What happens when the Florida Legislature, which is in charge of the state budget, can't afford to pay for everything? It shifts the burden to city and county budgets.
According to the Florida Association of Counties a number of unfunded mandates are passed down to our 67 counties:
Medicaid - $213 million
Department of Juvenile Justice - $100 million
Revenue Sharing Loss - $262 million - Since 1999, tax cuts by the Legislature have resulted in a series of revenue cuts to county budgets
Court Facilities - $83 million
Solid Waste Recycling Grants Loss - $17 million - Counties are mandated to do this and costs initially were picked up by grants – which were later cut from the state budget.
Special Risk Retirement, Disability and Workers Compensation - These costs cover the special needs of firefighters and law enforcement personnel
Mental Health Treatment in Jails - actual dollar amount unknown, but this is a significant recurring impact to county budgets.
Environmental and Growth Management Compliance - actual dollar amount unknown but this is a significant recurring impact to county budgets - Completion of each county’s comprehensive land use plan requires that the plan has built-in financial feasibility
Zero Tolerance - $100 million
The quantifiable total is close to $1 billion in unfunded mandates - yet the financial impact of three mandates highlighted above cannot be quantified.
In other words, each year local governments are covering $1 billion of expenses that were historically the responsibility of the state, with no state funding support attached.
And while the Legislature is currently debating the largest local government revenue cut in state history, they are at the same time discussing additional unfunded mandates.
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