It's Your Money

Last week we pointed out that the County Commission’s actions in their unanimous disapproval of assessments/fees (read new taxes) were going to make life harder for the County Administration. We now estimate that the total decrease from the 2009 actual expenditures to the estimated revenues for FY 2011 will be close to $20 million. Obviously there will have to be spending cuts or a large increase in our taxes.

The County Staff (all departments EXCEPT Fire/Rescue) have suffered through 3 years of cuts that have resulted in nearly 100 job losses and numerous service reductions. The Constitutional Officer’s staffs have been cut by 45, including 34 of the Sheriff’s personnel. During the same period the Fire/Rescue Service has added 37 personnel and their budgets have continued to grow as ALL others have decreased. Their current IAFF contract, good until September 2011, calls for a further 5% + COLA pay raise in addition to normal promotion, qualification and step increases - while every other County function suffers significant reductions. We hate to keep harping on the Fire/Rescue folks – they do a great job - but this is exactly why we are so adamantly opposed to assessments, especially for the Fire Service. We cannot see giving the Commission a funding option that reduces oversight and political liability when they have proven for many years that they are unable to control this situation. In the current economic environment it is morally unacceptable as well as economically unsustainable.

One of the options that the commissioners should consider is outsourcing some or all of the Fire/Rescue services. Other localities across the Country including some Florida cities/counties with far greater physical and environmental challenges have privatized these services. An easy function to privatize here is the Lifeguard Service, where our taxpayers are footing the bill of over $1.2 million for just 16 personnel. We continue to request, as we have suggested for years, that the County initiate an independent evaluation of all of Martin County’s fire services with the goal of consolidation and efficiency of operation.

There are many other viable solutions to reduced spending without cutting essential services, or further reducing the staff needed to maintain other citizen desired services. Our citizens, especially our children and seniors, need the libraries, parks and other health and welfare facilities. A good example is to increase productivity through the use of web/computer based technology across the County’s many functional areas. Your Taxpayer’s Association, through the expertise of one our members, performed a voluntary evaluation of the County’s Information Technology Department. This former industry and college level designer and evaluator of IT was embedded in their offices for over a week and was able to perform an in-depth assessment of all areas of the department. Her report was very complimentary of the IT Department and staff’s capabilities and pointed out that there are many efficiencies to be had by offering their services across County, Constitutional and even School District Departments. This is a great time for these suggestions she offered to be implemented.

Another area for consideration is the consolidation of office facilities. The County and Constitutional Officers have reduced their staffs by over 140, most of whom occupied an office. That is greater than a 10% reduction, which should free up space for consolidation, especially among the smaller Constitutional offices that are now in leased facilities. The County may well be able to buy excess commercial facilities at today’s reduced prices and co-locate offices with similar requirements. This consolidation would be an additional area that could be helped by incorporating the IT suggestions above.

There are many other actions that can be taken to reduce spending without cutting services or emergency response times. We will continue to make specific recommendations during the official 2011 budget development process. However, it is up to our Commissioners to make the hard decisions. We hope they have the will to do so in an effective and fair manner. We will certainly continue to monitor and report on their actions.

This is our last column for 2009. We will be back with you, God willing, on January 7 th. We hope you have a wonderful Christmas Season (no matter how you choose to observe it) and we should all hope and pray for a healthy, happy and prosperous 2010.