IN YOUR CORNER

There is good news for Martin County taxpayers. Ad valorum tax rates

will go down for the first time in many years. On July 23, the Martin

County Administrator launched a series of departmental budget

presentations to the County Commission with his own overview based on

June 1, 2001, taxable values. The tentative budget for Martin County's

2002 fiscal year asks for a total of $346,572,507.00.

The week ended with a reduced tax rate because the June 1, 2001

estimate of taxable values($10,930,313,149.00) was increased an

additional 2.15% to$11.2 billion. Commissioners saw that, if spending

could be controlled, they had an opportunity to reduce the tax rate.

This was done, despite the large prior wage commitments to the

firefighters (who were given a three year escalating contract by our

last commission), promised increases made for sheriff's deputies, new

voting machines and future projects, such as the staffing and operation

of the Hoke Library, and the construction of the Port Salerno Fire/EMS

Station, Phase One of the Halpatiokee Regional Park, and the Indian

Riverside Park.

The roster of county employees continues to grow with eight new hires

requested by the Administrative Offices, and another eight by the

Constitutional Offices (Clerk of Court, Tax Collector, Property

Appraiser and Sheriff), whose requests are mere formalities as these

offices' budgets are under their own control.

From a taxpayer's perspective, the Commissioners generally tried to

hold the line on spending, seeing an opportunity for a reduction in what

is, for the three newly elected Commissioners, their first budget year.

Some departments have taken the same approach and pared down. Most

notably, the County Attorney has eliminated one staff attorney, resolved

eight major lawsuits and reduced next year's estimated litigation costs

by an estimated $125,000 versus a year ago. In a similar move, the

Environmental Services Dept. cut back one and a half employees, and the

position of a Fiscal Planning Administrator was dropped.

Other departments appear to plod on in a business-as-usual way,

requesting additional staff positions added to their roster even though

some departments apparently operated in an acceptable manner this year

with several vacant slots. Requests of this nature pose a dilemma for

the Commissioners who are trying to determine staffing requirements in

the absence of any standards or studies which prove the need.

Departments requesting additional staff, especially clerical,

administrative or technical, should be required to undergo specific

procedures as a condition for any staff increases. They should ascertain

the ability of employees and supervisors to prioritize and execute so

that no critical job falls through the cracks and an acceptable level of

service is provided. Departments should show how they maximize the

utilization and efficiency of existing staff to determine the assignment

and sharing of tasks. Such studies should be performed using industrial

engineering procedures.

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The Commissioners approved $5.45 million to the newly formed Martin

County medical budget. This budget item covers our share of expenses for

the County Health Department, medical treatment of Martin County

prisoners, a substance abuse program, some expenses for military

veterans, and just recently the Volunteers in Medicine program. Some of

these responsibilities have been funded by Martin County for several

years, but the Volunteers in Medicine program was added because the

hospital has discontinued its support of this service to indigents in

our county. The creation of this medical budget item is a milestone for

Martin County. In the past, items associated with health issues were so

disbursed throughout the budget that it was impossible to accurately see

the total cost. This was a major accomplishment by the Medical Cost Task

Force, and we commend them for it. We will discuss other issues that

were included in the Task Force report in future columns.