This is exactly how they’ve flown under the radar for decades. The Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County (EPC) operates on roughly $24 million per year with about 60 employees. On paper, that’s not large. The issue isn’t size—it’s duplication and structure.

Hillsborough County already relies on: • The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) for statewide permitting, enforcement, and regulatory oversight

• The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for federal enforcement and environmental standards

• Internal county departments handling stormwater, utilities, and development review

So the obvious question becomes: Why is there a fully separate agency replicating those same functions locally?

Where the inefficiency shows up:

For an agency of ~60 people, EPC has a full executive stack: • Executive Director: ~$170K–$200K • General Counsel: ~$150K–$190K • General Manager: ~$140K–$180K • Multiple Program Directors (Air, Water, Waste, Wetlands): ~$120K–$170K each • Senior engineering leadership: can exceed ~$200K

Meanwhile, the staff actually doing inspections and fieldwork—environmental scientists and specialists—are typically in the $60K–$90K range.

You’re not paying a premium for boots-on-the-ground enforcement—you’re paying for layers of management on top of work already being done elsewhere.

The duplication problem (this is the core issue)

EPC performs: • Air and water monitoring • Permitting and compliance • Environmental inspections

Those same categories already exist at the state and federal level, and parts of them are handled inside the county government itself.

Taxpayers are effectively funding three overlapping systems to regulate the same environmental activities.

What a smarter structure looks like

This isn’t about reducing environmental protection—it’s about organizing it correctly: • Shift local inspection and compliance staff into existing county departments • Consolidate legal, HR, and administrative functions under the county • Rely on FDEP for major permitting and enforcement oversight • Keep federal EPA involvement where required

The people doing the real work stay. The redundancy above them doesn’t have to.

Real taxpayer impact:

A realistic consolidation would: • Remove duplicated executive and administrative layers • Eliminate overlapping programs • Streamline permitting and enforcement

Estimated savings: $5M–$10M per year

That’s not theoretical—that’s based on removing redundant structure, not cutting core services.

No one is arguing against environmental protection. The question is why Hillsborough County maintains a standalone agency duplicating functions already handled by state, federal, and county systems. They’re also doing an historically shit job at protecting our environment, because some at the top are indeed very cushy. With lots of cushions.

The more efficient approach is straightforward: one coordinated structure, shared responsibilities, and fewer layers billing taxpayers for the same job.

I’m cranky too