TALLAHASSEE -- Jacksonville Mayor John Delaney has become
known in recent years for lobbying to get millions of tax dollars from the state
to preserve undeveloped land in his city.
But this year, Delaney could face his toughest battle: He is trying to help
stave off a legislative plan that would strip $100 million from state
land-buying programs.
The Florida Senate approved a nearly $48 billion budget yesterday that would
shift money from land preservation to help boost spending on schools and health
programs.
The plan, which is opposed by Gov. Jeb Bush and the state's major
environmental groups, likely will become a key issue in the coming weeks as the
Senate and the House negotiate a final budget.
Delaney hopes the House, which did not include the plan in the budget it
passed yesterday, will scuttle the idea. He said the shift could jeopardize some
of Jacksonville's biggest land projects, including preserving undeveloped land
in fast-growing areas of the Southside.
"It will devastate our land-acquisition program in Jacksonville," said
Delaney, who lobbied Bush and lawmakers yesterday.
But Delaney, Bush and the environmental groups might have a difficult time
killing the plan, which has the backing of Senate President John McKay,
R-Bradenton.
The state is facing a tight budget because of a nearly $1 billion increase in
Medicaid costs and a slowing economy that has limited the amount of additional
tax dollars this year.
Shifting the money offers a way for lawmakers to increase funding to public
schools and health programs. Also, it could become a bargaining chip for House
leaders, who want to use the budget negotiations to push through a series of tax
cuts opposed by the Senate.
Meanwhile, Bush probably would not be able to veto the plan because it is
tied to his much-ballyhooed efforts to restore the Everglades.
McKay said the plan would tap money that has gone unspent for land
preservation. Senate supporters say the state needs the money to bolster
spending on schools and health programs.
"What we're saying is, look where the money is being spent," said Senate
Majority Leader Jim King, R-Jacksonville. "It's not being squandered."
House Speaker Tom Feeney, an Oviedo Republican who could play the most
important role in resolving the issue, said he isto the possibility of
shifting the money for one year. But he said he would be concerned that it could
lead to similar shifts in the future.
"That [the Senate plan] is not in our budget," Feeney said. "It's something
we have said we're willing to look at."
The plan involves using $100 million from the state's Preservation 2000
land-buying program to help pay for a massive project to restore the Everglades.
By doing that, lawmakers would free money that otherwise would go to the
Everglades. Much of that money, which is not restricted to environmental
projects, would be used for health and education programs -- including boosting
classroom spending statewide and helping low-performing schools.
Delaney has become a statewide leader on land-buying issues during the past
few years, as he has moved forward with his $362 million Preservation Project.
That program has led to the purchase of 19,360 acres in Jacksonville, including
targeting land that otherwise might be developed.
The city, which has worked with state and federal agencies, has used $31.6
million from state programs to help buy the land. The Preservation 2000 program
gets money from documentary stamp taxes that are imposed on real-estate
transactions.
Senate leaders and environmental officials disagree about how much unspent
money is available in the Preservation 2000 program.
The Senate argues the state has about $275 million that has gone unspent or
is not committed to projects and can make the shift because it will have enough
money left over at the end of the fiscal year in June. Also, the state will sell
bonds this summer to get another $300 million for environmental projects,
including land buying.
"They [the Preservation 2000 funds] are getting mold and moss on them," McKay
said.
But with negotiations ongoing to buy land, the state Department of
Environmental Protection estimates that the program will have only about $70
million at the end of the fiscal year, said Eva Armstrong, who directs state
lands programs.
"They [Senate leaders] are talking cash," Armstrong said. "We're talking
about contracts. That's the difference."
Whatever the amount, Delaney and environmental groups worry that shifting
$100 million will delay or kill efforts to buy land. Delaney said delays can be
troubling for cities such as Jacksonville, where owners might decide to develop
land instead of waiting to sell it to the government.
"The worry in an urban area is that the land isn't available a year later,"
he said.
Delaney said he is concerned that the plan could hurt Jacksonville's efforts
to buy land on the Southside for the second phase of a project known as Cedar
Swamp. The project, part of which was purchased with state help last year, is in
a booming area of the city.
Also, the mayor fears the plan could affect efforts to buy land in the
Pumpkin Hill area of the Northside and in areas along the Intracoastal Waterway
on the Southside. The city is seeking $23.5 million from the state for Pumpkin
Hill, $18 million for the Intracoastal land and an undetermined amount for Cedar
Swamp.
Along with King, the two other senators whose districts include Jacksonville,
Jim Horne and Betty Holzendorf, have supported McKay's plan. Lawmakers say it
would be hard to oppose using the money for schools and health programs.
"It's hard to be against that kind of budget shift," said Rep. Stan Jordan,
R-Jacksonville.
Also, Feeney could use the issue during budget negotiations to get at least
part of the $355 million in tax cuts that the House is seeking. The House and
Senate, which does not want tax cuts, could start negotiations late this week.
If the House and Senate agree on the plan, lawmakers say, Bush would not be
able to stop it. His only option could be vetoing land-buying money that would
go to the Everglades -- an idea that he would not consider because it could
jeopardize a decades-long restoration project with the federal government.
"If he vetoes it, the Everglades doesn't get funded at all," said Horne, who
as Senate appropriations chairman is the chamber's chief budget writer.
Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan acknowledged this week that the governor's ability to
influence the issue "becomes muddled at best."
The involvement of the Everglades in the issue angers Delaney, who wrote to
all lawmakers last week to express his opposition to the plan. He has long
feared that land-buying money would be used for Everglades restoration instead
of going to other areas of the state.
"I understand that budget decisions require choices and that all programs
should be on the table," Delaney wrote. "But cutting environmental programs for
only North and Central Florida while increasing programs to South Florida would
hardly seem an equitable approach."
