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CALL TO ORDER

Attendee Name	Title	Status	Arrived
Robin Fisher	Chairman / Commissioner District 1	Present
Chuck Nelson	Commissioner District 2	Present
Trudie Infantini	Commissioner District 3	Present
Mary Bolin	Commissioner District 4	Present
Andy Anderson	Vice Chairman / Commissioner District 5	Present

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Howard Tipton, County Manager, requested to cancel the March 17th workshop as it is the day after Space Day in Tallahassee, and some of the Commissioners are going to be in Tallahassee.    

 

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Trudie Infantini discussed with Mr. Tipton and the Assistant County Managers that she would like to try and rollback the tax millage rate to what it had last year; and that is her goal setting for the year. 

 

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Howard Tipton, County Manager, stated the afternoon workshop is about goal setting for the upcoming budget session; like with many things, there is good news and bad news; staff is going to cover both areas, and he will try to be as realistic as he can.  He explained he would be discussing economic overview; status of current FY 2011 budget; budget outlook for FY 2012; budget guidelines; public engagement that staff wants to make sure the Board is comfortable with; and ending with some discussion.  He read aloud a quote from Dr. Sean Snaith, Director of the Institute for Economic Competitiveness with the University of Central Florida: "Turn off all portable electronic devices; the cabin door has been closed; flight attendants please prepare Florida for take-off; 2011 is the runway; and in 2012 the economy should be airborne and gaining altitude."  He stated the good news is the worst seems to be over; the recession officially ended in 2009; and 2011 begins the year of transition, with 2012 beginning to take flight.  He went on to talk about some of the economic trends effecting the Space Coast area; the loss of the Space Program jobs; staff and the Board has been talking about 2011 for the past five years, and it is here; it is the end of the Shuttle Program; and Brevard County is going to see the impacts come to life.  He stated he has already seen the start of it as different programs have been winding up; but, he is beginning to see the full force of the 21,000 job reduction impact, both direct USA jobs, and related business, as well as indirect in the economy.  He pointed out the impact of the recessionary economy is the worst in generations, when talking about unemployment and employment rates.  He read aloud another quote from Dr. Snaith, "Employment rates could drift higher as the economy transitions into job growth mode in the latter half of 2010; in 2011, that should mark the beginning of a long, slow and steady decline in unemployment; the emphasis is still on slow, it may be 2020 before we see unemployment fall again below six percent."  He explained the recovery is not replacing the jobs that it had; it is not a jobless recovery, but it sure feels like it; currently, in the United States the unemployment rate is 9.8 percent; in Florida it is 11.6 percent; in Brevard it is 11.9 percent; it is safe to say, as it gets in the summer and fall, Brevard County will see the rate go higher.  He added housing starts in the construction industry; in a growth state like Florida, construction is a big part of the business environment, which has dropped off dramatically over the past few years; and the construction industry will have a long slow climb, along with the jobless rate in terms of recovery.  He talked about property tax base losses, foreclosures, and the impact of short-sales; but he is hopeful that the housing market bottoms out in 2011.  He continued on with the economic overview pointing out that Lockheed Martin added jobs in Melbourne; Harris Corp. is investing in their campus; Publix is expanding in Viera; and there is continued expansion and cruise line activity at the Port.  He mentioned the Port has had 13,000 jobs out there, direct and indirect in 2010, and is hoping to increase by 3,000 jobs in 2012; and it continues to be a strong economic engine, not only for Brevard County, but for the region.  He addressed some of the positives; he is hopeful as the announcement comes out for Sematech, and Brevard County is listed as the winner for the Department of Energy Grant, that spinoff will create a whole new sector of business.  He explained the Sematech opportunity is related to a Department of Energy Grant that Brevard County, the City of Palm Bay, and a whole bunch of other partners, including the University of Central Florida, are part of competing nationally for; and he anticipates that there will not be an announcement before February 19th, but he continues to hear good things about Brevard's application.  He stated Embraer is opening up in the spring and will create 200 jobs, but he thinks it will go well beyond the 200; there has been some relocation of companies - Sanswire and AAR Corporation, as well as Midair USA; and Brevard has been able to capture some companies that were looking to take advantage of the marketplace.  He noted, Brevard has had the retention of Professional Aircraft Accessories (PAA) in Titusville that it was able to retain, but also helped them expand; staff is very interested in working with Lighting Science, as they look for a new facility; Space Florida and its business attraction continues to be strong; also, there is a strong military commitment for the area; and the diversified business portfolio at NASA, getting away from just launching and getting into other line of businesses.  