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County Adopts Spending Plan

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 25, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - Among the tweaks to Pasco County's newly adopted 2008-09 budget is $1 million set aside to man the first stage of the addition to the Land O' Lakes Jail.
County commissioners adopted the budget Tuesday evening after a brief public hearing. The $908 million spending plan goes into effect Wednesday.
County staff members offered several last-minute tweaks to the budget, but none of them changed the overall cost of operating the county next year. The tax rate also stayed the same at $6.35 per $1,000 of valuation.

More adjustments could be on the horizon. The county is likely to lose about $1.5 million in state revenue because of more belt-tightening in Tallahassee, said Mike Nurrenbrock, director of the county's Office of Management and Budget.
County officials expect the first phase of a three-floor addition to the Land O' Lakes Jail to open next summer, more than halfway through the budget year.

The jail addition is meant to reduce overcrowding. When it opens in July, the first floor will require 34 new employees.
Sheriff Bob White originally suggested $1.4 million a floor to staff the expansion.

Negotiations with county officials brought that figure down to $1 million, Nurrenbrock said.

That money won't be added to the sheriff's 2009 budget. Instead, it will be held in reserve until it's needed to train the new staff, possibly as early as January, Nurrenbrock said.

When fully functional, the addition will have 75 employees and may take up to $9 million to operate.

That's money commissioners will have to squeeze from what's likely to be another bare-bones budget for 2012 or 2013, Nurrenbrock said.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201 or kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com.

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