Our Tallahassee Top Ten

By Commissioner Jeff Koons

January 15, 2008

The 2008 Florida Legislative Session gets underway the first week in March, and with more state-mandated cuts in property tax revenue looming this year, our lobbying efforts in Tallahassee will be more important than ever. County staff has identified 44 legislative priorities, appropriation requests and support issues that I hope state lawmakers will support.

Our number one priority is a funding request of $3.5 million for the Lake Region Water Treatment Plant. It is absolutely crucial that we get this state-of-the-art reverse-osmosis facility up and running to replace obsolete municipal water treatment plants in the Glades. The County facility will draw from the Floridan Aquifer rather than Lake Okeechobee, freeing up surface water supply for restoration of the Everglades and producing up to 10 million gallons per day of high quality drinking water for thousands of residents.

Number two will be the elimination of unfunded state mandates and cost shifts. With local tax revenues being reduced, it is unreasonable to force local governments to operate some state programs without any state funding. In recent years, we’ve had to shell out $4.2 million to create and operate the Regional Transportation Authority and $4.8 million for juvenile justice pretrial disposition. These are state programs the state should be paying for.

The number three priority is elimination of a particularly sneaky cost shift that siphons locally generated communications tax revenue and gives it to fiscally-constrained counties elsewhere. It may seem altruistic for wealthier counties to assist poorer ones. But this measure also takes money from municipalities such as Belle Glade, Pahokee and South Bay that are in worse financial shape than the counties they subsidize. The Legislature must find a less crippling alternative revenue source for needy counties.

We will be seeking environmental funding for the Lake Worth Lagoon Partnership Grant Program ($5.25 million), beach and inlet management projects ($7.29 million), and the Chain of Lakes restoration ($1.5 million).

Transportation will get a lot of attention this session, as well. We’re requesting a total of $20 million to widen Beeline Highway and Congress Avenue and extend State Road 7 north into The Acreage -- three state road projects that Palm Beach County has agreed to do in order to expedite the process.

Rounding out our top 10 list are requests of $1.9 million for a new DMV building, $400,000 for the Juvenile Assessment Center and $350,000 for the Glades Region Agricultural Program.

One new issue this year is a legislative request to require private insurance companies to cover essential autism treatment for children. Such treatments are covered by Medicaid and the Department of Children and Families, but only for those who are indigent or have filed bankruptcy.

As always, I welcome your comments and questions. Please feel free to contact me or my staff at 355-2202.