BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
SEMINOLE COUNTY, FLORIDA
SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
The following is a non-verbatim transcript
of the BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
MEETING OF SEMINOLE COUNTY, FLORIDA, held at 7:00 p.m., on Wednesday,
September 12, 2018, in Room 1028 of the SEMINOLE
COUNTY SERVICES BUILDING at SANFORD,
FLORIDA, the usual place of meeting of said Board.
Present:
Chairman John Horan (District 2)
Vice Chairman Lee Constantine (District 3)
Commissioner
Robert Dallari (District 1)
Commissioner Brenda Carey (District 5)
Clerk and Comptroller Grant Maloy
County Manager Nicole Guillet
County Attorney Bryant Applegate
Deputy Clerk Kyla Farrell
PUBLIC HEARING
TENTATIVE FY 2018/2019 BUDGET
Chairman Horan advised
that the Board of County Commissioners does not have any control over the tax
levies or budgets of the School Board, the Water Management District, or any of
the seven cities in Seminole County.
Questions regarding property assessed valuations should be addressed to
the Property Appraiser, David Johnson. The
Board of County Commissioners has limited authority over the budgets of the
Constitutional Officers of the County which include the Clerk of the Circuit Court,
the Property Appraiser, the Sheriff, the Supervisor of Elections and the Tax
Collector. Chairman Horan described how
the budgets for the Constitutional Officers are reviewed and approved. He pointed out that by Florida law, two
public hearings must be held before adopting the final millage rates and annual
budget for Seminole County. The purpose
of this first public hearing is to hear public comments regarding the proposed
millage rates and budget, amend the budget as desired by the Board, and to tentatively
adopt the millage rates and budget of the County for FY 2018/19.
Chairman Horan stated the first public hearing has been
advertised through the Notice of Proposed Property Taxes which was previously
mailed by the Property Appraiser's Office in August to all ad valorem taxpayers
of the County.
Tim Jecks, Budget Manager, addressed the Board to display a PowerPoint
presentation (received and filed) for the FY 2018/19 Tentative Budget. He displayed the first slide and reviewed Budget
Development for the upcoming fiscal year.
He explained the Public Hearings are the final meetings of a process
that started in April and included multiple work sessions throughout the summer.
Mr. Jecks
displayed the Millage Rate Summary and reviewed millage rates for the Adopted
2017/18 Budget; Tentative 2018/19 Budget; Rolled-Back Rate; and the Percentage Increase
in the Proposed Millage Rates over the Rolled-Back Millage Rates for Countywide,
the Fire Services District, and the Roads District. Mr. Jecks continued by reviewing slides
relating to the 2018 Change in Taxable Property Values; Property Tax Revenue; and
the Tentative Budget Summary (totaling $791,695,490). He noted the Proposed Budget includes
adjustments totaling $5,565,111, which are detailed on page 14 of the First
Public Hearing Book (copy received and filed).
Mr. Jecks
reviewed a pie chart depicting the total proposed Expenditures Budget of $519
million by Service Area. Mr. Jecks
concluded his presentation by displaying and reviewing the 2014 Sales Tax
Exhibit C Project Revision slides.
PUBLIC
PARTICIPATION
Steven Edmiston, 1047 Reading Court, addressed the Board and
stated along with being a citizen he is also a lieutenant for the Fire
Department which gives him a better understanding of the problems that are
plaguing public safety as a whole. He
expressed he appreciates that there are several capital purchases proposed in
the 2019/20 budget; however, during the budget work session presented by Fire
Department administration, there was no mention of its most valuable asset,
trained personnel. Mr. Edmiston
discussed Sheriff Dennis Lemma’s presentation at the same work session where
the Sheriff emphasized their high attrition of trained personnel, many of whom
are leaving due to wage compression. Mr.
Edmiston advised the Fire Department is in the exact same situation. He talked about his responsibilities and
history at the Fire Department.
Mr. Edmiston stated in less than 5 years, the Fire Department
will have at least 31 supervisors retire due to the DROP program, including the
Fire Chief. That does not include
supervisors and firefighters who will be retiring without the DROP program. He indicated he is not aware of any plan to
address the issue, and to date there is no succession plan. Mr. Edmiston advised waiting five years to
address the issue will be too late, and that is a huge risk to public safety. He explained it costs the County $200,000 to
train and outfit a new firefighter. Once
that firefighter is hired, he gets well trained only to leave in a few years to
receive a several thousand dollar raise.
He asked how much money the County has wasted by repeating this scenario
over and over again.
Mr. Edmiston stated currently the Seminole County Fire
Department is $3,000 to $12,000 below the starting pay of surrounding agencies
and the numbers only compound as you continue up the pay scale. With the boom in the economy and the
explosive growth in the county, now is the time to act. He begged the Board to take all of the facts
into consideration when evaluating the budget and do their job as public
officials to keep public safety first.
The Fire Department cannot continue to lose its most valuable and
experienced assets.
Jon DiVita, P.O. Box 952648, addressed the Board and stated he
is representing 350-plus Seminole County firefighters. Mr. DiVita explained year after year
exceptional service has been provided with minimal tax increases. The majority of the Commissioners have
identified on the record that the County is having a problem with retention of
staff. He mentioned Sheriff Lemma’s
presentation at the Budget work session and noted the Sheriff made it clear
that he cares about his people and understands they are the most important
asset to his organization. Mr. DiVita
pointed out the Sheriff isn’t the only one experiencing this problem; it is
countywide.
Mr. DiVita stated the Commissioners are very smart and refer to
themselves as problem solvers. He asked
the Board to solve the problem of employee retention countywide.
