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County Approves $4 Billion Budget

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By ANTHONY McCARTNEY, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 21, 2007

TAMPA - The $4 billion budget approved unanimously by Hillsborough County commissioners Thursday night includes a mix of cuts, layoffs and, for the lucky few, a reprieve from the budget ax.

The 2008 budget is the first spending plan approved since lawmakers mandated a rollback in property taxes earlier this year, and county leaders say it likely will be a harbinger for future years.

It includes roughly $56 million in cuts and eliminates 442 county jobs, including 97 positions now held by full-time employees.

The approved budget lowers the county's property tax rate by $1.5 million, which county officials estimate will save the owner of a $200,000 homestead property in unincorporated Hillsborough about $213 next year.

'We rolled up our sleeves and did the best we possibly could,' commission Chairman Jim Norman said.

Before passing the budget, which takes effect Oct. 1, the board listened to pleas from numerous groups to restore money for certain programs or county agencies.

Virtually all the speakers Thursday night lobbied the board to restore spending for certain projects, while a few asked commissioners to make changes that would further lower property tax bills. Some asked for both.

Most said they wanted $874,000 restored to two nonprofit television stations, The Education Channel and Tampa Bay Community Network.

Commissioners approved giving The Education Channel $250,000 next year, less than half of the $519,000 it received in this year's budget.

Ann Goldenberg, the station's executive director, expressed gratitude, saying the money will help her station continue production of numerous local educational programs.

'It'll have to be enough,' Goldenberg said.

TBCN, also known as public access, was not as lucky. A bid to give the station $250,000 next year failed on a 4-3 vote, with Commissioners Jim Norman, Ken Hagan, Al Higginbotham and Brian Blair rejecting the motion.

Joe Ramsey, who hosts the Gospel Music Hour on the network, raised his hand and prayed for commissioners to continue funding TBCN during his three-minute speech during public comment.

'Continue public access and let freedom ring,' he said.

'I'm very, very disappointed,' Louise Thompson, the station's executive director, said after the vote. She said she would consider suing the county to get funding restored.

Commissioner Mark Sharpe, who made the motion to restore money for The Education Channel, said it may be the last time Hillsborough could help pay for the station's operations.

'I say to the advocates, times are changing,' he said. 'The cheese is gone.'

In general, there were only small scraps compared to the large pots of money available to commissioners for projects in previous years.

That didn't prevent some projects and organizations from being spared the budget ax. County Commissioner Al Higginbotham was able to secure $992,000 to help pay for a new pool for the Campo Family YMCA.

The Tampa Bay Sports Commission also received an extra $450,000 - a mix of property and tourist taxes - over last year's appropriation.

The commission also put $137,000 back into the budget for a Victim's Assistance program, which Hillsborough State Attorney Mark Ober lobbied for during public comment.

Despite the unanimous vote, the budget was not passed without criticism.

'I think we had more money,' County Commissioner Rose Ferlita said. 'I think we could have done more things.'

She was critical of the decision not to give any money to public access television, as well as the board's divided vote not to restore any money to the city-county planning commission, whose $6.6 million budget was cut by 10 percent.

She said two contingency funds have increased roughly $20 million over the years and the accounts could have been tapped to pay for some of the smaller requests for money that commissioners were asked to consider.

'This was not about money,' Ferlita said. 'This was about partiality and picking pet projects.'

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

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