Charter government: What is it, who wants it?

News that Collier County commissioners are looking into creating a charter government system brings up one obvious question.

What is charter government?

The answer is that it can be almost anything the citizens of a county want it to be, and that makes a lot of people nervous.

Collier County now has what usually is referred to as a constitutional system of government. The structure of how the government works, with an elected County Commission and multiple constitutional officers that are independent of the commissioners, is set forth within the Florida Constitution.

Under a constitutional government, there is no ability to recall county officers or create citizen referenda unless they are supported by the County Commission.

A charter government, which is now in place in 19 counties in Florida, can be created when the voters of a county approve a specific charter that has been drawn up.

The charter could allow the commissioners to take over the independent constitutional officers and put them under the county’s control. Those independent officers include the clerk of courts, sheriff, supervisor of elections, property appraiser and tax collector.

A charter form of government also can give citizens the right to overrule their elected representatives, remove them from office or pass legislation directly by putting something onto a ballot via petition.

Charter government exists in the most-populated areas of the state, with about 75 percent of the citizens of Florida living in a county that has charter government. Lee, Charlotte, Miami-Dade and Broward all have charter systems.

Two extremes of charter government exist in Miami-Dade and Lee counties.

The voters in Miami-Dade voted to do away with their elected tax collector office and had those duties assigned to the county manager. Lee County kept all its constitutional offices independent when it enacted charter government.

Lee County has a starter charter and it prohibits putting anything onto the ballot via petition that would affect the budget. Some have criticized that provision, saying it makes it sound as though Lee allows citizen petitions, but it really doesn’t because just about anything can affect the budget.

The recommendation to look into a charter form of government was made last Tuesday by the county’s advisory productivity committee. It was one of multiple recommendations the productivity committee made to improve the effectiveness of county government.

The productivity committee believes county government as it is now set up is ineffective because the commissioners, School Board and constitutional officers don’t always communicate well and sometimes have competing goals. They argued that an effective charter form of government could work more effectively.

Commissioners said they will consider the recommendations.

Constitutional officers

The constitutional officers and officials with the independent fire districts are expected to monitor this situation carefully.

Clerk of Courts Dwight Brock and Sheriff Don Hunter have had a tense relationship with commissioners over the years, and both probably would fight any effort to curb their authority or independence.

The fire districts also are distrustful of the county and fear the commissioners want to take away their independence.

Brock said he isn’t opposed to charter government in some instances. But he wants to know more about what the county’s intention is.

“If someone can show me that the taxpayers can benefit from changing the structure of government, then this should be looked at,” Brock said. “But if this is just a power struggle, then I’m going to have serious problems with it.”

Brock acknowledged being somewhat skeptical of the county’s motive but said he would keep an open mind on the issue.

“I am concerned with any effort to remove checks and balances,” Brock said.

Collier Undersheriff Kevin Rambosk said the ideas recommended by the Productivity Committee would be looked at.

“There were a lot of proposals discussed at that meeting (between the commissioners and the Productivity Committee),” Rambosk said. “A lot will depend on what form (of charter government) they choose to look at.”

The Sheriff’s Office supports the goal of making all county offices more efficient and fiscally responsible. The department also favors anything that improves the communication between different government entities, Rambosk said.

At last week’s meeting, Rambosk spoke for all the constitutional officers and said they wanted to know what led to the committee’s recommendations.

The independent fire districts in the county also could be taken over by the county under a charter system.

Golden Gate Fire Chief Don Peterson wryly notes that a lot of people don’t know that most of the fire departments in Collier County are independent entities with their own elected fire commissioners.

The question Peterson has is, what can be done better under a charter form of government.

Some counties that have created a charter system have battled chaos with their police and fire departments, and that isn’t something most people want, Peterson said.

“In some places it works,” Peterson said, speaking of charter government. “The question I have is: How can you make it work better here with a charter government?”

Commissioner Fred Coyle said the point of charter government is not for the commissioners to seize power.

The county has no interest in taking over the fire districts, and they are merely looking at ways to make government more effective when they look at the possibility of charter government, Coyle said.

Basic differences between charter and non-charter counties:

Non-charter

-- Structure of a county government specified in state constitution and state statutes. Only amending the state constitution or state law can change structure.

-- Counties have powers of self-government as prescribed by the state Legislature.

-- State statutes don’t provide initiative or referendum, or recall of county officers.

-- State statutes don’t require an administrative code.

-- County cannot levy a utility tax in the unincorporated area.

Charter

-- Structure of county government specified in charter as approved by electorate. Structure can be tailored by the local electorate to meet the needs of the county.

-- Counties have all powers of self-government unless they are inconsistent with the constitution or state law.

-- County charter may provide for initiative, referendum and recall at the county level.

-- County charter can require an administrative code detailing all regulations, policies and procedures.

-- County charter can provide that a “municipal utility tax” is levied in the unincorporated area.

Source: Florida Counties Foundation