Under the shadow of a November ballot referendum county leaders are sounding the alarm in the heartland of Florida as they prepare their up-coming budget.
In Highlands County, various department heads were encouraged to submit up-coming fiscal year budgets that increased by no more than 5% over the previous.
Some did. Many did not, such as the sheriff’s office which is seeking an 18 percent increase.
All told, the recommended budget presented the board was $222,000,000. That's 12 percent more than the budget this fiscal year which is winding down Sept. 30.
That did not sit well. Increased property values could carry some of the load, but the millage rate would need to be increased.
Every commissioner on the Highlands board implored budget preparers to come back with a proposal significantly less — such as a 10 to 20 percent decrease in each department's budget from this year.
County manager Laura Hurner warned the cuts would be very apparent.
"At 10% down you will see a very large change in services in Highlands County,” she said.
This desire to cut stems from Highlands County possibly losing about $13 million in ad valorem property taxes should voters approve a measure on the ballot in November that would lead to a massive statewide homestead exemption increase from the current $50,000 to $250,000 in two years.
"People are going to be asking to vote to eliminate their property taxes. I think more now than ever, we need, to all board departments, constitutionals, everybody, needs to do everything within their resources to try to trim as much as they possibly can to let the taxpayers know in this county that this property tax amendment is not the best thing for counties like Highlands," said commissioner Scott Kirouac.
Kirouac said large counties that have bilions of dollars in revenues could easily absorb a $13 million decrease. Highlands cannot.
"We're seeing proposed legislation that is one big stroke of a brush for all 67 counties, and I do not believe in legislating like that. Okay, I think it's a bad piece of legislation," he said.
The board of commissioners will meet again Tuesday, July 14, to again go over the budget. Townhall-style meetings will follow as well as other meetings until late September when the final budget needs to be adopted.
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