County Cuts 88 Jobs, $55 Million
By Nicholas Azzara, The Bradenton Herald, Fla.
Jun. 3–MANATEE — Almost 90 jobs and an entire county department will be eliminated under a proposed annual budget that has been slashed by $55 million.
During what is sure to be the most bleak budget discussions in recent memory, county Administrator Ed Hunzeker this morning will tell county commissioners that 88 county positions have been cut, including the 24 staffers who worked for the Environmental Management department. The department has already been dissolved with some employees taking jobs elsewhere with the county.
Hunzeker is expected to put forth a $531 million budget for fiscal 2008-09, down 9 percent from this year’s $587 million. Property-tax reform, plummeting property values and a sharp drop in impact fee and sales tax revenues created conditions for what will probably be the sharpest budget decrease in the county’s history. Property tax revenues -more than one-third of the county’s income — are down $19 million this year.
“The emphasis is on consolidation and streamlining government in response to voters,” Hunzeker said. “They want government downsized, and I’m proposing how to downsize it.”
Hunzeker said county leadership has been able to find other jobs for all but about 20 affected employees. There were few additional details Monday, as Hunzeker preferred to give a full presentation to county commissioners at 9 a.m. today.
The elimination of Environmental Management was a total surprise to department director Karen Collins-Fleming, a 25-year veteran of county government, who was given her walking papers Friday. She didn’t know much about the downsizing, but said the department’s essential functions will be taken over by other county departments.
“I was surprised, hurt,” Collins-Fleming said. “We’ve been monitoring air and surface water quality for years and years. If that just comes to a sudden halt, it’s concerning to me.”
Environmental Management had an annual budget of $2 million funded by property tax revenues and pollution monitoring fees. But Hunzeker said the overall savings to the county will not amount to $2 million since several employees will work elsewhere in the county.
“We are not eliminating our concern for the environment,” Hunzeker said. “We are merely consolidating and streamlining our environmental programs that have traditionally been handled in three separate departments. We anticipate saving the taxpayers’ money but not reducing our environmental programs.”
Voter-approved Amendment 1 gave property owners some tax relief but dealt a serious blow to taxing authorities like Manatee County. Hunzeker has said all county-funded departments — including the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office — will share in the budget cuts.
“We’re all well aware of the economic constraints on local government since the passage of Amendment 1,” Collins-Fleming said. “It really struck a huge blow to the budget. Even though we had a small department, over the years we’ve worked very frugally.”
The decision to eliminate the department was particularly disappointing to county Commissioner Carol Whitmore, who made the environment a top priority when she ran for her county-wide seat two years ago. But Whitmore was glad Hunzeker made the move instead of asking commissioners to do it.
“Anytime anyone loses their livelihood, I feel terrible,” Whitmore said. “Ed’s been looking at departments for a year and a half and knows what’s where and where there’s duplication and where streamlining can be done to make them more efficient. I was under the assumption I would have to do this, but I’m grateful that he’s making the educated decisions and not leaving it up to politicians.”
Four commissioners face re-election this fall. Whitmore is not one of them.
It is the second round of employee cuts this year. Thirteen Building Department employees lost their jobs in March, but all but one took lower-paying jobs as mechanics and inspectors with the Facilities Management Department. Manatee leaders have said positions will be eliminated, but the county will try to place qualified employees in open slots in other departments.
Area environmentalists were worried that more green and Earth-friendly programs will be eliminated when tough decisions are made. Glenn Compton, a director with the Manasota-88 environmental group, said that’s because most people view the environment a short-term problem.
“I’m very concerned because there was little to no public input allowed,” Compton said. “Not having a person that is available to speak to people with environmental concerns is very significant and will lead to less oversight of environmental problems in Manatee County.”
“I find that very concerning,” said Manatee-Sarasota Sierra Club chairman Gayle Reynolds. “We’d very much like to see resource protection in Manatee County continued. I don’t really understand how they could wipe out an entire department.”
Environmental Management’s air quality division oversaw air monitoring stations around the county. A water quality division regulated underground water storage tanks and all major earth-moving operations in the county. The department dealt with stormwater issues, pollution prevention and hazardous material elimination.
Nicholas Azzara, county reporter, can be reached at 745-7081.
Environmental Management department has been eliminated from the new budget
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