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Margate Commissioner Fights Unfunded State Mandates in Tallahassee
• Commissioner Pam Donovan represents Margate Taxpayers at this year's legislative session
Sunday,
March 28, 2010
Margate Commissioner, Pam Donovan attended Broward Days in Tallahassee this month as part of an effort to get Margate’s voice heard during this year’s Florida Legislative Session. With Margate facing a possible $4 million budgetary shortfall in 2010, Donovan and other Broward County elected officials are asking state lawmakers to stop legislating unfunded mandates, as taxpayers in their cities can no longer afford them.
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What is an unfunded mandate?
Unfunded mandates in Florida require local governments, such as Margate, to bill taxpayers for services required by the state without the state contributing funds to support said required services.
In addition, say critics, unfunded mandates cost taxpayers millions every year and they aren't even afforded the opportunity to vote on them.
One example in Margate is state mandated “extra” pension benefits for police and fire personnel that go above and beyond pensions already funded by local property taxes. For example, Margate residents already support local fire and police pensions through ad valorem taxes. But the state requires that a larger piece of the local taxpayer pie go toward enhancing an already exceptional pension package for these workers. At the same time, taxable property values across Broward County continue to diminish at an alarming rate, which likely will result in financial crisis for more than one Broward city this year.
The bottom line with unfunded mandates, say representatives of the Florida Association of Counties and Florida League of Cities , is that they cost Broward County residents an estimated $73 million a year, and they erode the ability of local governments to provide residents with the services they desire on their own terms.
Margate’s Fair Share of Casino Profits
Donovan is also lobbying in Tallahassee this year for Margate’s piece of Seminole Compact dollars should the agreement pass state muster. The Seminoles can’t build their 24-story hotel, shopping and entertainment complex in Coconut Creek without the Compact and negotiations with the Tribe last year stalled.
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