Cuts? Gotta start somewhere

Steve Howard calls ‘em “f-bombs.”

It’s not barroom talk from the Citrus County Administrator, who is about as mild-mannered a guy you’ll ever meet.

No, this is Howard’s way of bringing attention to funding issues. Picking out big projects is easy, paying for them is a whole other challenge.

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Commissioners understand. Every year around this time, they start looking at the budget for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1. They ask questions, whittle a few things down, there’s a fair amount of politicking, and we end up wherever we end up.

The County Commission at its meeting today will review the proposed five-year capital improvement program, or CIP. The See-Eye-Pea, as I call it, is a 227-page document that details each capital spending item. Five-year total: $625 million.

Here’s the report. Take a look at it. See if we can save a few bucks here and there.

I’m bringing this up for a specific reason. The CIP is the one place commissioners can reduce spending without cutting people or programs. And there are very few mandates for any of these items, other than debt repayment.

A few things about how this thing is set up.

While the majority of CIP projects are property tax-funded, many are not. Water/sewer fees pay for utility projects; stormwater fees fund stormwater projects; tipping fees cover landfill projects and equipment. The feds pay for 90% of airport improvements, and the state picks up 5%. 

So, we’re leaving those alone for today. Let’s look at the projects funded by property taxes. Looking at the report, you’ll notice that with each project, it’ll say where the money is coming from (or it’s “unfunded”).

An example: The CIP shows $19.3 million next year for residential road resurfacing. Of that, $8 million is “unfunded.” Sounds like a Howard f-bomb.

Since residential road resurfacing is such a priority, the County Commission will look for that money elsewhere. What better place than the CIP?

Here’s the goal: What can we remove that doesn’t hurt taxpayers? And in a way that we’re not pitting projects against one another?

(Little government geek explanation. This is a five-year plan, so some of these projects appear in Year 1, or Year 4, or in between. Some spread out over two years or more. I’m not suggesting the projects below are all in Year 1.)

I’m going to start us off. No judgments about the projects, their needs, or the staffers who say they’re important. This is about priorities, folks.

— Right off the bat: $580,000 to mill and resurface the Community Resources Center parking lot. There are a few other similar parking lot resurfacing projects, though this is the most expensive.

We need to mill a parking lot as we would a road? That’s where the high cost is — tearing up the pavement and replacing it.

I drove through this parking lot on Monday. It’s a parking lot. No worse or better than any other. Again, though, priorities. This ranks higher than resurfacing neighborhood streets?

— $2 million to replace a phone system that’s 10 years old. If I read this report correctly, we’re still paying debt on the current system.

— $200,000 to remodel the second floor of the Lecanto Government Building.

— $250,000 to redesign the human resources and administration areas in the Clerk’s Office.

(Mike note: Clerk of Courts Traci Perry sent an email to the county this morning requesting that the HR/admin item be removed from the CIP. Traci said the clerk's office last year requested it be removed, and it ended up back in the CIP again this year without her knowledge. Thank you, Traci!)

— $3.4 million for something called an “Asset Management Platform” that, for the life of me, I haven’t a clue what this is:

“The program supports the County’s ongoing efforts to enhance data-driven decision-making, improve coordination of maintenance and inspection activities, and strengthen long-term asset management practices. The initiative includes implementation of an integrated asset management platform to support asset inventory, maintenance planning, work order management, inspections, and related internal workflows associated with County infrastructure and facilities.”

Well, that explains it. Oh, this is also unfunded. 

— $1 million ($250,000 over four years) to “brick the exterior walls on the new side of the Courthouse to match the old side.”

I’m poking fun here, and my county government friends likely won’t appreciate it. They work hard to develop a program that meets citizen and government needs. Most of the stuff in this report is vital and necessary. And we certainly shouldn’t criticize ongoing maintenance and upkeep.

Here’s the thing, though. We just had a top state official in town a few weeks ago, saying Citrus is spending more than it should. The CIP is the first chance for commissioners to break that down in a meaningful way.

So, give it a gander. Let’s see if we can help Mr. Howard solve some f-bombs.

Have an awesome Tuesday, friends.

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