BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
SEMINOLE COUNTY, FLORIDA
SEPTEMBER 15, 2021
The following is a non-verbatim transcript of the BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MEETING OF SEMINOLE COUNTY, FLORIDA, held at 6:00 p.m., on Wednesday, September 15, 2021, in Room 1028 of the SEMINOLE COUNTY SERVICES BUILDING at SANFORD, FLORIDA, the usual place of meeting of said Board.
Present:
Chairman Lee Constantine (District 3)
Vice Chairman Amy Lockhart (District 4)
Commissioner Robert Dallari (District 1)
Commissioner Jay Zembower (District 2) (remote)
Commissioner Andria Herr (District 5)
County Manager Nicole Guillet
Senior Assistant County Attorney Desmond Morrell
Deputy Clerk Kyla Farrell
PUBLIC HEARING
TENTATIVE FY 2021/2022 BUDGET
Chairman Constantine 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, who is present. 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 Constantine 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 2021/22.
Chairman Constantine 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.
Lorie Bailey Brown, Resource Management Director, addressed the Board and displayed a PowerPoint presentation (received and filed) for the FY 2021/22 Tentative Budget. She reviewed Budget Development for the upcoming fiscal year and stated tonight’s hearing is to announce the tentative millage rates and tentative budget.
Ms. Bailey Brown displayed the Millage Rates summary and reviewed millage rates for the Adopted 2020/21 Budget; Tentative 2021/22 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. Ms. Bailey Brown continued by reviewing Property Taxes; Tax Bill; and total millage rate for Surrounding Counties, which includes the tentative millage rates combined with the School Board and Water Management District and are detailed on page 58 of the Public Hearing Book (copy received and filed).
Ms. Bailey Brown stated the total Tentative Budget is $878,780,674 million and includes a 3%, or $28 million, adjustment from the County Manger’s proposed budget of $850 million. Details of the adjustment can be found on pages 16 and 17 of the Public Hearing Book. In summary, there were $16 million net increases for various grants, $8 million in countywide revenue increases, and $3.7 million in fund balance adjustments. She concluded her presentation by reviewing a pie chart depicting the total proposed Expenditures Budget of $596,500,000 million which excludes reserves and transfers. It is detailed by Service Area on page 9 of the presentation.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
With regard to public participation, no one spoke in support or in opposition and public input was closed.
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Motion by Commissioner Dallari, seconded by Commissioner Lockhart, to adopt the FY 2021/22 countywide tentative millage rate of 4.8751 mills.
Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 voted AYE.
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Motion by Commissioner Lockhart, seconded by Commissioner Dallari, to adopt the FY 2021/22 Fire MSTU tentative millage rate of 2.7649 mills.
Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 voted AYE.
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Motion by Commissioner Dallari, seconded by Commissioner Herr, to adopt the FY 2021/22 Unincorporated Road District MSTU tentative millage rate of 0.1107 mills.
Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 voted AYE.
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At the request of Chairman Constantine, Ms. Bailey Brown 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 4.01% increase over the rolled-back millage rate of 4.6870 mills. The tentative County Municipal Fire Services District property tax of 2.7649 mills represents a 3.89% increase over the rolled-back millage rate of 2.6613 mills. The tentative Unincorporated Road District ad valorem tax rate of 0.1107 mills represents a 4.04% increase over the rolled-back rate of 0.1064 mills. The tentative “aggregate” millage rate for all BCC taxing districts is 6.8999 mills, which represents a 3.66% increase over the current year “aggregate” rolled-back millage rate of 6.6564 mills.
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Motion by Commissioner Dallari, seconded by Commissioner Lockhart, to adopt the proposed tentative budget for all funds for FY 2021/22 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.
Under discussion, Commissioner Herr advised she will be abstaining from this vote due to a conflict of interest. The Sheriff’s Office is a client of Hylant, and she has checked that disposition with legal counsel prior to this public hearing. Commissioner Lockhart asked if there was a way that in the future they could adopt a portion of the budget so that the piece that causes Commissioner Herr an issue could be handled separately. Commissioner Herr answered yes. She explained that has been researched, and staff has committed to doing that for next year. Given the ARPA dynamic of this year, putting that burden on staff in addition to figuring out what they would do with the $92 million, and all of the work that had been done, it was unnecessary to burden staff this year.
Districts 1, 2, 3, and 4 voted AYE.
District 5 recused from voting.
Voting Conflict Form 8B was received and filed.
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Chairman Constantine announced that the final public hearing to adopt the FY 2021/22 millage rates and budget is scheduled for September 28, 2021, at 6:00 p.m.
Motion by Commissioner Lockhart, seconded by Commissioner Zembower, to approve the second public hearing to take final action on the millage rates and budget for FY 2021/22 to be advertised for Tuesday, September 28, 2021, at 6:00 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, 4, and 5 voted AYE.
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There being no further business to come before the Board, the Chairman declared the meeting adjourned at 6:17 p.m., this same date.
ATTEST:___________________________Clerk_________________________Chairman
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