Fort Walton Beach Resolution — 2025-16 Authorizing the City Attorney to Seek Attorney General's Opinion — reading text

RESOLUTION 2025-16 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF FORT WALTON BEACH, FLORIDA REQUESTING AN ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION ON THE FOLLOWING THREE QUESTIONS: (1) WHETHER THE SPENDING CAP PROVISION IN THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF FORT WALTON BEACH, WHICH LIMITS ANNUAL ‘BUDGETED EXPENDITURES TO NO MORE THAN THREE PERCENT (3%) ABOVE THE PRIOR YEAR’S ACTUAL EXPENDITURES, CONFLICT WITH SECTION 166.241, FLORIDA STATUTES, WHICH REQUIRES THAT MUNICIPAL POLICE BUDGETS BE BASED ON THE PRIOR YEAR’S APPROVED OPERATING BUDGET?; (2) WHETHER, UNDER THE AFOREMENTIONED SPENDING CAP CITY CHARTER AMENDMENT APPROVED BY REFERENDUM IN NOVEMBER 2024, THE CITY COUNCIL WAS AUTHORIZED TO DESIGNATE THE 2024-2025 FISCAL YEAR AS THE BASELINE YEAR FOR CALCULATING THE THREE-PERCENT SPENDING CAP, GIVEN THAT THE REFERENDUM OCCURRED AFTER THE START OF THE 2024-2025 FISCAL YEAR?; (3) WOULD THE USE OF ACTUAL EXPENDITURES FROM THE PRIOR FISCAL YEAR—AS OPPOSED TO BUDGETED EXPENDITURES—TO IMPLEMENT A CHARTER-IMPOSED SPENDING CAP THAT EXPRESSLY REQUIRES THE CITY TO USE "PRIOR YEAR EXPENDITURES" AS THE BASELINE VIOLATE THE ACCRUAL- BASED ACCOUNTING REQUIREMENTS SET FORTH IN SECTION 218.33, FLORIDA STATUTES, AND THE STATUTORY DEADLINE FOR BUDGET ADOPTION ESTABLISHED IN SECTION 166.241, FLORIDA STATUTES?; DIRECTING THE CITY ATTORNEY TO PROVIDE A LEGAL OPINION; DIRECTING THE CITY ATTORNEY TO FORWARD A COPY OF THE RESOLUTION AND LEGAL OPINION TO THE FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, the Council acts as a collegial body, and therefore an inquiry of the City Council of the City of Fort Walton Beach is required to obtain an opinion from the Florida Attorney General; and WHEREAS, the Charter of the City of Fort Walton Beach contains a “spending cap” provision that limits annual budgeted expenditures to no more than three percent (3%) above the prior year’s actual expenditures, subject to certain exceptions; and WHEREAS, section 166.241, Florida Statutes, requires that any proposed municipal police budget reduction exceeding five percent (5%) of the prior year’s approved operating budget is subject to state-level review and potential modification; and WHEREAS, an apparent conflict arises between the City Charter’s reliance on actual expenditures and the statutory requirement to measure reductions against the approved operating budget; and WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Fort Walton Beach desires clarification from the Florida Attorney General as to whether the Charter’s spending cap provision, as applied to the police budget, conflicts with section 166.241, Florida Statutes; and WHEREAS, the electors of the City of Fort Walton Beach approved the Charter amendment creating the aforementioned spending cap by referendum in November 2024; and RESOLUTION 2025-16 WHEREAS, the referendum occurred after the commencement of the City’s 2024— 2025 fiscal year and after the adoption of the City’s 2024-2025 budget; and WHEREAS, in December 2024, the City Council initially designated the 2023-2024 fiscal year as the baseline year for purposes of applying the spending cap Charter amendment, but subsequently rescinded that action and designated the 2024-2025 fiscal year as the baseline; and WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Fort Walton Beach desires clarification from the Florida Attorney General as to whether the City Council’s designation of the 2024— 2025 fiscal year as the baseline year for purposes of the spending cap Charter amendment is consistent Florida law governing effective dates of Charter Amendments; and WHEREAS, Section 218.33, Florida Statutes, requires all municipalities in the State of Florida to follow uniform accounting practices and procedures promulgated by the Department of Financial Services, including the use of accrual-based accounting and generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP); and WHEREAS, Section 166.241, Florida Statutes, requires each municipality to adopt a balanced annual budget by ordinance or resolution no later than September 30 of each fiscal year, regardless of whether audited actual expenditures for the prior fiscal year are available; and WHEREAS, a Charter amendment approved by the electors of the City of Fort Walton Beach requires the City to apply an annual spending cap based on “the prior year’s expenditures”; and WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Fort Walton Beach desires clarification from the Florida Attorney General to ensure that compliance with the Charter amendment does not conflict with state law by relying on unaudited actual expenditures that may not be finalized prior to the statutory deadline for adopting the upcoming fiscal year’s budget; and WHEREAS, this is a matter of interpreting Florida law; NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City of Fort Walton Beach: Section 1. Request for an Opinion from the Florida Attorney General. The City of Fort Walton Beach hereby requests an opinion from the Florida Attorney General specific to the following inquiries: 1. Does the spending cap provision in the Charter of the City of Fort Walton Beach, which limits annual budgeted expenditures to no more than three percent (3%) RESOLUTION 2025-16 above the prior year’s actual expenditures, conflict with section 166.241, Florida Statutes, which requires that municipal police budgets be based on the prior year’s approved operating budget? 2. Whether, under the aforementioned spending cap City Charter amendment approved by referendum in November 2024, the City Council was authorized to designate the 2024-2025 fiscal year as the baseline year for calculating the three-percent spending cap, given that the referendum occurred after the start of the 2024-2025 fiscal year? 3. Would the use of actual expenditures from the prior fiscal year—as opposed to budgeted expenditures—to implement a charter-imposed spending cap that expressly requires the City to use "prior year expenditures" as the baseline violate the accrual- based accounting requirements set forth in section 218.33, Florida Statutes, and the statutory deadline for budget adoption established in section 166.241, Florida Statutes? Section 2. Directing the City Attorney to Provide a Legal Opinion. The City Attorney is directed to draft and attach a legal opinion to this Resolution answering the above question prior to forwarding this Resolution to the Florida Attorney General. Section 3. Direction to forward the Resolution and Legal Opinion to the Florida Attorney General. The City Attorney is hereby directed to forward this request in the form of the enacted resolution and the legal opinion referred to in Section 2 above to James Uthmeier, Florida Attorney General. Section 4. Effective Date. This Resolution shall become effective upon signature by the Mayor. Adopted: August Alb ,2OLS Nic Allegretty’Mayor ~~ ~ Attest: Approved asjto legal form and sufficiency for the 4, fF Lo only. sh €ity Attorney Kim