It is hard to imagine a more difficult job at the moment than that of the Martin County Administrator. Since the first of the year he has been working on the 2009 budget believing that he had to reduce County expenditures by up to $20 million. It became obvious in January, after voters approved the Property Tax Amendment, that next year’s budget was going to be significantly constrained. Falling sales tax revenues and an early estimate that indicated property values, and therefore ad Valorem tax receipts at current millage rates, would be down about 7% led to earnestly addressing the issue in February. Based on those early assumptions each Department was given the task of initially cutting their budget by 13%. This was later increased to 20% to give options for the actual cuts as they were prioritized across all departments. The result of this effort was a 300+ page draft budget that cut total spending approximately 8% and reduced the Administration staff by some 70 positions. Constitutional staffs (Sheriff, Appraiser, Clerk of Court, etc.) were cut by nearly 50 to meet the Administration’s estimated revenue. While individual cuts and priorities can and will be disputed (and probably changed) it was a well thought out and professionally accomplished budget proposal.

Then, on July 10, the County’s Property Assessor released her official accounting of the assessed value for tax purposes of Martin County’s real property. Instead of being down just under 7% it was now officially down 10%. The net result is another $4-5 million that has to be cut from the 2009 budget, or made up through tax increases – with decisions to be made just before the August election of 3 of our 5 Commissioners.

If this were a straightforward process governed by logic and need that would be one thing. A strong, intelligent leader could handle that. However, there are current union contracts to be considered, guidance from election year Commissioners/candidates that cannot be ignored, and years of unrealistic personnel practices that cannot be instantly changed. In addition this new prioritization effort will have to be accomplished by a staff already significantly reduced in number and demoralized by the negative aspects of this prolonged downsizing process. It is also a good bet that politicians and directors protecting their “turf” will attempt to undercut the effort. This will be a daunting task and we wish him well.

In addition to the dramatic slow down of the local economy it also appears that Martin County has had an actual population decrease for the first time in memory. In 2007 our population growth was down to just over 1/2 % and we have speculated that it might be down again this year based on two straight years of decrease in the total number of the County’s school students. Actually, going back at least 20 years, our population increase has never been significantly over 2% per year– the second lowest growth in the state, and well below the growth rate of any other coastal county. For years we have heard many negative comments about the policies of our “pro-growth” Commission and the ongoing “Browardization” of Martin County. In the above context it is hard to reconcile some of the continued “slow/no growth” rhetoric from local partisans, politicians and candidates. It seems to us that there are two to ways we could end up with an undesirable place to live, excessive/unplanned growth, or a stagnant economy with virtually no growth and little in the way of decent job opportunities. Rather than the former, it appears that the latter is the current threat.

We received the following e-mail from one of our readers that is indicative of the thought processes that can lead to these conditions and should be rejected by our residents and voters:

“What is the organizations (MCTA) position on the proposed fish farm in Indiantown?  Based on newspaper reports the business may be a relatively high property tax income entity with low impact features such as the small number employees that already live in the county. I hope these features are typical of any new businesses coming into the county. It will be nice if the high tech companies that may come into the county are all grouped together out near Indiantown in an area zoned for that pupose (sic) and most of their employess (sic) live in bordering counties and send their kids to school there. Martin County can enjoy the benefits of the taxes the companies pay on their property and some other county can pay for the schools and residental (sic) expenses. Isn't that nice?  Are these thoughts in line with your goals?” 

The short answers to these questions are NO and NO. As indicated above, we need good paying, environmentally friendly jobs located wherever it is appropriate within the County. Our residents should welcome good citizens brought in by these businesses just as we welcome their income and tax base. Without new jobs and residents to supplement our ailing agriculture, marine and housing industries Martin County will eventually become an aging retirement community with little to maintain our economy and desired lifestyle. The above discourse on the 2009 budget is a realistic warning of what can be expected for the future if we do not adequately address the problems with our local economy.