Citrus County is making steady progress. It has been one year since I had the honor and privilege of becoming a county commissioner. As I did a few months ago, I would like to take this opportunity to discuss some of the issues the board has addressed in the past 12 months and where we are headed in the future.
There have been major changes in your local government over the last year, and I’m excited about the issues we have addressed and eager to get to those still before us.
In the past 12 months, the new board reduced impact fees to help give businesses a chance to succeed in these very difficult economic times. We have also substantially reduced change-of-use impact fees, enabling businesses to move into existing structures without the burden of paying huge fees. We are in the final stages of forming a Transportation Planning Organization that, when complete, will qualify our county to acquire federal funds for our local roadway system, as well as partner with other regional planning organizations to approach transportation from a regional concept.
Through the setup of a “rapid response team” the board has been able to acquire millions of dollars of stimulus funds above and beyond what was estimated we would receive.
The board has modified our concurrency management ordinance and modified regulations with regard to traffic counts that had put our county at a competitive disadvantage when individuals were attempting to build or bring businesses here. The revision brings us in line to be competitive from an economic development standpoint, and, more importantly, is an example of a change of culture and attitude for our county, one that encourages strong economic growth and diversification.
Along those lines, the board has voted to bring in, through the Small Business Assistance program, a full-time individual who will assist local small businesses in creating business plans, acquiring grants, and helping with any needs our businesses have. This position is funded through business license fees, and the majority of the funding comes from a federal government match.
The board has formed a Stakeholders Advisory Group comprised of a broad spectrum of individuals from within the community. From business interests to civic associations to regular citizens, this group looks at issues affecting the county and provides in-depth information on issues coming before the board. This is a completely voluntary group that utilizes the many talented individuals we are blessed to have in our community and draws on their knowledge to help the board make informed decisions.
The board has entered into an agreement with Black Diamond Golf Course to supply it with re-claimed water from our new wastewater treatment plant, and this directly reduces the amount of water being drawn from our aquifer. We also entered into an agreement with the city of Crystal River to remove approximately 600 septic tanks from around the Crystal River.
The board has established a vision and mission plan and is creating measurable goals, which will hold your local government accountable and ensure we move in a positive direction. This is a giant step forward for this county, and it will ensure that we have a clear direction for our future.
In what I believe was one of the biggest challenges we faced this year — government spending and budgets — we have made great strides. The new budget substantially reduced local government spending, while maintaining core services and not raising taxes.
This was accomplished by a number of different initiatives that resulted in millions of dollars of spending reductions. We have right-sized our local government from a staffing standpoint, partnered with our constitutional officers and both cities, streamlined our departments, and completed a major internal re-organization from an operational standpoint.
The goal of these efforts is to make our government more efficient and cost effective. There have been many other issues and items we have been working on, and there is a lot more work to be done. From an economic standpoint, we must work to develop policy and procedure in our local government that encourages strong economic growth and diversification and that removes unnecessary barriers to bringing new or expanded businesses into the marketplace.
We can always improve ourselves, but I believe we are headed in the right direction. We are looking at all functions and aspects of our organization and will continue to do so with the goal of making our government better. I believe our best days are ahead of us, and we all benefit when we work together as a community, from the retired citizen to the young working family.
I welcome communication on any issues. I thank the citizens for allowing me to serve, and as I enter my second year in office I pledge to continue to work my hardest to make our county a better place to call home.
Email
