Pasco Elections Supervisor Says Charter Gov't Comes With Price Tag

As the county’s appointed Charter Advisory Committee (CAC) continues to decide whether or not to pursue drawing up a new structure for Pasco’s government, the group recently heard from Pasco’s supervisor of elections Brian Corley (photo), who painted an expensive picture of what a new form of government could entail.

Since January, the future of Pasco County’s governmental structure has been debated, following a push by future Speaker of the Florida House and Dist. 37 State Rep. Richard Corcoran (R-Land O’Lakes), who insisted to the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) that changing the county’s current structure would be in Pasco’s best interest. 

Rep. Corcoran said that a charter form of government would put more power in the hands of the county’s voters by allowing for single-member districts (instead of all five commissioners being elected county-wide), voter recall of constitutional officers (such as the Clerk of Court, Tax Collector, Property Appraiser and the Sheriff), an elected county mayor/administrator and term limits. None of those provisions are possible under the current structure, because local non-charter governments in Florida can only be changed by the state legislature. 

To further explore the county charter idea, the BOCC appointed a Charter Advisory Committee (CAC) of 15 local residents, 10 of which were appointed by the BOCC and one each by the five members of Pasco’s state legislative delegation in Tallahassee, to explore whether or not to move forward with forming a county charter. 

On July 13, the group heard from Corley, whose office is responsible for making sure that elections in the county run smoothly, are transparent and that the results are reported both accurately and in a timely manner. The supervisor’s office has four locations throughout the county (although the closest to Wesley Chapel is in the Central Pasco Professional Center in Land O’Lakes on U.S. 41), which employs a total of 22 full-time and 50 part-time employees, plus 1,200 paid poll workers and operates on a $3.4-million annual budget.

The office handles voter registration, outreach and election administration for the county’s 307,643 registered voters. Currently, there are 111 voting precincts with 108 physical polling locations in Pasco, 13 of which are located in Wesley Chapel.

Corley told CAC members that additional services that a charter government would require could cost more than $375,000 in the first year, with a recurring cost of $30,000 each following year (see breakdown below). Currently, the government in Pasco is comprised of a five-member county commission, each serving in at-large seats, meaning that the entire county votes for all five commissioners. Adopting a charter would allow for single-member voting districts, which could mean that Wesley Chapel voters would only vote for the seat representing the county district in which they live. Another possibility is that two additional at-large seats also could be added, also raising the cost.

“That involves additional (voting) precincts because, right now, we don’t have precinct lines drawn for single-member districts,” Corley explains. “Right now, we have to align our precincts with the Congressional, State House and State Senate lines.”

Corley Breaks Down His Cost For Charter Government

Corley says that there is a one-time cost of $343,000, along with a recurring cost of $30,000 each year, but adds that it’s an approximate number, based upon five single-member districts. 

“If we go to single member districts, there are logistical issues,” Corley explains. “We would have to re-precinct, we would have to notify voters and there’s additional equipment that would need to be purchased.”

Corley also estimates  that it would cost about $300,000 to buy additional voting equipment. New voter information cards also would need to be created and distributed and could cost a one time fee of more than $44,000.

Recurring fees include 22 new voting precincts that would need to be added in 21 locations ($3,150) with seven poll workers to staff each precinct ($27,510).

Corley said that there are pluses and minuses to enacting a charter, but that he is reserving his opinion because it would be like him commenting on a candidate in an election. To him, he says remaining non-partisan is important (especially for an elections supervisor) and that he finds the idea of constitutional officers running in non-partisan elections intriguing.

“If there’s one office that seems the most appropriate to be non-partisan, it’s the supervisor of elections office,” says Corley, who ran as a Republican. “I don’t have an opinion on that because (the supervisor’s office has always been run) non-partisan.” 

As the process continues and the CAC makes its decision about whether to continue with the process of drafting a charter, Corley says that voter education is the key.

“My main concern is educating voters,” he says. “If the ballot asks voters if they want Pasco to adopt a charter form of government, there are 307,000 registered voters and not everyone is up on current events.”

He says that the next logical question any voter should have is, “What’s in the charter?,” adding that the charter document itself could contain 15-20 pages of legal jargon. 

“The question I have is how (is the county) going to educate the voters on the content (of the charter)?,” Corley said. “It would be inappropriate to put just the highlights of a charter on a sample ballot. (The County) could put the charter content online, but not everyone has internet access.” 

He added that a previous charter initiative failed in 1976, largely due to a lack of voter education.

Regardless of what transpires during the next several months, Corley said that he’s confident with his team.

“We can handle anything,” he says. “We don’t have an opinion. If the voters decide that they want (a charter), we’ll make it work. There’ll be some work for us, but that’s what we exist to do.”

For more info, please visit Pasco Votes.com. For more info about charter government, please visit PascoCountyFl.net.