Florida legislators face $750 million gap in next year's budget

TALLAHASSEE — The Legislature will need to come up with more than $750 million for next year’s state budget if lawmakers choose not to raise property taxes for schools and not to take cash from counties affected by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, a Senate budget committee learned Thursday.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, said he would not take the $325 million the Legislature promised to the eight Gulf Coast counties affected by the 2010 oil spill. The counties are Wakulla, Franklin, Gulf, Bay, Walton, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa and Escambia.

“I gave those people my word,” Latvala said. “We’ll just have to find another way.”

Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee, whose district stretches across about half of the Panhandle, said the affected counties need the BP money because they already are under financial strain.

“And now there’s a chance to take that $300 million, put it into the general fund and spend it somewhere else,” Montford said. “That is not right, not fair and it should not be done.”

The need for $751 million in next year’s budget came up during a presentation before the Senate budget committee by Florida Office of Economic and Demographic Research Coordinator Amy Baker.

Latvala was unwilling to promise a second year without a property tax increase needed for schools. This year, the Legislature froze property taxes used to pay for public schools, instead using $392 million from general revenue.

“I think we’re going to have to let them take the additional property value,” he said.

Latvala’s prospect of raising property taxes signals a rift with House Speaker Richard Corcoran. Last week, Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, said property taxes would not increase to pay for education.

“We’re not raising taxes, absolutely not,” Corcoran said. “We’ll find a way.”

Corcoran said he also wanted the oil spill money to go to the affected counties. But his refusal to raise taxes would add another $426.7 million that lawmakers would need to find in the budget for schools.

The Legislature also will face a $1.9 billion budget gap in coming years due to rising costs.

But the growth of some costs has slowed. For instance, the state’s Medicaid program will cost $24.5 billion, roughly $100 million less than what state economists predicted in August. Also, enrollment in the state’s public secondary schools will be 2.83 million students, about 10,000 students less than they predicted in July.

“But even with things getting better, with the Medicaid caseload going down, you’re still going to face some tough decisions,” Baker said. “These are your policy decisions you’ll have to make.”