He discussed the rankings and some of the accolades Brevard County has; the Milken Institute reported Brevard boasts the most concentrated high-tech economy in the State, and the 16th most concentrated in the nation; the BizJournal ranked Brevard County 8th in a list of the County's top 100 U.S. Tech Centers in 2009; and Harvard Business School awarded Brevard County with 13 patents for every 10,000 workers, which is more than double the national average of 6.4.  He went on to say Palm Bay, Melbourne, Titusville MSA was ranked 18th by Forbes Magazine in its 2009 annual listing of Best-Bang-For-The-Buck Cities; Florida ranks 5th best Business Tax Climate in the U.S. according to the Tax Foundation's 2010 State Business Tax Climate Index; and Brevard Public Schools ranked 3rd in the State with 98 percent of schools receiving a grade of A or B.  He pointed out as a region, the East Central Florida Region is the 20th largest economy in the United States; and super region, going from Tampa to Titusville, it becomes the 10th largest economy in the United States; and in terms of power and presence, Brevard County has the opportunity to make a difference.  He addressed the financial projections for the 2011 fiscal year, and he is pleased to say his projections for the revenues are currently on target for meeting the budget expectations; and they are less than the year before, but so far, staff has made the appropriate adjustments in the projections.  He noted, property tax collections are coming in very strong; the dollar amounts are less, but the overall collection is higher; staff continues to see a decline in balance forward in the funding areas; and adjustments to balance forward is scheduled for February 22nd.  He stated the debt management activities is part of the fiscal integrity initiative; it has refunding of series 2010; it has paid off commercial paper; and is in the process of defeasing $23 million in bonds for parks and EELS.  He stated this year, bonds in Utilities will be defeased, and it is a year earlier than scheduled; the Government Center was paid-off in 2010; and the Space Coast Stadium is going to be paid off in 2013.  He noted, from an overall debt perspective, Brevard County is a very healthy County Government; it has well managed the debt that it has; and is in a position make sure to continue to meet the obligations going forward.  He mentioned in the Board's actions in the past year, Moody's and Fitch Groups have both rated Brevard County in a stable way.  He talked about reserves; unrestricted general government reserves are at 10 percent of operating revenues, and that is consistent with the Board's financial and budget policy; for the most part the reserve levels are less than that, typically it is in the seven to eight percent category; and there has only been three times were it has been as high as it is now.  He advised restricted reserves are for payments to Embraer, Medicaid, and the anticipated additional billings; staff has taken out funds to replace the Supervisor of Elections equipment that is now outdated and no longer serviced or under warranty; and Sematech is a $500,000 per year commitment.  He stated over the last couple of months the Board has been bringing forward various business deals, in terms of incentives and trying to draw people in; this current week it was Professional Aircraft Accessories (PAA) in Titusville, and Commissioner Infantini made the comment that it is not sustainable; the Board cannot continue to make business deals and draw from the reserves, as it is not good business; and he agrees with Commissioner Infantini.  He stated the marketplace that is out there right now is very chaotic and there is a lot of uncertainty; there is also a lot of opportunity; and when someone wants to come to the table and have Brevard County stand out above all the other communities, is it going to be in a position to put money on the table.  He stated how the Board funds going forward is a challenge for staff; it has been a challenge in the past years; going forward, he anticipates this level of activity to crank-up; and the question becomes how staff makes it sustainable.  He stated it is not only the investment side; it is 2011, the end of the Shuttle Program; Brevard County is at the point in the community it has been dreading for the past five years; it is the end of an era; but, the reality is there are people in the community that are looking for jobs; they are talented, educated and ready to go; and they are going to go somewhere else if this community cannot put them to work.  He mentioned he is going to be working and talking to members in the community and bringing back to the Board a proposal as to how it can bring economic investment to a higher level, and how to stimulate the economy locally; it had the dollars for the continuing Resolution that just evaporated; and the Federal Government had committed $35 million for a series of things with the continuing Resolution that has been passed, that is not available.  He went on to say it is basically the same old budget; that is also a big problem with NASA going forward; staff still has not had enough time to fully understand Governor Scott's budget proposals; exactly what all the proposals mean and what the impacts are; but, it is fair to say there are 67 counties that are going to be competing for attention from the Governor; and he is not sure where Brevard is going to stand-out, in terms of his priority.   He noted he is going to make Brevard as much as a priority as he can, but he cannot control that; what he can control is what Brevard County does in response to this; he has seen examples in his history where communities did not stand up and take action; he is going to be bringing a proposal to the Board; and there has to be some level of investment by the community now, if not now, when.

