Fort Lauderdale Commissioner John Herbst has a message for elected officials in his own city and around the state predicting doom and gloom\u00a0if voters say yes to a property tax break in November: Buck up and get more efficient.<\/p>\n
\u201cNever once have I heard anybody ever mention, we\u2019re going to be more efficient,\u201d said Herbst, a self-described fiscal conservative and the lone Republican serving on the Fort Lauderdale commission. \u201cAll I\u2019ve heard is we\u2019re going to raise fees. We\u2019re going to raise taxes. We\u2019re going to cut services.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herbst\u2019s remarks came Tuesday during a meeting between the commission and the city\u2019s budget advisory board. The discussion centered on the millions Fort Lauderdale will lose in the event the statewide referendum known as Amendment 3 passes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the private sector \u2026 when our revenue drops, the first thing we do is look at ways we can do things more efficiently,\u201d Herbst told his colleagues. \u201cWe look at ways we can do more with less. I don\u2019t look for ways to keep my staff employed while revenue plummets. The answer has got to be, we\u2019re going to do more with less. And that never seems to be the answer in government. Government has this unique monopoly where we say, \u2018Great, we\u2019re going to charge you more.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Herbst\u2019s comments align with those of top Florida Republican leaders and their calls to rein in local government spending \u2014 including Gov. Ron DeSantis and Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia.<\/p>\n
State GOP leaders have championed the Amendment 3 ballot measure, saying it would force local governments to cut spending while giving homesteaded property owners a much-needed tax break.<\/p>\n
The prospect of losing millions in property tax revenues has triggered a fervent outcry from Democrats and left-leaning local officials who argue local governments would be forced to resort to layoffs and cut core public services.<\/p>\n
Florida\u2019s Amendment 3 would increase the non-school homestead exemption from $50,000 to $150,000 in 2027 and to $250,000 in 2028. To pass, it will need 60% voter approval on Nov. 3.<\/p>\n
Amendment 3 would cut property tax revenue in Fort Lauderdale by $17 million in the fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1, 2027. The following fiscal year beginning on Oct. 1, 2028, would take a bigger hit, with property tax revenues dropping by $27.3 million.<\/p>\n
In previous meetings, Herbst has said he backs Amendment 3 and plans to vote for it.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Herbst said his comments were directed at elected officials locally and throughout the state.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe always have to remember that government is not an employment agency,\u201d Herbst said. \u201cWe don\u2019t exist to employ people. We exist to provide services to our residents at the lowest cost possible. I never hear people say that that\u2019s our role. I always hear people say, \u2018We can\u2019t lay off staff, we can\u2019t cut staff.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
But Fort Lauderdale might have to do just that, Herbst said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver time, our workforce is going to decline naturally through attrition,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd also, it\u2019s going to have to be through strategic layoffs, where we\u2019re just going to simply find that we don\u2019t need as many people to do the job that we\u2019re doing today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moments earlier, a stark warning came from the chair of Fort Lauderdale\u2019s budget advisory board about the ramifications of Amendment 3.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe big elephant in the room is property tax reform,\u201d Bill Brown, the board\u2019s chair, told the commission. \u201cWe won\u2019t know until November how that\u2019s going to play out. But we do have concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n
The gross taxable value of properties in Fort Lauderdale has reached a staggering $67.5 billion, bringing the city\u2019s total tax revenue to $278.2 million. That tax revenue funds about half of the city\u2019s operating budget.<\/p>\n
But if residents across the state vote for a tax break in November, Fort Lauderdale could be forced to make strategic cuts and\/or increase the municipal tax rate and fees, Brown told the commission.<\/p>\n
Mayor Dean Trantalis had his own words of warning.\n<\/p>\n
Government efficiency might not be as great as it sounds, Trantalis said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it comes down to the nitty-gritty, what are we talking about?\u201d he said. \u201cWhen someone says efficiencies, that means telling people to work longer hours \u2026 or we\u2019re laying off people. Those are the realities. We can dance around those topics, but those are the realities. People don\u2019t want to say it or hear it.\u201d<\/p>\n
But increasing fees will only add to the burden already being shouldered by residents, said Olivier Cale, who serves with Brown on the budget advisory board.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe other side of the equation is how do we save money,\u201d Cale told the commission.<\/p>\n
Cale questioned the wisdom of moving forward with the construction of a new City Hall priced at $217 million.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the worst time to commit to a new City Hall,\u201d Cale said. \u201cWe can\u2019t create miracles. I think we have to cut some budgets. Maybe some service levels will change. (Building a new) City Hall seems to be the wrong decision at the wrong time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Commissioner Steve Glassman posed several questions to Cale: \u201cYou mention we need to go deeper. Where do you see the bloat? Where do you see the need to cut positions? Where have you dug in to say, \u2018This department is overstaffed?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Cale pointed to the city manager\u2019s office and Fort Lauderdale\u2019s strategic communications division. Both departments grew under Rickelle Williams, the former city manager who resigned on July 2, more than a year after stepping into the role.<\/p>\n
Cale urged the commission to take a deeper look at what can be cut.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you don\u2019t swallow the pill now you might have to have surgery later,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need to go on a serious diet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brown, chair of the budget advisory board, chimed in.<\/p>\n
Before she left, the former city manager did take a look at the possibility of trimming each city department by 5%, Brown said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t direct staff (to consider that),\u201d Brown said. \u201cWe can ask. But I think it would behoove us all to take a look at that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The mayor responded with alarm: \u201cFive % off of police, 5% off of fire? Let\u2019s not go there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herbst spoke up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d love to actually see whatever was put together,\u201d he said. \u201cIf staff has already done that exercise, please share that with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Said Brown: \u201cThat would help the foundation for moving forward next year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fort Lauderdale Commissioner John Herbst has a message for elected officials in his own city and around the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376520,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[506,28,249,251,250,114,266,109],"class_list":["post-376519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-broward-county","tag-florida","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-social"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376519","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=376519"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376519\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}