BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
SEMINOLE COUNTY, FLORIDA
SEPTEMBER 27, 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 Tuesday, September 27,
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 Jane Spencer
PUBLIC HEARING
FINAL MILLAGE RATES
AND BUDGET
FOR FY 2011/2012
Proof of publication, as shown on
page _______, calling for a public hearing to consider adoption of the final
Millage Rates and Budget for Fiscal Year 2011/12, received and filed.
Lisa Spriggs, Fiscal Services
Director, addressed the Board to state that the tentative budget for FY
2011/2012 is outlined in the Second Public Hearing booklet (copy received and
filed) which has previously been distributed to the Board and is available to
the public for review on the County’s website.
Revised pages 14 and 15 were received and filed.
Ms. Spriggs displayed and reviewed the
Budget Proposal FY 2011/12 presentation (copy received and filed). She discussed the Budget Development. Ms. Spriggs stated that the budget was advertised
per statutory requirements in the Seminole Section of the Orlando Sentinel
on Thursday, September 22, 2011.
Ms. Spriggs advised that proposed
adjustments in the amount of $20,174,478 are being made to the County Manager’s
originally proposed budget and tentatively adopted budget which are detailed on
pages 19 and 22 of the Second Public Hearing booklet. She explained that the adjustments are
inclusive of items discussed and actions proposed by the Board since the
adoption of the tentative budget on September 14, updated projections of
available fund balances and revenues, and grant and equipment carryforwards
that are identified on pages 23 and 24.
Ms. Spriggs displayed and reviewed the
following topics: Proposed Budget
Summary (total Countywide proposed budget of $798,498,062); Appropriations by
Service Area; Millage Rate Summary; 2011 Change in Taxable Valuation; and
Property Tax Revenue.
Chairman Carey stated that this is
a public hearing for the purpose of hearing the public comments regarding the
tentative millage rate and the budget.
Amending the budget is desired by the Board and adopting the final
millage rate and the County budget for Fiscal Year 2011/12 is required by
Florida law. Chairman Carey stated this
hearing was advertised with a Notice of Public Hearing and that the Budget
Summary was advertised as well.
Chairman Carey stated 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 assessment
valuations should be addressed to the Property Appraiser, David Johnson, who is
in attendance tonight. She stated that the
Board of County Commissioners has limited authority over the budgets of the
Constitutional Officers of the County which include the Clerk of Circuit Court,
the Property Appraiser, the Sheriff, the Supervisor of Elections and the Tax
Collector. Chairman Carey explained how
the budgets for the Constitutional Officers are reviewed and approved.
John Horvath, 1004 Bradford Drive, addressed
the Board to state that his family has owned property in Seminole County since
the '40's and he remembers when the County had a population of 25,000. Mr. Horvath stated the population is now
422,000 and advised that he has seen figures in the newspaper that another
141,000 people are expected in the next 29 years. He discussed how costs have gone up and how
the County has run a "tight ship" over the years. Mr. Horvath stated he hopes the County can
resume the construction of fire stations, maintain roads, and maintain the infrastructure.
No one else
spoke in support or in opposition.
Speaker
Request Form for John Horvath was received and filed.
Commissioner
Horan described a $2 million line item in the budget that is specifically
earmarked for deferred or preventative maintenance.
Commissioner
Henley commended Ms. Spriggs and all of the staff for their willingness to go
back and review the budget and make reductions so they do not have to raise the
millage. He thanked them for their efforts.
Chairman Carey stated that she
believes starting early made a big difference along with the number of workshops
that they had and the hard work that staff has done. She stated that with the new County Manager
on board, next year they will be looking for even greater things; and she thanked
Deputy County Manager Joe Forte for carrying the torch.
Commissioner Dallari stated that
staff is not just looking at the budget, and ways to save money, but they are
looking at processes and coming up with new ways of doing business in the
County differently. He thanked all the
departments for their hard work in figuring out different ways of serving the
public.
Commissioner Van Der Weide thanked
everyone involved in the process. He
stated that it has been a real team effort and he thinks they have done a
yeoman's job. Commissioner Van Der Weide
congratulated Commissioner Dallari for being the one who first started doing the
budget process early in January and congratulated Chairman Carey for continuing
that process. He remembered that before
they had all the early work sessions, the process was not as smooth as it has
been in the last several years.
Commissioner Horan stated that he
has been very impressed with the professionalism of staff, especially the coordination
of the new County Manager, and the seamless way that Mr. Forte, Mr. Hartmann
and the rest of the staff worked together to put this budget together and
follow the principles that were set forth in the initial workshops. To put the budget together in such a way
where they don't have to raise the millage and don't have to cut the services
is a tribute to the fine work, talent and professionalism of staff. Commissioner Horan thanked David Johnson, Property
Appraiser, for all of his great work. He
stated that if Mr. Johnson is not accurate in assessing and appraising the real
estate values in the market, there is no way the Board can be accurate.
Motion by Commissioner Henley, seconded
by Commissioner Dallari, to adopt the FY 2011/12 General Countywide ad valorem
tax rate of 4.8751 mills.
Districts
1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.
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Motion by
Commissioner Dallari, seconded by Commissioner Henley, to adopt the FY 2011/12
Fire MSTU ad valorem tax rate of 2.3299 mills.
Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted
AYE.
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Motion by
Commissioner Horan, seconded by Commissioner Dallari, to adopt the FY 2011/12
Unincorporated Road MSTU ad valorem tax rate of 0.1107 mills.
District 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted
AYE.
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Motion by
Commissioner Van Der Weide, seconded by Commissioner Henley, to adopt the FY
2011/12 Voted Debt Service ad valorem tax rate of 0.1700 mills.
Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted
AYE.
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At the
request of Chairman Carey, Lin Polk, Budget Manager, read the established
millage rates into the public record as follows: the General Countywide Millage rate is 4.8751
(percentage change of -5.78% from the rolled-back rate of 5.1742); the Fire/Rescue
MSTU millage rate is 2.3299 (percentage change of -5.62% from the rolled-back
rate of 2.4687); the Unincorporated Roads MSTU millage rate is .1107
(percentage change of -5.55% from the rolled-back rate of .1172); and the
County 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 Dallari,
seconded by Commissioner Horan, to adopt appropriate Resolution #2011-R-183, as
shown on page _______, Millage Levy for Fiscal Year 2011/12 inclusive of the
millage rates announced.
Districts
1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 voted AYE.
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Motion by Commissioner Van Der Weide, seconded by Commissioner Henley,
to approve
budget adjustments to the FY 2011/12 Tentative Budget totaling $20,174,478 and
a change in appropriations to include a $1,200 discretionary one-time pay
adjustment for all non-bargaining unit employees.
Under
discussion, Commissioner Dallari stated that he would not be supporting this
motion because of the $1,200 discretionary one-time pay adjustment line item. He stated that it is not that he does not
feel that the County’s employees deserve a pay increase; but with the
uncertainty that is happening in the economy, especially with the downgrading
of the Fed’s bond rating, he believes it is hard to predict what is happening
in the market and feels it would not be prudent to do this.
Districts
1, 2, 3 and 5 voted AYE.
Commissioner
Dallari voted NAY.
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Motion by Commissioner
Henley, seconded by Commissioner Horan, to adopt appropriate Budget Resolution
#2011-R-184, as shown on page _______, for Fiscal Year 2011/12.
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 7:20 p.m., this
same date.
ATTEST:_______________________Clerk_____________________Chairman
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