All I hear from the local cities, counties, and school boards is how tough things are.  The claim is how the budget cuts are apocalyptic in nature and how the local citizens will suffer as a result.  I appreciate the local police, fire, and teachers.  They do a fine service for the community.  I have plenty of friends, relatives, and associates that work for these government entities, so I know how hard they work and what they have to tolerate.

Being a conservative and a skeptic of large government, I started looking at the numbers for myself.  I am absolutely appalled (but not surprised) at the baloney being spread by the local governments of how they can't live with any of these budget cuts.

My first stop is the Orange County School Board.  Recently they have had very giant debacles because of major issues with Edgewater High School and Evans High School.  The superintendent Ronald Blocker has been right in the middle of this circus.  My personal opinion is that he is in way over his head, but that is a story for another day.  The 2007-2008 school year budgeted revenue from page 18 of their report is $1.31 billion, yikes!  Compared to the 2005-2006 school year also on page 18 of $1.12 billion.  That's a 17% increase in just 2 years (yes a $190 million increase in revenues).  Pupil enrollment in Orange County is basically flat, so I am sure there is plenty of places they can find to cut.  The schools certainly did not increase in enrollment by 17% in 2 years, so why can't they cut their budgets back to post boom numbers???

My next stop is the Seminole County School Board.  I live in Seminole County, so these are my tax dollars at work.  The Seminole school board is claiming they are going to make "unprecedented" budget cuts of up to $26 million.  According to their own budget posted on their website for the 2007-2008 school year at the bottom of page 15, the school district is estimating $482 million in revenue.  Big number, eh? So I figure if they are making such big cuts, what was their budget a few years ago at the height of the boom, $500 million, $550 million.  Nope I was totally wrong, in the 2005-2006 school year at the bottom of page 15, they were basing their budget on only $410 million in revenue.  Now considering that the district admits they have several thousand less students this year, why do they need the extra $72 million (which is an almost 18% increase in just 2 years).  That is a pretty "unprecedented" increase, isn't it?  Is there no fat to trim???  Even my 2nd grader knows that $482 million is way more than $410 million.  So what's the big deal if they only have to cut back $26 million from their previous budget.  They still will have $46 million more than 2 years ago, and now they have less students. 

My final stop is the City of Orlando.  The City of Orlando's fire department's budget for the 2007-2008 year (page 15) compared to the 2005-2006 year (page 16).  I would assume from all the crying I heard when Amendment 1 passed that services would greatly diminish putting all of us in danger.  But now I am looking at the real numbers.  The City of Orlando's fire department budgeted some $69 million in expenses for 07-08 compared to $61 million in 05-06. That is an $8 million increase in 2 years (or 13%).  In the last 2 years, nobody can argue that growth in the city has not been sluggish at best.  They can't find plenty of fat to trim in an $8 million additional revenue increase??? Give me a break.

I could go on and on and analyze every city and county and school board in Central Florida and find plenty of big revenue increases in most of them.  It is too bad that we cannot go online and look at the budget numbers from 2001-2002. I bet the budgets have doubled since that time in many jurisdictions. The point of this whole evaluation is that yes, we all know that times are tough right now.  During the boom years cities and counties saw their revenues balloon to windfall numbers.  Now that times are tight, the cities and counties need to give up some of that windfall.

If you think times are tough now, just wait until this Fall when assessed values have dropped 10-15% from last year and an "unprecedented" number of taxpayers start protesting their assessment.  The counties and cities will scream that the world is coming to an end.  Don't believe them.  The above numbers speak for themselves.  November elections are coming and many city, county, and school board members are up for re-election.  We all need to hold them accountable.

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(Copyright © 2008. Sand Dollar Realty Group, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Rob Arnold, ABR, CPL, CRB, GRI, Managing real estate broker, Licensed mortgage broker, Notary Public

407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318    www.SDRhouses.com/   www.WeBuyHousesFlorida.com/

Your full service and investor friendly Realtor in Orlando. Learn to invest in Central Florida real estate and Orlando real estate. Investor mentoring and counseling available. I also provide flat fee MLS listings, For Sale By Owner, and menu-based services in most parts of Central & South Florida, the Space Coast, and the Treasure Coast including Orlando, Winter Park, Maitland, Ocoee, Winter Garden, Apopka, Altamonte Springs, Casselberry, Longwood, Winter Springs, Oviedo, Lake Mary, Sanford, Deltona, Debary, Deland, Mount Dora, Eustis, Clermont, Kissimmee, Winter Haven, Lakeland, Tampa, Sarasota, Bradenton, Miami-Dade, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Port Saint Lucie, Melbourne, Daytona Beach, Ocala, Gainesville, Volusia, Brevard, and more.

We sell properties, list properties, and we buy houses cash throughout Central Florida and the metro Orlando area.