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The State of Florida reduces Collier Circuit Court FY 2023 Budget

Did you know that the Clerk’s Budget is funded in part through the Collier County Board of County Commissioners, in part by recording fees received, and in part through the State of Florida?

Per Florida Statutes, the Clerk’s office submitted its fiscal year 2023 budget for approval on May 1, 2022. This budget covers the period from October 1, 2022, through September 30, 2023.  The budget is submitted in two parts: the first part covers all non-court activities, and the second part is for court activities. 

 

Non-court Activities funded through Collier County

The non-court budget is funded through the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) and the FY2023 budget of $15,025,400 has been approved. The County provides a large portion of the budget in payment for services provided by the Clerk to the Board including financial reporting, debt payments, accounts payable processing, grant processing, payroll processing and maintains the official meeting minutes of all the BOCC meetings. Additionally, the Clerk’s is responsible for maintaining the official land records for Collier County. 

After the budget was submitted, the BOCC instituted a change in the payroll classifications and salaries. This was not planned for in the original submittal in May. In November, the Clerk will ask for a budget amendment to allow the Clerk to maintain parity with the BOCC payroll policy changes. 

 

Court Activities funded through the Florida Clerk of Courts Operation Corporation

The Clerk also submitted a budget request to the Florida Clerk of Courts Operation Corporation (FLCCOC) for the court funded portion of her office.  The Clerk’s request was for $7,265,494, which would be fully covered by the revenues earned in Collier County.

The FLCCOC, in keeping with a multiyear shortfall in allocation, has only approved a budget of $6,549,607.  The remaining balance of the revenues earned in Collier County (over $715,000) will be retained by FLCCOC and distributed to other counties in Florida that do not generate enough revenue to cover their costs.  This makes Collier one of 36 donor counties that support the remaining 31 counties.

For perspective, the Clerk’s FY2010 budget for court functions was $8.6 million dollars for 211 employees. Twelve years later, we have 216 employees performing more complex tasks and maintaining several satellite offices, but our Courts budget has been reduced by $2 million.

Collier County is the largest county in terms of square miles. And, with 12.6% population growth since 2010, Collier remains one of the fastest growing County’s in Florida. 

Clerk Crystal K. Kinzel believes that the revenues generated within Collier County should benefit the citizens of Collier County and provide sufficient funding for employees that serve the public. She is exploring options to retain funds for the operations of the court system in Collier and enhance the services for the citizens of Collier through her position on the COCC Budget Committee. 

 

 

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