Tax Watch Issues Report; Sheriff Disagrees With Findings

July 25, 2009

The Escambia County Sheriff’s Department needs to cut $12.3 to $27.3 million from its annual budget, ambulance service in the county might be better if in the private sector, and there needs to be better reporting of how Local Option Sales Tax dollars are expended. Those were some of the major recommendation in a report issued Friday by the group Florida TaxWatch.

morganpub.jpgBut Escambia Sheriff David Morgan is not in agreement with the findings about his office in the $100,000 study funded by the Escambia County Taxpayers Association.

The Tax Watch report compares Escambia County to “peer” counties Leon and Marion and finds that Escambia spent $315.48 per resident to serve 258,527 people in fiscal year 2008. That compares to $269.74 per person to serve 272,535 people on Marion County and $222.41 per person to serve 272,896 people in Leon County.

“We would certainly sit with TaxWatch and listen to their recommendations,” Morgan told NorthEscambia.com Friday. “But their data is flawed.”

The total population served figures for Leon and Marion county were derived by subtracting the number of citizens service by a municipality police department from the total county population. But Morgan says the math was incorrect, and it did not include all of the smaller municipalities in the two peer counties.

Regardless, he says the state standard is 1.7 officers per person, and he operates his department at 1.3 officers per 1,000 residents. Marion and Leon counties are operating at 1.00 and 1.63 deputies per 1,000 persons, respectively.

The TaxWatch report says that Morgan should be able to cut $12.3 to $27.3 million from his budget.

“Unless you are willing to take reduced police protection, we can’t cut more than we have,” he said. Morgan has trimmed about $4 million off the $81.5 million department budget for the next fiscal year — without cutting jobs. “We can’t take a work order when someone calls the sheriff’s department. We are going to answer every call while we spend tax dollars in a wise and prudent manner.”

flataxwatch.jpg“Florida TaxWatch commends the Sheriff for his first attempts at identifying ways to reduce the Sheriff’s Office budget and recommends that he continue to explore cost reduction opportunities to further lighten the tax burden on the citizens of Escambia County,” the report released Friday states.

In addition, Morgan said the crime rate in Escambia is higher than the peer counties. The crime rate for areas covered by the Marion County Sheriff’s Department is 55 percent of that the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department service area, and Leon County is only 46 percent.

“Our crime rate is almost double the other two counties, and that justifies more deputies on the street,” he said. “We are not going to sacrifice the safety of the citizens in Escambia County.”

The TaxWatch report also finds that consolidation of some services between Escambia County and the City of Pensacola would be prudent, including purchasing, human resources, vehicle maintenance and technology.

The report also found:

  • Several million dollars per year in Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) funds were expended on vehicles, equipment, and certain operating expenses, which raises concern from a public policy standpoint. Additionally, the expenditure and loan of all LOST funds may not have been adequately described nor explicitly shared with Escambia taxpayers.
  • The Pensacola Civic Center has lost money each year of operation since FY 2004 at a cost of nearly $10 million to the taxpayers of Escambia County. The operating deficit has been between 26 and 41 percent for each of the last five years.

The report makes a number of specific recommendations, including:

  • Information about the LOST funds should be offered in more detail in order to avoid misleading the public or further eroding public trust, and a Citizen Advisory Board should be created to advise the Board of County Commissioners on issues related to the promotion of proper and effective use of LOST funds.
  • To achieve a quality workforce and the best value for taxpayers, the Board should develop a more strategic and publicly accountable approach to managing salary and benefits costs.
  • Due to the potential for significant cost savings through increased collaboration between Escambia County and other local government entities, the County should develop a strategic approach to achieve these savings through leveraging organizational strengths and purchasing power, and eliminating duplication of effort among government entities
  • The County could achieve a potential cost savings of $1.8 million to $5.35 million per year with the implementation and usage of a better benchmark for facility space usage and utilization.
  • The formation of a Citizens Advisory Board for the Pensacola Civic Center would provide proper oversight and encourage additional ways to reduce the level of public funding necessary to support ongoing operations. The lack of a meaningful financial incentive built into the facilities management contract should also be analyzed.
  • There potential cost savings through outsourcing the County ambulance operations or through the possible merger of ambulance and fire services should be explored.
  • The County should establish a “hotline” where instances of fraud, waste, and abuse of County resources can be reported to further identify cost savings and inefficiency. Additionally, as in the previous report, this report recommends that the County create an independent audit function to assist County management in finding ways to reduce costs and foster greater public trust.
  • The County should consider all potential opportunities to reduce the county’s social security tax costs, including offering a 401(a) FICA Alternative Plan.
  • While the County currently has a broad-based program to recognize exemplary government employees, Florida TaxWatch recommends the program enlist a more targeted focus that fosters a culture of cost savings.
  • Florida TaxWatch recommends that the County sell or lease unnecessary or underutilized County assets, renegotiate contracts, and reevaluate equipment and technology expenditures

Click here to read the entire report (pdf format).

Comments

6 Responses to “Tax Watch Issues Report; Sheriff Disagrees With Findings”

  1. CAMSHAFT on July 28th, 2009 3:11 pm

    I sure wish that this tax watch group would look at the Escambia School District.Because they waste plenty of the taxpayers money.There should be a Grand Jury investigation into some of the things that goes on there. Maybe with time Malcolm will straighten some of the mess out.

  2. Curious on July 27th, 2009 1:35 pm

    I’m wondering how the other two counties compare educationally and employment wise since they have less crime. What is the percentage of drop-outs, poverty level, minority levels, and unemployment. If they are the same I would think the recommendation would be valid. If not, not.

  3. A. Davis on July 26th, 2009 12:01 am

    I hope Mr. Morgan does’t let these people scare him most of us wanted change we need to stand behind him when people put pressure on him so he doesnt feel like he’s fighting alone.

  4. Bob on July 25th, 2009 8:23 pm

    Being a full blown North Escambia resident I tend to fully agree with Interested Reader but I must add to a few more words to a well written article. The Commissioners havebeen so anti-business for so long,they have made it quite clear that you should go somewhere else. When you have to go through the permitting process you grow weary and tired of all the red tape you must go through. Some of the hoops you must jump through in the county should be eased to make it a more friendly atmosphere. 30 days to review a permit before acting is a little much. One more thing what if the voters vote down the local option tax next go around.

  5. interested reader on July 25th, 2009 1:12 pm

    Here we are, comparing apples to oranges! It can’t be done. Every county has different needs regardless of peer size. The sheriff is doing what needs to be done for our people and we should stand behind him 100%. The county needs a great amount of work and manpower to help with current inherited problems. The tax watch group should look at places that can have cuts without endangering lives. The word INDUSTRY comes to mind. We cannot depend on tourism as we now see. The county commissioners should get to work like Ala. has done and bring in some new revenue.

  6. Molested on July 25th, 2009 10:24 am

    I am all for tax watch. BUT you finally have sheriff that is interested in the entire region and is doing a good job of law enforcement. If he is willing so sit with the tax watch committee and compare statistics and clearly he has done his home work then Escambia citizens should support the sheriff. The is one of the worst times in economic history and this propagates higher crime levels due to the desperate economic conditions. Don’t cut his funding resources so he can’t operate.

    Escambia county needs some county comissioners that are dedicated to creating a lgrowing economy and creating new industry in spite of the tourism. Industry and tourism can work together.

    JB

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News