BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
SEMINOLE COUNTY, FLORIDA
SEPTEMBER 24, 2019
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 Tuesday,
September 24, 2019, in Room 1028 of the SEMINOLE
COUNTY SERVICES BUILDING at SANFORD,
FLORIDA, the usual place of meeting of said Board.
Present:
Chairman Brenda Carey
(District 5)
Commissioner Robert Dallari (District 1)
Commissioner Lee Constantine (District 3)
Commissioner Amy Lockhart (District 4)
County Manager Nicole Guillet
County Attorney Bryant
Applegate
Clerk of Court & Comptroller Grant
Maloy
Deputy Clerk Chariti Colon
Absent:
Vice
Chairman Jay Zembower (District 2)
PUBLIC HEARING
FY 2019/20 FINAL BUDGET
Proofs of publication calling for a public
hearing to consider the Seminole County FY 2019/20 Final Budget, received and
filed.
Nicole Guillet, County Manager, announced the
purpose of this public hearing is to discuss the tentative operating millage
levies and the rolled-back rate, summarize the tentative budget and the
proposed changes, and listen to comments and answer questions from the public
regarding the tentative millage rates.
Prior to conclusion of the hearing, the Board must amend the tentative
budget, if necessary; recompute its tentative millage rates, if necessary;
publicly announce the percent by which the recomputed tentative millage rates
are above or below the rolled-back rate; and adopt the final millage rates and
budget, in that order.
Chairman Carey advised
that the Board of County Commissioners does not have any control over the taxes
levied 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 Carey described how the budgets for the Constitutional Officers
are reviewed and approved.
The
Chairman 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 public
hearing is to hear public comments regarding the tentatively adopted millage
rates and budget, to amend the budget as desired by the Board, and to adopt the
final millage rates and budget of the County for FY 2019/20, as required by
Florida law. This budget hearing and
Seminole County’s intent to adopt the final millage rates and budget for FY
2020 was advertised in the Orlando Sentinel on September 19, 2019.
Lorie Bailey Brown, Resource Management Director, addressed the
Board and presented a PowerPoint presentation (received and filed) for the Second
Public Hearing FY 2019/20 Final Budget.
Ms. Bailey Brown displayed the Millage Rate Summary and reviewed millage
rates for the Adopted 2018/19 Budget; Final 2019/20 Budget; Rolled-Back
Property Tax Rates; and the Percentage Change in the Proposed Millage Rates
over the Rolled-Back Millage Rates for Countywide, the Fire Services District,
and the Roads District.
Ms. Bailey
Brown discussed 2019 Change in Taxable Property Values and Property Tax
Revenues. She stated the final budget of
$ 838,057,992
is detailed on pages 20 through 25 of the Second Public Hearing booklet
(received and filed) and reviewed Final Budget Summary. Ms. Bailey Brown advised also included in the
final budget are adjustments totaling $1.6 million, which are detailed on pages
23 through 25 of the Second Public Hearing booklet. Final adjustments are primarily attributed to
a $1.8 million increase in mowing and trimming cycles and fleet replacement and
offset by a decrease in the contribution from the Port Authority.
Ms. Bailey
Brown concluded her presentation by reviewing Expenditures by Service.
With regard to public participation, Andre Klass, 3250 Retreat
View Circle, spoke in opposition.
Public
speaker form received and filed.
-------
Motion by Commissioner
Dallari, seconded by Commissioner Constantine, to adopt the FY 2019/20 General
Countywide ad valorem tax rate of 4.8751 mills.
Districts 1, 3, 4, and 5 voted AYE.
-------
Motion by Commissioner Lockhart, seconded
by Commissioner Dallari, to adopt the FY 2019/20 Unincorporated Road District
MSTU ad valorem tax rate of 0.1107 mills.
Districts
1, 3, 4, and 5 voted AYE.
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Motion by Commissioner Constantine,
seconded by Commissioner Lockhart, to adopt the FY 2019/20 Fire District MSTU
ad valorem tax rate of 2.7649 mills.
Districts
1, 3, 4, and 5 voted AYE.
