Final Fiscal Year 2017/2018 Budget Hearing and Council Mtg - Monday 9/25/17

September 20, 2017

The next City Council Meeting will be on Monday September 25th at 7pm in City Hall. This is also the final of two Fiscal Year 2017/2018 Budget Hearings.

Agenda Highlights:

Second Reading and Approval of the 2017/2018 Budget and setting property tax rate
Second Reading of Ordinances regarding Floodplain Management Regulations

Announcements/Presentations: 2017 RESIDENT OPINION SURVEY – Presentation by Joseph St. Germain, PH.D., President of Downs & St. Germain Research. The survey was referenced in the Budget document to identify strategic focus areas. See the survey results here.

Consent Agenda includes:

Ordinance 63, 2017 – A request to allow the shopping center at Downtown at the Gardens (DTAG) within Regional Center Planned Community Development to have a total of 36 special events per calendar year that is 24 more than the maximum permitted by Section 78-187 of the City's Code

City Manager Report – no details listed

Public Hearings and Resolutions:

Resolution 58, 2017/Ordinance 19, 2017 – the proposed operating millage rate for Fiscal Year 2017/2018 is 5.5500 mills and a debt service millage rate of .1178. The proposed operating millage rate of 5.5500 is 5.37% above the roll-back of 5.2671 . When combined, the total operating and debt service millage rate proposed for Fiscal Year 2017/2018 is 5.6678 mills, which is .18% below the current year combined rate of 5.6781 mills. (Note: PBG Watch comment: This millage will raise $59M in taxes, an increase of $4.1M over last year’s $55M, up 7.4%. (Note that we compare the budget figures, not the calculated “rollback rate” which overstates last year’s budget.) The sales surtax provides another $3M windfall each year.)
Ordinances 15 and 18, 2017 – 2nd Reading and adoption. A City-initiated request to amend Chapter 78, Land Development, in order to repeal the previously adopted and now outdated Floodplain Regulations from Chapter 78 and to amend Chapter 86, Buildings and Building Regulations to add the revised Floodplain Regulations. The proposed amendments will provide consistency with the Florida Division of Emergency Management's Model Ordinance.

Check the agenda to see if any additional items have been added before the meeting here.

See our article on the Budget and Tabor.

We get the government we deserve – and it’s up to us to watch what they do. Hope you can make it. If you can’t make the meeting try and watch live-streaming or on-demand.