by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
The Florida Association of Counties will ask the Florida Supreme Court to strike down a State plan that charges counties, including Duval, to pick up the tab for about $90 million of the Department of Juvenile Justice’s budget.
FAC General Counsel Ginger Delegal said Monday the plan is unconstitutional, because it asks Florida counties to pay about 17 percent of the DJJ’s operating budget without any say over how the money is spent. Duval County is not attached to the suit but the DJJ funding shift has drawn opposition from City Hall. The City Council unanimously passed a resolution in May, asking Gov. Jeb Bush to veto the bill for largely the same reasons cited by the FAC.
Although the plan passed both chambers of the State Legislature, Delegal said it didn’t pass by enough. The State Constitution requires a two-thirds vote in both the House of Representatives and Senate to pass an unfunded mandate — that is to demand counties pay without say about how the money is spent. Delegal said about 46 percent of State representatives voted against the cost shift.
“It really almost failed in the House,” said Delegal. She said the State will likely argue that a statutory exemption allows for the plan, despite the votes.
When the City Council asked Bush to veto the bill, it cited the unfunded mandate argument as a primary reason. City Council member Suzanne Jenkins compared the arrangement to “me shopping on your VISA card.” The mayor’s office also opposed the plan. Brad Thoburn, the mayor’s director of state and federal affairs, said the City wanted to avoid funding the DJJ, which he said had a spotty reputation for efficiency. However, Duval County’s portion of the bill has already been figured into next year’s budget.
“If there’s one thing counties really object to, it’s funding something you don’t control,” said Thoburn. “In the case of juvenile facilities, there’s good indication they’re not run particularly well.”
Delegal said 16 Florida counties — out of 67 — found the situation unpalatable enough to ask to join the FAC’s suit. The FAC is joined currently by 14 counties. Delegal said two more showed interest after the suit was filed.
“They’re just asking us to write them a check for 17 percent of their operating budget without any control,” said Delegal. “These aren’t like jails. The money won’t pay for county employees or county facilities. Literally, all they’re asking for is for the check.”
Although Duval County did not join the suit, Delegal said the May resolution showed Jacksonville supported the FAC’s argument. She said similar resolutions were filed across the state and said she was confident the FAC was carrying out the will of counties statewide.
“When you think about 16 counties willing to put their name on a lawsuit against the State, that’s a pretty big deal, I believe that might be an unprecedented number.”
Although backed by Democratic-leaning counties such as Alachua and Broward, Delegal said the suit had received broad support from both sides of the political aisle and from every region of the state.
“We have Democratic counties, Republican counties, large, small, east, west. It’s really an amazing demographic group,” said Delegal.