Correct Conclusion For Misguided Idea
Published: Mar 7, 2008 Hernando County commissioners came to the correct conclusion Tuesday when, like holding a smoldering piece of coal, they suddenly dropped the misguided idea of forcing the sheriff's office to fund itself through a municipal services taxing unit, or MSTU.
We just wish that they'd come to that conclusion before Sheriff Richard Nugent spent all the time and effort to put together a detailed presentation on the issue.
In what some would consider an attempt to free up millage for the Board of County Commissioners to utilize at a later date (sneaky, sneaky?), the idea was never in the best interest of Hernando County residents or the sheriff's office.
The reason given by proponents of an MSTU for the sheriff's office is that it would make the sheriff more accountable to the public.
In a word — hogwash!
The current budget method outlines the sheriff's fiscal responsibilities, and there are public meetings and hearings to ask questions regarding the budget. Remember, the sheriff is a constitutional officer answerable to the public and stands for election every four years.
That's more than enough accountability, not to mention that commissioners have the final OK on the sheriff's budget. Abandoning that responsibility with an MSTU might have been more palatable to commissioners but certainly not in the best interest of county taxpayers.
Implementing an MSTU to fund the sheriff's office would have saved the taxpayer nothing. It likely would have cost county taxpayers far more to fund the sheriff's office, not to mention the additional cost for the sheriff to present his budget to the public.
The best reason to drop the idea is because the sheriff's department would have lost valuable funding from property taxpayers in the city of Brooksville. An MSTU could only be enforced in the unincorporated areas of the county. It's likely Brooksville residents, already having their own police department, would have declined to willingly sign up to pay property taxes to the sheriff's department if the law did not require it.
Also, in the very few governments that have this type of taxing in place, the taxpayer is gaining nothing but more confusion on their tax bills. County governments have simply freed up millage to fund more expensive budgets.
If the BOCC is truly interested in saving county taxpayers money, then they should begin by cutting expenses as everyone else has to do in times of a tight economy. Let's begin by looking at the county jail contract that is responsible for the biggest increase in the budget. This and other areas can be examined to see where true cost-cutting measures can be accomplished.
It will not be an easy task as there will be substantial reductions in revenue, but if we all work together to offer sound proposals, we can weather this financial squall.
Trying to do it with a shell game, such as the proposed MSTU, is not the answer to the problem. |