 

He stated in May, 2008, was the Industry Professional Report, which was a group brought together by Commissioner Bolin to take a look at the County's budgetary behaviors, and to see if they could make some recommendations; and there were a lot of good recommendations in the report.  He explained some of the things the group talked about were partnerships, consolidations, re-baseline budget, defeasing bonds, and contract management.  He addressed four examples of what staff has looked at.  He advised with Parks and Recreation, one thing discussed was making sure, in terms of spending approved referendum dollars, is he needed to make sure that it was on track and within the guidelines; in terms of increasing user fees, staff brought forward to the Board last year, and again this year, recommendations to make adjustments to various program fees; in some cases they can pay for themselves, and some cases they are going to be short, but perhaps it can continue to make the adjustments; and stated user fees are reviewed regularly.  He stated the Central Services Department talked about the negotiations for contract discounts, and in some areas that can work; for example, Jon Sellers went to AT&T and asked to re-negotiate the contract that has been before the Board several times, and it is saving over $400,000 a year by renegotiation of the contract.   He noted, construction contracts come in at low bid, and they come in at that price; they have an expectation of receiving that level of profit, so there are some cases where this works well, and then there are some cases where their hands are tied; but, overall staff continues to look at contracts on a regular basis; and the Industry Professional Group recommends standardizing some of the contracts, which has been done.  He stated the Public Works Department has recommended taking the street lights and making them more of a neighborhood concern, rather than a County funded commitment; it has been discussed, and currently staff continues to pursue it as a County maintained and funded item; and in Human Resources, the Industry Professional Report talked about changing the plan design and making some benefit changes so there was a greater employer participation.  He further went on to say the Industry Professional Report talked about making sure that the County has a business process in place, and shared what staff is doing behind the scenes; staff is in the process of implementing monthly and quarterly business reviews; these reviews are where staff takes a look at targets that it has agreed on specific initiatives for various departments, and then monitors them on a monthly and quarterly basis; and it is their job, as leaders within the organization, to make sure that everyone is meeting the goals.  He explained the reviews are going to be valuable as staff moves forward, in terms of creating a greater level of accountability, of transparency, and again, continuing with the fiscal integrity.  He displayed a chart on Strategic Framework explaining the operational areas being culture and recreation, health, community and economic, infrastructure, transportation and environment, management services, and public safety; these are all the areas the Board talked about last year; and they became the area of focus.  He pointed out the areas of focus for staff to look in each of the areas and try to drive results; he stated financial management fiscal integrity drives everything; from there, staff knows it is an organization of people, as they are the most important and valuable asset; and if staff does not invest and develop, the asset it is not going to move forward.  He advised if staff has finances in place, and has their people trained and developed, they can then begin to look at operational efficiencies and creating greater levels of effectiveness; they will drive the process changes and ideas that are going to help to transform the organization; and all of those lead toward focusing on the customer.  He explained the flow of the Strategy Map being operational areas, focus areas, strategic objectives, performance measures, and initiatives; the initiatives is where the rubber meets the road, and as a side note, right now staff is piloting this in four departments; and it will be rolled out in 2012 that the communication and aliment within the organization grows, because everyone is looking at this and everybody has a chance to focus this.  He stated in the current budget, staff and the Board talked a lot last year about some of the activities and strategies that it is currently engaged in; it talked about reducing the size of government is not sustainable going forward; no salary increases or cost of living adjustments; no new positions; no new programs or services; staff is managing capital improvement programs, mostly by deferring, which is not a real sound strategy, and there are some things that staff is going to have to get to, but that has been a way to help postpone some of the cost until there is a better economic day.  He went on to mention reducing and elimination of discretionary spending; reduced debt obligations; and the redistribution of benefit cost to employees and retirees; stated staff has been searching for partnerships which are part of the future whether it is with a city, or a non-profit, or a private entity; and the relationships and the opportunities are out there.  He explained an example is a purchasing consortium that Steve Stultz, Central Services Director, has been pulling together with the other cities; the benefit is, it has the ability to piggyback off of each other's contracts; Mr. Stultz is trying to coordinate if there is a road project in Palm Bay, and it goes into the unincorporated area of Brevard County, rather than each party having to pave one mile, why not see if he can get a better price for two miles of pavement; and that translates across the Board, so it is not only with the cities, but with the School Board and all the other entities the County can work with.  