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At the request of Chairman Carey, Ms. Bailey Brown read the
established millage rates into the public record as follows: The adopted Countywide General Fund tax rate
of 4.8751 mills represents a 6.07% increase over the rolled-back millage rate
of 4.5960 mills. The adopted County
Municipal Fire Services District property tax rate of 2.7649 mills represents a
6.12% increase over the rolled-back millage rate of 2.6054 mills. The adopted Unincorporated Road District ad
valorem tax rate of 0.1107 mills represents a 5.73% increase over the
rolled-back rate of 0.1047 mills. The
adopted “aggregate” millage rate for all BCC taxing districts is 6.9062 mills,
which represents a 5.63% increase over the current year “aggregate” rolled-back
millage rate of 6.5381 mills.
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Motion by Commissioner Dallari, seconded by Commissioner
Constantine, to adopt appropriate Resolution #2019-163, Millage Levy Resolution
for FY 2019/20 inclusive of the millage rates announced, as described in the
proof of publication.
Districts
1, 3, 4, and 5 voted AYE.
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Motion by Commissioner Lockhart,
seconded by Commissioner Constantine, to approve budget adjustments to the FY 2019/20
Tentative Budget totaling $1,646,170, as described in the proof of publication.
Districts
1, 3, 4, and 5 voted AYE.
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Chairman Carey advised she would
not be supporting the budget resolution because it includes the Supervisor of
Elections' request for a 39% budget increase.
The Chairman stated other than the Supervisor saying that he needs the
additional $1.1 million, he has not been able to explain or demonstrate the
public benefit of a 39% increase over the prior budget of $2.8 million. She explained she met with Mr. Anderson and
his staff and discussed his budget in great detail asking him if there were any
items that could be deferred until next year or split funding into the next
budget, which would be adopted prior to the November 2020 election. The Chairman stated her hope had been he
could defer some items so the County could allocate those funds to some
deferred County needs without dipping further into Reserves.
Chairman Carey stated while it is
not her job to tell the Supervisor of Elections how to structure his budget, it
is her obligation to ask for transparency from all of the Constitutional
Officers that the County funds so the complete budget can be understood. The Chairman stated it is her job to allocate
the available public funds to the needs that are believed to best serve the
overall interest of the community; and in her opinion, the Supervisor has not
been able to demonstrate the need.
Commissioner Lockhart inquired if the
budget must be adopted in totality the way it's presented and if there is an opportunity
to pull line items. Bryant Applegate,
County Attorney, responded the Board can discuss line item changes; but the
final approval is the budget with changes, if any, the Board would approve
tonight.
Chairman Carey stated when the
prior budget maximums were $2.8 million, the only time there was ever an
increase of this magnitude was the year all new machines were purchased. She expressed she understands it's a 2020
presidential election and there will be more registered voters, but she cannot
understand the public purpose for a 39% budget increase. Even though the Supervisor stated any excess
fees will be returned to the County, once money is allocated to the Supervisor,
it cannot be allocated somewhere else.
The Chairman advised she cannot recall a year that money was ever
received back from the Supervisor of Elections.
There were times when the budget was approved and midyear or at election
time additional funds were given to the Supervisor for legal defense and other
reasons.
Commissioner Constantine stated he
has also given his concerns about the increase percentages from the Constitutional
Officers as they continue to increase. The
Commissioner stated with the upcoming 2020 elections, he thinks they are
potentially between a rock and a hard place, and he has to accept the fact that
the Supervisor of Elections says what he means and will do the job that he says
he's going to do. If the Supervisor says
he needs this, the Commissioner stated he would rather have a safe, clean,
effective election. Hopefully, the
Supervisor will have excess monies and he will prove to the Board that he can
give it back.
Motion by Commissioner Constantine,
seconded by Commissioner Dallari, to adopt the appropriate Resolution #2019-R-164,
Budget Resolution for FY 2019/20, as described in the proof of publication.
Districts 1, 3, and 4 voted AYE.
District
5 voted NAY.
Motion passes 3 to 1.
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There being no further
business to come before the Board, the Chairman declared the meeting adjourned
at 7:23 p.m., this same date.
ATTEST:_______________________Clerk_____________________Chairman
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