Okaloosa County BOCC — May 20, 2014 — reading text

state income tax. Seven industrial parks have been developed with a total of over 1,100 acres available. An industrial park near Crestview has an 8,000-foot reinforced runway, capable of handling the largest aircraft, and it has complete utilities and services. A municipal industrial park at Fort Walton Beach offers complete facilities and utility services to companies supplying space-age components to the United States Air Force. Property valuation turned around and increased slightly this year after declining over the last several years. The increase continues to provide the County the opportunity to maintain one of the state?s lowest millage rates while also continuing to maintain a relatively high level of service to County residents. Property tax values increased 1.7 percent. New construction activity in 2013 increased slightly to $125 million. vi Packet Pg. 31  MAJOR FUNCTIONAL INITIATIVES General Government Initiatives The County continues to study and renovate other facility space in order to more effectively and efficiently utilize the limited governmental space available. The immediate focus, again, is on governmental space needs now that the Annex Extension facility was completed and the Shalimar Annex reverter clause issue was resolved at the very end of fiscal year 2013. About $55,750,000 was spent on General Government initiatives, or approximately 23.6% of total expenditures, throughout the year. Public Safety Initiatives The County dedicates a great deal of financial and personnel resources for public safety initiatives. The lifeguard and beach safety units were enhanced during the year with funding derived from Tourist Development taxes. The County Corrections Department and County Jail continues to deal with population increases and facility needs, also. The public safety function of the Emergency Medical activity always stays busy providing valuable countywide service, as does the 9-1-1 operation of the county. The Sheriff?s operations were active and involved in many of these public safety initiatives throughout the year. The County continued to settle into the state-of-the-art joint facility at Northwest Florida State College Emergency Operations Center(EOC) and training facility this past Fiscal Year. The facility houses emergency staff for multiple offices from several entities of the County into this modern facility to better protect the citizenry of the County in future disaster related events. The County funded approximately $87,750,000 of Public Safety initiatives, or approximately 37.1% of total expenditures, in 2013. Physical Environment Initiatives Physical environment initiatives are concentrated in the areas of water/wastewater improvements, solid waste and stormwater. The military, with its ever increasing role in our area, is utilizing the vii Packet Pg. 32 County water/wastewater countywide service to their benefit by exploring numerous partnerships for service. A number of water/wastewater projects and upgrades occurred throughout the year. Solid Waste continues to place a high priority on new ideas as the County monitors and remediates, as closure costs and long-term maintenance continue to be monitored. The County complies with State mandates for landfill activity throughout the closed landfill facilities in the County. Grant funds enhanced physical environment activity with the assistance from Florida Department of Environmental Protection. About $36,500,000 was spent, plus, as always, a great deal of capital outlay, in the area of Physical Environment initiatives, or approximately 15.4% of total expenditures, for 2013. Transportation Initiatives Transportation needs continue to be an area of vital importance to the citizens of the County. Maintenance and enhancement of existing roadways and bridges continues to be a high priority, as funds become available. Many miles of roadway were resurfaced utilizing the “Cold Mix” and “Overlay” options that continue to be more financially feasible along with some bridge conversion projects in 2013. The Local Option Gas Tax and the Constitutional State Shared Gas Tax were utilized to complete or begin construction on many projects and other maintenance, along with many Emergency Watershed Projects utilizing funds from the USDA Emergency Watershed Program. The area of mass transit continues to be addressed with additional grant-funded projects and the ongoing service of Okaloosa Coordinated Transportation(OCT), a nonprofit agency providing mass transportation opportunities for citizens countywide. The Northwest Florida Regional Airport, along with the General Aviation Airports in Destin and in Crestview at Bob Sikes, continue to be funded with fees for services, including Passenger Facility and Customer Facility Fees, along with a significant portion of State and Federal funding for construction activities. Projects abound at the airport operation, including, taxiway and building renovation around the Regional Airport and taxiway and building renovation at the Bob Sikes airport. About $32,000,000, or approximately 13.5% of total spent, was spent on transportation expenditures in 2013. Economic Environment Initiatives The tourism economy continues to recover and rebound after the area suffered greatly from the devastating oil spill disaster, but with renewed effort and changes in tourism marketing leadership record visitors travel to Okaloosa County. The 70,000 square-foot Emerald Coast Conference Center continues to provide much needed state-of-the-art meeting space in the County for a number of events. Financial assistance to countywide citizens in the form of housing assistance through the Community Development Corporation and assistance related to the many veterans located in the area also are included in Economic Environmental initiatives. Community Redevelopment agencies in several cities within the County utilize portions of Ad Valorem Tax dollars to enhance economic development in those designated areas. About $5,000,000 or approximately 2.1% was spent in the area of economic environment in 2013. Human Service Initiatives The ongoing funding for human service activities by the County included mosquito control, animal welfare, health care, Medicaid, elder services, day care service, viii Packet Pg. 33 mental health services and court-related child protection services expenditures. These activities, particularly state aid for Medicare and Medicaid, account for well over half of the dollars spent in this particular functional category. A portion of the operation of the Okaloosa County Health Department is another human service initiative in the County. Over $4,000,000 or approximately 1.7% was spent in the area of Human Service activity in 2013. Culture/Recreation Initiatives Several county and city parks continue to be improved this year with MSTU park funding. These park improvements along with funds used to aid in the creation of artificial reef sights for the area fishermen were enhancements to recreational activities provided for all citizens and tourists attracted to our area. Tourist Development completed one beach renourishment project this year and continues reviewing and analyzing the beach areas needing possible renourishment in the future. An additional penny of Tourist Development Tax continues to be collected to renourish all beaches within the Tourist Development boundary area. Many national magazines proclaim the Okaloosa Island/Destin beaches as the #1 Beach in America, the #1 Beach in the South, as well as, one of the Favorite Family Vacation spots as they have for the past several years consecutively. The Countywide Library Cooperative continued to provide countywide service during this year. About $15,500,000 or approximately 6.6% was spent for culture/recreational activities throughout the year. Future Initiatives Maintaining a high level of service the citizens expect will continue to be a major challenge for the County. The allocation of limited resources for use on enhancements while continuing to provide the expected services for County residents will continue to stretch somewhat limited resources significantly. Facility and space needs continue to be a high priority for the immediate future. Since the Annex Extension facility has been completed, the County has turned its attention to the renovation of the Shalimar Annex in the south end of the County, along with the review of the Courthouse facility in the north end of the County. The primary focus of the renovation of the Annex will be in preparation to alleviate the County of rents they pay to currently house Constitutional and County offices. The County will continue to monitor stormwater needs consistent with the availability of funds. Other major improvements in transportation will be for ongoing and expanding airport projects and continued evaluation of countywide transportation systems. Quality of life issues will continue to be debated in the area of culture and recreation. Receipts from the tourist development tax will continue to provide funding for area beautification and beach ix Packet Pg. 34 maintenance, to enhance environmental protection efforts, and to promote tourism in the area. Recreation activities will continue to flourish with funding made available through tourist development and boating improvement funds, pursuing additional grant funds and any other resource the County deems applicable to this critical area