He stated staff is looking at outsourcing; service level of identification and reviews started last year and is doing a much more in depth service review currently, such as cost-containment and reduction, investment and development, revenue enhancement where possible, and role change and innovation; and he would add to the list expanded use of volunteers, whether it is parks or libraries.  He added, Animal Services has gone out and really rebuilt relationships with rescues and other organizations that are helping to decrease the population of the shelters, and providing the manpower to make the shelters better; and it was through volunteers and volunteers donations that it was able to rehabilitate the North Area Animal Shelter to make it a much better facility than it has been in the last decade.  He addressed the outlook for 2012, and understanding the Governor's budget proposal, as it certainly is a very bold proposal; as staff gets into the details they will have a better idea of what the impacts are; some departments are saying there will be some decreases that maybe do not stand out up front; and Bob Lay, Emergency Management Director, was one who shared that there is an Emergency Management trust fund that seems to have disappeared, which was a $100,000 a year from the trust fund for the department.  He went on to say there are a lot of changes in the Florida Retirement System(FRS); he is not sure the adjustments being talked about will create savings of the organization, or is just passing on cost increases in the future to employees.  He stated health insurance is anticipating having an eight and a half percent increase; other built-in costs are fuel for the fleets; there are higher gas prices that are coming our way that are going to have an impact.  He added, increases in State/Federal Mandates, hopefully they are funded, but if not there will be issues as well; he is interested to see the Governor's proposal and exactly how the prison transformation is going to take place; the Governor is talking about really reducing the State's prison population; and there could be some opportunities for Brevard County.  He further went on to say the Board has talked about declining balance forward; union negotiations, both fire and laborers international, and he believes the Sheriff has union negotiations as well; so, a lot of union contracts are up, and it will have an impact on Brevard; the capital and facility needs strategy has been through deferral of capital, either through purchasing new equipment or refurbishing facilities.   He mentioned, he recently met with Sheriff Parker, and the County is in a position that it needs to relocate the Sheriff out of the North precinct facility, as it is almost not habitable; also, he is working with the Supervisor of Elections on a records storage area; elections records are important, and he wants to make sure they are dry and safe; and in the current location that is not the case.  He added, there are over 30 fire locations in the community, and if he worked on one every other year, that would be a 60 year replacement cycle; and most buildings do not last that long.  He explained the historical tax values starting in 2008 started to decline in the revenues coming in; earlier years showed increases; what this is telling everyone is that staff has gone through a series of cuts, and it is making each year that more difficult, and as it comes up to the next year, anticipate that these discussions will be equally as difficult, if not more difficult, because the easy stuff is gone, the medium stuff is gone, a lot of the hard stuff is gone, and the impossible is left; and the question becomes what does staff do.  He talked about what is being forecasted for 2012, 2013, and 2014; the Property Appraiser is still feeling like it is going to be around a 17 percent decrease Countywide; Polk County is forecasting 10 percent, and Volusia County is 10 percent; Orange County is somewhere between zero and five percent; everyone is still feeling the effects of the economy and the delay of property value decreases; and then recovery is somewhere between 12 and 17 percent.  He added, he is going to have to trust the Property Appraiser in this area; there will be variations in the numbers across the County; in the south it is likely not to be as high, because it is not going to have the full impact from the space industry like the north and central parts of the County are going to have; there are various funding sources that are more district, or region, specific within the County; and overall, staff is still forecasting 17 percent.  He added, according to the Property Appraiser, in 2013 it is a 10 percent decrease; in 2014 it is a seven percent decrease; and then it turns around in 2015; and he would love for the Property Appraiser to be wildly wrong, and have this go into a much more positive direction; but as staff looks at 2011/2012 with the impacts of the shuttle and the housing market, he is probably not going to be too far off.  He mentioned other state revenues that the County receives from communication taxes are stable right now; sales tax has stabilized; and tourism is looking good, as people are beginning to travel more; and Rob Varley, Tourism Development Director, talked last year about being 'Harry Pottered' by the opening of the new exhibit at Universal Studios and how it drew the available tourist base away from Brevard County. 

