IN YOUR CORNER

In our last column we mentioned items of approved and proposed cost

increases which will affect taxpayers. Those were the Children's

Services Council's proposed 20% increase, the county's water system

rate increase and a South Florida Water Management District increase.

The Children's Services Council proposal equals $6.00 more in taxes for

a home owner of a $100,000 house. The Utilities Department is asking for

a monthly increase of over $7.00, or a rate hike of 11.5%. We heard that

the South Florida Water Management District is considering an increase,

but don't know yet how much that will be. Apparently the county

commissioners and the school district are being presented budgets

which anticipate tax rate increases.

With Martin County's significant increases each year in property

assessments (taxable value), we don't see why the tax rate should go up.

In fact, we would like to hear the commissioners discuss the possibility

of bringing the tax rate down. In recent years, county budgets have

continually risen at a rate which often far exceeds the county

population growth. We look to our elected officials to stop this spend

feast.

***

One bright spot in the tax picture is that, at their June 19th meeting,

Martin County Commissioners wisely voted 3/2 to defer a special

referendum to extend the one-cent sales tax. Commissioners wanted to get

a budget cycle under their belts and develop a sound capital spending

plan before proposing new taxes. That has been our position on the

subject, and we are pleased they followed our suggestions. The

association has sent Mr. Blackburn a letter outlining our ideas and

concerns regarding this item. One of our concerns is included in the

discussion below.

***

Budget work intensifies in the later part of July, when the various

department managers make formal presentations to the commission. The

largest component of the county's operating budget is the salary and

benefits package of county employees. The number of county employees

seems to creep, or leap, higher and higher with each study, projection,

or preliminary budget request. Unfortunately, the number always seems to

go in only one direction : Up. This trend continues in spite of new

equipment and technology, which should produce labor savings to offset

some of the costs.

The magnitude of personnel costs seems to warrant more study in terms of

justifying needs. Whether this added scrutiny takes the form of time

studies, or accurate benchmarking with other counties regarding the

staffing to perform comparable tasks, more attention should be given to

the process of replacing or approving more staff, as well as verifying

that existing employees are properly deployed.

The format currently used by the county for requisitioning new personnel

typically contains job title, a brief description of duties,

qualifications, salary level, and impact if the job is not filled.

Before the hiring of any incremental or replacement staff is approved,

we recommend that department managers, with the help of Human Resources,

clearly prove that the knowledge, skill and capacity to perform the

function are not already available within the county. Also, this is the

time to explore the feasibility of out sourcing or privatization.

"Production jobs", those with repetitive tasks, are more easily measured

than staff or technical jobs. However, most government functions could

benefit from a time study by a qualified industrial engineer, which

could address the differences between government employees, who are

service driven, and the profit driven private sector. Businesses are

subjected to the scrutiny of cost oriented management studies everyday.

A thorough review of current county jobs from a basis of activity

levels, productivity, and efficiency would answer several questions.

Which jobs are at or near peak capacity versus those with capacity to

spare? Is there redundancy or inefficiency of organization or in the

performance of tasks? Our intent is not to criticize the quality of our

county employees, who are performing their jobs as instructed.

We already know that certain support tasks are being performed somewhat

redundantly. These include purchasing, human resources (personnel),

communications, and vehicle maintenance. All of these could be

centralized with potential savings.

At the completion of an efficiency study and some streamlining efforts,

taxpayers would have more confidence in the validity of the current

organization and staffing numbers. Some of the proposed new facilities

might be better sold to the public on the basis of potential

efficiencies, as well as improved service. A one-cent sales tax might

then gain approval as the funding source.