BRADENTON — Citizens are going to
shell out a lot more money at the Manatee County courthouse starting
Wednesday, but the funds generated by the fee increases will not
benefit a cash-strapped Manatee clerk of court’s office.
Instead,
the state is going to get all the cash and plans to dole it out to its
court administrators, not local clerk’s offices, according to Manatee
Clerk of Court R.B. “Chips” Shore.
Legislators recently
approved the fee increases for court services to try to ease the
statewide budget crunch. Filing of foreclosures and traffic fines will
now be hitting Floridians’ wallets especially hard as a result of the
new legislation.
In dozens of areas, citizens
will see steeper fees and fines at the courthouse starting July 1.
Fines for traffic infractions are all going up, including by $15 for
all speeding fines. For example, a person who is stopped speeding 6 to
9 miles over the speed limit after June 30 will pay $131, up from $116.
This
comes as dozens of other fees increased June 1, most significantly the
cost of filing foreclosures with the clerk. Clerk’s offices statewide
used to charge a flat filing fee for foreclosures, the same as all
other areas of civil cases, according to the Palm Beach Clerk of
Court’s office.
Clerks of court now are charging fees ranging
from $400 to $1,900 just for foreclosure filings, according to the new
fee schedule released by the state. Also, the flat filing fee for civil
cases seeking more than $15,000 increased from $300 to $400.
But
clerks of court in the state will not see any of the money, Shore said.
Instead, the state gets it first, then court administrators, including
judges and other officials who see to day-to-day operations of the
courts. He lamented not getting a piece of the pie from the new fees.
“I wish we were getting some,” Shore said.
Court administrators in Manatee did not return a request for comment on this story.
Also
attached in the fee increase legislation were budget cut demands of
clerk of courts across the state. Because of a $1.2 million shortfall
based on the budget cuts ordered by the state, Shore’s office had to
lay off 14 of its 122 employees.
Signs now dot counters in the
old courthouse where Manatee’s court paperwork is handled, apologizing
if service is slower because there are fewer people. The clerk’s Web
site also offers an apology in advance.
“Severe cuts recently
made to clerks’ budgets by the Florida Legislature have required
significant reductions in personnel. As a result, you may experience
longer processing and wait time for services from the office. Thank you
for your patience and understanding,” the site says.
The state
has mandated clerks across the state collectively cut $46 million from
their budgets, according to the recently passed legislation. Shore
hopes that doesn’t mean more layoffs.
“We have looked at it and
think we are going to meet our budget,” he said, “but we still have to
wait and see in the coming weeks.”
The new court fee schedule
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