Tax relief could bleed county funds
BY PAM BRANNON Gulf Breeze News news@gulfbreezenews.com

Santa Rosa County Administrator Hunter Walker says if "The Big One" hits the county next year, the budget cuts made this year will look very minor. He isn't talking about hurricanes. He is talking about the referendum vote scheduled for Jan. 29 statewide for what legislators call Super Homestead.

It is the legislators' latest attempt at tax relief, but most county and city leaders across the state are saying it was hastily done and not real relief for anyone - especially the budgets of taxing units.

"I don't know where the sheriff will find another $6 million or so to cut, if the referendum vote happens and is approved by voters. This year will definitely look like a cake walk next to the deep, deep cuts we will have to make for next year's budget if that happens. I really don't think we will be able to afford some things we have always offered as services, like the parks and rec department," Walker said.

Walker said the county, in planning next year's budget, already made cutbacks in in services such as parks because of the millage roll back imposed on them by the state. "There are so many services we are mandated by state law to keep, so we have to fund those. That means the nonmandated items that we as a county had decided to offer our people have to be cut back when the state cuts us back so drastically, as they already have this year."

For example, he points out that in last year's budget of $117,600,129, 50.4 percent of it was in mandated or directed fees and services required by the state, adding up to just over $59 million. That left the other half of the budget vulnerable to cuts. With the state's millage roll backs placed on counties this year, Santa Rosa County lost about $2 million, adding another 3.1 percent in cuts from last year's budget.

"This isn't an all bad process," Walker said. "It makes us examine what we really need against what is nice to do and what we would like to have. It is always good to step back and take a close look at priorities. But some of our department heads thought this year was tough, finding areas to cut. If the referendum the state has proposed goes through, this will look like a painless, simple year compared to what they will have to do the next time around for the next year's budget."

He said if the referendum passes, the county will need to cut another $11 million or so for the following year's budget, and 40 percent of the county's budget is for the sheriff department.

"Different counties have different challenges when it comes to cutting services," Walker said. "We do not have many large cities in our county. So when it comes to road work, for example, we have a much heavier burden than some counties in the state." He pointed out that Escambia County does not pave dirt roads, they are all done by MSBU, which taxes the residents of a neighborhood for the paving. Many of the counties pass the road paving costs on to their cities, also, he said.

"People get as upset about roads as anything," he said. "They don't like their roads to be a mess."

Walker said people also misunderstand often when they get their tax bills, and think all their increases are coming from the county. "We really encourage people to sit down with the trim notices that are going to be arriving in their mail soon. They can see the actual break down in what they are paying. If their insurance and school board taxes and county taxes are all included in their mortgage bill, as most are these days, their bill can actually go up even when the county tax is going down. This year they will see a 3 percent decrease in their county property tax, but not a decrease in their school board tax, for example. And most people see an increase in their insurance each year. Yet I have people all the time say to me 'Hey, my taxes went up on my mortgage - what are you guys doing with all that money?' They just think we are getting it all."