Mr. DiVita advised the current experience of the County’s firefighters
is only nine years, and they expect with the upcoming retirements that that
number will decrease significantly. In a
letter the firefighters previously sent the Board, they explained their
attrition rate has increased from the 2015 TriData study when it was already a
major concern. The migration of talented
firefighters causes difficulties delivering services to the citizens. Their number one priority is to keep the
public safe; but for them to continue doing so, they must retain experienced
personnel. He asked the Board to make
the County’s employees feel wanted and reward them for their hard work and
commitment they show each and every day.
Mr. DiVita stated as the Board is approving and evaluating the
budget, they need to understand the Fire Department has the necessary equipment
to do their jobs. Yes, they do need more
fire stations to keep up with the growth of the county; yes, they need to keep
up with the technological advances to improve response times; and yes, they
need to continue an efficient maintenance plan to keep their vehicles responding
to emergencies safely and have a plan to replace trucks when they need it. He asked if any of that matters without
well-trained personnel. Before they deal
with the capital projects, they need to take care of their most valuable
assets. Mr. DiVita advised it is time
they invest in employees and follow the County’s policy which states it will
pay compensation which is competitive with rates being paid for similar jobs by
other employers in the labor market. He
stated they must stop the skilled men and women from leaving the County.
Matt Collins, 5840 Red Bug Lake Road, addressed the Board and
stated he represents the Seminole Committee for Government Accountability. He advised he only has one question
pertaining to the budget. Mr. Collins
asked if the Commissioners are planning to raise their own salaries for the
next upcoming year. Chairman Horan
advised the Board is taking public comment right now, and they will address it
afterwards.
With regard to public participation, no one else in the audience
spoke in support or in opposition and public input was closed.
Speaker Request Forms were received and filed.
DISCUSSION
Commissioner Carey asked County Manager Nicole Guillet how many
union contracts are in the County, and Ms. Guillet answered one. She clarified they actually have two
bargaining agreements. Commissioner
Carey confirmed with Ms. Guillet that the only union contracts are with the
Fire Department. The Commissioner asked
if those are treated somewhat differently because they have a contract. She advised she knows they are in contract
negotiations, so she won’t get into a lot of discussion about it. Ms. Guillet stated the way staff budgets for
wages within the annual budget is driven by the provisions that are within the
two bargaining agreements. So rather
than a policy decision, the wages are dictated by the conditions of those
bargaining agreements. Commissioner
Carey indicated as soon as they get to some resolution on that, they will know
what the adjustments will be for the firefighters’ contracts. Ms. Guillet replied depending on what the
outcome is on that, they will need to do a Budget Amendment in order to address
that.
-----
Motion by
Commissioner Carey, seconded by Commissioner Dallari, to adopt the FY 2018/19 countywide
tentative millage rate of 4.8751 mills.
Districts 1, 2, 3 and 5 voted AYE.
-------
Motion by Commissioner Dallari, seconded
by Commissioner Constantine, to adopt the FY 2018/19 Fire MSTU tentative
millage rate of 2.7649 mills.
Districts
1, 2, 3 and 5 voted AYE.
-------
Motion by Commissioner Constantine,
seconded by Commissioner Carey, to adopt the FY 2018/19 Unincorporated Road District
MSTU tentative millage rate of 0.1107 mills.
District 1,
2, 3 and 5 voted AYE.
-------
At the request of Chairman Horan, Mr. Jecks read the established
millage rates into the public record as follows: The tentative countywide General Fund
property tax rate of 4.8751 mills represents a 7.12% increase over the
rolled-back millage rate of 4.5509 mills.
The tentative County Municipal Fire Services District property tax of 2.7649
mills represents a 6.95% increase over the rolled-back millage rate of 2.5853
mills. The tentative Unincorporated Road
District ad valorem tax rate of 0.1107 mills represents a 6.34% increase over
the rolled-back rate of 0.1041 mills.
The proposed “aggregate” millage rate for all BCC taxing districts is 6.9150
mills, which represents a 6.67% increase over the current year “aggregate”
rolled-back millage rate of 6.4829 mills.
-------
Motion by
Commissioner Dallari, seconded by Commissioner Carey, to approve and authorize
revisions to Exhibit C, Project List of the 2014 Interlocal Agreement among
Seminole County, the School Board of Seminole County, and the Signatory
Municipalities Pertaining to the Shared Distribution and Use of the One-Cent
Local Government Infrastructure Sales Tax.
Districts 1, 2, 3 and 5 voted AYE.
-------
Motion by Commissioner Constantine,
seconded by Commissioner Carey, to adopt the proposed budget for all funds for FY
2018/19 as presented to the Board of County Commissioners by the County Manager
in official capacity as Budget Officer and subsequently adjusted as the
tentative budget of the Board of County Commissioners.
Districts 1, 2, 3 and 5 voted AYE.
-------
Chairman Horan announced that the final
public hearing to adopt the FY 2018/19 millage rates and budget is scheduled
for September 25, 2018, at 7:00 p.m.
Motion by Commissioner Carey, seconded by Commissioner Constantine, to
approve
the second public hearing to take final action on the millage rates and budget
for FY 2018/19 to be advertised for September 25, 2018, at 7:00 p.m. in the
Board of County Commissioners’ Chambers, and authorize staff to advertise the tentative
budget and public hearing pursuant to Florida Statutes, Chapter 129 and 200.
Districts 1, 2, 3 and 5 voted AYE.
-------
There being no further
business to come before the Board, the Chairman declared the meeting adjourned
at 7:25 p.m., this same date.
ATTEST:_______________________Clerk_____________________Chairman
kf