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Highlands Today

County Wants Governor To Keep His Promise

Courtesy

Gov. Charlie Crist

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By Jim  Konkoly | Highlands Today

Published: February 20, 2008

SEBRING — Highlands County government leaders expect Gov. Charlie Crist and the Legislature to come through on their promise to this and the five other "fiscally constrained" counties.

That promise, which was made in the state law, Senate Bill 4D, which put Amendment One on the Jan. 29 ballot, guarantees that Highlands County won't suffer the estimated $5 million per year loss in ad valorem taxes caused by the amendment's passage.

The state law guarantees that Highlands and five other counties designated as "fiscally constrained" will get every penny they lose in property taxes due to Amendment One reimbursed in full by the state.
But there is one problem.

Gov. Crist did not put any of the $26 million it will take to live up to that promise in the 2008-09 fiscal-year budget he has submitted to the Legislature.

If the Amendment One reimbursement money for the fiscally constrained counties is not in that budget, then the promise is no good and Highlands County will have to cut $5 million from its next operating budget.

Cool and the Highlands County commissioners as well as their chief lobbyist, Chris Doolin, executive director of the Small County Coalition, are lobbying with legislators and the governor's office to make sure that money is put back into Crist's state budget.

Stokes Reminds Denise Grimsley

In a letter to state Rep. Denise Grimsley, R-Lake Placid, Edgar Stokes, chairman of the Highlands County Commission, "reminds" her that the state law that put Amendment One on the ballot also promised that the "fiscally constrained" counties, including Highlands, would get all revenue lost from the amendment reimbursed by the state.

"In order for that (reimbursement) to happen, monies need to be appropriated in this legislative session to help the Fiscally Constrained counties," Stokes continued in the letter. "Please help make sure this funding gets a high priority in this (legislative) session. ..."

The fact these funds are not in the governor's budget is "hugely significant," Cool said.
But, Cool said, Crist, must have made an inadvertent mistake in not putting those funds into the budget, and county officials are asking him to correct that mistake.

"It (reimbursement) is a state law, and I don't believe the governor will knowingly or intentionally break a state law," Cool said of Crist.

"I believe it's an oversight on the governor's part," Cool added, "and our intention is to ask our legislative delegation to bring this oversight to the governor's attention."

Still, Cool said, the governor and the Legislature will be hard pressed to deal with their new state budget, since state revenue will be down. That means state budget cuts, while big cities and counties will feel a big tax-loss sting from Amendment One.

Big Counties Taking Big Tax-Loss Hits

"In Broward County, the second biggest county by population in the state, Amendment One is going to result in a loss of $100 million in revenue per year," Cool said.

Cool said he has confidence in not only Crist but also in the three legislators representing Highlands County to keep the promise they made in putting Amendment One on the ballot.

State Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, state Rep. Baxter Troutman, R-Winter Haven, and Grimsley are powerful legislators who helped get the reimbursement provision for fiscally constrained counties into the Amendment One tax reform package, Cool said.

"They had the 'horsepower' to get this into Senate Bill 4D, which put Amendment One on the ballot, and so I believe they'll have the 'horsepower' to see that this money does get to the fiscally constrained counties," Cool said.

"The representatives for our county are not rookies in the Legislature, and all three are well placed in the Legislature," Cool added.

Doolin found Crist's error when he learned Crist proposes paying the Amendment One reimbursements in July 2009, as part of the state's 2009-10 budget. That would be one year past July 2008, when the counties will need it for fiscal 2008-09, Doolin said.

Money Must Go Back In State Budget

"In order to offset the impact of Amendment One, the Florida legislature must make an appropriation of funding for this purpose in the 2008 Legislative session," Doolin wrote in a memo to the fiscally constrained counties.

"We have discussed this matter with a number of House and Senate members," Doolin, who works in Tallahassee, continued, "and (we) find broad support for this issue. In fact, many (legislators) are somewhat confused and/or amazed at the proposed delay" in reimbursing Highlands and the other constrained counties.

In addition to Highlands, the other "fiscally constrained" counties, as defined by state law, are Hardee, Hendry, Glades, DeSoto and Okeechobee counties.

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