MILTON — Santa Rosa County held its final public hearing for the fiscal year 2016-2017 budget on Sept. 20. While attendees’ knowledge on the county budget varied, one person is particularly familiar with it: Santa Rosa County budget director Jayne Bell.
Bell's job includes directing, organizing and producing annual budget documents. She monitors the budget’s monthly execution and analyzes year-end financial position of funds. She also manages multiple staffs.
Here, she talks more about that.
What's next for the budget department?
"I assemble a TrIM package that I send, which is truth in millage, to the department of revenue. Then it's a wrap for this year and we immediately start looking at the following year."
What trends have you seen in our budget over the last several years?
"I think the thing that jumps out at me the most is how much our population is growing, but our revenues are not growing in tandem with our population so we are having to do much more with much less.
“When our budget does grow, it's growing because we have a growing population to service, not because there is any particular waste. To me, it is to actually meet the growing demands of this county."
However, Bell said Santa Rosa’s budget growth isn't matching the population because property values haven't grown proportionately.
"We don't increase our fees much,” she said. “Last year was the first year that we increased our permitting fees and raised our gas tax, but they were a long time coming. We were playing catch-up."
Would it have been possible to maintain a courthouse fund?
"That's hard to say. In 2007, we had approximately $58 million in revenues from ad valorem taxes and we haven't seen that. This year … we have $51 million, so that's nine years and we are still considerably less. It would have been a stretch … Another reason I say it would be a stretch is because of the state mandates.
“For example, our Medicaid — we didn't know that we were going to be popped for an additional million dollars," Bell said.
The Department of Juvenile Justice cost the county more as well.
"I had $100,000 in the budget for that,” Bell said. “Then the state said they needed $850,000. These are unforeseen mandates the state can put on us at any time."
Can citizens speak directly with you about the budget?
"They can call me anytime … I'm always here. I'm always available to answer any questions they have. The more questions they ask me, the better I get — so bring it on.
“It helps me to have the community involved in this.”
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Santa Rosa 'having to do much more with less'