Hernando County Board Elects New Chair, Addresses Card Spending Reforms

Jerry Campbell assumed the chairmanship of Hernando County's Board of County Commissioners at the Nov. 18 regular meeting after a swift unanimous vote. Campbell was the lone nominee and won the chair without opposition, while Ryan Amsler and Steve Champion were selected unanimously as vice chair and second vice chair respectively. Outgoing chair Brian Hawkins called the officer elections unusually quick as he passed the gavel.

Hawkins used his final remarks to outline what he described as a year of fiscal discipline and targeted investments. “It is an honor to stand before you today as outgoing chairman and to report the state of Hernando County,” Hawkins said. “A county that is growing, stabilizing and leading with a renewed sense of purpose. A county on strong financial footing. I am proud to report that Hernando County is one of the strongest financial foundations in Florida. Our debt sits at less than 3%, one of the lowest levels of any county of our size. This level of fiscal discipline allows us to invest confidently in long term infrastructure, public safety and quality of life projects without burdening future generations.

“Recognizing the pressure on working families, your board has taken decisive action on property taxes. We voted to set the maximum millage rate to rollback plus 3%, delivering what will be considered one of the largest tax cuts in the state of Florida. At a time when costs are rising everywhere else, Hernando County is stepping up to provide meaningful relief.”

Hawkins also cited reforms to capital budgeting, improvements to parks and recreation, and investments in public safety as pillars of the county strategy. Those priorities frame what residents can expect from the incoming leadership in terms of continued focus on infrastructure and fiscal restraint.

Later in the meeting the board received an update from the county DOGE committee that highlighted fragmented spending on government issued P cards. The committee identified $3.4 million in P card spending across 9,817 transactions by 230 users. Nearly 2,000 of those transactions were through Amazon, and more than $339,000 was spent at hardware stores including Lowe’s and Home Depot. County Administrator Jeff Rogers emphasized the trade off between centralized procurement and operational responsiveness. “You have to weight efficiency of your government and responsiveness to be able to get the item,” Rogers said. “We’re not talking one company. We have 23 companies. We have 23 companies, then you ask to go to a centralized procurement process to get a PO purchase order, it won’t happen that day. It’ll take a few days.

“A lot of times, we have on demand things we have to do to provide a service to the community. So most of these transactions are about efficiency going forward and then you’re going to add a bureaucratic relationship for the PO process. I just think it’s a lot.”

The P card findings set up a policy debate about controls, accountability, and the speed of county services that will be central to the new chair’s agenda. The board also touched on procurement system changes, temporary disaster housing updates, an observation tower demolition contract, and other routine business. For Hernando residents the decisions ahead will affect property tax bills, how quickly county crews can respond, and the balance between fiscal prudence and frontline service delivery.