County Commissioner Mike Kohler says the Escambia Children’s Trust is failing to fund programs outside the city of Pensacola and is no longer worthy of taxpayers’ money.
Kohler (District 2) requested that the Board of County Commissioners discuss the future of the Children’s Trust during its Thursday morning meeting. He is pushing for the commissioners to direct the supervisor of elections to place a referendum on the general election ballot on Nov. 3 to let voters determine whether the Children’s Trust should continue operations. Its current end date is 2030.
- “It’s an unfair tax, and I think the Children’s Trust has had a series of problems in a short time. You look at Pensacola Little Theater, and the whole thing with Mr. Jones and New World Believers, and it’s unbelievable,” Kohler said. “There needs to be more needs assessments. You go through all the different payrolls of groups that are serviced, and it’s just not fair.”
Background: In 2020, 61% of voters approved the Children’s Trust as an independent special taxing district designed to fund programs focused on early childhood education, child abuse prevention and youth development. The Children’s Trust began providing funding in 2022 and started with a thud. Former executive director Tammy Greer submitted her letter of resignation in August 2023 after a series of debacles.
- Lindsey Cannon replaced Greer as executive director and inherited a Children’s Trust that awarded $5.1 million in taxpayer dollars to 19 out-of-school programs without strict measures to oversee the providers and hold them accountable. Nearly half the providers fell short of their promises.
“I don’t know why we continue to fund something that’s had so many problems in such a short time,” Kohler said.
Trust Director Questions Timing
Cannon questions the timing of Koher’s request. She said significant direct service expansion has occurred within the last 18 months and that the Children’s Trust is seeing strong outcome data tied to student support, mental health access, after-school programming, early learning and family stabilization efforts. Cannon said the Children’s Trust has served over 10,000 children.
- “I believe many in the community are concerned that discussions about a new referendum are happening before the public has had the opportunity to fully evaluate the measurable impact the Escambia Children’s Trust has achieved over the past three years,” she said. “ECT is still a relatively young organization, and like many startup public entities, there was an initial period focused on building infrastructure, governance, compliance systems and community partnerships.”
Cannon said the Children’s Trust has built stronger relationships across all sectors, including schools, nonprofits, municipalities, healthcare providers and families. She pointed out that the investments have coincided with improved school grades in the school district. Last year, 86% of its schools upheld or exceeded their performances from the previous year. Supt. Keith Leonard is a member of the Children’s Trust Board of Directors.
Board Votes
The BCC meetings at 9 a.m. on Thursday morning. The vote may be 3-2, but it’s difficult in which direction.
- County Commissioner Lumon May (District 3) is a fellow Children’s Trust board member, and County Commission Chair Ashley Hofberger (District 4) has already voiced her support for continuing the Children’s Trust without a referendum. Kohler may have allies, though, in Commissioners Steve Stroberger (District 1) and Steven Barry (District 5).
The Children’s Trust is expected to fill the commissioner chambers with non-profits, children and families who make emotional speeches, as they have done in the past. However, few will provide independent data about their programs.
Uneven Distribution of Funds
Kohler said that 25 of the 32 funded programs are in Districts 3 and 4, meaning only seven for their three districts combined. Kohler questioned why programs in poor areas outside of the city limits are not awarded funding, but the downtown YMCA, for example, received $1.2 million.
- “You can see a large number of programs that are in District 4 are not below the median average for the county,” Kohler said. “Aren’t we supposed to be helping the poorest kids in the county? The YMCA downtown, I’m not sure that’s a good program for children across the county. I don’t think there’s one kid from District 2 who went there. I have problems with so many of the programs.”
Kohler cited another example of the disparity between city and county programs. He said Pensacola Parks & Recreation has received $655,000 in funding, yet Escambia County Parks & Recreation has received zero.
- “How’s that fair? We have a lot more parks,” he said.
Kohler voted in favor of the Children’s Trust in 2020. He voted yes, believing that the Children’s Trust would focus primarily on teaching children to read and write and that the funding would be allocated equitably across the county. The commissioner said the Children’s Trust has failed on both counts, and it’s unfair for county residents to pay a tax that only benefits programs in the city.
- Cannon said the average homestead owner in the county only pays about $40 annually in taxes for the Children’s Trust. Kohler questioned those estimates, saying he pays over $100.
“Only 13 of 67 counties have a Children’s Trust,” he said. “There’s a reason the other 54 didn’t take it on. It’s an unfair tax.”