Crist budget criticized for funding assumptions

House lawmakers scorned Gov. Charlie Crist's budget proposal on Tuesday for relying on close to $2 billion that Florida may not have to spend next year.

That includes a property tax hike that Crist is counting on school boards in Hillsborough and about two-dozen other counties to levy for education.

Crist's $69.2 billion plan would boost spending on education and the environment while cutting business taxes and reinstating a sales tax holiday. All told, his proposal would increase spending by about $3 billion despite steep rises in Medicaid and other costs.

Crist is including in his budget federal aid for Medicaid, raids on state reserves and $432 million resulting from a gaming compact with the Seminole Tribe in addition to a projected $2 billion growth in state revenue.

"We believe that this is the right thing to do, as opposed to proposing additional cuts," said Jerry McDaniel, budget director for Crist, who outlined the plan before a House budget panel.

But the lawmakers pointed out that the House already has rejected the gaming compact terms, and Florida has no guarantee that it will receive more than $1 billion of the federal money built into Crist's plan.

"He really is making a lot of assumptions and a little bit of a wish on a prayer that we're going to get some of this money," Democratic Rep. Kelly Skidmore, D-Boca Raton, said of Crist.

The governor's plan would leave the state with reserves at about 2 percent of the overall state budget, which lawmakers said they fear could harm the state's bond rating. Rep. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, called such a reserve "unacceptably low" given the state's liability for property damage if a major hurricane hits. "I am disturbed terrifically by this whole thing."

Crist also is making a $300 million assumption that two dozen school districts, including Hillsborough County, will join the rest of the state's districts in levying an optional property tax.

The Legislature voted last year to allow school boards to take an extra $25 for every $100,000 of home value to support critical school needs. The new tax would generate about $20 million. But exercising the option would require a supermajority vote by the school board plus voter approval.

"It's probably dangerous to assume that ... my counties are going to raise any kind of property tax," said Rep. Ron Saunders, D-Key West.

After picking Crist's plan apart, committee members told McDaniel to go back to the drawing board.

McDaniel said the governor's proposal will stand unless he receives confirmation that no compact is forthcoming or that federal officials will not allocate the needed money for Florida. If that happens, McDaniel said, the governor may submit new proposals toward the end of the legislative session.