team and the head coach for matanzas high school I'm here to write and express the urgency of our aquatic programs in the community continues to rise but the current facilities are inadequate to sustain these increasing numbers of users this is especially critical for our youth where we access swim lessons and and invite and and and is vital to ensuring their safety around water swim educ ation is more than recreational activity it is a life-saving necessity particular in Florida where accidental drownings are significant concern as you may be aware Florida statute also known as water safety Bill outlines the importance of promoting water safety education including the need and Community part Partnerships that can offer swim lessons aligned with the statutes guidelines currently Palm Coast Aquatic Center is the only facility in community offering swim l without Bel tears from a racket club and now aquafin closing it has become clear that this is not enough to adequately serve our population especially with the increasing emphasis on water safety education across the state we respectfully request the city considering building a proper Aquatic Center that can offer a full range of aquatic activities including competitive swimming water aerobics and most importantly swim lessons focused on our youth safety by partnering with other organizations that specialize in swim instruction we can work together to ensure all residents especially children have access to Necessities resources to prevent drowning incidents can the city support burden of future drownings if we do not take proactive steps I believe the addition of comprehensive Aquatic Center would not only provide Recreation and athletic benefits but also be significant in investment in the safety and well-being of our community residents of the city and a and a foundation we need to be able to support the amenities in the community and this is one that has been lacking for a very for 50 years the pools are 50 years they're falling apart we're no longer putting any money into these and with budget cuts this is not where we're going to um be adequate comparatively to putham county or are we going to be in comparison and etiquette to um Pon aidra we need to be able to have these amenities and it's important when bringing people into the community at the level of educational people that want to move here and to set up our children safely thank you for your comment is there a next speaker yes ma'am I'm Jeanie dwarte I just want to say Bravo congratulations on your performance Tuesday night 4 hours and 15 minutes into the meeting after most people had left how much did we pay you to waste time to plot against us well I helped you rewrite your intentions in layman's terms on my time and my dime you're welcome here it is when The Binding terms of the sovereign powers gets changed in way of eliminating provision 3E having to do with government Revenue taxes monetary and fiscal policy pertaining to unfunded projects which sets boundaries for the council to be able to access or have the power to agree to any long-term Arrangements between a government and private sector the council or city will then possess the power to decide expansions in way of forcefully mortgaging the future of Palm Coast residents to pay for charges imposed on new buildings development and maintenance of public infrastructure such as roads water supply network and sewage treatment facilities react to emergencies that still is a confusing thing there as well as consume accessible stocks bonds real estate Bank deposits contracts loans CDs funds Etc including which includes without limit size or quantity alant bonds if indeed you have already violated the current existing Charter you are deemed traitors therefore I demand the removal of this from the ballot in its entirety immediately and a forensic I propose a forensic audit thank you next uh speaker please are there any yes sir good evening Jeffrey Sy I am adding my voice to those already calling for a temporary tabling of the 2050 version of the comprehensive plan because it has not been scrutinized at the level needed to ensure that the overwhelming calls from the Palm Coast public for what they want in this plan apparently have been overlooked or ignored as time has gone by comprehensive plans are generalized explanation of how the city's growth is to occur the 2035 comprehensive plan is in place now and as a blueprint or general structure for growth is mixed in its outcomes the current plan was scheduled for evaluation and review in 2035 so we are not under the gun for immediate action on this 2050 version special interest considerations in the plan were made evident at last week's council meeting where council member pontier brought up a zoning change in the future land use map that surely didn't come from all those folks like me attending all those meetings then the special handling and special regulations for massive new developments west of US1 that have 15 to 20 year old development orders that specify what they will do today like building the loop Extension Road have been overlooked I've been concerned right from the start that mistakes like this may occur in the document once it left the light of day this version is not ready for prime time and now makes it even more apparent that this Council soon to be departing except for one should put off any action until the new council is seated and can peruse these chapters Maps sections and the wording contained in regulations for development orders to identify additional changes that may be needed or may have been incorrectly added to the plan as others have stated and I add my voice the new city council will vote to return to this 2050 comprehensive plan version without allowing any alternative wording regulations or Land Development code changes to be put into place or set in stone so let's not waste any more of our tax ties and hold off on this as with the city manager selection until next year thank you next speaker candy Stevens P section um I happen to agree uh with Jeff on the 2050 plan I really think since we're going to have a whole new Das pretty much up there um except for Teresa um the people that are voted in um are going to be more of what we want and more of our voice obviously because that's why they got voted in um sir but I would like you to answer to us on how all this was missed for all this time how was this company allowed to not put their money where they're supposed to and then you guys take our grant money and use it instead I don't understand how that was missed with all the people that we have and all the staff that we have and the attorneys that we have I don't understand how that stuff is missed because that's what's hurting our economy here and hurting our taxpayers why we're wondering where our money is going for the infrastructure now we find out where it went it went all it went out there when you have taxpayers like