by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Former State Legislator and current Clerk of the Courts Jim Fuller appealed to the Duval Delegation Friday seeking budgetary assistance. According to Fuller, his office is underfunded by several million dollars and he believes the State Legislature can help.
Fuller said he has recently talked to many people in Tallahassee about the issue.
“They all agree, my budget is about $10 million less (than comparable circuits),” said Fuller. “The problem is, where to get the money. I sent $6 million back to Tallahassee last year. Duval County is the largest donor county in the state.”
Fuller said his office — which includes Duval, Nassau and Clay counties — handles about 430,000 cases a year. Every case and every filing includes a fee and a portion of that fee is then sent back to Tallahassee. Those fees, and the percent returned to the capital, are set by the Legislature.
“What I need is a little help,” said Fuller. “I can’t hire any more people or do the things you want me to do unless I increase my budget. The caseload in Duval County is not going down, I assure you.”
The meeting was the first of the year for the full Delegation and likely the only full meeting before the legislative session begins in early March. Fuller was the first of several speakers and was asked by former Delegation Chairman Stan Jordan what the Delegation could to help his cause.
“Implement a bill so I can increase my budget,” said Fuller, who stressed he is not seeking more money, but rather a bill that would reduce the percentage of fees he sends to Tallahassee.
“I am willing to do whatever it takes to help Mr. Fuller,” said Jordan, adding the situation reminds him how public schools across the state are funded — another discrepancy that can only be addressed by the State Legislature.
State Rep. Charles McBurney said he understands the value of Fuller’s office and, as an attorney, uses it often. He suggested Fuller may save some money by going to an entirely electronic filing system. Fuller said if the Florida Supreme Court will allow, he’ll become entirely electronic after May. However, he will still need personnel to process the documents and going electronic will have a minimal impact on his budget.
“We will be more efficient, but the caseload has not gone down since I took office,” said Fuller.
One of the things that seemed to irk Fuller was the Legislature’s decision last year to shift funds from the Clerk of the Courts Trust Fund.
“Last year, you took $80 million out of the Clerk’s Trust Fund and put it in the general fund,” said Fuller, explaining if he had access to those funds — that Trust Fund was at $100 million — he would not be standing before the Delegation seeking help.
The other major issue the Delegation heard Friday was the ongoing water issue between Central and North Florida. McBurney was asked by State Sen. Jim King to serve as a liaison between North Florida and the St. Johns River Water Management District, which will ultimately decide if Central Florida can siphon up to 260 million gallons of water a day from the river.
During his research, McBurney found that several laws and acts governing ownership of the river have passed over the years. What he concluded was the river is owned by the people of the State of Florida, regardless where they live.
“The St. Johns River is the property of the people of Florida, not the adjacent landowners,” said McBurney. “There are a lot of questions involving this issue and the courts gave great deference to the water management districts.”
Kirby Green, the executive director of the St. Johns River Water Management District, addressed the Delegation for the better part of an hour. Green said the District has been working on the issue since the mid 1990s after being told by the Legislature to look at potable water issues 20 years down the road.
“We will be collectively short about 300 million gallons a day for the planning horizon through 2030,” said Green, who stressed the entire state — not just those vying for water from the St. Johns River — must begin looking at alternative water sources in the very near future.
“By the year 2030, it will take 1.1 billion gallons a day to meet the public demand for water in this area,” said Green, adding that 700 million gallons of that will come from ground water. He does not know where the other 300 million will come from. “I know we have to diversify our sources to meet that demand.”
Green said his District is working with homebuilders and community developers in an attempt to begin water conservation-friendly construction and development. He also said it won’t be long before Central Florida formally goes after water from the St. Johns.
“Over the next 18 to 24 months, we expect applications from Central Florida for larger removals of water from the St. Johns River,” said Green.
The Delegation voted in favor of a resolution that officially opposes that removal. According to St. Johns Riverkeeper Neil Armingeon, the Delegation is now one of about 30 government and citizen organizations on the record as opposing the water withdrawal.