County officials: Nothing major will be cut from annual budget

OCALA — The County Commission starts its annual department-by-department review of the proposed budget next week.

Despite reduced property tax revenue as a result of the Amendment 1 referendum and less gas tax and sales tax money from state government, county officials say the sky is not falling.

“As far as an impact on services, nothing major” is being cut, County Administrator Pat Howard said this week.

The county’s income will be down. Property tax revenue is expected to drop to from $137.2 million this fiscal year to $127.5 million. But that was less than the $13 million impact originally feared from Amendment 1. State shared revenue from sales tax money has dropped from the more than $26.3 million projected in the original 2007-08 budget to an estimated $21.2 million for 2008-09. But Howard and Budget Director Michael Tomich believe the county put itself in a good financial position for 2008-09 several months back, when county officials started making cuts mid-fiscal year.

“We’re not moving into this painful situation or reactive situation because we were proactive,” Tomich said. “We were looking harder at cuts mid-year than we were going into next year.”

Back in February and March, county departments and constitutional officers cut approximately $4.9 million because they saw the sluggish economy would result in reduced state shared sales tax revenue. Back in April, the county slashed several jobs at the animal center and let go of some code enforcement officers who handled complaints involving animals and dangerous dogs. That was part of a reorganization that put code enforcement under the Growth Management Bureau and created a new Animal Services Department under the Community Resources Bureau.

The proposed budget for 2008-09 has a countywide property tax rate of 3.89 mills or $3.89 for every $1,000 of taxable property value. That is up from 3.49 mills for the countywide tax rate this year. Tomich said the increase is due to the county doing away with the Municipal Services Taxing Unit that funded its contribution to the Emergency Medical Services Alliance ambulance service. That MSTU charged 0.4 mills or 40 cents for every $1,000 of taxable property value on properties within its boundaries. Now that the county is taking over the ambulance service, that MSTU is gone and the 0.4 mills is added to the countywide tax, which is charged on all properties in Marion.

Howard said the county is in good shape to take over the ambulance service, a move that means more than 240 additional employees. He said $8 million in funding will come through property taxes and about $12 million from billing.

The budget includes raises of 25 cents an hour for non-union employees and eliminates 39.4 full-time equivalent job positions, including five from the library and seven from the Transportation Department. Howard said most of the jobs are vacant already, or have employees retiring who will not be replaced.

A written budget overview for county commissioners said any further budget cuts required would likely come from departments like the library, Parks and Recreation or Community Services.

Howard said he is concerned about the Transportation Department being able to keep up with its road maintenance program because of dropping gas tax revenue. County Engineer Mounir Bouyounes said the county’s goal is to go out four to five times a year to grade 260 miles of unpaved roads in older subdivisions like Belleview Heights, Rolling Hills and Rainbow Park.

The proposed budget includes some $32 million in construction projects. The main one is $22 million this upcoming fiscal year for continued work on the courthouse expansion. The new communications center for the Sheriff’s Office, with a price tag of about $4 million, has been removed from the proposed budget. Howard said that after 2008-09, lean budget years could jeopardize more construction projects.

Christopher Curry may be reached at 867-4115 or chris.curry@starbanner.com.