At the Tuesday Hernando County Commission meeting, Commissioner Rose Rocco said the county had to make some tough choices. Ms. Rocco stated, "With all the unknowns coming to us, what we are trying to do is look at everything we have and make some smart decisions." Her quote was in reference to her vote to discontinue the funding of the residential road program that has been in place for almost eight years. The county has already spent approximately $14 million just from the county's General Fund over the last seven years to upgrade the residential road system. This dollar figure does not even take into consideration other funding sources for road residential road improvements, like the gas tax.
Commissioner David Russell agreed that funding road maintenance was important, but he did not agree with financially constraining future boards. Mr. Russell then warned other commissioners that to attain the $2 million for residential road program they would have to find an additional $750,000 elsewhere. By just using simple arithmetic that leaves $1.25 million for the residential road program. Incidentally, this is the $1.25 million requested by the Department of Public Works in this tight budget year. Where is Commissioner Russell planning on spending that $1.25 million? Will this money be returned to the taxpayers or spent on the additional 6,000' sq. ft. of rental space proposed by Commissioner Kingsley to house Annie Williams' office on Jefferson Street.
The Hernando County Commissioner failed to address some basic elements of good management at their meeting on Tuesday. Is it smart to just abandon the residential road investment and leave it to languish on the vine which will allow our property to devalue in future years, Ms. Rocco? Was this $1.25 million earmarked for a refund to the taxpayers for the past promise you made to equal out the 25% increase for fire fees, Mr. Russell? Where in the long-term Facilities Master Plan does it state that all county departments must move out of the government center to make room for new judicial space, Mr. Kingsley?
The Hernando County Commissioners are elected to set clear guidelines and policy for the county administrator. Why hasn't this happened and could this be remotely be classified as smart management?
3 comments:
We haven't seen anything "REMOTELY" classified or even near SMART MANAGEMENT from this or past commissions, administrators or staff. The two R's...Rocco and Russell are, at best, disappointments when it comes to protecting the wide spectrum of taxpayers. Not everyone can afford their whims of "protection". Why don't these two, Russell and Rocco, ever consider how they have
"financially constrained" us, Mr./Mrs. Taxpayer???
"Will this money be returned to the taxpayers or spent on the additional 6,000' sq. ft. of rental space proposed by Commissioner Kingsley to house Annie Williams' office on Jefferson Street."
Ms. Covell, this building is NOT a rental...it was conveyed to the County from HMA as part of the new hospital transaction almost two years ago.
Anon. #1: No comment is necessary since you summed it very well.
Anon. #2: I will check this out/thanks for the information.
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