FORT WALTON BEACH — Okaloosa County commissioners say they have no plans to raise property taxes despite facing a projected $4.3 million in additional expenses in the coming year.
The board reached a consensus after getting its first look at estimated revenues and expenses for the 2013-14 fiscal year at a budget workshop Tuesday.
County Administrator Jim Curry outlined what he called “a very fuzzy look” at what the county’s “fiscal challenges” might be as the budget season proceeds.
“Your general fund remains to be the challenge again this year,” he told commissioners.
Among the projected additional expenses are $1.7 million for the Sheriff’s Office to fill vacancies created when Sheriff Larry Ashley placed deputies in every public school in the district; $1.4 million for a 3 percent raise for county employees; $1.2 million for the replacement of county vehicles and equipment; and $675,000 in capital construction.
Curry presented the option of raising the property tax rate by 0.335 mills to generate the additional $4.3 million, but commissioners immediately rejected that idea.
“I’m not interested at this point in raising the millage,” Commission Chairman Don Amunds said.
Commissioner Nathan Boyles agreed.
“With regard to ad valorems, that’s one area where I’m not supportive of seeing any increase,” he said.
The board’s stance effectively kills any effort to include a 3 percent across-the-board raise for employees. But a majority of commissioners said they would consider a smaller increase.
County employees have not received a raise since 2009.
Commissioner Wayne Harris said now that the economy has started to improve, the county should be prepared to lose “good leadership.”
“I think we need to be realistic about what we’re doing to our employees when we do this,” he said. “We need to look at something.”
Commissioner Dave Parisot suggested the board consider a 1 percent to 2.5 percent raise.
But Amunds said he is hesitant to make a commitment to anything other than the status quo.
“I would love, in a perfect world, to give everybody a raise,” he said. “Part of our job is tough … and if you don’t have the money to fund it, you don’t fund it. … I think it’s crazy to get people’s hopes up.”
Instead of increasing the county’s property tax rate of 3.28 mills, commissioners said they would consider raising the county’s gas tax to help cover rising costs.
Counties in Florida are authorized to levy up to 12 cents. Okaloosa levies 7 cents.
Harris said he could support a gas tax hike because it’s a “user fee.”
“Thirty to forty percent of our roads and bridges and storm water is used by somebody else,” he said. “It sure would be nice to have the tourists and other people who transit this area support some of that.
Curry reminded the board that gas tax revenues are limited primarily to road improvements.
“Those dollars are specific,” he said. “You can’t raise gas taxes and then use it to go put a new roof on the jail.”
Boyles, whose district includes part of the north county, said he supports looking at raising the gas tax because his area is filled with rural roads that need work.
“I get more calls on roads from my constituents than anything else,” he said. “We have a lot of challenges out there, and our staff is doing the best they can to patch up what we have.”
He said the county’s failure to levy all of the gas tax at its disposal makes it difficult to secure “matching funds from the state and federal level.”
If the board decides to levy the remaining 5 cents of the gas tax, it would have to be approved by July 1 to take effect Jan. 1, 2014.
Commissioners also discussed the possibility of charging local gas and electric utilities a franchise fee to use county rights of way.
The board is scheduled to resume that discussion at its meeting Tuesday in Fort Walton Beach. The new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Kari Barlow at 850-315-4438 or kbarlow@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @KariBnwfdn.