Osceola County, Florida
 B
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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]
Contents |
Evaluation of website
- Main article: Evaluation of Florida county websites
This was last rated on Jan. 30, 2013.
The good
- Budget
- Budget is published.[2]
- Budgets are archived for at least three years.
- Meetings
- Board meeting schedule, agendas, and videos are available.[3]
- Meeting information archived for at least three years.
- Elected Officials
- County commissioners are listed with email addresses.[4]
- Administration
- Administrative officials are listed under their respective departments with individual contact information.[5]
- Zoning
- Contracts
- Contracts are available.[8]
- Audits
- Audits are posted.[9]
- Audits are archived to 2005.
- Taxes
- Local tax information is available.[10]
- Includes information on real estate taxes, business taxes and other fees.
- Public Records Request
- Information how to make a public records request is provided on the site, including a fee schedule and an online form.[11]
The bad
- Elected Officials
- Telephone and mailing address information not provided.
- Lobbying
- Does not disclose if belongs to government sector lobbying associations.
Lobbying
- Main article: Florida government sector lobbying
Osceola County has reported $1,140,000 spent on lobbying the federal government since 2000 (see table). Osceola County pays for services of the lobbying firm Alcade & Fay. [12]
| 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 |
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. [14]
See also public record requests meet with confusion in central Florida.
Audits
For Osceola County, the Commission Auditor reports to the Board of County Commissioners.[15]
See Also
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
References
- ↑ Florida's charter counties
- ↑ Budget
- ↑ Meeting Information
- ↑ Commissioners
- ↑ Departments
- ↑ Permits
- ↑ Zoning
- ↑ Contracts
- ↑ Audits
- ↑ Tax Collector
- ↑ Public Records Requests
- ↑ Client List
- ↑ Open Secrets
- ↑ Orlando Sentinel, Public-records requests befuddle county staffs, November 22, 2008
- ↑ PBC Clerk & Comptroller 5.30.07
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