As the Pasco County Commission contemplates the county’s budget for fiscal year 2019, it’s also thinking about the budget for 2020.
Commissioners are looking ahead, because they know that a referendum on the November ballot could have a sizable impact on the county’s budget.
Voters will decide on Nov. 8 whether to expand homestead exemptions by $25,000. If the referendum passes, Pasco County stands to lose an estimated $10 million to $12 million in property tax revenues.
So, instead of looking at just this year’s budget, commissioners are taking a close look on any expenses that could affect future budgets.
Pasco County Administrator Dan Biles has asked department heads to submit flat budgets, with little to no increase.
There are 14 potential budget initiatives that will compete for property tax revenues in the 2019 budget.
Expanded library hours is one of the initiatives competing for the funds. Libraries slated to get more hours in 2019 are Hugh Embry Branch Library in Dade City and Hudson Regional Library in Hudson.
Other budget initiatives include the 911 Call Center and salary increases for county employees.
Salary raises would be 2 percent for cost of living, and 2 percent for merit.
Biles said employees “are our most important resources.
“That’s my No. 1 priority, taking care of our employees. We need to stay competitive.”
As they consider budget priorities, commissioners also are facing a Pasco County Sheriff’s budget request for a total of about $12.6 million.
Of that, about $7.2 million is for operations, with about $5.4 million for the cost of temporary housing for inmates at the overcrowded Land O’ Lakes Detention Center.
The county’s 2018 budget came in at about $1.3 billion, with no change to the existing millage rate.
The millage rate determines how much the county collects from property taxes.
Estimates on new property tax revenues for 2019 have increased slightly. In February, county officials anticipated a 7.5 percent increase of about $13.3 million.
The estimate now is for about an 8 percent increase, or $14.2 million. However, once deductions are made for items such as payments for special tax districts, community redevelopment areas, and temporary housing for inmates, the county’s portion of new money dips to about $3.7 million.
Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco’s operations budget – separate from inmates’ temporary housing – is about a 6 percent increase. That’s a smaller increase than the $8.1 million requested in 2018, which paid for raises, equipment and new hires.
Nocco brought up the issue of overcrowding at a February workshop with commissioners.
In his budget letter to the board on May 1, Nocco puts the blame for the matter on the “failure of (the) past County administration.”
No action in past years was taken to approve a 1,000-bed expansion, estimated at around $128 million.
Now, according to Nocco, the county can expect an annual bill of about $9.8 million to pay for temporary housing, until the jail expansion is built.
“It has now become a burdensome, unfunded liability for the county,” Nocco states in his letter, which commissioners didn’t receive until after their May 1 workshop.
At the February workshop, county commissioners discussed placing bond issues before the voters to pay for the jail expansion, other public safety projects, and libraries.
No decision has been made.
Current options for inmate’s temporary housing include transferring some inmates to Seminole County, possibly Hernando County, and installing trailers at the detention center. The cost of a contract with Seminole is estimated at $2.5 million, with another $2.4 million for trailers at the detention center.
Pasco County officials expect to receive the final taxable assessed values from the Pasco County Property Appraiser by July 1.
Commissioners would then set the millage rate on July 10, and the budget would be finalized in September.
The fiscal year for 2019 begins Oct. 1.
Published May 9, 2018
