Brevard County commissioners will question constitutional officers on spending ahead of budget

In an effort to manage and anticipate budget needs, the Brevard Board of County Commissioners Monday voted to submit questions to the county's various constitutional offices regarding their spending for the next budget year.

Constitutional officers are those elected officials who, although funded by the county, are independent from the governing body of the County Commission, which ultimately decides the budget. Because the constitutional offices are independently elected, the county manager does not set their budget as with other departments in the government.

At Monday's special meeting, prompted at District 3 Commissioner John Tobia's request, the commission discussed concerns that the independently elected constitutional officers could be asking for more than the county is willing to pay for and without justification.

Tobia himself is running to replace current constitutional officer Tim Bobanic, the supervisor of elections, in next years election cycle. Bobanic and others pushed back against the County Commission's lack of budget workshops this year.

The county will now be submitting questions to those offices seeking detailed explanations for budget increases over the county's charter cap. Only District 2 Commissioner Tom Goodson voted against sending questions to the constitutional offices.

Constitutional offices will receive questions on their spending related to membership fees, travel, mailings and vehicles among other areas as the county looks for areas to cut back on spending increases.

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Currently, the Brevard County Property Appraiser's Office submission shows an 8.03% annual increase in expenses; the Supervisor of Elections Office is showing a hefty 19.4% increase in expenses; and the Brevard County Sheriff's Office is showing an anticipated 6.8% increase for next year.Other offices such as the Clerk of Courts have come in right at the 3% limit and the Public Defender's Office has even reduced their budget needs.

Constitutional officers are those elected officials who, although funded by the county, are independent from the governing body of the County Commission which ultimately decides the budget. Because the constitutional offices are independently elected, the county manager does not set their budget as with other departments in the government.

Newly selected District 5 Commissioner Jason Steele, who was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis this past week, listened in on the meeting by telephone, but did not participate as he has not yet been sworn into office. He will replace Kristine Zonka who took the state appointed job of leading the Florida Department of Health in Brevard County earlier this year.

Limiting how much individual offices can raise their budgets is the voter-approved provision in the county’s charter that limits the amount the county can raise property taxes to whichever is less: 3% or the rate of inflation. Breaking that cap would require a unanimous vote by the board.

Under the county’s governing structure, the County Manager Frank Abbate will provide a budget to the board in July. Budget requests currently submitted by the constitutional offices are not final, with the final proposals being due Aug. 1. Two public budget meetings will be held in September before the final budget takes effect Oct. 1.

Commission Chair Rita Pritchett said it was important for the board to properly evaluate the spending needs of the constitutional offices before granting them major increases in funds, which could create a need for cuts elsewhere or tax hikes down the line.

"There's an extremely good chance that a lot of these things are appropriate, but since we don't have the ability to to ask the questions, which make it comfortable to the public, that is giving me a little bit of concern right now," Pritchett said. She said without the constitutional officers present, sending letters to their offices would be the easiest way to streamline the information gathering process.

"I just think answering questions today would have been a very, very nice thing," Pritchett said. "I totally respect all our constitutional officers but information is always a good thing." Constitutional officers will have until June 28 to respond to a questionnaire on their spending asks. Earlier this year, the County Commission canceled its budget workshops without rescheduling them. Those workshops typically serve as a venue where details that may be cause for concern can be evaluated and addressed. Three of the county's constitutional officers responded to the Commission's concerns by email Monday afternoon.

Brevard County Property Appraiser Dana Blickley wrote in her email that Monday's meeting was "disingenuous" considering the Commission never held public budget workshops this year.

Blickley's email goes on: "This is antithetical to the idea of an open, transparent, honest and unified government.  Therefore, this office is requesting the Board of County Commissioners reinstate public budget hearings to include all Constitutional Officers and all County Departments for FY 2023-24 and all future budgets.  As we did in the past when this option was available, this office would welcome the opportunity to openly discuss our budget request with our government partners and more importantly the citizens that deserve factual and unfiltered access and transparency."

Tax Collector Lisa Cullen said: "I am echoing Appraiser Blickley’s request for public budget hearings to ensure transparency.  I would welcome the opportunity to discuss the Tax Collector Office budget to include funding sources and expenditures."

In Supervisor of Elections Tim Bobanic's email, he lamented that the County Commission admonished his and other offices without giving them a proper chance to respond.

"I, too, am echoing Appraiser Blickley’s request for public budget hearings to ensure transparency," Bobanic wrote. "I would welcome the opportunity to discuss the Supervisor of Elections Office budget, along with all of the other constitutional officers in a public forum."

Tyler Vazquez is the North Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Vazquez at 321-917-7491 or tvazquez@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @tyler_vazquez

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: County commissioners will question constitutional officers on spending