12 magic number for Lee offices

Even though it’s not a lean year for Lee County, commissioners called for county leaders to cut more fat from their budgets Wednesday.

Hoping to give homeowners some property tax relief, most Lee County commissioners stood behind their county manager’s request to hold all areas to no more than a 12 percent budget increase this year.

But for some of the larger agencies, such as the Sheriff’s Office, a 12 percent increase is not enough, officials said.

Unlike other areas of the county, if the Sheriff’s Office does not keep up with growth, it could become a public safety issue, said Chief Deputy Charlie Ferrante.

“Law enforcement is a different animal,” Ferrante said. “A fair fight is one on one. A winnable fight is two on one.”

The Sheriff’s Office is asking for a 15.1 percent increase over last year’s initial budget allocation. However, last year Sheriff Mike Scott returned to the board twice for $1.78 million in additional funding, meaning this year’s request of $142,417,686 is actually a 13.49 percent increase over the 2005-06 allocation.

That’s still too much, said Commissioner John Albion.

If commissioners grant the 13.49 percent increase this year and budget increases of 10 percent over the next two years, the sheriff’s budget will increase $65 million over four years, Albion said.

“It’s astounding,” he said. “Nineteen years ago the budget was $18.6 million dollars. This year’s increase alone is $19 million.”

Much of the money from this year’s increase will be used to hire 71 additional employees, including 40 correctional staff to work in a new jail that is expected to open in 2009, Ferrante said.

The positions are important to ensure that the growing county remains a safe place to live, he said. Over the past several months, the Sheriff’s Office cut as much as it could from its budget, he said.

“This is a budget of the sheriff’s needs,” Ferrante said. “A lot of things were cut out of this budget that we were not happy about. At the end of the day, public safety is our concern.”

Public safety is a valid concern, Albion said, but all departments need to focus on efficiencies.

Even though the county is in a period of unprecedented growth and expects an estimated 37.6 percent increase in taxable property values for 2006-07, county manager Don Stilwell said he is trying to keep the budget from growing unchecked so homeowners get some property tax relief.

Stilwell said he was not ready to give commissioners an estimate for how much of a property tax decrease homeowners could expect in the coming year.

County staff is still waiting for the certified assessed property values, which will be released July 1, and the budget is still subject to change, said Pete Winton, assistant county manager.

Other areas that came in above the proposed 12 percent increase included the county clerk (14.5 percent) and courts (29.6 percent).

After many of the county’s elected constitutional officers received substantial budget increases last year, it may be time this year to start leveling off, Albion said.

“I want our constitutionals to realize you can’t keep living on 15 percent increases,” Albion said. “It’s going to run out. This is a great time to look at ... when these increases in some agencies are going to slow down.”

But in the case of the clerk’s office, sometimes an area has to spend money to save money, said clerk Charlie Green.

Green is asking for a 14.5 percent increase, much of which will pay for a new payroll and human resources application system.

The new system will save taxpayers money in the long run, he said.

There could be similar opportunities to use the county’s excess reserves wisely, Green said, and he proposed bringing all elected officials together to discuss those possibilities.

“We’re in a very good position financially and we need to take advantage of it wisely,” Green said. “We don’t want to blow it.”

The county’s staff also recommended putting an additional $20 million from the general fund into a loan for transportation projects. Last year, commissioners placed $30 million in the loan program.

By state law, commissioners must set a maximum property tax rate by Aug. 1. However, if there is a tax cut, the lower rate is expected to be set in early September before the public has a chance to comment in hearings on Sept. 7 and Sept. 21.