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Hillsborough County Braces For More Budget Cutbacks

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By ANTHONY McCARTNEY, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 17, 2007

Updated: 09/17/2007 12:13 am

TAMPA - With lawmakers planning to cut $1.5 billion in state spending, Hillsborough County leaders are concerned they could be on the chopping block again.

State lawmakers are considering shifting some costs to counties, and the tab for Hillsborough could be $5 million to $6 million, County Administrator Pat Bean said. Those changes likely would require Hillsborough to tweak its 2008 budget, which county commissioners plan to approve this week.

The extent of any Tallahassee-mandated cuts won't be known until after Hillsborough's $4.2 billion budget takes effect on Oct. 1. Lawmakers plan to meet in a special session to address the state's shortfall early next month.

"Just as we think maybe we got a little breathing room, it doesn't look like that's going to be the case," Bean said. "We could be making more layoffs before the end of the year."

The state might shift some of the Medicaid costs for nursing home beds to the county. That move alone would cost Hillsborough $4 million annually, Bean said.

The state might also slash money for mosquito control programs, state support for libraries and the early release of some prisoners, said Edith Stewart, Hillsborough's director of public affairs.

She said cuts proposed by Gov. Charlie Crist would not hurt counties the way some of the legislative options would.

In the past, counties have been easy targets for so-called "unfunded mandates" - initiatives and regulations passed by lawmakers without any means to pay for them.

Three new ones were added this year to the roughly $72 million in unfunded mandates Hillsborough County paid for in the current budget. The items vary from paying for Medicaid to subsidizing 911 systems in poor counties.

The Florida Association of Counties estimates that the state's 67 counties pay $1 billion a year for Tallahassee mandates.

"They make a very good point," State Sen. Mike Fasano said about Hillsborough's concerns. He said he's not in favor of shifting costs to counties to deal with the shortfall.

"It's no one's fault our economy slowed down," he said.

Fasano said many of the proposals that would affect counties may never be approved. Passing down costs for Medicaid-funded nursing home services, for instance, may not happen. "That's not even close to being a done deal," he said.

Regardless, counties are wary that decision-making in Tallahassee could hurt upcoming budgets.

Counties across the state are already bracing for the effect of a January referendum on a homestead super-exemption that would further cut local governments' property tax revenues. If approved, the initiative could cost Hillsborough County up to $101 million, Budget Director Eric Johnson said, although he said he expects the actual cost to be somewhat lower.

The county, which drafts its budgets on a two-year cycle, has built a $30 million cushion into the 2009 budget to help offset the lost revenue if the super homestead exemption passes.

Property tax rollbacks passed by lawmakers this year reduced property tax collections by about $12 million, and the county lost millions more because it had to roll back rates.

The overall reduction was about $56 million, and 500 county jobs have been eliminated in the 2008 budget.

Reporter Anthony McCartney can be reached at (813) 259-7616 or amccartney@tampatrib.com.

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