 

Commissioner Bolin stated she went to China and met with the Department of Tourism; right now, the groups come from China to the United States and visit three cities: New York, Washington, D.C., and Miami; and they are very unhappy with Miami.  She explained she is trying to get them to come to Brevard County instead of Miami, because it is much friendlier and better suited.  Mr. Tipton stated he has been in conversations with a municipality in China, which consists of 31 million people; and he will be bringing that before the Board soon to share some good news.  Commissioner Anderson added, he has heard 'chatter' from Tallahassee about some proposals of expanding gambling to Florida; and inquired if staff has heard anything to that effect.  Mr. Tipton responded 'chatter' is probably the right way to describe it; people are looking at ways to help boost the economy and find different revenue streams; and it certainly has had been part of the discussion.  He added, another point in talking about legislation, is staff has talked about the strength of property tax collections right now; but one of the proposals in Tallahassee is to double the incentives, or discounts, that people receive for paying their property taxes early, and it might be a great thing if one county is struggling to collect the dollars, but otherwise it is coming right off of the revenues; and again, Brevard County does not need those incentives because it is doing very well.  He further went on to say gas tax revenues are very much tied to the price of gas; and if gas gets up to over $3 dollars, going to $4 a gallon, people start to change their driving habits, and the County sees revenues fall; and staff is anticipating that the gas tax receipts will follow in a negative way.  He stated staff will be updating the Board this year on fire assessment fees; this is going to be an item brought back later in the spring, in terms of reviewing it and updating it currently; it is living on reserves, as was the original intent, because of the size of the reserves at that time, which help to keep the assessment artificially low, but it is at the point where it is out of reserves, and the Board is going to have to make some decisions as to what the level of, and or, the level of assessment needs to be.  He added, staff also wants to review the stormwater assessment, which is another area of opportunity for the County, as it has been fortunate for the last couple of years where there has been no storm events, and have had the chance to really make some progress in the area of flooding, and in the area of water quality enhancements; but, as it goes forward it is a funding source that may not be sufficient for the needs that are still out there.  He talked about the Board departments, and the number of employees dropped from a high of 2,740 in 2006 to the current level; which is 2,323; it is below 2002 staffing levels, and this is just the Board departments for the Constitutional Officers, such as the Clerk of the Courts Office which has seen reductions over the years, as have the others, Property Appraiser, Tax Collector, and Supervisor of Elections.  He added, in terms of the Board departments, it has been a tremendous decrease, and government is getting smaller; he would like to see it ease up because it is getting to a point where providing the services, and the hands to do the services, is becoming very difficult. 

