SPRINGFIELD — Springfield commissioners’ only option for the city if they do not approve an ad valorem tax is dissolving, city officials said.
“They’re basically trying everything they can not to do that,” City Attorney Kevin Obos said.
There are two ways for a city to dissolve. The first is by an ordinance passed by the commission calling for a vote by a majority of the people. That route is unlikely.
“The commission will not support it,” Mayor Ralph Hammond said.
The other way is for a member of the Florida House of Representatives to propose a bill to dissolve the city.
There is precedent in Bay County for the ordinance method. Cedar Grove dissolved, becoming an unincorporated Bay County community, in 2008.
With a 3-2 vote on Aug. 28, 2008, the Cedar Grove Commission voted for an “Ordinance Dissolving the Town of Cedar Grove.” On Sept. 30, 2008, the citizens of Cedar Grove voted to dissolve the city by a 61 percent margin, with turnout of about 33 percent of the city’s registered voters.
The process actually started much earlier. Former Cedar Grove City Commissioner Janet Beier, who was elected on the platform of dissolving the town, demanded an audit of the town’s finances in 2005. The mismanagement was extensive, she said. Beier said the city had borrowed $2 million without telling anyone. A former city clerk told Beier she found a bag of money in a filing cabinet.
“The town had $3.6 million in outstanding revenue bonds,” County Attorney Terrell Arline wrote in an article for the Florida Bar Journal, which appeared in the May 2013 issue.
Beier then worked to gather signatures for a petition. The idea of dissolution was not brought up until 2007. She said it took an election, during which two pro-dissolution were elected, to break a 3-2 vote on the commission. Beier added getting the people involved was essential.
“We had our commission room packed with people,” the former commissioner said.
County Commissioner George Gainer said that, in a hypothetical scenario, if Springfield dissolved, the city would become an unincorpoated community in the county. According to state statute, a city could dissolve into a surrounding municipality. Gainer said Springfield would have the option to vote into a different municipality, but only after dissolving into the county.
“We’re not particularly anxious to liquidate a city,” Gainer said. “Springfield, they’ve done the very best they can. They’re not mismanaged, as it’s a sign of the times.”
With Cedar Grove, the county assumed the city’s assets and liability. To cover services for Cedar Grove, Gainer said taxes did go up. Hammond has brought up in two previous Springfield budget meetings that the county would raise taxes for Springfield residents if the city dissolved.
“They actually had more assets than liability,” Gainer said. “It was almost seamless.”
All debts and assets in Cedar Grove were transferred Dec. 1 2008. Arline details in his article the implications when the Cedar Grove Police Department was disbanded.
“The most contentious and politically heated issue involved the local police force,” Arline wrote. “Dissolution became an immediate problem for the local police officers when the town fell under the jurisdiction of the Bay County sheriff. Firing an entire police department is not something for which a county manager trains.
“The sheriff had to hire four new deputies. This turned out to be one of the largest budgetary implications for Bay County.”
State action unlikely
Since Springfield commissioners are adamant they will not support dissolution, there is the state Legislature method. Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, and Rep. Jimmy Patronis, R-Panama City, said that is even more unlikely.
“There’d have to be very strong support for a local bill,” Gaetz said.
Gaetz said dissolution would have to begin as a local bill, agreed upon by the Bay County delegation that currently includes Gaetz, Patronis and Rep. Marti Coley, R-Marianna, before the start of session. Gaetz said the bill would have to be brought forward by a House member. Then the bill would have to go through the entire legislative process. Patronis envisioned a scenario where a Local Government Committee meeting, which he chairs, might take 10 hours arguing the issue.
“It’s a little unfair that I demand legislation to my colleagues without them being affected,” Patronis said. “It’s a very local issue.”
Patronis added that representatives from Cedar Grove asked him about proposing a bill. He said he responded, “I won’t be filing that with the Legislature. That’s not an argument I need to make.”
Both Patronis and Coley have reached term limits for their house seats, as Gaetz has done in the Senate.
Obos said only one or two Springfield residents have brought up the idea of dissolution in commission meetings.
“People are supportive and proud of Springfield,” he said.
Although Hammond said Springfield is aiming for a property tax between 3 and 3.5 mills, he also said a millage of 4.16 would be necessary to cover the city’s proposed budget of $810,905. One mill equates to $1 of tax for every $1,000 of value.
Hammond and other commissioners said they are not sure what can be cut from that budget after their last meeting Monday.
Beier recalls one of the things that especially irked Cedar Grove residents was the suggestion of a 4 mill property tax, Beier said.
“They wanted to raise ours up to 4 mills,” Beier said, speaking of Cedar Grove. “That made my hair stand up on end. Not when they’re spending money foolishly.”