by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
The City will pay more in 2005 to keep the Police and Fire Pension Fund shored up because the State’s new funding structure for its courts will deprive the fund of about $2 million.
Before the State claimed millions in court–produced revenue as part of changes to the court system, Jacksonville used funds from court fines, fees and forfeitures to help pay its annual obligation to the pension fund. The State has swept away most of that money, leaving the City with about a $2 million shortfall to keep the pension fund financially healthy.
The City’s contribution is guaranteed to the pension fund, so the City will have to find money to fill the gap. The City will find some of that money elsewhere in the County Court system, but Brad Thoburn of the mayor’s office said the City will have to find room in its budget to pay for the rest. The City will still earn enough from its courts to pay about $1 million to the pension fund, leaving $2 million to make up.
“We’re still getting the same share of the pie, the pie just got a lot smaller,” said Thoburn.
He said the City already accounted for the pension fund as it prepared for the court shift known as Article 5. The revision to the State constitution gave the State responsibility for administering many court functions that used to receive local oversight. Unfortunately for many municipalities, with the extra responsibility, the State claimed a greater share of the revenue generated by court costs, fines, fees and forfeitures.
The changes have sent city and county governments scrambling for the past year to make up for the lost revenue. Duval County imposed higher fines and filing fees on its court users to ease the shortfall. The enhanced revenue streams should help the City at least break even, said Thoburn.
“We look at the whole process,” he said. “We lose some revenues, but we lose responsibility to fund some things, too.”
By the time the dust settles, Thoburn said the City could come out $2.5 million ahead.
Pension fund administrator John Keane said a fourth quarterly payment was due from the City, and said he contacted the mayor’s office to ensure City Hall kept up with the payments.
“The rubber’s meeting the road here pretty soon, and I’m just making sure I’ve got all our bases covered,” said Keane. “That money goes into the pension fund in lieu of the City contribution, so the money is going to come.”
Keane said the City owed about $800,000 to cover its July–through–September payment. The Article 5 changes went into effect July 1. Still Thoburn said the City should still have enough money collected under last year’s structure to make the pension payment.