Library, Parks & Rec Officials Fight to Reduce Budget Cuts

Every year for the past few years, Gene Coppola and Erica Lynford have gone before the Pinellas County commissioners to formally ask them to restore the amount of money being collected to help run the and the . 

And every year for the past five years, the directors’ efforts have failed. 

As a result, because both facilities rely on county funding, they have been forced to reduce staff, cut operating hours and postpone improvements in order to remain as beneficial to the people of Palm Harbor as possible. 

Two weeks ago, Coppola and Lynford once again made their presentations before the commission. Now they must wait until the board votes on the proposal sometime in September.

“In 2007, with the passage of Amendment 1, the county commission voted to reduce the annual millage rate from .50 to .4378,” library director Coppola said. “And each year, Erica and I go before the commission and plead with them to go back to collecting the half millage that the people voted on 30 years ago. 

“If they agree to go back to collecting the half mill, it would result in an additional $93,000 for each of our facilities. So obviously it’s huge.” 

Falling Property Values Led to the Original Cutbacks

The decision to cut the millage was a result of a decrease in property values around the time of the economic downturn. 

But with each facility relying so heavily on the money from the tax, the loss of that funding has deeply affected both the library and the rec center, now known as the Centre. 

“The funding forecast for this year is the same as it was in 2004, and it has gone down every year since 2007,” Palm Harbor Parks & Recreation director Lynford lamented. “We have not cut one hour of operation of our facility … but there is neglect occurring because we don’t have the funding to address certain issues.” 

Some of the things that have been neglected include the flooring, fertilizer and pesticide treatments for the lawn, and painting of rooms and walls. Other cuts will come if more money is not available, according to Lynford. 

“We have cut everything we can cut,” she said. “We’ve cut workers' hours, we’ve cut facility improvements. Without more funding, it’s not going to stop.” 

Even With a Capital Fund, the Library is Struggling

Although the library does have a capital fund it can draw on to cover operating expenses, Coppola stressed that those monies have already been budgeted for improvements through 2020. 

And after being forced to reduce operating hours, from 57 to 44, and staff, from 27 to 19, over the past few years, he’s worried that the cuts are going to begin to be felt by the many people who use the library.

“If we don’t get the money, we might have to reappropriate capital funds to our operating costs. But we don’t want to mortgage our future to pay for today,” he said. 

Lynford also wants to remind people that donations are always welcome for these public facilities. 

“My intention is to keep this story alive throughout the summer," she said. "It’s important because … we’re in jeopardy of not having services people have come to expect."