Pasco County Clerk previews $500,000 preliminary FY26 budget increase, warns proposed MSTU would not fund clerk duties

Clerk and Comptroller presented a preliminary fiscal-year 2026 county-related budget on April 15, flagging a roughly $500,000 (5.2%) proposed increase from FY25 and asking commissioners to treat any higher pay raises for other constitutional officers equally.

The presentation underlined that the clerk’s county-related functions are funded under Florida law and are not municipal services that an MSTU may lawfully fund. “An MSTU is not an appropriate funding mechanism for my office pursuant to this statute and the county is not authorized to create the MSTU for the purposes of funding the clerk's office,” the Clerk and Comptroller said, citing the list of municipal-type services in Section 125.01 and the clerk’s statutory duties under Section 218.35 and other authorities.

Why it matters: the clerk’s warning narrows the county’s potential options for raising revenue and places the funding question squarely on the general county budget. The clerk also detailed several planned one-time and recurring investments that the office says are necessary to maintain services as Pasco grows.

Key requests and figures - Staffing and salaries: The office’s preliminary numbers include a 3% baseline salary increase; the overall preliminary FY26 increase is about $500,000 (5.2%). The clerk asked that if the board approves larger raises for any constitutional officer, the clerk’s office be treated the same. - Cybersecurity and IT: Information Technology Director Timothy Jamieson told the commission the clerk’s IT team is down to three staff who manage infrastructure and security, and requested two new technical positions — an IT manager and an operations specialist — at an estimated $127,000 year‑over‑year increase. Jamieson said the $127,000 splits into roughly $5,000 for equipment/services inflation and about $122,000 for personnel costs (wages, FRS, FICA, benefits) that will be allocated across cost centers. - Inspector General: Inspector General Christine Caliano said the internal audit unit is operating at 67% vacancy (two of six positions filled). She proposed reclassifying the manager role to assistant director and reclassifying auditor positions to exempt, producing an estimated personnel cost increase of $87,000 for FY26 plus about $16,675 in operational training costs. Caliano said current audit-management software is 18 years old; replacement implementation would cost an estimated $100,000 in year one and an ongoing subscription of about $60,000 per year. - Value Adjustment Board (VAB) workload and digital initiatives: The clerk reported more than 8,200 customers served in legal resource centers so far this fiscal year and said VAB petitions continued to grow sharply. The office is pursuing an electronic VAB application and online historic board records (records imaged back to 1887) to reduce manual workload. - Potential legislative change: Caliano warned about Senate Bill 730 (filed Feb. 13, 2025) that would expand the clerk’s audit authority to special districts and other local entities. She said Pasco has more than 100 active special districts, and that SB 730 (if enacted effective July 1) could require a minimum of ten additional audit positions and other resources. The bill text does not specify funding sources, Caliano said.

What clerk officials said about funding and limits - The clerk emphasized that county-related duties listed in Section 218.35 are performed for county departments, staff and the board, not directly for the public — which, in the clerk’s view, removes those functions from the municipal‑service list in Section 125.01 that would permit an MSTU. The clerk asked the board to note that funding for law libraries (Section 939.185) is derived from a portion of criminal case fees, not county general funds.

Context and next steps - The clerk called the numbers preliminary and said FY26 budgets are not final; her office will monitor proposed state changes such as FRS adjustments in pending Senate Bill 7022 and adjust requests if required. The presentation included future‑year considerations driven by Pasco’s population growth, expanded debt, and increased transaction volumes, all of which the clerk said will increase workload and may require more staff or technological investments.

Ending - The clerk’s office asked the board to consider the statutory limits on funding options and to account for the office’s preliminary requests as the county finalizes its FY26 budget. The office said it will provide updated figures as state actions and internal calculations firm up.