me that have been here 10 years some 20 years that have been paying into the city to keep it the way it is and then we now we question where the money was going and now we can see where it went so I really think that we do need a forensic audit I also think that you guys need to hold off on putting that plan through until we can reword things get the bonds off the ballot nobody wants to vote for that why should we pay for something that rers should have paid for they already took $109 million from us and I want you to also tell us how we're going to get the $19 million back are they going to build something in exchange like maybe a water plant that we already need they going to build some drainage that we already need you guys can't let this money go it has to come back to the citizens we paid into that we are owed that money we owed something for that money and that young lady that was talking we would have the water the pool that you're talking about the pool center if they would have built it like they were supposed to we would already have that wouldn't even be a complaint right now so hold off on the 2050 plan and please get this stuff off the the bonds off there because nobody's going to vote it through you should have voted no next speaker please good evening Cornelia Downing manfrey I'm here this evening to talk about the budget the military um back in do you want to um we have that as an agenda item coming up up this is a participation in advance of any items on the agenda okay but in I just reread the handout and the hand that says if I'm addressing something on the agenda to be precise we'll have so when do I make public comment on agenda items when we get to the millage item on the agenda oh so you'll have a new public comment yeah absolutely yes required by uh by Statute okay it's not in the write up that way I apologize but that's it's part of the plan so if you could hold off just for a little bit we can be more concise thank thank you is there another speaker that would like to make public comment at this time yes sir good evening my name is Ken McDow I live in the C-section and um this is serious folks when each of you were elected you didn't know a whole lot about city government except one of you was mentored by the previous mayor and wears that on their shoulder like a big epet and all of you learned your jobs through these people behind me back here in the city government over a year ago August 1st last year I got up here and demanded a forensic a okay tonight I was told as I got here that finally a briefing is going to occur by an auditor and so for a year you guys have been slow walking this thing because you found out what a forensic a it was but you guys come and go the problem with Palm Coast is the people that trained you to sit up here and be a city council person that's those people behind me the city as again never had a forensic audit and it's Rife with cultures some people have even said collusion istic frauders that's a new term I made the term up but you know what it is it's here and I hope each of you look over your shoulder ERS because people are coming and they're going to be here so that's all I have to say you ought to be ashamed of yourselves ashamed next speaker please are there any other members of the public that would like to comment to me at this time seeing no one come forward I'll close public comment and come back to the deis uh is there any additional comment I have none at the moment I just want to make a clarification since I was the one who brought up the Dr issues the state Appropriations that um have been granted they are State Appropriations now obviously we all pay state taxes right in a way but I don't want there to be a misconception out there that monies brought in by the city of Palm Coast specifically have been used um as state Appropriations okay so those are different things so just for transparency and for everybody's edification State Appropriations that are paying for what we've T talked about as the Loop Road are not what we as the city of Palm Coast collect in taxes so I just want to be very clear about that other than that I have no comment thank you councilman clus any comment no but thank you councilman pontier for correcting some of the misinformation that's out there and trying to get ahead of it because I had seen that perpetuating on the social media so thank you for that but no no uh further comments thank you we have one presentation this evening under uh uh agenda letter e which is the final proposed fiscal year 2024 2025 budget and revised fiscal year 2023 2024 budget so city manager would you like to introduce the uh item yes thank you mayor um during your last city council meeting on August 27th where we reviewed the budget um you gave us a little bit of homework I thought it would be beneficial to review not only with city council but also to the public your um strategic action action plan and what's included as far as policy and vision for in the budget that you will hear tonight um so I'll jump right in um this is meeting 10 out of 11 that we've started the budget process back in March um and and during that time we also conducted your strategic action plan your objective number one is to identify savings and conduct a revenue and impact analysis to fund a property tax roll back for the coming fiscal year uh we have brought you about balance budget that has reduced the millage from 42570 to 41893 without a reduction of service level objective two was to conduct a solar evaluation of City assets to identify opportunities and utilize this energy source to achieve cost savings that feasibility is study is included in this budget um design and Implement a Citywide plan for Road repair and road safety this budget includes cludes new street lights on five arterial roads which is Sesame East Hampton Royal Palms Rimfire and Palm Harbor there's an increase in electric cost in the public works budget to accommodate this request also um for the road repair we are repaving 22 Lane miles next year from Palm Coast Parkway East and Westbound from I 95 to US1 and also conducting micros surfacing of 22 residential Lane miles your objective for is design and Implement a city-wide plan for Swale maintenance and performance there's a new Swale team that's added um as well as a new covert cleaning crew um you also asked us to prioritize infill lots and how we're conducting that review with your new um technical guidelines on new houses there's a um uh engineering technician included as well as a finance technician to make sure we are grouping the costs that we need to um in objective five continue the saltwater Canal dredging initiative you asked us to move forward on phase two analysis which is the pre-application investigation and Canal evaluation and that's included in this budget um objective six is optimize citizen information from and engagement with city government and consistently ensure an excellent