Watchdog Group Will Look At County Finances For Savings

TAMPA - Florida TaxWatch, a government watchdog group, has been invited to look at Hillsborough County finances and recommend ways to save taxpayers money.

County commissioners voted Thursday to ask the Tallahassee-based group to analyze county government departments and look for savings. The study is supposed to be free, thanks to as-yet-unnamed private contributors who will pay for TaxWatch expenses.

Commissioner Brian Blair suggested using TaxWatch, saying the county often pays large sums to outside companies to provide expertise the county may not have in-house. In this case, Blair said, the county would be getting free expertise from a group with 25 years of experience in recommending how government can be more efficient.

Commissioner Rose Ferlita, who cast the only vote against using TaxWatch, disagreed with Blair, saying the study will not really be free because county budget and administrative staff will have to spend time educating the outside auditors. She noted TaxWatch specializes in analyzing state governments and has little experience with cities and counties.

County Administrator Pat Bean backed up Ferlita on that point, noting TaxWatch analyzed Hillsborough finances in 1998.

"There was a great deal of education involved," Bean said. "TaxWatch had not done a county government."

The only other county government TaxWatch has analyzed was Palm Beach County, and the county commission there did not accept any of the TaxWatch recommendations.

Bean also noted the county only realized about $2.5 million in actual savings out of the $40 million-$70 million in savings that Tax Watch projected if the county adopted its recommendations.

"Every single recommendation was brought to the Board of County Commissioners," Bean said. "The bottom line was that while many of the recommendations were adopted, many of the ones adopted didn't actually provide a budget savings."

Commissioner Jim Norman, who was on the commission during the last TaxWatch audit, said many of the group's recommendations back then were impossible for staff to implement. Norman said this time he wants TaxWatch to outline a detailed blueprint for how its recommendations are to be implemented.

"The real key here is the implementation of the actions that will actually save money," Norman said.

Bean also expressed concerns that Blair's motion to bring TaxWatch here called for the group to work under the county's internal performance auditor, who is not answerable to the county administrator. County Attorney Renee Lee said that might be a violation of the county charter because county administrative staff is supposed to answer only to Bean.

Commission Chairman Ken Hagan said he shared Ferlita and Bean's concerns but that state-mandated property tax reductions require commissioners to look for efficiencies and savings anywhere they can find them.

"Property tax reform has changed the way counties operate," Hagan said. "We simply cannot continue to operate the way we have been."