pursue other tax reform.

Demographics of voter approval of the Constitutional Amendment would surely prove to be retirees. They are more astute to issues and have the wherewithal to get out and vote at their leisure. I applaud each and every one of them for their fortitude, but the outcome may have been different if a broader range of homeowners had participated in the Primary Election.

Keep in mind that a class action lawsuit that claims the Save Our Homes portability provision discriminates and violates the State Constitution. So, don't county those dollars saved because Amendment One may be one big goose that laid a fool’s golden egg.

I feel the only way for me to make out ahead in this economic mess is to sell my current home and relocate to a cozy trailer valued little more than $50,000; my property tax and insurance relief would finally give me financial relief of owning a home in Florida. I can’t expect it otherwise.