Citrus Chronicle
By: Jim Hunter (jhunter@chronicleonline.com)
Published: 12-Dec-2004

Citrus County Commission chairwoman Vicki Phillips says some tough issues that the county commission will be chewing on in early 2005, such as new road projects and fire and law enforcement services, will involve where the money will come from to pay for growth.

"Our biggest issue is growth," she said in an interview with the Chronicle's editorial board last week.

The tough issues also will include impact fees and special taxing units, as well as the aesthetics of modular homes in the residential areas, and design standards for smaller commercial properties.

Transportation issues as they relate to growth will be a major concern, she said.

Two big ongoing elements of that in 2005 will be the $75 million combined widening projects on County Roads 486 and 491.

Phillips said she would like to see C.R. 486 expanded all the way to State Road 44 before development along western C.R. 486 makes that right-of-way more expensive.

In regard to that, though, she said further such improvements that are needed to keep up with rapid growth mean that the county will have to examine its policy of paying as it goes for big projects.

"I think we're going to have to look at new revenue sources," she said. That includes gas tax and borrowing, she said, adding that all options need to be considered.

Phillips said she still supports the Suncoast Parkway going through the county. If it had not already come to the county's southern border, she said, she might have a different opinion, but given that, she added, "It's here and we need to deal with it."

Growth key issue

With growth the overriding issue, Phillips said, "I believe growth should pay for itself," and she is in favor of adopting fees at the level recommended by the county's consultant.

To those who say impact fees deter growth, she said, just look at the growth since the county raised the fees a few years ago — growth has only increased.

Because the quality of life is so high in Citrus County, she said, people take impact fees in stride as part of the cost, though she admits that there is a point at which fees could make homes, for example, unaffordable. Builders warn the county could drive buyers to adjacent counties if impact fees get too high.

But with larger, more expensive, new homes being the norm these days, Phillips said, impact fees have a real effect in paying for growth, working for everyone.

She noted that the county started behind in impact fee levels and that it is already behind in its own three-year fee review schedule — money which is simply lost, she said. Phillips said the key is having the courage to stay with whatever the consultant says is a fair fee, based on the actual data, rather than imposing fees incrementally and becoming even farther behind.

Proposed impact fees have been criticized by some as being too high, particularly in the small commercial development categories. Phillips noted that businesses have the ability to challenge impact fees. If they can show county staff their business doesn't have the computed effect, they can have the impact fee reduced. That might or might not take a consultant, depending on the situation.

Phillips said that in another revenue issue, the fees Citrus County charges its utility customers need to be revised. She said the county is now, in effect, subsidizing the water and sewer rates. The county is now about 7 percent below what it should be in hookup fees, 10 percent behind what it should be in water rates and about 20 percent behind what it should be in sewer rates, according to its consultant's study.

Those shortfalls mean the county has to borrow money for expansion projects rather than have utility funds on hand to do it. If it can't do the job efficiently, Phillips said the county shouldn't be in the utility business.

Water quality

While the county has done a good job in addressing water quality on the West Side of the county with it's regional sewer expansion project, Phillips said, it now needs to address the issue on the East Side of the county.

The county is planning a regional facility at the Inverness facility near the airport, and it will reuse the water for irrigation, which will solve the city's current problems with the state regarding plant and spray field, while supplying capacity for getting septic takes off the lakes and sensitive areas.

As it is doing on the West Side of the county, that project will use special assessment districts for those affected by the project, and so it will be important for residents to get citizens to buy into the idea in the New Year, she said.

Other projects

Phillips said the commission has agreed to look into the need for the Inverness Airport expansion and an adjacent business park, but she needs more convincing on some aspects.

She also noted that Sheriff Jeff Dawsy is saying he needs a new Emergency Operations Center (EOC), three new helicopters to replace Vietnam-era aircraft and new personnel. She said the hurricane-hardened room at the county building in Lecanto might be used as a new EOC.

The county also is on the verge of moving into a paid firefighter system, and where the money for that and increased law enforcement expenses will come from must be figured out. The commission recently voted not to employ one type of special taxing district, Municipal Service Benefit Units (MSBUs), across the board.

The commission is looking at the MSBUs and Municipal Service Taxing Units (MSTUs) for assessment for operations and services, and in the coming months will review consultants' reports about the use of those to fund the various expenses to see how those might be used.

Another big project in the county in 2005, Phillips said, will be the Citrus County Resource Center and V.A. Clinic in Beverly Hills at the former Brown Schools facility. Phillips said that, after mutual agreement with the Veterans Administration, the county will renovate the wing to be leased by the V.A., and that the plan is to open by Oct. 1, 2005.

Phillips said that now the legislature has set up the Citrus and Hernando Waterways Restoration Council, it could have some leverage in the legislature to come up with some funding which the county might be willing to match for some restoration projects.

Phillips also has said she wants the county to expand the Central Ridge District Park with some soccer fields and walking trails, and money is in this year's budget for that from impact fees.