by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
The Legislative Session yielded mostly positive results for the city, but during the next year lawmakers and lobbyists will be working to insure that at least one program isn’t improperly tweaked.
Article 5 Revision 7 to the Florida constitution took effect last year. That controversial policy change allowed the State to assume controlling interest and fiscal responsibility of each of Florida’s 67 municipal court operations.
Local opinion has since been favorable of Article 5, but a proposed 11th hour floor amendment during the Session would have substantially crippled the Duval County Court’s revenue sharing formula.
Right now every Florida court’s budget is covered by various funding streams, most notably a specially set aside half-cent sales tax. But State Senator Rod Smith and State Rep. David Simmons suggested Jacksonville’s portion of that tax be lopped in half.
That didn’t happen, but Shannon Hewett, a lobbyist with Fiorentino and Associates, said that kind of blow would have taken some serious wind out of Jacksonville’s sails. Fiorentino and Associates have been the City’s go-to firm for everything Article 5 for years.
“Fortunately the Duval Delegation really rallied against that and won the debate on the floor,” Hewett said. “But quite frankly if anyone had an issue like that, it should have been discussed in committee first.”
Consultant John Thrasher agreed that cutting that sales tax revenue would have proven disastrous on the local level.
“It would have meant millions and millions of dollars,” Thrasher said. “You can’t do something like that without making a serious impact.
“It certainly got the administration’s attention.”
Though Jacksonville has been granted somewhat of a reprieve for now, the City will have to further explain during the 2006 Session why little or no change is needed to the revenue sharing formula on the books .
“We have a little time and we are going to use it to come to a solution that everyone will find acceptable,” Hewett said. “We’re not saying we’re wrong on this, but we’ve agreed to look at the formula and determine what, if any, changes are needed. We’re prepared to work with the City to make a determination.”
Hewett said the first of many meetings with the City to discuss Article 5 has been scheduled for later this week.
“We’re in an interesting position because, in a sense, the rest of the state is pitted against Jacksonville because we’re the ones with a consolidated government,” she said. “However we believe we have the numbers to back up leaving the formula alone.”