Fort Walton Beach Council agenda — 09-08-2010 Special-1st Public Hearing FY 10/11 Budget — reading text

10 v 4 C4 V, 72; 4 V NeA 6 7 8 9 10 II F12  IF YOU WISH TO SPEAK IN OPPOSITION TO THE PROPOSED BUDGET AND MILEAGE RATE, YOU MUST SIGN IN HERE City of Fort Walton Beach Special Council Meeting September 8, 2010 @ 5: 30pm City Resident and/ or Name Address City Property Owner wj b ,, \ qQ 2 3 6Q / EY,0 n 4 5 Q 1,0Gfm 6sr, 34tf cif I1 7 v 6 if e tf 3 f' 7 j3r K 3 y 9 cm, 10 11 12  P IN IF YOU WISH TO SP- EAK OPPOSITION TO THE PROPOSED BUDGET AND MILEAGE RATE, YOU MUST SIGN IN HERE City of Fort Walton Beach Special Council Meeting September 8, 2010 @ 5: 30pm City aes + a t a/ or Name Address C-i Owner 1 CAul I R S v v C¢ llrw+zr 1 ac. - 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12  TENTATIVE MILLAGE Script for Public Hearing on Millage Rate Mayor: State the following: The tentative millage rate for the City of Fort Walton Beach for FY 2010- 11 is 4.5383 mills, which is 0.00% below the rolled -back rate of 4.5383 mills. The rolled -back rate is the millage rate that will provide the same ad valorem tax revenue as was levied during the prior year. The reason for setting the millage rate at 4.5383 mills is to provide sufficient revenues to balance the General Fund budget. Mayor: Open the Public Hearing and ask for comments on the tentative millage rate. Mayor: Close the Public Hearing. Mayor: Ask for a Motion and Second for Resolution 2010 -23 to set the tentative millage rate for the City of Fort Walton Beach at 4.5383 for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2010 and ending September 30, 2011. Use specific language above for motion.) Mayor: Ask for Council Discussion. Mayor: Ask for a Vote. Mayor: Upon adoption ofthe Resolution, the Mayor shall announce: The tentative millage rate for the City of Fort Walton Beach is 4. 5383 mills for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2010 and ending September 30, 2011, which is 0.00% below the rolled -back rate of 4. 5383 mills. The proposed millage is subject to a second and final public hearing that will be held here at the City of Fort Walton Beach Council Chambers on Wednesday, September 22, 2010 at 5: 30pm.  TENTATIVE BUDGET Script for Public Hearing on Budget Mayor: State the following: The tentative budget for the City of Fort Walton Beach for FY 2010 -11 is 35, 708,090, which is $ 358,601 or 1. 0% less than the adopted FY 2009 -10 budget. Mayor: Open the Public Hearing and ask for comments on the tentative budget. Mayor: Close the Public Hearing. Mayor: Ask for a Motion and Second for Resolution 2010 -24 to adopt the tentative budget for the City of Fort Walton Beach for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2010 and ending September 30, 2011. Mayor: Ask for Council Discussion. Mayor: Ask for a Vote. Mayor: Upon adoption ofthe Resolution, the Mayor shall announce: The tentative budget for the City of Fort Walton Beach for FY 2010- 11 is $ 35,708,090 with a tentative millage rate of 4.5383, which is 0.00% below the rolled -back rate of 4.5383 mills. The proposed budget is subject to a second and final public hearing that will be held here at the City of Fort Walton Beach Council Chambers on Wednesday, September 22, 2010 at 5: 30pm.  0 q I To the FWB City Council: r On behalf of the FWB Tea Party, several of you indicated that you had not heard from the " first" e person who was opposed to a property tax increase. just y xes an a u IC OJ reosst Perhaps you didn' t notice that voters rejected a sales tax a fe'w weeks ago - taxes tean less taxes! It is the responsibility of the City Council to represent the citizens, and it was asserted that no one wants to cut spendin , let me say on behalf of the assembled crowd " au contraire ". 111.5' 8`,6 4/ Diu c -5C— Crestview found a way to cut $ 3,000,000 from their budget, and we are asking that you ask OUR staff, paid for by the residents of FWB, to go find more cuts. Have we taken a serious look at consolidation of services with the County, such as Fire and Police Departments? In the private sector, this is the first step a business would take —consolidate operations to save money. Ladies and gentlemen —this recession is with us for a long time. There is no real indication that improvements will occur anytime soon. The city paid $ 50,000 for a consulting project to tell us to raise our water rates—another form of taxation - was this really the best use of limited resources? No one in City Hall or locally could have done this project cheaper? And as a result, the Council is now looking for increases —stop paying outsiders for work that should be done in house. Like Crestview did, get creative on employee hours and furloughs. There are roughly 98 employees in