County legislative list in the making

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County legislative list in the making

County News

Thursday, 18 November 2010 08:23

By Marvin G. Cortner
Editor
Osceola County commissioners at their Nov. 8 meeting began hashing out their priorities for the spring legislative session and high on the list was opposition to any state mandate requiring county jails to house prisoners for longer periods before they are transferred to state facilities.
The Osceola Legislative Effort, referred to as OLE and which lobbies on behalf of the various government bodies in the county, met Nov. 10 to start going over possible priorities. OLE is a nonprofit that operates from the Kissimmee/Osceola County Chamber of Commerce building on East U.S. Highway 192; its officers are comprised of top staff from the various local government entities.
Commissioner Ken Smith, whose last County Commission meeting was Monday due to his retirement from the board, said if the state requires 18 months of housing for state prisoners in the county jail following sentencing instead of the current 12 months without reimbursement, it would be an “unbelievable burden” on the county budget.
“It costs us $30 million a year to operate the jail now,” Smith said. “If the state Legislature does this, I hope they have the backbone to fund it.”
Other items initially on the county list for consideration include:
• Support for establishing “sports zones,” whereby Osceola County government could offer financial incentives to lure additional sports-related entities to the county, such as another Major League baseball team for spring training or additional amateur sporting events. Sports zones would be akin to enterprise zones.
• Legislation preserving Osceola County’s potable water supplies for Osceola County residents is also a priority.
County Manager Don Fisher said the cost for providing potable water will go up as sources of cheap water – such as aquifers – are tapped out, forcing highly developed counties to look elsewhere for alternatives – such as to Osceola County’s numerous lakes and streams – or pay significantly more for treatment of other sources, such as salt water.
“We don’t want our residents to be penalized with high water costs while we provide water resources to other places,” Fisher said. “Places that are built out should have to pay more. If the state imposes a regional plan, we would want it to protect Osceola County for what we have planned (in terms of residential growth). We will have the greatest growth needs over the next 20 years.”
• Reform the Florida state retirement pension system, making it less costly for counties to meet future obligations. One change that the county wants the state to consider is changing the vesting dates for employees back to 10 years rather than the current six.
“Pension reform needs to take place but we don’t want to see employees that are five years away from retirement adversely affected,” Fisher said, adding that changes should be targeted toward new employees.
• Support a mobility fee instead of a transportation impact fee for new construction. Such a fee would cover various transportation needs, including roads, signalization projects that manage traffic, mass transit, bikeways and pedestrian walkways. Fees would not be the same for all locations in the county and would be based in part on how many miles new residents would need to travel to get to retail stores, for example.
• Authorization to increase in the value adjustment board filing fee, which currently is $15, an amount commissioners said does not cover the cost of getting a request processed and to the adjustment board for a hearing. The adjustment board considers challenges to the assessed value of property.
• Commissioners also want the state and federal governments to look at hydrilla control on Osceola County lakes as a water quality issue, with federal funding made available for that control.
• Once the SunRail commuter rail system is built and if operating deficits do occur, the county would want those deficits covered by the Florida Department of Transportation rather than local participants in the system. Another priority would be that mass transit funding be included in highway appropriations bills (essentially replacing local money with federal money funneled through the Florida Department of Transportation).
• Support for legislation to help the county reduce overall energy consumption and for the state to put in place incentives for alternative energy and job creation.
Priorities also include seeking additional funding for Hoagland Boulevard improvements in Kissimmee and the widening of West U.S. Highway 192 from Aeronautical Drive to Budinger Avenue in St. Cloud.
Initially on the priority list but removed was a request to authorize counties to hold a local referendum on imposing a $2 surcharge on car rentals to help fund mass transit. Such a measure has been proposed in the past but never made it into law.
The Legislature did approve a surcharge bill a number of years ago but then-Gov. Jeb Bush vetoed it, citing it as an example of taxation without representation, given that out-of-state or foreign visitors would pay the bulk of the surcharges.