 

Commissioner Infantini inquired if staff has the population statistic for Brevard County for the same two time periods, so the Board can compare the full-time equivalence.  Mel Scott, Assistant County Manager, stated it is coming up on roughly 80,000 residents to the County in the last 10-year period, just short of Palm Bay.  Commissioner Nelson stated part of the spike that occurred in 2005/2006, is in Parks and Recreation, as it had temporary employees that had been there historically; they were paid as part-time employees with no benefits; and they were forced to bring them on as employees and start paying Florida Retirement System; but the reality was they were already being paid for and being shown as contract labor. 

 

Mr. Tipton displayed the budget guidelines and asked the Board to look at it and keep in mind as staff builds this year's budget, addressing the core services component, it not only includes roads and public safety, but there is a 800 Mhz radio system that he mentioned last year, that is in need of replacement; and that is somewhere in between a $14 and $16 million program.  He added, staff is beginning the planning for this year, in terms of the transition, it is not something that can be done overnight; likely, in 2012, the Board will be presented with some funding options.  He stated other goals are aligning staffing and resources, prioritizing programs and services, and leveraging opportunities such as Space Coast Area Transit (SCAT), which is an area that leverages tremendous federal dollars every year; and fiscal integrity, review delivery of services, job creation, and debt management.  He mentioned everyone tends to look at budgets in a one year snapshot; and in his opinion, there needs to be greater emphasis on multi-year budgeting goals, much like one does for capital programs where it has to be able to look two and three years out.  He talked about public engagement; last year, the Board was out in three different locations, and also did the electronic Town Hall meeting; staff is proposing that it have the three community meetings this year with the focus being budget education; staff is going to have a Town Hall meeting for employees; the E-Town Hall is going to be after the Board has had a chance to digest and discuss the budget; and last year the Board got the budget on the same day as the E-Town Hall meeting, and it was difficult to speak to it.  He added, this year it is going to be getting the budget, somewhere in the neighborhood of June 15th, which is a month earlier, and then there will be the three-day workshops, and then the E-Town Hall meeting after that.  He concluded the presentation and asked the Board for approval of the goals laid out.

 

Commissioner Anderson inquired about the tentative dates on the public engagement; last year, everyone made the meetings they could; but maybe it would be easier, instead of everyone showing up to all of the meetings, having the two or three southern Commissioners go to Palm Bay, and Commissioners Fisher and Nelson go to Cocoa and Titusville.  Chairman Fisher stated he would be at the Titusville meeting.  Commissioner Anderson explained last year, some residents had the expectations that all the Commissioners would be at every meeting.  Commissioner Nelson stated he does not think that was what the meetings were for; and he went to the meeting to show support of having the meetings, but it almost changed the nature of what Mr. Tipton was trying to accomplish.  Commissioner Bolin agreed, and wondered if the Commissioners should even be at the meetings.  Commissioner Anderson mentioned some residents would be upset if he was not at the Palm Bay meeting.  Mr. Tipton stated he welcomes the Board's participation.  Commissioner Infantini stated otherwise, it shows a lack of consideration for the event taking place.  Commissioner Nelson stated 'we' as a Commission did not structure the meetings; but, what happened at the meeting he went to, everything was focused on the Commissioners themselves and on specific issues; and it lost some of the impact that staff was trying to achieve.  Commissioner Anderson suggested making the Commissioners available at the end of the meeting.  Mr. Tipton stated this year it will just be County staff and the Board is welcome to be there, but the focus will be on the County budget.