parks and recreation. By comparison there are 108 Police and Fire employees. Surely, a hard look at Parks and Recreation is in order. When I took a cursory look at the payroll vs. facility usage, there certainly appears an easy opportunity to reduce spending. The Council approved a $ 100,000 upgrade to Fred Hedricks, with an undefined future cost of $250,000. That' s nearly 40% of their budget, and represents almost the entire tax increase based on the millage rate. You are setting the stage to tie the hands of the next City Council with a future tax increase by not taking a hard look at closing, consolidating, or changing the operations of our Rec Centers. That' s the " short" list. I will hand to the Clerk an expanded list. You get the point - there is a lot that can be cut, and we in the FWB Tea Party are suggesting that you do just that. If raising taxes is the only solution that this City Council sees, then we may be working with a new City Council in March 2011. Thank you. On behalf of the FWB Tea Party, several of you indicated that you had not heard from the "first" person who was opposed to a property tax increase. Well, take a good look around because you are now surrounded by not just registered voters, but people who pay taxes and actually show up to vote, as will occur in March 2011. Perhaps you didn' t notice that voters rejected a sales tax a few weeks ago - less taxes mean less taxes! It is the responsibility of the City Council to represent the citizens, and it was asserted that no one wants to cut spending, let me say on behalf of the assembled crowd " au contraire ". Crestview found a way to cut $3,000,000 from their budget, and we are asking that you ask OUR staff, paid for by the residents of FWB, to go find more cuts. Have we taken a serious look at consolidation of services with the County, such as Fire and Police Departments? Mr. Holmes alluded to what businesses would do during a recession. In the private sector, this is the first step a business would take —consolidate operations to save money. Ladies and gentlemen —this recession is with us for a long time. There is no real indication that improvements will occur anytime soon. The city paid $ 50,000 for a consulting project to tell us to raise our water rates—another form of taxation - was this really the best use of limited resources? No one in City Hall or locally could have done this project cheaper? And as a result, the Council is now looking for increases —stop paying outsiders for work that should be done in house. Like Crestview did, get creative on employee hours and furloughs. There are roughly 98 employees in parks and recreation. By comparison there are 108 Police and Fire employees. Surely, a hard look at Parks and Recreation is in order. When I took a cursory look at the payroll vs. facility usage, there certainly appears an easy opportunity to reduce spending. The Council approved a $ 100,000 upgrade to Fred Hedricks, with an undefined future cost of $250,000. That' s nearly 40% of their budget, and represents almost the entire tax increase based on the millage rate. You are setting the stage to tie the hands of the next City Council with a future tax increase by not taking a hard look at closing, consolidating, or changing the operations of our Rec Centers. Take Mr. Reeves up on his proposal to cut $ 20,000 from the budget on fireworks. Niceville has found a way to get private donations to make it work. Our adult recreation leagues have had plummeting usage, yet the city continues to accept this from the league management. Participation has decreased in the last 3 years by 8 %. Continue to reduce funding to the Chamber. Why are we using tax dollars to the Chamber - our other municipalities are reducing these contributions. Are we fully leveraging cost savings from the library co- operative program? This is one area (library usage) that has spiked during the recession, and due to rising fixed costs, such as a costly pension program, we cut hours at the one place our citizens are actually using. City Manager' s Budget Message Retail sales data — as reported by the University of West Florida Haas Center for Business Research and Economic Development —indicate sales are 0. 3% less than a year ago. The affordability of housing — as reported by the Haas Center —is 5. 2% worse than a year ago due to a decrease in median income. The standard definition of housing affordability is that the cost of buying a house uses less than 30% of annual household income. Local unemployment — as computed by the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation is currently 7. 9 %, up 12. 9% from a year ago. The City's revenue sharing funds from the State suffer when discretionary spending decreases in an economy weak due