by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
A State plan to have counties pick up the tab for about 20 percent of the Department of Juvenile Justice’s budget drew a unanimous rebuke from the City Council Tuesday. But the City is still preparing to spend about $4 million on the plan next year.
The Council voted 14-0 to ask Gov. Jeb Bush to veto the bill, which transfers from the State to counties the cost of detaining juveniles prior to court verdicts. Council members and City lobbyists said the bill would force counties to pay millions without any say in how the department is run. Those opponents concede that Bush is unlikely to overturn the plan. It originated in the governor’s office and passed both the Senate and House by a combined vote of 155 to 2.
Brad Thoburn, the City’s director of state and federal affairs, said the City would like to avoid funding the DJJ, which he said had a questionable reputation for efficiency. However, he said the cost had 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.
“If you separate the funder from the authorizer, there’s always going to be questions about how things are run.”
Council member Suzanne Jenkins compared the situation to “me shopping on your VISA card.” Under the State plan, counties are expected to spend $90 million on the DJJ next year, about 17 percent of its budget. Without a supervisory role for counties, Jenkins said the DJJ wouldn’t have a reason to control costs.
State Rep. Don Davis said he understood the City’s reluctance to pay for a State-run operation. However, he said the DJJ costs would be balanced by an estimated $5 million windfall from other shifts in court funding.
“I share the City Council’s concern about funding something they don’t have control of, but you have to look at the big picture,” said Davis, a former Council president. “I looked at this from a bottom-line perspective, and I was assured that this was not going to hurt the local ledger sheet.”
Davis estimated Duval County would net an extra $1.2 million when the court shifts are finished. Thoburn was more conservative. He said the City would probably break even or realize a small gain.
The numbers have shifted repeatedly over the past year as the State Legislature has restructured how the State pays for its courts. With the DJJ now firmly entrenched in the City’s debit column, Jenkins worried the City would have to stretch a tight budget even further if projected windfalls aren’t realized.
“Guys like (Davis) and (State Rep. Dick) Kravitz both came from this Council, they know the difficulty trying to balance a budget,” said Jenkins. “It could impact our roads and our general fund and how we can spend money on quality-of-life issues.”
Although it’s unlikely to sway Bush, Thoburn said the Council’s veto request would still prove useful. He said it would help establish the City’s position in future deliberations.