customer service response uh during one of your budget presentation presentations you asked us to include an IT programmer to build out a mobile app and that has been included objective seven is design and produce a capital Improvement plan focused on technology for city government as you passed in your um business meeting on Tuesday we are going to be doing some data center improvements also in this budget is call center AI enhancement ADA compliance for our website and um a new merchant services contract that will be coming soon soon um and also some additional replacement Hardware in objective eight which is enhance current economic development efforts to result in better paying jobs and attract major employers such as healthc care um we are working with the University of Central Florida with the Small Business Development Center as well as there's an increased budget for marketing industrial sites objective nine is enhance Transit options and citizens awareness of these services in partnership with the County government um there St time included in our budget to accommodate this request objective 10 is enhance housing options for the workforce and senior citizens by conducting an assessment of current housing stock and considering available public policy options to increase Supply um again there is Staff time uh considered in this budget objective 11 is identify dedicated funding sources for Arts cultural history activities and Facilities staff is working on the percentage for Arts ordinance and future solar funds that was per your direction as well as increased funding for the Palm Coast historical society and fc3 objective 10 is implement the parks master plan included in this budget is additional um inclusive programs as well as increased program of recreational activities and maintenance of our existing facilities and objective number 13 is prioritize Palm Coast infrastructure to address current needs and an anticipate future growth um the maintenance and maintenance and operations complex is a top priority of yours and that is forthcoming on your upcoming agenda you asked us to develop a utility strategic plan to implement necessary water and resource Water Resource infrastructure that is included in this budget seek opportunities for the community center to relieve parking pressures you have a future agenda item on this topic evaluate options to repurpose bu Station 22 to preserve its historical value and expand visitor awareness of Palm Coast that's in conjunction with the um Community Center Parking pressures initiate construction of fire station 26 and replacement of Fire Station 22 to enhance the fire station's response times and improve Public Safety both of those projects are in your capital projects um budget for this year and develop a comprehensive Communications plan to keep the public well informed about capital projects and ongoing infrastructure improvements and this summer we launched the Palm Coast progress which is focused on trying to communicate those infrastructure um needs to our community at our last meeting we discussed your policy direction of level of service which is number one and foremost is prioritize Public Safety you asked the city the county and the sheriff's office to work together in a joint Workshop we held numerous of those at those meetings we determined a level of service analysis where the sheriff's office has requested to add nine new deputies four of those will have a delayed start there is a um per our contract with the Sheriff's office there is a contractual increase and there is an increase in the fire department's budget second is protect our quality of life we have included in this budget an enhanced code enforcement maintain beautification of our program with City medians and rideways maintain programming and amenities in parks and recre recation you asked for additional hours at the southern Recreation Center as well as additional grant funding for Cultural Arts with management with fc3 um and protecting our quality Workforce which is a cola at 3.9% for our employees and that's the same as the county and the Sheriff's Office and you also took action for our City's health insurance benefits and finally um you asked us to come back with some information about your general fund Reserves um as according to your policy unassigned fund balance over 20% may be transferred to the disaster Reserve fund if necessary to meet the fund balance or to the capital projects fund our parget our policy Target is 20% as per the city auditor external audit presentation to Council on March 19th of 2024 the recommended Target is 25% of next year's expenditures you also asked us to do an analysis from 2016 to presid present um and the chart is indicated below of that request and that's all the information that I had for you and Helena and Gwen would take it for next steps very good thank you um and apologies just for a minute um I didn't take a moment to uh recognize the sheriff and Sheriff we thank you for being here uh to support our budget work so we appreciate your presence tonight okay Helena the floor is yours thank you so good evening mayor and city council Helen ales Financial Services director I also have Gwen rdale she's our budget and procurement manager and we're here today to present to you the fiscal year 2024 revised budget the proposed tentative millage rate and the proposed budget for Fisco year 2025 um this is a presentation overview we will be going over the general fund proprietary funds special Revenue Capital funds internal service and uh truth and millage this is a summary of the general fund revenues there were no changes from your presentation of August 27th as you can see the at valorum is still the largest revenue source for the general fund accounting for approximately 65% of revenues the city's assessed values has increased by 13.66% with approximately 7% attributable to new construction assuming a millage rate of 41893 we would generate at an additional 4.3 million in ADV valorum revenues um new construction would account for 2.5 million in the balance for your existing um properties State revenues account for approximately 14% of revenues the uh half cent sales tax is projected at 4.3 million the state revenue sharing is projected at 1.3 million and the communication Services tax at 2.9 Million charges for services account for 11% of revenues this includes 2.4 million for Parks and Recreation 3.6 for Eternal services and 572 is the balance for others your uh the other revenues excluding in fund transfers and appropriated fund balance account for approximately 10% do we have any questions on revenues before we move to expenditures question councilman kuus any question I have none thank you Helena you're welcome very good proceed thank you this is a breakdown of the general fund expenditures so the only change uh since your August 27th presentation was to add back $887,000 to the uh law enforcement