LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Commissioners Clash Over Cuts, Community Funding

Commissioner Stroberger wants to kill the community support fund. Commissioner Hofberger says she’s already found half a million dollars in cuts, calls helping citizens socialism. Commissioner May accuses colleagues of political grandstanding. And Commissioner Kohler brings up Hofberger’s office furniture order. The Escambia County Board of County Commissioners’ budget workshop got heated fast.

The Escambia County Board of County Commissioners’ budget workshop opened with a proposal that set the tone for everything that followed: eliminating the community support fund altogether.

Commissioner Steve Stroberger made the pitch first, arguing the fund’s real problem isn’t the nonprofits it supports but how the money gets handed out.

“I don’t think this is a reflection on the outstanding work that the nonprofits do. My concern is with the funding mechanism itself. It shouldn’t be through the individual commissioner sponsorship. I think eliminating this fund removes any public perception of influence or unequal access to public funds.”

Commissioner Ashlee Hofberger backed the idea, noting the fund costs $211,000 a year. But Commissioner Lumon May shut the idea down, tying his objection directly to the ongoing lawsuit over the county’s handling of community support funds.

• May supports an across-the-board cut of 2% to 3% instead
• He said he would not back eliminating anything “while it’s in litigation”
• He argued the topic couldn’t be fully discussed without touching the pending case

County Attorney Alison Rogers stepped in to clarify the workshop wasn’t a voting session and steered commissioners away from discussing the lawsuit directly, saying the board could talk about “what you want to do next fiscal year” without commenting on litigation.

Millage Rate Held Hostage

Much of the tension traces back to a new state requirement. Rogers explained that under the current rules, moving to the rollback rate only takes three votes—but holding the millage rate steady at its current level will require four votes when the board reaches its September budget hearings.

That math means every commissioner’s position on the community support fund carries extra weight. Hofberger telegraphed to Stroberger the leverage that they have if they unite on the issue:

“I won’t vote to support this budget if we have discretionary dollars in there. And Commissioner Stroberger, if you don’t want it to pass, I believe you should hold out on that too, because it’s going to take four of us to pass that.”

The Personal Sniping

The debate over funding mechanisms didn’t stay policy-focused for long. Commissioner Mike Kohler pushed back on the “fiscal conservative” framing, pointing out that district offices, including Stroberger’s, have added staff without similar scrutiny.

From there, things got pointed. Kohler brought up furniture Hofberger reportedly ordered without going through the county administrator, and threatened to open up commissioners’ travel spending if the budget fight turned into what he called “butcher shop” politics.

“If you want to play butcher shop, we’re going to play butcher shop. It’s going to go to Pam’s Cantina. It’s going to go to travel. It’s going to go to Steve’s aide. It’s going to go to your furniture. So be careful what you ask for.”

• Hofberger responded that she has spent less year-to-date than any commissioner except Commissioner Berry, and disputed Kohler’s suggestion that she hasn’t completed state-mandated commissioner training, saying the the required ethics class is in progress and due by year’s end.

Veterans Funding vs. Mardi Gras

The sharpest exchange of the day came during the review of community partner funding. Hofberger questioned several line items, including $5,000 for the Gulf Coast Veterans Advocacy Council, asking what the group does that the county’s two in-house veterans affairs employees don’t already handle.

Kohler defended the funding, saying the group’s outreach, particularly in the minority community, helps bring back “millions and millions of dollars a year” in veterans’ disability payments to Escambia County. May went further, tying the veterans funding to a much larger line item elsewhere in the budget.

“We would sit here and have this discussion, but then we will have a party for $250,000 for people to get drunk. But then we say we won’t take a parade of veterans for $5,000. That is ludicrous.”

Hofberger clarified she wasn’t opposed to the veterans funding outright, just seeking clarity on duplication of services. She said she stood by her concerns about two other charities—eComfort and Pensacola Caring Hearts—arguing local churches already provide similar services, while singling out Community Health of Northwest Florida and Lakeview Center as groups she believes provide unique, essential services worth continued funding.

Economic Development Dollars in Question

Hofberger questioned the county’s $600,000 annual contribution to Pensacola-Escambia Development Commission (PEDC) through FloridaWest, now that County Administrator Wes Moreno has hired Rick Byars as his Economic Development and Planning Manager.

• She asked, “Are we moving to doing that in-house or are we continuing to fund that externally or what is the board’s plan with that?”

Moreno described Byars’ role as covering projects like OLF-8, Triumph-funded work and the Central Commerce Park, but said it wouldn’t fully replace Florida West’s function. Commissioner Steve Barry cautioned against making changes before Byars has had a year or two to show results.

• Hofberger said that at minimum, she’d like to see the county’s contribution reduced by Byars’ salary and labor burden. May pushed for accountability benchmarks—job creation numbers tied to regional coordination with the City of Pensacola and Santa Rosa County—before any funding decision is made.

Youth Programs on the Chopping Block

Hofberger flagged two more items for possible cuts: roughly $80,000 for after-school and youth program operating costs, and $450,000 in LOST dollars funding the Escambia County Summer Work Program, which pays for county internships.

• Finance Director Stephan Hall noted the Children’s Trust cannot supplant existing county program dollars, complicating any handoff. May defended both programs, noting the after-school program received an additional $150,000 to $200,000 from the Children’s Trust for next year and that the summer program serves the county’s most disadvantaged kids.

“We’re going to figure out how we can find some savings to the most affluent people in Escambia County at the next budget. We spend more money picking up paper on the beach than we spend on interns.”

What’s Next

No votes were taken. The workshop was informational only. Finance Director Stephan Hall confirmed the board’s first budget public hearing is September 8, with the second and final hearing on September 24. May said commissioners should expect more recommendations before then, telling colleagues the board’s five members, not any single commissioner, will ultimately decide the direction of the budget.