 

Mr. Tipton stated he and staff will bring to the Board a budget that is in their best professional recommendation of what is reasonable and prudent for the times that everyone is in.  Commissioner Infantini inquired if the Board should give direction as to whether or not it would like to raise tax rates; and whether or not it wants to have tax rates remain the same; last time, staff came back with a budget based on the assumption it did not want to increase tax rates, and then it was later modified.  She inquired should Mr. Tipton have some type of direction as to where to go with tax revenue, if the Board leaves it the same it is going down, does the Board want to tell Mr. Tipton to reduce back to last year's millage rate, assuming that the Board is willing to raise millage rate another 15 percent to allow for the decline in property values.  She stated she is willing to give guidance, but she does not know what other input the Commissioners have; just so she has an expectation as to what type of budget staff will be coming back with; and inquired is it going to be with the revenue it had this year, so she should assume the Board would maybe think about raising tax rates.  Commissioner Anderson suggested staff bring the Board the budget and then go from there; then each of them make decisions; and staff has to give the Board a balanced budget first before it makes any assumptions.  Commissioner Infantini asked, balanced budget based on what; increased tax rates, or the current tax rate.  Commissioner Anderson stated one does not know what property assessments are going to be.  Commissioner Infantini pointed out Mr. Tipton is going on the assumption it is going down 17 percent.  Commissioner Anderson agreed with her on the millage, but he has heartburn on the Property Appraiser saying 17 percent when Volusia County and Orange County have such a dramatic difference, and there is a lot of space workers in those counties; and this is something he wants to discuss further.  Commissioner Nelson agreed to let staff put together the budget first and then the Commissioners will respond to it.  Chairman Fisher stated he looks forward to seeing the proposed budget, to him it is all about jobs; the Board has to be ready to help people find jobs; he does not know how to keep operating and keep cutting; it has to talk about how to increase revenue outside of property taxes; and inquired if there is a way to create revenue outside of property taxes, because there has to be a way to solve the job issue.  Commissioner Anderson stated he is very optimistic about Governor Scott's proposal; it is nice to talk about local incentives, but the State has to be the big incentive people; local municipalities and counties are not going to create jobs, the State has to do it; and it is $300 million economic incentive that the Governor is talking about, even though the County will have to compete.  Chairman Fisher stated the only thing he might disagree with, is he does not think Brevard County will be in the top three with Sematech if it does not bring $2.5 million to the table; and he does not think Embraer will happen if Brevard does not bring $1.8 million to the table.  Commissioner Anderson agreed there is a matching component.  Chairman Fisher pointed out the problem with the local match is one has to have a revenue source to do that; it cannot keep taking money from reserves to match the local matches, and as opportunities come in the future, how is it going to fund them.  Commissioner Anderson stated there was no guarantee the State was going to give anything towards Sematech; and at least with the proposal that is out there with the Governor, now Brevard is competing fairly and that the local match will win projects out of the $300 million proposal. 

 

Commissioner Infantini stated last year, 33 percent of the households did not fall in the range, and actually paid higher property taxes; and if the Board raises the tax rate again this year, which she is trying to discourage, the same 33 percent will again pay higher taxes; inquired what is to say everyone in the 33 percent kept their jobs, and it is not to say everyone in the 67 percent were the ones who lost their jobs.  She added, she is trying to get the Board not to raise the millage rate again; she knows the County needs to find revenue, and that is why she wanted to sell Rodes Park instead of giving it away; and there are other places the Board can look at if it is really astute to find either a revenue source or a lack of expenditure source. 

   

 

The Board reached consensus to adjourn the meeting at 2:05 p.m.

 

 

ATTEST:                                                                     ________________________________

                                                                                    ROBIN FISHER, CHAIRMAN

                                                                                    BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONER

                                                                                    BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

_________________________

MITCH NEEDELMAN, CLERK