budget that was the amount that was to be made up from the impact fees as shown the proposed general fund budget for fiscal year 25 is$ 61.1 million an increase of 5.3 million from fiscal year 2024 4 or 99.5% um as you can see uh throughout all of these budgets you there were uh regular um operational increases as well as increases for health insurance coverage and the salaries as Miss Johnson mentioned earlier uh there's only one new position for the um streets maintenance budget we are proposing to bring back Frozen positions for um the uh city manager and clerk's office Communications and marketing and Human Resources as we discussed in various budget presentations how many positions new positions we have one new position of the frozen ones there are three frozen how many three frozen positions in administrative services and two in public works streets how do we why how do we Define them as Frozen They're they're new hires correct I mean they haven't been hired before so those were positions from the um 2024 budget that was held Frozen uh because revenues that we did not fill is that correct that is correct they were not fil position now you're proposing to fill them correct that is correct so these would be new hires why play semantics I think this is insulting to the public you know a business would call call this a new hire anyone would call it a new hire I I I mean these games I'm sorry we should not be using language to hide stuff it's a new hire just call it what it is it it really is just totally wrong totally wrong okay continue um so the uh construction management engineering budget reduction is related to the completion of the council priority for the residential speed study the uh Economic Development increase is related to uh funding for the UCF Small Business Development Center at 68,000 and 161,000 for the sap objective number eight which is to enhance Economic Development efforts and attract major employers planning division budget uh just regular Personnel increases in salary and benefits um the code budget remains relatively flat the reduction in Al was related to long-term employees retiring an additional code officer position is currently funded per council's Direction the fire department budget proposed increase reflects the needs associated with the expansion uh in the southern response area the increase in Personnel reflex repositions budgeted for six months in the current year EMTs being promoted to paramedics and annual salary increases the sheriff's contract includes as Miss Johnson stated earlier uh additional deputies uh contractual increases and increases for cost of living and health insurance premiums Parks and Recreation uh budget as a whole is increasing 56,000 encompasses Parks General Palm Harbor Golf Course the Aquatic Center Southern Rec facility as well as well as Parks maintenance uh there are no new positions requested for these departments for council's Direction August 13th uh we increased the Arts Council grants in this budget as requested we also expanded the southern Recreation Center uh hour operating hours on weekends and an additional USDA tournament has been added do we have any questions on the general fund expenditures before we move forward to proprietary funds questions at this point councilman Kus uh any questions to this point than nothing okay uh no proceed thank you the proprietary funds were presented and reviewed with Council in great detail at the July 23rd budget workshop and at the August 27th Workshop there have been no changes in these funds from your August 27th presentation Water and Wastewater operation fund increase of 17.7% from the previous fiscal year adopted budget mainly due to the increase in person personel and operating cost not only due to growth but also due to inflation as well as three new position requests which is 2 meter technitions and one utility engineer the water and wastewater Capital fund is increasing by 19.5% from the previous fiscal Year's adopted budget there are several contributing factors such as a number of Grants mainly related to the American Rescue plan act funds which include a combination of County funds and City funds state Appropriations for 2 million and approximately 8.4 million in state resolving revolving fund loan proceeds for the completion of wastewater treatment plant number two expansion the storm water management budget increase of 44% from the previous fiscal year adopted budget is due to both capital and operational increases the budget includes 10 new full-time positions as outlined in the rate study to enhance the sale maintenance Rehabilitation and address storm water and fill lot drainage these positions are two equipment operator threes three equipment operator twos a Swale specialist temporary maintenance worker storm water systems Forman Finance Tech and a engineering Tech the building fund is increasing by 10.5% there were no new positions requested for fiscal year 2024 the increase is due to regular personnel and operational increases the collection and sanitation fund budget has increased by 12% from the previous f Year's adopted budget to accommodate the current contract for solid waste residential services and for the addition of a compliance hauling officer the information technology Enterprise fund accounts for the fiber and cell tower revenues and expenditures the fund has remained relatively flat before we move forward does council have any questions on the proprietary funds questions councilman clus M thank you very much no please proceeded this is a summary of all other remaining funds there were no changes from your August 27th presentation the Community Development block gr fund accounts for several programs including housing rehab assistance to the community the police education fund is used for specialized Deputy training These funds are collected from fines within the city through the clerk of court and then submitted to the Sheriff's Office the disaster Reserve fund is used to account for any federal assistance usually associated with hurricanes the events fund is funded by the recycling revenue from our Solid Waste contract some of the current events planned from these funds are the holiday parade Arbor Day July 4th fireworks and the tree lighting ceremony the streets Improvement fund budget includes 6.3 million for the streets Rehabilitation and renewal program the American Rescue plan act fund includes funding for the London Waterway expansion Fire Station 22 and waste water plant 1 Old Kings Road M Force main addition again These funds need to be obligated by December 31st of 2024 and expended by December 3st 2026 the neighborhood stabilization program this is the balance left in the program the fund and the Community Development staff is working with the respective state agencies to transfer these to the cdbg program the state road 100 community redevelopment agency fund budget for fiscal year 25 is 3.5 million and there