South Florida children's councils: They help kids, pay their officials big salaries
Property owners in South Florida are taxed millions of dollars each year to pay for programs to help children, but a chunk of that is spent not on kids, but on the bureaucracies created to aid them.
The Children's Services Council of Palm Beach County pays more than $1.3 million in salaries to its top 10 executives, with CEO Tana Ebbole making $220,000.
The Children's Services Council of Palm Beach County pays more than $1.3 million in salaries to its top 10 executives, with CEO Tana Ebbole making $220,000.
Salaries at the children's council in Broward are more modest — the CEO makes $142,000 — but employees are eligible for bonuses that so far this year have totaled $64,000.
In both counties, money that voters approved for children's services went toward construction of sprawling headquarters — a $17 million complex in Boynton Beach for the Palm Beach County council, and in Broward, an $8.4 million building in Lauderhill.
Some state lawmakers at this spring's legislative session criticized salaries and bonuses at child welfare agencies, and said they also were concerned about administrative spending at the children's services councils.
"People are making money off children,'' state Sen. Ronda Storms, a Valrico Republican and chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Children, Families and Elder Affairs, told the Sun Sentinel. "They take these teddy bears and hold them up and say they're doing it for the children.''
Council representatives say the criticism is unwarranted. Administrative costs represent less than 10 percent of the total budget of $62 million in Broward and $112 million in Palm Beach County.
"I don't like paying taxes any more than the next guy,'' said Rod Macon, a retired FPL executive who is chairman of the council in Palm Beach County. "We work really hard to keep overhead down, to be as efficient as we can for the taxpayer.''
Eight counties in Florida have established children's councils with taxing authority to raise money for kids. The amount they collect is just a small portion of the average property owner's bill — $70 on a $200,000 homestead in Broward, and $113 in Palm Beach County — but adds up to millions.
The vast majority of the money goes toward paying for programs, such as preventing child abuse, improving the health of pregnant women and keeping delinquent kids out of trouble. But when it comes to other spending, some of it is far removed from kids, a Sun Sentinel review found.
The Palm Beach County council's budget this year includes $1 million for public affairs, $500,000 for consultants, $279,000 for travel and $154,000 for lobbyists.
Those expenses are necessary to get the council's message out, monitor the performance of agencies that receive its funds and lobby lawmakers in Tallahassee and Washington, D.C., to "ensure that Palm Beach County's children don't get short-changed,'' Ebbole said.
In both counties, money that voters approved for children's services went toward construction of sprawling headquarters — a $17 million complex in Boynton Beach for the Palm Beach County council, and in Broward, an $8.4 million building in Lauderhill.
Some state lawmakers at this spring's legislative session criticized salaries and bonuses at child welfare agencies, and said they also were concerned about administrative spending at the children's services councils.
Council representatives say the criticism is unwarranted. Administrative costs represent less than 10 percent of the total budget of $62 million in Broward and $112 million in Palm Beach County.
"I don't like paying taxes any more than the next guy,'' said Rod Macon, a retired FPL executive who is chairman of the council in Palm Beach County. "We work really hard to keep overhead down, to be as efficient as we can for the taxpayer.''
Eight counties in Florida have established children's councils with taxing authority to raise money for kids. The amount they collect is just a small portion of the average property owner's bill — $70 on a $200,000 homestead in Broward, and $113 in Palm Beach County — but adds up to millions.
The vast majority of the money goes toward paying for programs, such as preventing child abuse, improving the health of pregnant women and keeping delinquent kids out of trouble. But when it comes to other spending, some of it is far removed from kids, a Sun Sentinel review found.
The Palm Beach County council's budget this year includes $1 million for public affairs, $500,000 for consultants, $279,000 for travel and $154,000 for lobbyists.
Those expenses are necessary to get the council's message out, monitor the performance of agencies that receive its funds and lobby lawmakers in Tallahassee and Washington, D.C., to "ensure that Palm Beach County's children don't get short-changed,'' Ebbole said.
The council has cut travel by about $70,000 and has "been consciously working to decrease those kinds of costs,'' she said.
Of all the children's councils in Florida, Palm Beach County's pays its employees the most.
Ebbole's salary is $44,000 more than the next highest paid CEO, Modesto Abety of the Children's Trust in Miami-Dade, and puts her among the top-earning public employees in Florida. In state government, only two people are paid more, and the governor's job comes with a salary of just $130,000.
On top of Ebbole's paycheck, she gets a 2008 Mazda CX-7 that the council leases, $22,000 a year in deferred compensation and $6,500 toward a long-term-care insurance policy.
Besides Ebbole, 15 other employees at Palm Beach County' children's council are paid more than $100,000 a year. In Broward, only the CEO makes six figures, records show.
"I don't know why our salaries are higher, but I can tell you that every penny we pay that lady [Ebbole] is well worth it,'' said Palm Beach Circuit Judge Ronald Alvarez, vice chairman of the council. "We probably have one of the best children's services councils in the whole state, and it's due to her efforts.''
Ebbole came to the council in 1989, three years after voters agreed to create the taxing district, and became CEO in 1994. She said her many years on the job have driven her salary up.
"I think that the longevity in terms of being in the position for this long, for this many years, certainly contributes to that,'' she said.
In Broward, CEO Cindy Arenberg Seltzer has been at the helm since the council was approved by voters in 2000. Her $142,000 salary includes a $7,800 car allowance.
"My salary is what it is because I said: 'stop,' '' said Seltzer, who has a law degree and a master's in public administration. "I'm certainly worth more, but we're dealing with public dollars.''
The 55 employees of the Broward council were eligible this year for bonuses, called performance pay, of up to 5 percent. Seltzer got the most, $5,000, and 20 other employees have received bonuses of $1,600 and up, records show.
Of all the children's councils in Florida, Palm Beach County's pays its employees the most.
Ebbole's salary is $44,000 more than the next highest paid CEO, Modesto Abety of the Children's Trust in Miami-Dade, and puts her among the top-earning public employees in Florida. In state government, only two people are paid more, and the governor's job comes with a salary of just $130,000.
On top of Ebbole's paycheck, she gets a 2008 Mazda CX-7 that the council leases, $22,000 a year in deferred compensation and $6,500 toward a long-term-care insurance policy.
Besides Ebbole, 15 other employees at Palm Beach County' children's council are paid more than $100,000 a year. In Broward, only the CEO makes six figures, records show.
"I don't know why our salaries are higher, but I can tell you that every penny we pay that lady [Ebbole] is well worth it,'' said Palm Beach Circuit Judge Ronald Alvarez, vice chairman of the council. "We probably have one of the best children's services councils in the whole state, and it's due to her efforts.''
Ebbole came to the council in 1989, three years after voters agreed to create the taxing district, and became CEO in 1994. She said her many years on the job have driven her salary up.
In Broward, CEO Cindy Arenberg Seltzer has been at the helm since the council was approved by voters in 2000. Her $142,000 salary includes a $7,800 car allowance.
"My salary is what it is because I said: 'stop,' '' said Seltzer, who has a law degree and a master's in public administration. "I'm certainly worth more, but we're dealing with public dollars.''
The 55 employees of the Broward council were eligible this year for bonuses, called performance pay, of up to 5 percent. Seltzer got the most, $5,000, and 20 other employees have received bonuses of $1,600 and up, records show.
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2011-05-21/news/fl-children-service-tax-district-20110521_1_councils-salaries-kids
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