Osceola County, Florida
From Sunshine Review
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Osceola County is one of 67 counties in Florida. Kissimmee is the county seat.
Osceola County's population as of 2007 was 266,123. It is one of 20 charter counties in the state. It became a charter county in 1992.[1]
[edit] Evaluation of website
- Main article: Evaluation of Florida county websites
[edit] The good
- Budget is published.[2]
- Board meeting schedule, agendas, and videos are available.[3]
- County commissioners are listed with contact information.[4]
- Building permits are available[5], as well as zoning information.[6]
- Contracts are available.[7]
- Local tax information is available.[8]
[edit] The bad
- Does not disclose if belongs to taxpayer-funded lobbying associations.
- Information on how to make a public records request is not provided on the site.
- There is no information on audits.
[edit] Lobbying
- Main article: Florida taxpayer-funded lobbying
Osceola County has reported $1,140,000 spent on lobbying since 2000 (see table). Osceola County pays for services of the lobbying firm Alcade & Fay. [9]
| Year | Amount spent on lobbying |
|---|---|
| 2009 | $50,000 |
| 2008 | $120,000 |
| 2007 | $120,000 |
| 2006 | $120,000 |
| 2005 | $120,000 |
| 2004 | $140,000 |
| 2003 | $130,000 |
| 2002 | $90,000 |
| 2001 | $120,000 |
| 2000 | $130,000 |
[edit] Public Records
In late 2008 reporters organized by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors requested the most recent budget emails from central Florida county officials in order to audit the responses.
In Osceola County, three agencies were asked for e-mails, but none were able to produce them. A request over the phone to a school district was referred to the district's Web site, which contained the Superintendent's Update on the budget, but yielded no e-mail records.
Superintendent Michael A. Grego called the audit a "setup" and "unfair." He said all public records requests are to go though spokeswoman Dana Schafer's office. Schafer said the school district is training employees to deal with such requests, but stressed that with 6,000 to train, it would take time.
The Osceola County administrator's office said to obtain such records, a public-information request form had to be filed with the public-information office. Niki Whisler, spokeswoman for the county, said there is no such form and that instructions must have been misunderstood.
An employee at the Osceola County Sheriff's Office said a name would be necessary to meet the request, with other employee saying the sheriff does not use email in communications about the budget. [11]
See also public record requests meet with confusion in central Florida.
[edit] Audits
For Osceola County, the Commission Auditor reports to the Board of County Commissioners.[12]
[edit] See Also
[edit] External links
- Official Osceola County Website
- Osceola County Clerk of the Circuit Court
- Osceola County Tax Collector
- Osceola County Property Appraiser
- Osceola County on E-Reference
- Osceola County School District
- Orlando Sentinel Osceola County News
- Osceola Library System
[edit] References
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