have been no changes since your August pres 27th presentation the Old Kings Road special assessment fund budget for fiscal year 25 is 1.6 million this includes 750,000 for a road study funded by Grant and 500,000 for design there have been no changes since your August 27th presentation are there any questions before questions councilman clus on here thank you very much just remind me again the um the arpa fund uh deadline we have to have the funds by December obligated by December 31st of this year and spent by December 31st of 2026 and right now we're on target to meet both deadlines I'm sorry what the spent date is what at December 31st 2026 got it thank you okay you're welcome go ahead okay we will now move to the capital projects fund budgets staff review these in detail with council at the August 13th and 27th workshops and there have been no changes from them the transportation impact fee fund budget increased by 60% from the previous year fiscal adopted budget this includes 10.3 for matanzas Woods Parkway 7.2 million for white view safety improvements 8.6 million for Old Kings Road widening and 5.8 million for Bel te safety improvements these are tied to Grants the Town Center Transportation impact fee fund for fiscal year 25 is 900,000 for Royal Palms Parkway the recreation impact fee fund budget decreased by 56% from the fiscal previous fiscal year adopted budget which included building of the Southern Recreation Center the fire impact fee fund budget for fiscal year 2025 is 16 million this includes 8 million for fire station 26 and 8 million for Fire Station 22 replacement the capital project fund budget for fiscal year 25 is1 19 million this includes 10.7 million for the maintenance operations complex are there any questions I have done question councilman Kus thank you okay go ahead so as you can see the focus of the capital projects fund will be the maintenance and operations complex upgrades to fire station 25 and the IT infrastructure upgrades the street Improvement fund focuses on the pavement program the transportation impact fee fund will include Bel ter and white view safety improvements as well as matanzas wood extension and the Old Kings Road North widening the recreation impact fee fund will focus on the grand swamp Trail and Long Creek Nature Preserve utility capital projects will include the Wastewater Plant number two expansion that is being funded by the state revolving fund loan as well as other system Improvement projects the storm water management fund includes several Capital Improvements that are being funded using both state revolving funds and bank loans the fire impact fee fund will focus on fire station number 22 and 26 design and construction before we move forward does council have any questions on Capital fund budgets I have none none here okay no questions please go forward we will now review the internal service funds we reviewed these in detail with council at the July 9th August 13th and 27th workshops and there have been no changes the city has four internal service funds this is how we budget for departments that provide day-to-day services and support to other City departments the fleet fun fund is decreasing by 7% this fund fluctuates depending on the capital purchases under the fleet replacement program the facilities management fund has remained relatively flat the emergency communications fund is used to account for the maintenance and replacement of emergency communication radios the increase of 27% from the previous year's fiscal Year's adopted budget is due to the increased rental fee and future replacement cost of the emergency communications system the it internal Services operation fund is include is increasing by 11% due to a new position requested for one programmer as well as increase in regular operating expenditures and centralized software purchases the health insurance fund increase of 18.4% is due to regular cost increases includes claims admin fees stop loss Insurance wellness program and other related expenses are there any questions Council ponier one question the increase in the health insurance fund of 1.4 was that included in the I'm assuming that was included in the increase for the general fund expenditures so yes that is correct thank you I have none thank you so this is a big picture look of all fund expenditures as you can see um the total of all funds is approximately 421 million this represents an increase of 17.8% from your fiscal year 2024 adopted budget uh water and wastewater utility account for approximately 37% um Capital project streets Improvement impact fee funds account for approximately 21% your general fund accounts for approximately 15% storm water uh 11% and the balance of all others for the remaining 16% of the budget we will now go over the truth and millage this is a look at the millage rate options so your rollback rate is 3.99 61 the adopted maximum millage rate is 4.21 54 and the proposed fiscal year 2025 Mage is 4189 three at your next public hearing your next steps are to adopt the final fiscal year 2025 budget and millage rate the final public hearing will be on Wednesday September 18th here at City Hall at 5:15 p.m. we want to remind the public that on our website we have uh copies of all the budget worksheets and supporting documentation to all of our presentations as well as copies of our presentations questions from questions from Council at this time last week I I think it was a week ago I asked you what our Reserve actual Reserve fund was and you didn't quite have that number did you give that to me today city manager didn't you show okay uh yes so your general fund um balance for September 30th 2023 was 20 million1 20 million .1 is our reserve and by law we're required to keep how much so City council's fund balance policy not just by law what are we required to do I'm not sure that there's an established Reserve it's just City policy our policy it's our policy so our policy is how much are we required to have uh 10 to 20% 10 or 20% 10 2 20% I'm sorry 10 to 20% it's a range is the range yes so at 10% how much would we be required to have then how much would that be if we meet that minimum requirement how much would we be required to have so a little over 2 million I'm sorry of the expenses a little I'm sorry a little bit over 6.1 million I'm sorry I I couldn't hear you say again so your general fund budget for Fisco year 2025 is approximately 61 million. one so you would be required at a minimum to have 10% of that balance in reserves so about $6 million that is correct 6 million that is correct we have 20 right now is what you're saying that is correct so we got a lot of leeway there following our own policy obviously not saying go down to 6 million but we could find $2 million there to do this full millage rate roll back without cutting a thing I just want to bring that to the attention of our Council we have 20 we're only required to have six if we take out two we have 18 left that's a lot of money certainly exceeds our requirement am I correct it's are you asking I'm asking so it's a it's a policy decision so we've heard your comment councilwoman pontier comment on the budget um I have a question the appropriated fund balancing the amount of 1.033 what do we have that earmarked for anything right now yes so that is made up of a uh number of different items if you'll give me a second I'll give you the exact detail so the comprehensive plan Land Development code update portion of that is about 175,000 the economic development carryover it's about 162 175,000 162,000 fire machinery and equipment about 63,000 golf equipment 34,000 and contingency and value adjustment more 600,000 that brings your total to a mil 33650 okay so those monies that's not money that we're rolling over from anything that's we've already got that budgeted for other items that is coming from your reserves for items already identified in the budget that is correct okay so we dipped into reserves for this amount yes we also if I may dipped into reserves for the transfer for the Fire Station 22 and 26 that's 2.5 million and I and I was getting there so I appreciate that so to your point vice mayor I understand what you're saying you know we quote have the money in our reserves my issue from a PO policy perspective in doing that is we could make that excuse every single year and then we're just dwindling down our reserves year after year after year in order to save the average taxpayer anywhere between you know $15 and $30 on their on their yearly tax bill if they're homesteaded so I have an issue with continuing to as a policy decision considering our Reserve balance when we need things like the fire station because we didn't get Appropriations for the fire station um I just as a as a from a policy perspective I have an issue with that and I I I think the the reserve fund should be for emergencies and it should also be for one-time costs in other words if we have a one-time expenditure of the fire station then we can dip into that you could always lower the millage rate that's a year aftere thing and I and I think that's a lack of discipline on the behalf of us up here and staff because if we just say we can continue to dip into our reserves there's nothing motivating us to be more fiscally responsible year after year so from a policy perspective I can't support that um I think that there are other things that we should if we're going to dip into the reserves there are other things that we should look to do that for I.E Improvement of Roads we have a lot of mileage of roads in this city we're unique in that way so you know if we could pull a million dollars to improve roads in 2026 because after 2025 we have no extra money for roads um so if I'm going to look into pulling for for reserves for for things that are uh recurring in nature like Improvement of roads I would rather do that than um as a from a policy perspective reduceed millage the other thing that I want to point out when you reduce millage it's not just for that year it's not as if if we you know when we did the roll back last year um we rolled back and it and it uh I believe it cut what 2.5 million from the so it didn't just cut 2.5 million from the budget last year it cut 2.5 million from the revenues this year and it will next year and the year after um so if we continue to roll back we're continuing to lose revenues year after year after year we did it last year because um I think that we wanted to set the standard that we're going to be very fiscally responsible we knew there was a lot of fat to cut in this budget I candidly don't see a lot of fat and city manager has already rolled back the uh millry a little little bit twice because we have instructed her twice look for more Cuts look for more cuts and she's done that so at this juncture um I have to go with the reduced millage rate that we've come up with so we are still rolling back we're not creting the full roll back and I cannot support dipping into the reserves to do that well I appreciate appreciate your comments hold on hold on let me get Council Kus and then we'll go back again councilman Kus any comment yes thank you mayor I think that it is important that we do not try to use reserves for these type of expenditures I would piggy back on Council ponti's comments I would also say I don't think the budget that we cut last year did have a lot of fat we didn't fund the maintenance operations center last year and we pushed that expense onto this year we basically just pushed that out of year it wasn't necessarily fat to cut so there's a a little bit uh of context that deserves to go along with that but yeah my advice to current and future councils is that these are not the rainy days that we are trying to use this uh money that we've been able to save over our current and previous administrations I would say if we're looking to to have a dedicated funding source for Paving and things like this in the future that recognizing um asking for a half-cent sales tax implementation from the county is is a much better option than trying to dwindle down our reserves which you know represents the fiscal Prudence of current and previous councils that's my comment thank you all thank you Vice one second my only comment is we have um as a council agreed or or voted or approved um uh pushing several of the uh agenda items forward to the next city council City Manager for example and others making a a decision regarding policy does add some handcuffs to the next Council the next Council which we have shown support for would have every uh ability to consider um changing or looking into the uh Reserve fund budgets and and challenging those numbers I I'm uncomfortable with um uh shackling the next Council uh by this kind of one-time decision um I don't totally disagree um that if I look back historically I think there is uh monies and I like the idea of uh uh additional support for Road Improvement but I'm also going to go along with what you all have expressed an interest in doing and letting the new city coun IL worked through that um you know beginning in uh you know November December for the next year so that's my comment vice mayor go ahead well setting the millage rate right now has nothing to do with the next city council this is this is our job to do the eleg get to do it next year uh for their own budget but when I look at $20 million in reserve and realize we don't have to have that much in there and and still be following our policy I see nothing wrong with removing 2 million because a lot of our city citizens especially our seniors they're dipping into their reserves and their reserves are very very tight and and they don't have such huge increases in what their Social Security checks are going to be or their retirements going to be and I think we have to pay attention to that because we may say it's just a small amount here but then it's a small amount from the school tax it's a small amount from the county tax it's a large amount from the price of groceries price of gasoline the price of car insurance home insurance God forbid you have to put a new roof on your house because after 20 years that's what the uh insurance companies are demanding so I I think that we're not paying attention to those citizens especially our seniors um by hiring more people um and not even calling them new hires that's deceitful as far as I'm concerned um and then looking at some of the expenses that we have now I want us to do a new maintenance operation facility a mock as we've been calling it but why do we have to spend 10 million we can't just spend 99 million on it this year and save a few things I think we need to give our public a break they have suffered enough under biomics I mean come on we all have well maybe maybe not you Mr Mayor I know you spend more money on Hay for your horses than most of us spend on food every week but I think we need to show a little compassion to our senior population especially our senior population so so I can't vote for anything but a full millage rate roll back we're talking $2 million we could take a million from the mock a million from the reserve funds there's a lot of ways to do this um maybe sell this golf course you know our Golf Course lost $434,000 last year which we weren't told about when we were setting the the increases when you and I were discussing what to charge folks from out of town to play golf in Palm Coast and we came to a compromised number we didn't know how much money this golf course lost and it's lost money from the day we've taken that Golf Course over so I I'm sorry I can't see our taxpayers funding things like that and and then we raise their taxes because make no mistake this will be a tax increase and you might say it's a small amount but to seniors that are skipping meals and there's seniors out there that are skipping meals because of the price of groceries it's more than a small amount all right thank you for that um councilman clus any final comment before I go to the public no com no final comment thank you very much may may may I justor go ahead sorry that's okay um so I just do want to point out that the general fund expenditure which I think it's very important to understand that the general fund is what affects the millage rate the other Capital project funds and the proprietary funds and all those don't affect the millage the general fund expenditures went up by $5.3 million and out of that um 1.28 was for uh fire and 1.54 five was Sheriff the sheriff's contract uh the 1.44 was health insurance that total comes to 4.26 N Out of the 5.3 increase I mean those are necessary increases we as a policy uh decision have decided we're not going to take from what is needed for fire and police and we as a policy decided that we were going to fund the health insurance and we all know health insurance costs have gone through the roof as have home insurance costs um so when we're looking at what's left that's about a million dollars um when you talk about inflation the city's costs are not immune from that and so and and keep in mind too this one 1.033 includes uh normal Cola that a lot of private entities get that the that the sheriff's deputies get that the County employees get so that amount also includes Cola I mean when you look at the general fund budget it is very tightly managed it truly truly is when I'm looking at the increase being largely made up of uncontrollable health insurance increases and then fire and police increases what we have left for an entire a a city of 107,000 um residents really the admin taking care of that City being a million dollars and that includes a a very reasonable Cola I have to say I think I think we've done a very good job at at at keeping this budget this general fund budget very trim and again being able to give that slight roll back it's I would love to give a full roll back too but like I said I just can't support dipping into the reserves for it well I would just say no offense to you I hear what you're saying but I think Grandma and Grandpa would disagree with you okay you've made your point um yeah and don't interrupt me anymore when I'm speaking all right wait for me to finish the sentence I'm getting tired of it this is like the third week in a row you tend to just step all over me you're not going to step all over me make me let me make that clear at this time um I'm going to open up the discussion uh to the public uh this would be an appropriate time to address the millage uh we have a more formal process coming up but if you want to make your public comments at this time thank you Cornelia Downing manfrey um I do want to address the millage um as we don't know who will be the next mayor or who the next Council will be um I think a roll back to the 3.9 would be helpful to the community and there are cost their costs in here I believe could be readdressed um the economic development arm you have a a chamber of commerce you have somebody in economic development in county and now you have the city as a commercial realtor I don't get a lot of phone calls asking me for economic development assistance that's an arm that has not been pursued for years in the city that could be you know someplace to be able to cut back on some of the budget items I do believe you can get to a $2 million um reduction it would be a a great thing for your successors to inherit something that look makes you all look good as you move on for H having reduced it at this time um when I look at the final page of the proposed budget summary I'm a I'm a little scared by seeing 357 million that was adopted and by what I printed estimated 2024 do I mean estimated is actual ladies mayor is estimated actual but finish your comment I I'm asking a question because if the column says 3 9 million so then jumping to 421 million what are we doing with all that money where is it going I'm a little nervous of how these numbers are laid out the other thing that is not clear in the budget is when you talk about grant money it's not indicated in here that that's grant money um that should be indicated to the public as well so I am asking that that a hard consideration be made to the millage at 3.9 and review the numbers and I think with a little bit of tweaking you can get to that 2 million it'll just make everybody feel like we all tried a little bit harder you're outgoing and you're incoming thank you thank you for your comment um there was a question uh regarding the definition of uh part of your presentation uh so the estimated is where we believe we're going to finish the year a lot of the roll forward has to do with where we are on a capital project so we estimate you know um how far along it's going to be at the end of September but sometimes you know the balance carries to the next year because they're multi-year projects so historically how close how accurate has your forecast been last couple years we haven't had any major variances that's that's my question so your forecast has been unless there's a capital project like I said that moved a little bit further along I think the uh Southern recck Facility in last year had uh uh was running around had a schedule and we had a budget amendment for fiscal year 2023 after the year end all right good thank you um are there any other members of the public that would like to address the discussion at this time seeing no one uh come forward I will come back to city council for uh final comments um we are going to recess this meeting after these comments as prescribed by the agenda I have none nothing further councilman kofus I have none thank you very good with that I will for the moment recess city council and convene the state road 100 c c board so we will move to um agenda letter F which is the state road 100 quarter CR resolutions and I guess Council I will ask you to read that in for me certainly Mr Mayor State Road 100 Corridor community redevelopment agency resolution 2024 XX adopting this uh State Road 100 Corridor CRA tenative budget for fiscal year 2024 to 2025 and amending the state road 100 Corridor CRA budget for fiscal year 2023 2024 okay um I is there any City major any any comments so then I will open the from the de any question about the uh the um the resolution that was just read no mayor vice mayor none councilman Gus none thank you okay so with that I will open this item up for public comment any member of the public that wishes to address this item at this time would please come forward seeing no one from the public come forward I'll close public comment back to the day no further discussion I don't think and um what's my next action uh we would need a motion and a and a um Second and a vote of course on the resolution so City Council Members I'm asking for motion uh regarding the resolution that was just read into the record we've had public comment I make a motion to approve the resolution a motion to approve the resolution as read was made by councilwoman pontieri is there a second I second there's a second from councilman kuus is there any additional discussion don't have none no additional discussion so with that I would go ahead and ask the clerk um to uh do a roll call vote please vice mayor Denko yes council member kuus yes council member pontieri yes mayor alen yes the motion passes unanimously thank you with that I'll go ahead and adjourn the state road 100 CRA board and Recon convene the city council uh meeting um these are again prescribed by uh by law so we now move to the next set of resolutions under agenda letter G the first resolution I have to read verbatim by ordinance the city of palom Coast proposes to Levy a tentative millage rate of 4.1 1893 Ms this is an increase of 4.83% from the rolled back rate of 39961 Ms so with that I would open this item up to the public for public comment seeing no one from the public come forward um I will move to our action item which is to adopt the tentative millage rate resolution um the city of Palm Coast proposes to adopt a tentative millit rate of 4.18 93 what does tenative mean is we have to vote on this again yes two two readings that's why the word tenative now I don't require another motion is that correct yes I don't require a motion I've just read the motion and correct we need a motion we still need a motion in a second a motion on top of what I just read yes all right so then I will ask for a motion from city council I'll make a motion to adopt the resolution approving setting the tenative millage rate uh for fiscal year 2024 to 2025 at 4.18 93 Mills councilwoman pontier has made a motion to uh accept the resolution is is there a second from city council oh I'm sorry I second uh can you be more clear I second the motion May byc C uh councilman kuus has seconded the motion um now back to the day is for discussion I have no further discussion okay further discussion all right then uh I'll ask the clerk to go ahead and uh do a roll call vote please vice mayor Dano no council member kuus I council member pontier yes mayor Alin I the motion passes 3 to one we now move to City resolution agenda letter G and this would be number four the city of Palm Coast proposes to adopt a tentative budget with total appropriated expenditures and reserves of $21 with that said I will open this item up for the public for comment at this time seeing no one come forward for public comment I'll close public comment my next uh step is the action item is to adopt the tentative budget resolution and the announcement is read the city of Palm Coast proposes to adopt a tentative budget of 4 21, 5517 121 the public hearing now we need a motion you want your motion now okay then I would ask city council for a motion I'll make a motion adopting uh the tenative budget of so Council one pontier has made a a motion to uh accept the uh the resolution is there a second I second the motion made by councilman pontier councilman kuus has seconded the motion I'll come back to the day as for any additional public any additional I'm sorry comment the only thing that I want to comment is um I would like to address in the future not tonight um but I would like to address in the future the transfer uh policy of General fund monies into our storm water management fund I would like to readdress that in the future but other than that I have no discussion okay thank you for that councilman K has any final comment I have no final comment thank you all right so we have a motion and a second we've had public comment that I would go ahead and ask the clerk to call the vot by rooll vice mayor Dano no council member kuus yes council member pontier yes mayor Alin yes the motion passes 3 to one we now move to uh agenda uh letter H which is uh when you have the opportunity to I'm sorry I missed I missed the step to announce the public hearing the public hearing to adopt the final millage rate and budget is scheduled for September 18 2024 again at 5:15 p.m. at the Palm Coast City Hall in the community Wing okay that takes care of my legal requirements so with that we would move forward now to the public participation um on items not previously discussed in tonight's agenda are there any members of the public that would like to address me with public comment at this time seeing no one come forward I will close public comment and I would ask for any discussion by City Council on matters that were not on this evening's agenda councilman glus I have none thank you very much appr hearing none I will move forward to the City attorney any comment uh no comment I move forward to the city manager any final comment no comments mayor I ask for a motion to adjourn I'll make a motion to adjourn I have a motion to I have a motion to adjourn from Council when pontier a second from vice mayor we all in favor say I I I we are adjourned thank you thank you