Manatee BOCC Reviews Proposed Departmental Funding

BRADENTON – At Tuesday's Budget Funding Summary Session, commissioners reviewed proposed funding for each department. What started out somewhat like a fireside chat slowly emerged into a rude awakening of too little, too late. Department heads advised more funds are needed than what has been proposed in order to gain a larger workforce and better employee compensation.

County Administrator Ed Hunzeker started the budget session out with, "I have never had one that was easy. This one isn't easy either." Soon after the happy-time of praising and compliments, the review of the individual budget proposals began.

First was Building and Development Services with an estimated $12.5 million budgeted. Much of the funding needed to run the department is generated by the collection of fees for applications and permits. Building and development has been a well-greased wheel over the last several years and there were few suggestions.

Utilities is another rate-based department that includes Manatee County's potable water system, wastewater, solid waste and utilities business operations. Utilities carries a much larger budget, estimated at $115 million, but rates cover most of the cost and utilities has raised rates as recent as January of 2016.

The Convention and Visitors Bureau receives most of its funding from a five percent tax on hotel rooms, also known as the visitor's tax or bed tax. Those dollars also fund the convention center in Palmetto.

Public Safety Director Robert Smith was next up, but with a troubling story. Smith said responding to an increased volume in calls for help (currently 4,600 a month) and an addition of seven responses a day have been forcing employees to work overtime. "Sometimes we are forced to ask someone who just got off a 24 hour shift to do another one," he said, adding he needs additional employees in Animal Services, EMS, in the Emergency Communication Center as well as at Emergency Management. His $23 million budget isn't enough, he said.

Then Public Works Director Ron Schulhofer spoke of his 403 person team that has been recognized for excellence in traffic engineering, infrastructure engineering and fleet services but is now hamstrung by an insufficient budget. He said 65 public works jobs were eliminated in 2007, and since then the county has grown by 60,000 residents.

Schulhofer said, "The reduction in 2007 and an average of 35 vacancies, is in essence, a loss of 100 people to carry the load for the 363,369 neighbors in our growing community." He said, "So what does that mean? The remaining staff is paying the price and is showing signs of extreme stress."

Schulhofer told the commission, "This year to date we have had four people have heart attacks." Schulhofer described his proposed $36 million budget as unable to do the job. He wants to bring his employees' pay up to grade and hire 20 more workers to get the needed work done.

Commissioner Benac asked Schulhofer which he would prefer: the recent four percent increase in salary, just approved for the 2017 budget, or the more employees to do the job. One could see the anguish in Schulhofer's face over the question. He said he needed to take care of those that have been sticking it out with him through the years.

It seemed that every request for needed funds to run each of the departments was followed-up with a comment promoting the proposed half-cent infrastructure sales tax, a referendum that will be placed on the November ballot later this year.

Tomorrow, constitutional officers will go before the commission to bid for what might be available for them. The session will start at 1:30 p.m. on the first floor of the Administration building, in Bradenton.