2011 budget an issue

The heavy lifting has just begun on Pasco County's 2009-10 budget, but commissioners are already thinking about the budget year that comes next.

That budget could have a shortfall equal to or larger than the $36 million deficit commissioners are confronting now. Given the cuts and tax increases on the agenda for 2010, commissioners are already wondering how they will make up another large deficit in 2011.

One thing's for sure, though: The work on 2011 is likely to start Oct. 2 - the day after the 2010 budget goes into effect. That's about six months earlier than normal.

Among the options commissioners may consider are:

•Forcing department heads to justify the amount of money they receive by showing how their programs fit within the commission's big-picture vision for the future.

•Putting elected constitutional officers, such as the sheriff and tax collector, who receive some support from county property taxes, through a similar procedure before opening the purse strings to them.

•Relying more heavily on volunteers and community groups to maintain public landscaping or to finance libraries, animal services and other county programs.

Commissioners reviewed some of those options last week during a four-hour workshop with the International City/County Management Association. The California-based consulting group has spent much of the year helping commissioners craft a long-term vision for Pasco aimed at improving job options and shifting the tax base away from home construction.

Spreading the burden

The new approach commissioners discussed would spread the burden during another year likely to have unprecedented deficits. It would also give taxpayers a concrete explanation for why some of their favorite programs get cut, said consultant Jon Johnson.

Tuesday's meeting, at Pasco-Hernando Community College's New Port Richey campus, was an unprecedented gathering of all but one of the county's elected officials, Tax Collector Mike Olsen. They got together to discuss their common problem of declining tax revenue.

"We all have to sit around and talk about our priorities," County Administrator John Gallagher said. "We can't do this individually."

The collapse of the housing market and home values is starving local governments of property taxes. In Florida, the situation is further complicated by the constitutional amendment voters passed last year that increases homestead exemptions.

Facing daunting challenges, county officials are willing to try new approaches.

Commissioners asked the county's other elected officials to cut their budgets by as much as 15 percent. While constitutional officers function independently of county government, state law gives county commissioners control over their budgets.

Similar requests in previous years have produced dramatic public showdowns, most notably 2007's monthlong debate with Sheriff Bob White. This year, those confrontations have been muted with most of the hard-core horse-trading happening behind the scenes.

Tuesday's workshop amounted to a sales pitch for ICMA's budgeting process. Commissioners haven't signed on to the proposal yet, but they are interested.

It's unclear, though, whether the new approach will spread the pain of future budget deficits as Gallagher and others may hope.

Summit is well-received

Pasco Elections Supervisor Brian Corley pointed out last week that most of his office's activities are mandated by the state.

That leaves the elections office with limited flexibility to cut its budget, Corley said.

"I'll certainly listen," Corley said. "But the old joke is, 'What election would you like me not to have?'

"

Still, Corley welcomed the summit of county leaders.

"I think it should be a normal routine every year," he said.

If county officials adopt the ICMA's budgeting method for next year, they'll have to start sorting out priorities for 2011 before the ink's even dry on the 2010 budget.

One upside could be taking some of the steam out of what has become a yearly ritual: confrontations with White.

"My goal in life is to not spend a week with the sheriff arguing over everything," Gallagher said.