The Florida Office of Judges of Compensation Claims (OJCC) budget, divided by the number of
petitions for benefits (PFB) closed, reflects that the overall cost per PFB
closed fluctuated in recent years due in large part to the significant
fluctuation in PFB closure rates.
These figures demonstrate
relevance when considered in comparison to filing fees in Florida’s Circuit
Courts. For “small claims” filings, the Circuit filing fees may be as low as
fifty-five dollars ($55.00), but for civil claims with a value over $2,500.00,
the filing fee is three hundred dollars ($300.00); for larger claims, the
Circuit filing fee may be as high as four hundred dollars ($400.00).
The OJCC
is demonstrably more financially efficient, with a per-petition cost well below
the Circuit Court filing fees. Additionally, in the majority of instances, the
OJCC cost is inclusive of mediation services, which generally are an additional
cost to the parties in other civil litigation. Over the last fifteen fiscal
years, the average cost per petition closed was $232.00, just above half the
comparable Circuit Court filing fee.
The fluctuations of “per PFB” costs is also
attributable to the minimal growth in the OJCC annual budget through 2008,
followed by five consecutive budget reductions between 2009 and 2013. The OJCC
budget has seen minimal growth, and periodic reductions, and has not maintained
pace overall with inflation. The OJCC today is operating on a budget similar to
2005-06. If the 2002-03 budget was adjusted for inflation alone, the 2017
budget of the OJCC would have been $21,981,397 instead of $17,430,852, a
difference of $4,550,545, or just over 26%.
The OJCC today is spending less per
full-time employee (“FTE”), adjusted for inflation, than in 1992-93. During the
significant increase in case filings between 1994 and 2003 the OJCC budget
effectively decreased, when adjusted for inflation. Florida’s population has
also grown markedly in the last twenty years. However, the number of judges has
remained virtually static over the same period. These facts illustrate that the
OJCC has been very effective at wisely managing the resources provided.
Petition for Benefit
(PFB) closure rates have stabilized and closely follow the current filing
rates. There is every reason to believe that trend will continue. A minimal
volume of overdue PFB inventory may remain unaddressed in this litigation
system, which appears from available data, to be substantially in equilibrium. The
resulting cost per PFB closed is therefore likely to increase if PFB filing
volumes decrease, and to decrease if volumes increase.
Another illustration
of the cost-effectiveness of the OJCC is the volume of child support arrearages
collected through the judges’ efforts. The Judges of Compensation Claims are
statutorily required to ensure that the rights of child support recipients are
considered when support payers settle their workers’ compensation cases. Each judge
devotes considerable time and effort to the investigation and verification of
child support arrearages when cases are settled.
The significant amounts of
child support collected through these efforts for the last fifteen (15) fiscal
years total over $160 million ($162,740,517).
When the judges were given the responsibility for recovering these arrearages,
no staff or budget was added to the OJCC to accomplish this task. The volume of
child support arrearages collected is particularly interesting when considered
in light of the overall OJCC budget discussed above.
Over the last fifteen (15)
fiscal years, the OJCC has collected an average of 63% of its overall budget in
past-due child support to the benefit and advantage of support recipients
throughout Florida. In 2012-13, the OJCC undertook the duties associated with
reporting arrearage information on behalf of the Department of Revenue (DOR).
In 2013-14 the OJCC integrated the process of reporting Circuit Clerks’
arrearage information. This combination eliminated redundancy and waste across
the process for all Florida workers’ compensation litigants. Litigants in Florida’s
workers’ compensation adjudication system now get all of their required child
support arrearage information from the OJCC instead of DOR and the Circuit
Clerks.
These tremendous child support services on behalf of support recipients
have been delivered without any additional staff or funding for the OJCC
operations. Because of the sensitive nature of this data, the burden of
investigating these support inquiries has fallen primarily on the OJCC
mediators and Commission Clerks. The comparison of child support recovery (red)
and the OJCC overall budget (blue) is illustrated in this graph (in millions).
The decrease in child support collected in
2008-09 was seemingly significant. However, that appearance results primarily
from the exceptional collections in 2007-08. Overall, the support volume has remained
somewhat similar. Notably, the volume of settlements that were approved by the
Judges of Compensation Claims likewise decreased contemporaneously and has then
remained significantly consistent for the last seven fiscal years.