The Escambia County Commission will discuss whether to put the Escambia Children’s Trust before the voters in November.
Background: The Escambia Children’s Trust (ECT) is a voter-created, tax-funded independent special district that pays for children’s services in Escambia County, with a focus on early learning, out-of-school time, and youth mental health. Escambia County voters approved the creation of ECT in November 2020 with about 61% support. Supporters of ECT promised that the programs receiving would be monitored and required to provide independent, verifiable data on their impact on children.
ECT is funded through a dedicated property tax millage separate from the county’s general fund. It operates with its own governing board, policies, and public meetings, rather than being housed directly inside the Board of County Commissioners.
The district expires in 2030 and must be reapproved by the voters.
The discussion at the BCC meeting, which begins at 9 a.m., provides commissioners with a unique opportunity to ask ECT staff questions.
Here are my suggestions:
Board: How many ECT board positions are currently open? How many board members’ terms have expired?
Programs: What percentage of the operational costs of the programs funded by ECT grants are covered with ECT dollars? How much have the salaries of the executive directors of the programs and nonprofits increased yearly since receiving ECT funds? How many vans have been purchased with ECT funds? What’s the total spent on vans?
Pensacola Little Theatre: Last summer, PLT repaid to ECT $65,632 for “errors.” What follow-up did you do to verify the amount was accurate? ECT reportedly notified the Auditor General in August. What was the Auditor General’s reply and why hasn’t it been made public?
New World Believers: Who reviewed NWB’s financial statements and tax returns after they were submitted in September? Who recommended the board approve $585,685 for 2026? When Jones became under investigation, which later led to his arrest, ECT reported several concerns:
- Sunbix registration didn’t match the paperwork given to ECT
- Background screenings weren’t current
- Certificates of Insurance.
Inweekly pointed out that several Jones family members worked at NWB, a violation of ECT’s anti-nepotism policy, and the “audited financial statements” were not done by a CPA.
Why were these issues brought to the board in December?
Not discussed at all today is the fundamental problem that the BCC is continuing to fund children’s services programs while the ECT runs its own independent process. As I pointed out to the BCC in 2020, Section 125.901, Florida Statutes, expressly authorizes the BCC to create a “dependent special district” to provide for children’s services. (Special districts are addressed in Chapter 189, Florida Statutes.) Each commissioner could appoint an even number of members to such a board. Assisted by a small staff, this in-house board could vet “all” children’s services program requests before sent to the BCC. Because the board would act under the very clear authority of Section 125.901, that might address Clerk Childers concerns about “public purpose.” Even on today’s agenda the BCC approved some children’s services programs, funded with Law Enforcement Trust fund dollars. Commissioner Kohler could have presented this idea as a way to move towards phasing out the ECT. Plus, if the ECT is ever abolished, the BCC is still going to need to fix the problem that it lacks a coherent process to vet its “own” children’s services requests.