As city commissioners look to property tax to help fund infrastructure maintenance, they have also opened up the possibility of using funds from utility services to bolster other city deficiencies.
While discussing the proposal of the city’s first property tax increase since 1991 to fund street repairs, commissioners asked for the possibility of other funding sources for roads, including transferring funds from the city’s solid waste fund and water and sewer fund.
Consensus among the commissioners was to explore the option of using monies from the utility funds to fill other deficient areas in the city’s budget, like being able to attract and maintain a quality workforce.
According to the city finance department, Plant City has grown by 5,000 people since 2008, but has 64 fewer employees. The city has previously used reserve funds to balance the general fund, but that is only a short-term solution and not a sound long-term financial policy, according to the finance department.
“What it really comes down to is the expectation of the level of service from our community,” Commissioner Nate Kilton said. “To me, it wouldn’t make sense to raise the ad valorem (property) tax and keep those rates the same. I’m not necessarily convinced that we won’t need both.”
Beginning with the 2018-2019 budget cycle, the city’s chief financial officer Diane Reichard said, it could be possible to transfer up to 6% from the utility funds into the general fund.
“What it really comes down to is the expectation of the level of service from our community. To me, it wouldn’t make sense to raise the ad valorem (property) tax and keep those rates the same. I’m not necessarily convinced that we won’t need both.”
— Commissioner Nate Kilton
Combined, a 6% transfer from both funds could add $1.3 million to the city’s general fund.
Currently, there is a rate study for the city’s water and sewer utility rates, the first since 2013. Commissioners voted to authorize a new study for solid waste utility rates as well, the first since 2004. Interim City Manager Kim Leinbach said both studies should be complete by January, giving the finance department plenty of time to analyze whether any adjustments need to be made to the utility rates and if the money in both funds would be able to sustain a transfer to the general fund.
Mayor Rick Lott said money added to the general fund from utility funds could be used to “shore up” city agencies suffering from staff deficiencies. Many city agencies, like the recreation and parks department and the police department, are currently underfunded and understaffed, which could adversely impact the services the city provides.
Plant City Police Department Chief Ed Duncan told commissioners the department is currently operating below the national and regional standards for officers per 1,000 residents. According to the FBI’s 2014 Uniform Crime Report, the nationwide average is 2.3 officers per 1,000 residents, while in the South Atlantic Region, to which Plant City belongs, the average is 3 officers per 1,000 residents. PCPD, Duncan said, currently has about 1.75 officers per 1,000 residents.
“We would do well with two for every thousand,” Duncan said. “We would need 10 more officers.”
Currently, Duncan said, PCPD has about eight officers on duty per shift, but that number can often be six or seven. PCPD divides the city into nine zones, ten more full-time officers would allow for nine per shift, putting one officer in each zone.
The staffing issues extend to the dispatchers as well. PCPD dispatchers respond to fire and medical emergencies, as well as law enforcement emergencies, requiring more extensive certifications, Duncan said. Duncan said he has seen 13 dispatchers come and go since he took over the department in 2014.
Adequate pay can be an issue as well. Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office dispatchers are usually paid more and require less certification.
“It’s a very high-stress job with heavy turnover,” Duncan said. “You want good people answering those calls. They are the lynchpin, they are the ones who get the ball rolling in this city.”
As the city attempts to do far more with far fewer people, commissioners said they hope to continue to find new funding sources, like the potential utility fund transfers, to be able to attract and maintain a quality workforce.