by David Ball
Staff Writer
Mayor John Peyton has said the City of Jacksonville’s 2007-08 budget is as lean and trim as possible, so much so that new fees for garbage and stormwater services were needed to balance state-mandated revenue cuts.
Well, it looks as though taxpayers are going to get a second opinion.
Florida TaxWatch, a private non-profit research group that has earned a reputation as a government spending watchdog, is coming to Jacksonville, said TaxWatch President and CEO Dominic Calabro.
“We have been asked to review the city’s spending and see how can we do things better, smarter, more efficiently,” said Calabro. “Jacksonville is already known for its good fiscal practices, but this shows a lot of leadership and foresight from some of your city leaders who say, ‘we don’t want to sit on our laurels.’”
Those city leaders include Council President Daniel Davis and Vice President Ronnie Fussell, who Calabro said recently gave TaxWatch the official invite.
“We have met with them and are in preliminary discussions,” said Davis. “We’ll be looking for duplications and inefficiencies, and hopefully we can find some of that. Just about any organization, including our own family finances, can be made more efficient.”
Calabro said he hopes to have TaxWatch staff in Jacksonville within the next two months, and after four months of research and investigation, the group plans to present formal recommendations to the City Council and mayor’s office.
“We’ll look to see what areas we could reduce some unnecessary levels of bureaucracy, and we’ll just advise and recommend best practices,” he said. “This will be an independent evaluation.”
Mayor John Peyton’s spokesperson Misty Skipper said based on the results TaxWatch has achieved across the state, the mayor welcomes the group “into the fold” of the City’s finances.
“The mayor tries very hard to be a good steward for the taxpayers’ dollars, and we certainly would look forward to any recommendations that they may have,” said Skipper. “The departments and divisions throughout the city are providing information to (Council Auditor) Kirk Sherman’s office to make sure they have the information that Florida TaxWatch is requesting.”
So what makes TaxWatch qualified to evaluate the City’s finances? Well, the group’s own research reports its efforts around the state have saved Florida taxpayers more than $6.2 billion since 1979 — about $1,067 back into the pockets of every Florida family.
Some of the group’s recommendations to the state legislature have included: The Truth in Millage (TRIM) law that kept taxpayers informed of property tax levies by governments; the 1994 constitutional amendment limiting government growth by tying revenue collection to growth in personal income; and the Property Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights, to name a few.
Presently, Florida TaxWatch has openly criticized the policies behind the proposed constitutional amendment for property tax reform on the Jan. 29 ballot, although the group still favors some type of property tax reform.
The Tallahassee-based group, which has existed in some form for more than 25 years, works closely with state legislators, although TaxWatch routinely works with local governments almost like a consultant to help reform budget and taxing policies.
In 1997, the Hillsborough County Commission voted twice to solicit the help of TaxWatch, said Calabro. With close to $250,000 raised from the business community (the group does not accept payment from governments), TaxWatch performed an extensive management audit, cost savings analysis and other services to streamline the county’s spending.
Calabro said he will expect to raise at least that same amount to perform a similar audit in Jacksonville. However, he said he feels that shouldn’t be a problem with TaxWatch Board of Directors Chair David Smith, a Jacksonville businessman, leading the charge.
“As a business person in the city, we will help support and raise money so that it is not funded by the city, the state, the politicians, but funded by us, the constituents of the city,” said Smith. “Government is not set up to look at itself to be more efficient.”
Smith, an accounting graduate from University of North Florida, worked as a CPA with Coopers & Lybrand until joining Jacksonville-based PSS World Medical in 1987. He now serves as chairman and CEO.
As TaxWatch board chair, Smith will oversee Calabro and his staff of about 20 as they manage a roughly $2 million budget used to initiate studies and research and convey findings with recommendations of action to government leaders, civic leaders or anyone else with a stake in Florida’s economy.
Smith replaced former TaxWatch Board Chairman Mike Jennings, who is a Prudential executive based in Jacksonville. Smith said although his and Jennings’ leadership styles may be different, the key issues across Jacksonville and the state will get the same attention.
“Mike is a pro at the political environment, whereas I come at it as a businessman and entrepreneur,” said Smith, a board member of TaxWatch for eight years. “But with that said, I’m still happy to go mix it up with any politician and put a face on these issues.”
Calabro said it is very rare for one Florida city to be represented at the chair position in back-to-back years, and it’s quite serendipitous for it to happen at the same time when TaxWatch is preparing to take an in-depth look at that city’s finances and operations.
“Times dictated it — that we’ve had our second chair from Jacksonville,” said Calabro. “We didn’t even know about the possibility of this Jacksonville request (to review spending) that came after. It just sort of fell into place.”