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Pasco County Budget Could Shrink 19 Percent
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Published: July 15, 2008
NEW PORT RICHEY -- County leaders are enduring the monetary equivalent of a root-canal operation as they contemplate shrinking the budget by 19 percent to reflect the downturn in the economy.
"This is one of the most challenging budgets we have ever faced," County Administrator John Gallagher commented today to county commissioners. He has overseen budgets since 1982.
Roughly $4 billion in Pasco property values evaporated after voters approved Amendment 1 property tax reforms, officials said. Changes double the homestead exemption on many homes.
Only new construction worth $1 billion helped cushion the blow, so the county lost a net of $3 billion in property values, Pasco's budget chief Michael Nurrenbrock explained.
As a result, the Pasco County budget could shrink by 19 percent, county commissioners were told today. The special meeting dissected the county's proposed finances for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1.
The budget proposal link is posted on the home page of Pasco's Web site at http://www.pascocountyfl.net/. Copies will be available at county libraries.
If the budget proposal is finalized, the total county budget will drop below $1 billion to $980,014,248. That would be a reduction of about $232.4 million. Property taxes account for only about 16.5 percent of the total budget, officials pointed out.
The average tax bill for each Pasco property taxpayer would plummet to a level not seen since 1984, Gallagher observed. The average taxpayer could see a savings of $114.61 on county property tax bills next fiscal year.
The county had already cut 22 jobs, many of them vacant, from the building inspection and central permitting departments, Gallagher noted.
Another 22 vacant positions from other departments will be cut in the proposed budget for next fiscal year, Gallagher said. A hiring freeze has helped in large measure to keep the county afloat.
County workers won't get any wage or salary increases either.
Carl Orth can be reached at 727-815-1068 or corth@suncoastnews.com.
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