CCFC: Franklin County Budget To Be Set

Transparency-Not Pablum

In the August 5th issue of the Apalachicola Times, there is a front-page article titled “County to lower millage, boost pay”. Headlines tell you a lot about the story below. The title will either invite you to read further or inform you that all is well, nothing to read, move on. This Headline, very similar to last year, masks a problem that deserves public scrutiny. We see three problems:

A better headline might have been “COUNTY TAXES TO RISE FOR 7TH STRAIGHT YEAR”

Millage is unimportant to taxpayers. Only the amount of their tax bill is.

The example cited used a hypothetical $150,000 homesteaded home which includes a $50,000 tax exemption. Therefore, the house is being taxed on $100,000 in value. When paired with the Save Our Homes property tax restriction, that home could have a net decrease in taxes of about $20. But the thousands of non-homesteaded homes homesteaded homes over $150,000 of assessed value, new homes, land, and commercial properties will face big increases!

An alternate headline should have been:

“NEW COUNTY BUDGET TO SPEND ADDITIONAL ONE MILLION DOLLARS OVER LAST YEAR”

I attended the Budget Workshop with its rapid-fire budget approvals. The people who put the budget together do what they are told. Some departments have well-founded salary demands, some don’t. But a good cost accountant could take a million dollars out of the budget with no sacrifice of service. Without passing judgment on anyone's individual budget decision, we state that Commissioners fail miserably by not requiring a zero-based budget process that would require overall budget rigor. We see each Constitutional Officers and Department heads being asked what they need and then getting it without challenge. For example, a department asked for and was granted the funds for a new vehicle or piece of equipment in one year. In the next year, their budget remains at the same level with the funds for the vehicle/equipment still included. Compounded each year this happens; a department’s budget becomes padded with extra taxpayer dollars. Multiply this by several departments and Constitutional Officers and you can see how truly bloated the county’s budget has become.

The County has a secret they don’t want you to know about. The county has many other funding sources in addition to your collected AD Valorem taxes. Those additional funds are growing exponentially and help to explain why Commissioners again feel empowered to add record numbers of new employees, vehicles, and equipment in this latest new budget.

Because we have carefully watched the budget process for almost 20 years, we want to remind everyone of the cyclical nature of the county’s economy. This year, we are seeing a rise in property assessments of nearly 8%. But this could reverse itself, as has happened in the past. One hurricane, a contraction of the national economy, or Washington turning off the money spigot can quickly create a budget shortfall.

Commissioners, we implore you to not raise taxes for anyone this year and return to the rollback rate. When will you learn to live off what you bring in and not kill the golden goose as you have in the past? Franklin remains one of the 10 highest Property Taxing entities (per capita) in the State. Stop the self-serving expansion of County government.

Only taxpayers can and must inform their commissioners that property tax increases are not acceptable and that zero-based budgets should become this county’s operating standard. Write a letter, attend a meeting, pick up the phone and contact your commissioner. It’s up to you.

Two Budget Adoption hearings are required to pass the proposed budget. They are scheduled for September 7th and 21st, both at 5:15. I hope you will consider attending and making your voice heard.

God Bless America and all of you, with a special prayer for those trapped in Afghanistan!

Thank you.

Allan J. Feifer

President
Concerned Citizens of Franklin County, Inc.
P.O Box 990
Eastpoint, Florida 32328
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
ABetterFranklin.com
(850) 653-5571

“The Concerned Citizens of Franklin County, Inc. serves as a citizens’ advocate to ensure that our Franklin County governments are more open, affordable, efficient, and responsive to our citizens. The organization seeks to hold public officials accountable for their actions in the administration of their duties and in their fiduciary responsibilities to the taxpayers.”

Commissioner Contacts:

Commissioner Bert Boldt - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 519-4966

Commissioner Smokey Parrish - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-8790

Commissioner Ricky Jones - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-8861

Chairman Noah Lockley - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-4452

Commissioner Jessica Ward - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 653-9783

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