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State Attorney, Sheriff Agree On Second Inventory

By GARY PINNELL

Highlands Today

SEBRING - A press release from State Attorney Jerry Hill says Sheriff Susan Benton has agreed to account for all guns, drugs, cash and DNA evidence.

"Yesterday, Sheriff Benton and I met for nearly two hours to discuss evidence handling and procedures," Hill wrote in the Sept. 11 release.

"Within 30 days, under the supervision of an outside, independent agency, the following will be accomplished:

• "All guns not documented as properly destroyed will be accounted for.

• "All drugs and cash will be accounted for.

• "All DNA evidence will be accounted for.

• "One in four of the more than 35,000 bulk evidence items will be inventoried."

The sheriff's attorney, Mike Durham, described the original leader of a controversial evidence audit "a disgruntled former employee," whose inventory has a bunch of misinformation in it."

However, Benton and Hill agreed to revisit Stephen Newell's report.

"Certain issues were raised in a lengthy report by a former employee who reviewed the evidence room," Hill's press release said. "Each point raised will be responded to."

Newell was a 34-year police veteran, a former watch commander of the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office, and an assistant police chief at the Pahokee Police Department when he was asked by Benton to inventory the evidence room.

Newell had a distinguished career, Durham admitted, "but it was not an accurate report. That's why the sheriff lost confidence in it. Over time, we are discovering more items that were missing or misfiled, and it shows it was not an accurate inventory."

School Board Approves Budget/Tax Rate

By MARC VALERO

Highlands Today

SEBRING - The School Board of Highlands County approved a slight increase in the ad valorum tax rate and approved its 2008-09 budget.

The board approved the 2008-09 tax rate at 7.687 mils, which is an increase of .023 mils over the 2007-08 rate of 7.664.

For a property with an assessed valuation of $200,000, with a $25,000 homestead exemption, the annual school tax increase would be $4.03.

The Legislature took .25 mils from what used to be the district's "local discretionary millage rate," School Board Chairman J. Ned Hancock said Tuesday. The district had flexibility with that money 15 years ago, but over the years the Legislature added more restrictions.

Then the Legislature took a piece of it, which compounds the challenges of preparing a budget, he said.

Superintendent Wally Cox told the school board: "I think we could be $3 million short - $1.5 million of that is due to the 2 percent rollback in state funding and about $1 million of that is due to the shortfall in students."

In a July memo, Florida Education Commissioner Eric J. Smith told districts to plan on a 2 percent reduction in state funding, Cox said Wednesday. It's a proposed cut.

Due to the slowdown in the economy, sales tax revenues are down, Cox said. Indications are that after the November elections, the Legislature will hold a special session to modify the state budget.

Enrollment is down by about 230, with the high school enrollment down the most, he said. The district receives nearly $4,000 annually for each enrolled student.

The school board unanimously approved the 2008-09 budget, which totals $172.516 million. The 2007-08 budget totaled $195.53 million.

Habitat Takes Over Workforce Housing Project On MLK Blvd.

By JIM KONKOLY

Highlands Today

SEBRING - Highlands County was in danger of losing a $2.5 million state grant to help working families become homeowners.

Habitat for Humanity of Highlands County, though, is partnering with Highlands County government to keep the grant here and subsidize up to 100 "workforce" housing units.

Getting state approvals for the Ridgeview workforce housing project on Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, near Arbuckle Creek Road, will take some time. But, county officials said, all signs so far are positive for keeping the $2.5 million in state housing-assistance in this county.

"I'd like to thank Habitat for stepping up," County Commissioner Barbara Stewart said at Tuesday's county commission meeting, at which commissioners gave preliminary endorsements for the project.

Highlands County's Housing Office had secured $2.5 million from the state's new Community Workforce Housing Innovative Pilot Program (CWHIP) to give subsidies of up to $50,000 to 50 families buying homes in the Ridgeview subdivision.

National Development Foundation Inc., a non-profit housing developer headquartered just outside Orlando, was scheduled to build 68 single-family "workforce" homes at Ridgeview. The organization, though, was unable to secure private financing to go forward with the project, according to Teresa Hofer, the county's acting housing director.

Without Habitat for Humanity replacing National Development Foundation and reviving the project, Stewart said, Highlands County probably would have lost the $2.5 million in housing-assistance.

Michael Jacobson, the new director of the county's Habitat for Humanity chapter, said Habitat has changed plans for the housing project. Instead of the proposed 68 single-family homes, Jacobson said, Habitat plans to build 100 multi-family housing units, along with some commercial development on the site.

The 68 units would be two-story townhouses, with four of them attached side by side in each building, Jacobson said. The $2.5 million state grant, from the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, would be distributed to lower the prices on the townhouses for eligible buyers.

Ridgeview is planned on about 20 acres on the east side of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, a few hundred yards south of Arbuckle Creek Road. In about a week, Jacobson said, Habitat should have "some really neat drawings" of the townhouses proposed for the site.

Fewer Seeks Façade Grants In Sebring

By MARC VALERO

Highlands Today

SEBRING - A Sebring Community Redevelopment Agency façade grant helped Larry and Rachel Moore add a back deck and driveway to their Rose Avenue home they purchased about three years ago.

The historic house was renovated recently and new landscaping added, but those projects were not covered by the façade grant program, Larry Moore said Monday.

With the economic slowdown, fewer homeowners and businesses owners have applied for façade grants in the 2007-08 fiscal year.

"This year the number of applications for the program is down considerably from previous years," said Pete Pollard, Sebring Community Redevelopment Agency executive director. "It's directly related to the economy where people are doing less."

Historically, over the course of the fiscal year, about $80,000 to $100,000 has been available for façade grants, he said. Last year, almost all the budgeted money went to exterior improvements.

With the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, $56,982 remains in the façade grant budget.

Unused money can be used for other things such as the upcoming streetscape project on the Circle, Pollard said.

Sebring CRA Board Chairman Gene Brenner also believes the slow economy has reduced the number of applicants.

"People may not have money to put into refurbishing," he said. A portion of the façade money could be used elsewhere or the unused money could be rolled over into next year's budget.

The façade grant reimbursement is $3,000 or 30 percent, whichever comes first.

If the exterior improvements cost $10,000 or more, a person with an approved grant would receive $3,000 from the CRA. If the project cost less than $10,000, an approved façade grant would reimburse the individual for 30 percent of that cost.

Most of the projects have a total cost considerably more than $10,000, Pollard said.

Applicants must spend a minimum of $1,000 to apply for reimbursement. Work on a proposed project cannot be completed prior to the approval of the application.

Avon Park has a different situation with free facade grants available through the Southside CRA.

Also, the Main Street CRA budgeted a smaller amount this year for façade grants, to focus its efforts on larger improvement projects.

With about $56,000 in its facade budget, the Southside CRA has had about 30 applicants for the free grants, which are available for low-income residents or businesses owners.