Though government entities around Northeast Florida all say they are working hard to balance their 2010-11 fiscal year budgets during this economic downturn, not all are increasing property tax rates to fill the gaps.

In Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties, there are 20 government systems including school districts, counties and municipalities. Of them, half are planning to keep tax rates flat in the upcoming year and one, Baker County’s school system, is cutting its tax rate.

The remaining nine are increasing taxes rates. Among the governments with the biggest jumps are St. Augustine Beach (14 percent) and Fernandina Beach (10 percent).

Most governments said they are working hard to preserve the status quo, but cutbacks in areas that were once deemed off-limits have started to surface.

Several noted cutbacks in public safety, including the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office’s decision to hold off hiring additional police officers and Clay County’s elimination of 12 positions in the fire inspections, emergency medical services, emergency management and code enforcement departments. Two people were laid off as a result of these cutbacks; the rest were vacant positions.

St. Johns County will delay fire station construction and the purchase of fire equipment to help balance its budget, though service levels have not been affected. Planned renovations to Fire Station 11 in the southern portion of the county and Station 5 in the central area have been put off. Both stations are in aging buildings.

“Those projects are still in need; they still are on the map,” said Jeremy Robshaw, spokesman for St. Johns County Fire Rescue. “They have just been deferred until the economy and financial situation improves.”

The fiscal year begins Oct. 1, and school systems and government entities have either already approved their budgets or planning to do so in the coming days. Of those that still haven’t reached final approval, Jacksonville’s budget appears to be the most in flux.

Though Mayor John Peyton has approved a 9 percent property tax rate increase, that could be offset slightly by some cost-cutting measures by the City Council. The Finance Committee has already approved about $4 million in cuts, but others could be proposed the night of the final vote, Sept. 28.

Councilman Dick Brown unveiled a plan Tuesday that would cut high-wage city workers’ pay by a larger amount than other workers, up to 5 percent for those earning over $100,000.

Councilman Ray Holt has proposed eliminating the city’s Human Rights Commission, and Councilman Richard Clark has indicated he will float the same idea for the city’s Inspector General’s Office.

The cuts for the other municipalities in the region were less drastic, but government jobs across-the-board are less secure than they once were.

Every county and town in the region, with the exception of Baldwin and Hilliard, either reduced its employee count or kept employee numbers flat. Those two towns hired one person each.

The school systems are facing a much different scenario. Many said they had no choice but to hire additional teachers to comply with the mandates of the Class Size Amendment.

Nassau County schools spokeswoman Sharyl Wood said Superintendent John Ruis studied projected student counts for the school year to try to estimate as accurately as possible the number of teachers needed.

“You don’t want to overhire, but you do want to hire enough so we are in compliance,” she said.

Still, when the school year began in August, some schools still needed additional teachers.

Nassau County has kept its school millage rate flat for the upcoming fiscal year, but Wood said the district has been forced to allocate more of its property tax income to operating expenses and less for capital spending. If that continues in future years, it could affect the district’s ability to pay for needed projects, she said.

“It would cause us issues with having properly maintained schools and sufficient classrooms, but right now it is not at that point,” she said.

The Baker County school system can boast that it is the only school, county or town taxing authority in the region to reduce its property tax rate. But district leaders say that it was less an exercise in fiscal management and more of a reflection of the complex state formula used to determine how school systems set their rates.

Because the state reduced the required tax rate that Baker County property owners must pay, the overall tax rate declined 2 percent. The school system’s tax rate is now the highest it can be without a voter referendum.

tia.mitchell@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4425

link: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2010-09-25/story/cities-counties...