In response to a $42 million budget shortfall, Pinellas County is proposing significant cuts to the County\u2019s Parks and Recreation budget. These are set to include all lifeguards at Fort De Soto and Sand Key, and the elimination of the Shell Key and Weedon Island Preserves.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, departments across the County have been forced to make tough financial choices due to new state-imposed financial burdens,\u201d Paul Cozzie, Director, Parks and Conservation Resources, said in a letter sent to stakeholders on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew unfunded mandates from the state, like required increases to the pension funds for public safety and law enforcement officers, have left the County with a $42 million gap to fill for the coming fiscal year and all departments of the County Government were required to cut costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is unrelated to the proposed homestead exemption increase on the ballot in November,\u201d Cozzie continued, highlighting the passage in his letter.<\/p>\n
In an interview Thursday, County Commissioner Brian Scott expressed dismay with the potential cuts but emphasized the County had limited options with resources stretched thin.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery year we get unfunded mandates from the state. I think this year it\u2019s $12 million; last year was in the $5-10 million range \u2026 We have to take it from general fund taxes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to see us [make cuts], but we may have a fiscal reality where we need to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scott warned that the pressure coming from Tallahassee to cut municipal budgets was likely to increase rather than abate, describing the 2027 budget as a \u201cdress rehearsal\u201d for the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if Amendment 3 doesn\u2019t pass, it\u2019s going to come back in some other form,\u201d Scott said. \u201cNext year, every 20 years, the state has a budget and tax review committee. If Amendment 3 doesn\u2019t pass, I\u2019m quite sure they will take this up and it will come back in some other form.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to keep something in the budget or add something in the budget I\u2019m going to have to take away next year anyway. People want relief.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weedon and Shell Key were selected for elimination from the budget due to the fact that they are owned by the State and simply maintained by Pinellas County, said Cozzie. Their staff would be reassigned. Per Scott, the lifeguarding program is understaffed and present at only a few beaches across the County.<\/p>\n
Parks Director Cozzie suggested these cuts would realize savings of $847,000 in FY2027. \u201cThese proposed budget reductions are not a final decision and remain under review as part of the budget approval process,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of these budget cut decisions are extremely difficult,\u201d Commissioner Kathleen Peters, whose district includes Weedon Island, said in a prepared statement. \u201cBut with a pending constitutional amendment to increase Homestead exemptions, we have little choice but to start cutting our budget now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lawyer and Democratic state House candidate for District 60, Lindsay Polega-Quigley, condemned the cuts to lifeguards and parks. \u201cI funded my college education by lifeguarding,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re very lucky to have that. Unmanned swimming areas are at risk for drownings, and this has been exemplified across the state in areas where we don\u2019t fund lifeguards.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re already struggling to fund, and now we\u2019re talking about cutting even more. This is the result \u2013 this is what happens when you don\u2019t have enough money for essential programs.\u201d<\/p>\n
At Weedon Island, Friends of Weedon Island President Bill Fehring warned that withdrawal of County support would threaten its survival as a heritage site. \u201cThe Preserve has become an important recreational, educational, and cultural facility serving the Tampa Bay area, in addition to preserving the largest contiguous estuarine wetland area in Pinellas County.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven the uncertainty that the State could and would provide equivalent support for the Preserve, the abandonment of the current County program would likely result in the loss of most or all of the current significant benefits the Preserve provides Pinellas County citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weedon Island has been run under a 50-year lease agreement agreed as a result of advocacy by then-Commissioner Barbara Sheen Todd. Todd was concerned that Weedon was not being adequately protected under state management. According to documents shared with Catalyst, that lease agreement may be terminated with six months\u2019 notice or at the start of any fiscal year where County funds are not appropriated for its upkeep.<\/p>\n
\u201cWeedon Island has a very special place in my heart. It is a true gem for Pinellas County,\u201d said Peters. \u201cIt has been an honor for the county to manage that land since 1995.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a prepared statement, Melissa Rutland, a realtor and Republican candidate for District 60, which includes Weedon Island, said, \u201cI disagree with the premise that fulfilling our commitment to public safety and law enforcement pensions must inherently result in the defunding of cherished local treasures like Weedon Island and Shell Key.<\/p>\n
\u201cI trust that when the Pinellas County Commission thoroughly reviews this proposed budget, they will identify more commonsense solutions that protect our first responders\u2019 pensions while continuing to fully fund our parks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reached for comment, Pinellas County Commissioner Vince Nowicki emphasized that the proposed cuts came from the County Administrator rather than the elected Commissioners. He added that he did not support the cuts. \u201cThere are a lot of other places to tighten our belts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
District 61 State Representative Linda Chaney (R\u2013St. Petersburg) confirmed that she \u201cwill advocate at the State for funding for Weedon Island\u201d at the state level.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe County is responsible for their budget, and they have to do what they feel they need to do,\u201d Chaney said. \u201cAnd the voters are watching.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important for decision makers and Pinellas citizens to recognize that County management of Weedon Island Preserve is essential for the protection and stewardship of numerous cultural heritage sites,\u201d said University of Tampa Professor Kendal Jackson.<\/p>\n
\u201cCounty management also is the main mechanism for public access and engagement with the cultural and natural history preserved at Weedon Island.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m elated that Rep. Chaney and Commissioner Nowicki are working toward solutions for the continued stewardship and management of Weedon Island Preserve.\u201d<\/p>\n
The County budget presentation is scheduled for Aug. 11. Commissioners will expect to vote on the final budget sometime in September.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In response to a $42 million budget shortfall, Pinellas County is proposing significant cuts to the County\u2019s Parks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":365763,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-365762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}