TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Easy Trims No Surprise To Voters

ADVERTISEMENT

By TOM JACKSON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 14, 2008

Folks lamenting January's passage of Amendment 1 miss no opportunity to proclaim the approach of a thousand mini-Armageddons. From Tallahassee to Tavares, life as we cherished it is about to end.

In exchange for a few dollars in every homesteader's pocket and the uncertain promise of portability, governments across the state would shrivel, gasping for property tax income. Don't blame me when your house burns to cinders and firefighters never arrive, goes the refrain; I voted against Amendment 1.

Well. A peculiar thing has happened on the road to doomsday. Public decision-makers have rediscovered the aphorism of French radical and, briefly, prime minister, Pierre Mendes-France, who got one thing right, anyway: To govern is to choose.

Awash in ad valorem revenue resulting from tsunamic property values, it was the rare governmental body that didn't imagine Mendes-France had been repealed, and that a golden era of being all things to all people finally had arrived. Even in Pasco County, which was more conservative than most, spending all but doubled from 2004 to 2008 (to $1.2 billion) while the population increased only 20 percent.

Oh, it's not like there weren't trouble spots. Overseeing an island of stagnation in a roiling sea of inflating property values, Dade City commissioners spent a fair chunk of the early decade squeezing nickels so hard they screamed, making tough choices regarding its core and necessary responsibilities.

Nonessential Is As Nonessential Does

Perhaps that explains the absence of turmoil in the boutique town that time forgot. Triumphantly presenting a $10.3 million budget to city commissioners that is nearly $400,000 lighter, rookie City Manager William Poe sounded like the whole process was easier than eating breakfast.

Cuts in services? None. Vacant positions were eliminated, contributions to local nonprofit organizations were trimmed, and the city-owned American Legion Hall may go on the block. But it's not like the city is about to go out of business. It will do what is expected and obligatory: respond to emergencies, patch potholes, pump clean water.

The whole arrangement calls to mind the edict issued to federal workers whenever Washington braces for a snowstorm: Nonessential employees should stay home. Shouldn't the nonessential government employee be an oxymoron? Yes, said 64 percent of voting Floridians.

Back To Basics, And Loving It

That new reality also holds sway at the county level, where the projected budget will slip below 10 figures for the first time since 2006. Pasco gets there by eliminating positions, charging user fees and squeezing thrifty choices.

The majority of county residents will notice no changes. Deputies will respond. Fires will be doused. Others will endure inconveniences. Can I get that borrowed book read in two weeks? Should our Girl Scout troop divert cookie money to pay for meeting at the rec center?

If it does nothing else (and it may not; Florida's property tax structure remains an unholy mess), Amendment 1 blunted government's long-held presumptions. Floridians have asked for back-to-basics government, and are scarcely surprised when budget-makers such as William Poe say, "Nothin' to it."

Armageddon, indeed.

Tom Jackson can be reached at (813) 948-4219.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT