OMB-25-0048

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1. 1Jul 15, 2025
   Board of County CommissionersR68Regular businessApproved

   Approved minutes

   Approved Staff’s recommendation.

   Open this item →▶ Play from 1:06:16
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   Unidentified speakerVoice A

   1:06:16Well let's see how fast I can talk if I have two minutes. No pressure, Amy. Amy Farrell, Budget Director with Pasco's Office of Management and Budget. Um item R68 or OMB 250048, where we're gonna be setting the um truth and millage. In your packets in front of you, commissioners, you have a copy of the PowerPoint presentation, and then behind the PowerPoint presentation. Presentation, you'll see the details for the five-year CIP excluding the general fund. The next bit of your packet

   1:06:46is the details for the five-year Transportation Engineering Department CIP. And then your final grouping of papers is the road rehabilitation MSTU three-year plan where we outline the projects by district, group by fiscal year. So just so you know the packet in front of you. And so you have those details to peruse. Um Um just wanted to make sure you had all those details behind those big summary slides that we're gonna talk about in a minute.

   1:07:19All right, so our agenda today, which I'll get through all of this in two minutes, um It it sounds like. Or maybe thirty, or maybe an hour. Um So we're gonna go over the budget cycle. We're gonna talk about what we've already covered in this cycle, the work that we've already accomplished and the work that's still before us. We'll re-ground ourselves in our stri strategic priorities that the board has set forth for us for this first year. We're going to talk about the assumptions and the pressures on our general fund and our

   1:07:49other major funds and we'll be looking at assessed value updates since the last time we met in June. We'll look at capital and then we will approve proposed millage rates for the trim notice and set the first public hearing.

   1:08:05All right, so in January we came together and we had a workshop where we talked big picture strategic planning. So we have a nice five-year plan, but we really needed some guidance in what do we really want to tackle in year one. And then we heard your input and then we went back and we kicked off with our internal team and we started all of the heavy budget work that happens behind the scenes. We came back and we talked about the general fund, we talked about the municipal service fund, our various MSTUs,

   1:08:35and we also looked at our big revenues for the upcoming year and what we thought those were going to shake out to be. In April we workshopped with our constitutional officers and the Chief Judge to make sure that we had good line of sight on their budget priorities for the upcoming year as well. And we held a bunch of rigorous internal meetings to really kind of shape and form and um malleate the budget that we're presenting to you today.

   Joel

   1:09:01Okay.

   Unidentified speakerVoice A

   1:09:03In June we workshopped again and at that time we had our June preliminary taxable assessed value numbers and now we're back in July with final taxable assessed value numbers and to set trim. And then after this we'll have two public hearings in September so we can adopt the budget.

   1:09:23Alright, so let's get regrounding our strategic priorities for year one. Now, some of what you see up here, uh, we're gonna be aligning resources through the adopted fiscal year 26 budget, but we also have a team that's working hard on that community development block grant disaster recovery funding, which is also going to assist us in being able to move the needle on some of these items that we've been talking about this year. So community resilience and sustainability. Reducing homelessness, access and availability to

   1:09:53cultural, educational, recreational and social opportunities, meeting affordable and attainable housing needs, stressed communities, and supporting our small businesses and entrepreneurship.

   1:10:05All right, so budgetary assumptions. So now we're talking about kind of the revenue side of the house and before you today for um the proposed budget We've got no change in the general operating millage. No change in the fire MSTU. No change in our road rehabilitation MSTU. And then based off of the um heavy dialogue that we had in June, we are presenting zero mills for the parks MSTU. No change in the stormwater assessment. Next month there will be

   1:10:35two rate hearings for the water and wastewater rates. And then for our solid waste, fiscal year 26 is the seventh year of our seven for seven plan. So that is all baked into the numbers that we're presenting to you today.

   1:10:53All right.

   1:10:56This slide is showing you our taxable assessed value and how that changed from our June 1 preliminary number to our July 1 final number and in the general fund after we look at the sheriff's allocation. the change in our payments to the CRAs and our increase in payments to our um tax increment finance financing units, you're looking at roughly $3.84 million more dollars in ad valorem taxes in the general fund. That

   1:11:26same increase in July looks like 1.8 million more in the fire MSTU than we talked about at the June workshop and roughly 300,000 more to the road MST than what we discussed in the workshop. But as you all will remember, the property taxes is one piece of our very complex general fund and so Uh it's important for us to talk about that business rent tax repeal. So while we had 3.84 more million more in

   1:11:57property taxes in the general fund, the business rent tax repeal yielded $7.2 million less in half cent sales tax revenue. And so our the big picture impact here is our reserves are about 2.5 million less. What we're presenting today than what we presented in June. And so that equates to roughly two days less of our operating in reserves.

   1:12:23All right. So um this slide is very similar. Yeah.

   WeightmanSecond Vice Chair

   1:12:27So it cost us You said w you're two million dollars less and we lose That's two days. So it costs this county about a million dollars a day to operate.

   Unidentified speakerVoice A

   1:12:38In the general general fund.

   WeightmanSecond Vice Chair

   1:12:40Out of the general fund. That's a new statistics I hadn't heard before. So million dollars okay, thank you.

   MarianoVice Chair

   1:12:46Madam Chair, quick question?

   Unidentified speakerVoice A

   1:12:48Yes.

   MarianoVice Chair

   1:12:48Um so the reserves generally what do they run? Like what's our goal?

   Unidentified speakerVoice A

   1:12:53So our goal is sixty days in reserves and so right now we're looking at thirty four.

   MarianoVice Chair

   1:12:59And that's because of the storms we just went through that as reserves have dropped out, correct?

   Unidentified speakerVoice A

   1:13:03Part of it is the storms. Part of it is um we were already experiencing um less in half cent sales tax revenue than we were expecting this time last year. Um so there were there were a few things that kind of got us to

   1:13:20Mm-hmm.

   1:13:30All right, so the general fund, so those revenues we were talking about, how are those allocated to expenses within the general fund? So you'll see the big piece of the pie, the purple piece, um, that's our public safety, which makes up our sheriff office corrections, fire rescue, emergency management, um, those types of services or 911, dispatchers, um Yeah. The next piece of the pie, that teal, that is that reserve amount that we were just talking about. And then if you keep coming, that

   1:14:00blue one is our general government, which is facilities, our different administrative departments, information technology, those types of departments. If you keep going to that red bit, that's the other constitutional officers, less the sheriff, plus the sixth judicial circuit, and how we support them in the justice. General fund. And then the last piece of the pie is our outward-facing departments like our parks, community services, libraries, misdemeanor probation, those types of things.

   1:14:32All right, so constitutional officer budget request. The one So there's two things in here that are a little bit different from the June workshop. And so we'll start with the clerk's budget. So you'll remember that she was requesting an additional position to the tune of $60,000 a year annually because of the value adjustment board impacts with the tax bill that got passed. And so that is baked into her number. And then the second component that's different is the sheriff, so

   1:15:02based off the 11.2% taxable assessed value growth, his budget adjusts it up likewise. But good news, so the sheriff as a fiscal conservative believes that he can take roughly two million less of that amount that we have allocated to him. And he also wanted to say that he appreciates the funding that the board worked really hard to set aside for his helicopters and that the state worked hard to help fund some of their critical capital projects. And

   1:15:33so while that number is not yet reflected here, we will be making those adjustments as we come to for the first public hearing.

   1:15:48Okay, and then this is our outside funding. And just a friendly reminder that anything that is bolded and italicized on this slide are state mandated for us to fund. Anything that is not bolded and italicized are at the board's discretion.

   1:16:06Alright, and so this slide is by and large the same as it was from the workshop. The only update is with the homeless program administrator, we did get somebody on board, and so now we were able to kind of finalize what that recurring dollar amount is gonna look like, and so we have that up here.

   1:16:28And then these are some additional initiatives that the county administrator is proposing since we got the July 1 taxable assessed value numbers. And so the first grouping of items, we're calling those by and large cost neutral. So either they're offset by revenue that will be generated or expiring contracts, or for the most part, it's going to be offset. And so we'll talk through those. We've got Ambulance medical billers who should be able to generate more revenue for us. That is gonna offset the cost of those positions. Our

   1:16:58parks director had some expiring contracts, and so he's repurposing his recommendation is to repurpose those funds to a Sunwest crew leader and a Starkey Ranch District's park, sports, turf. Management. And then that last bit is where I say mostly cost neutral. So for project managers for transportation engineering, the majority of that of those dollars are gonna be charged back to capital projects, but there's some some overhead that we just can't charge back. So at roughly $10,000.

   1:17:29a position um won't be charged back so but by and large the majority of the cost will be. Um And I don't know Mike if there's anything else you wanted to touch on here.

   1:17:45Just keep it moving.

   1:17:52I what did I do? Oh, now I went too much. Every time. I do this every time. Okay. All right.

   1:18:01Th I you know, I joke and I said there's gonna be something silly I do. Well we got to it. Alright, so now here's our general fund capital that's being recommended for this year. You'll see the Hudson Library. The total cost is still at that $10 million, but we did want to be specific and talk about what of those costs are specific to the renovation bit, and what of those are, you know, just wear and tear on the building itself and some repair that we need to do, things like water intrusion in the walls. Some roof repairs, there's

   1:18:31a parking lot that needs um some tender love and care. And then the board did direct us in June to add three million dollars to the park's capital maintenance budget. And so in June, that number for the park's maintenance was 1.253 million, and now you'll see that is 4.253 million. And then we did get an updated cost estimate for the Sheriff's Armory.

   1:19:00All right, so change in our major funds. So major fund as defined by the statute is a fund that makes up ten percent of the overall budget for the county. And so all of the funds here listed meet that definition, save the tourism development tax, but that is a that's an important fund for our board, so we always do like to come back and talk about it. So some general assumptions that are in the proposed budget. We've got wage increases are in there, retirement increases are in there, general

   1:19:31inflation, and then also any new initiatives that are being added to those funds. And so we have a couple slides after this one that'll outline what some of those initiatives are.

   1:19:47Alright, so I'll just touch on a couple of these. So looking at our building inspections, um, our team is adding two mobile permitting trailers, a few positions, and some software enhancements. Our County Transportation Trust Fund is adding some vehicle equipment, landscape maintenance, and some positions. Now, by and large, what you see on this slide is um our county and our departments keeping up with the work that they're already doing and just making sure that we're able to really

   1:20:17meet those demands for service. So um let's see. Stormwater management, same thing, adding some vehicles equipment and a small number of positions. And when we get to the Solid Waste System Fund, again, vehicles equipment, minor positions. And then you'll also notice that they are working through their master plan revision just to make sure that they are teed up and ready to go when they come back to see what are those needs when their seven for seven year plan expires. Yeah.

   1:20:51All right, and then our water utility fund. Um so By and large what you see on this slide are positions to meet growth and some studies to make sure that we're you know prioritizing our resources in the right spot.

   1:21:11All right, so big picture, our five-year capital improvement plan, less the general fund because we had those called out. And again, this is one of those beefy handouts that you all have in your binders. But looking at a $1.7 billion budget, you'll remember I'm sure this time last year our five-year CIP was about $1.8 billion, so we're still roughly on par with the same kind of growth that we've been experiencing. Yeah.

   1:21:38And then we are taking this transportation line here, and then we have broken that out by the different types of categories, how they group those projects, so looking at landscaping, big capacity projects, um multimodal so things like sidewalks and whatnot, signal, street lights. And then again this is another one of those packets and it's pretty beefy. So all the I'm gonna get this wrong nitty gritty details. I might have gotten it right, but I might have gotten it wrong. But all the details are in your packet.

   1:22:11Alright, so we've got two slides here that show millage rates. So this one, um, state statute. requires us to show you how we compare to the rolled back rate, but we also want to take a second and just talk about how are our proposed millage rates compared to our current millage rates for 25 adopted. And so you'll notice where we talked about we're proposing no changes. But then when you get to the general obligation bonds, so the way these work is that we have a millage

   1:22:41that will generate the revenue we need to pay our debt service and the interest payments for that year for those bonds. And so because we've been experiencing some growth, you take that same number, you apply it over more. Um taxpayers and then it actually turns out to a slight savings to each individual person. So just you know taking a moment to educate kind of how those general obligation bonds work. Um that is a call that our office fields quite often about this time next month.

   StarkeyChair

   1:23:12So that's awesome. They're going down.

   Unidentified speakerVoice A

   1:23:18All right, and so here's the the state statute how we compare to the um the rolled back rate, which a reminder that rolled back rate would generate exactly the same revenue um for the most part as what we received in this year.

   1:23:33All right, so we're here today. To approve our proposed millage rates and also to set the first public hearing for Wednesday, September third, 2025, at 515 here in Dade City. And when the board does do this, both of these will be published on the trim notices that will go out in August.

   1:23:56Any questions or do we want to move to approve?

   StarkeyChair

   1:24:01Move to approve. Second. All in favor? Aye. Aye.

   WeightmanSecond Vice Chair

   1:24:08Not the time. Not the time.

   StarkeyChair

   1:24:14Wow. Commissioner's identity.

   Unidentified speakerVoice B

   1:24:19What is it? Your turn.