BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
SEMINOLE COUNTY, FLORIDA
SEPTEMBER 14, 2011
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 14,
2011, 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)
Vice
Chairman Carlton Henley (District 4)
Commissioner
Bob Dallari (District 1)
Commissioner
John Horan (District 2)
Commissioner
Dick Van Der Weide (District 3)
County
Manager Jim Hartmann
County
Attorney Bryant Applegate
Deputy
Clerk Carylon Cohen
Commissioner Van Der Weide gave the Invocation.
Commissioner Dallari led the Pledge of Allegiance.
PUBLIC HEARING
TENTATIVE FY 2011/2012 BUDGET
Chairman Carey announced that the Board does not have any
control over the tax levies and 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, who is present
tonight with his staff. The Board of County
Commissioners (BCC) has limited authority over the budgets of the
Constitutional Officers of the County which includes the Clerk of Circuit Court,
Property Appraiser, Sheriff, Supervisor of Elections and Tax Collector. She advised how the budgets for
the Constitutional Officers are reviewed and
approved. She stated the purpose of this
first public hearing is to take comments regarding the proposed millage rates
and budget, amend the budget as desired by the Board and tentatively adopt the
millage rates and budget of the County for FY 2011/12.
Lisa Spriggs,
Fiscal Services Director, addressed the Board to state the proposed budget for
FY 2011/2012 is outlined in the First Public Hearing document (copy received
and filed) which was previously distributed to the Board and is available to
the public for review on the County’s website (www.seminolecountyfl.gov). She displayed and reviewed a PowerPoint presentation
(copy received and filed) covering the following topics: Budget Development; Proposed Budget Summary
(total Countywide proposed budget of $778,323,584); Appropriations by Service
Area; Millage Rate Summary; 2011 Change in Taxable Valuation; and Property Tax
Revenue.
No one
spoke in support or in opposition.
Commissioner
Henley said he thinks it is appropriate to compliment Ms. Spriggs and her staff
for preparation of this budget, along with the new County Manager for his
input. He acknowledged a letter to the
Commissioners from a citizen who felt he was not taxed enough and sent a check
in the amount of $200. He said the Board
also received another letter from an individual who felt he was not being taxed
enough. Commissioner Henley also stated
that citizens of this County have the best bargain around because, when you can
get police and fire protection, libraries, paved roads and parks and recreation
and all those types of things for the millage rate the Board is setting, that’s
a good bargain.
Chairman
Carey noted that people who watch this government in action and who have
watched them over the years know that over the last several years, the Board
has eliminated 270 positions and cut $100 million out of this budget; so they
have worked long and hard at it. She
said it’s great that staff has been able to continue to work to hold the budget
without increasing taxes to the public.
Commissioner
Van Der Weide complimented Ms. Spriggs and the management team that has been
here only a short period of time, DCM Joe Forte who has worked on this budget
from Day 1 and all the staff for their efforts.
He said he is proud to be a part of Seminole County and the County
Commission.
Motion by Commissioner Henley, seconded
by Commissioner Van Der Weide, to adopt the FY 2011/12 Countywide tentative
millage rate of 4.8751 mills.
Districts
1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.
-------
Motion by
Commissioner Dallari, seconded by Commissioner Van Der Weide, to adopt the FY
2011/12 Fire MSTU tentative millage rate of 2.3299 mills.
Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted
AYE.
-------
Motion by
Commissioner Horan, seconded by Commissioner Dallari, to adopt the FY 2011/12
Unincorporated Road MSTU tentative millage rate of 0.1107 mills.
District 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted
AYE.
-------
Motion by
Commissioner Van Der Weide, seconded by Commissioner Horan, to adopt the FY
2011/12 Voted Debt Service tentative millage rate of 0.1700 mills.
Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted
AYE.
-------
At the
request of Chairman Carey, Lin Polk, Budget Manager, read the established
millage rates into the public record as follows: tentatively approved BCC Countywide Millage rate
is 4.8751; the rolled-back rate is 5.1742 and the percentage change from the rolled-back
rate is -5.78%; tentatively approved Fire/Rescue MSTU millage rate is 2.3299;
the rolled-back rate is 2.4687 and the percentage change is -5.62%; the
tentatively approved Unincorporated Roads MSTU millage rate is .1107; the
rolled-back rate is .1172 and the percentage change is -5.55%; the tentatively
approved Voted Debt Service millage rate is .1700. The proposed “aggregate” millage rate
(exclusive of Voted Debt Service millage) is 6.5151, which represents a 6.37%
decrease from the current year “aggregate” rolled-back millage rate of 6.9582.
Motion by Commissioner Henley,
seconded by Commissioner Van Der Weide, to approve the proposed budget for all
funds for FY 2011/2012 as originally presented to the BCC 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, 4 and 5 voted AYE.
-------
Motion by Commissioner Dallari, seconded by Commissioner Van Der
Weide, to approve the second public hearing to take final action on the
millage rates and budget for FY 2011/12, scheduled for September 27, 2011 at
7:00 p.m. in Room 1028 of the BCC Chambers, and authorize staff to advertise
the public hearing pursuant to Florida Statutes.
Districts
1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.
-------
Commissioner
Dallari stated he heard that the School Board received an award at the Economic
Development Commission (EDC) meeting.
Commissioner Horan said the EDC today presented their Schwartz innovation
awards and one of the recipients from Seminole County was the Seminole County
School Board for its innovative communication and partnership with Seminole
State College. There was also a Seminole
County business, XOS Digital, which received an award.
Commissioner
Dallari thanked Commissioner Horan for attending that meeting and asked the
Board if, at their next scheduled meeting, they can have resolutions of
appreciation to the School Board and XOS Digital for the fine work they are
doing. Chairman Carey said the Board can
do that, and XOS Digital will also be receiving an industrial award from the
Chamber and a resolution will be on the next agenda for that.
-------
There being no further business to come
before the Board, the Chairman declared the meeting adjourned at 7:16 p.m., this
same date.
ATTEST:_______________________Clerk_____________________Chairman
cc