Commissioner Nelson announced that Space Shuttle Atlantis is back at Kennedy Space Center, which is good news because it is the shuttle that Brevard County gets to keep.  Chairman Fisher stated he was walking the bridge this morning when the Shuttle came back into the atmosphere and landed. 

 

 

 

Chairman Fisher stated Senator Bill Nelson has an electronic card which people can use to thank NASA and the contractors who have worked on the shuttle program for 30 years.

 

 

 

Commissioner Infantini expressed appreciation to Assistant County Manager Stockton Whitten for correcting her EEL valuation and a Road and Bridge tax rate that she had; and the Road and Bridge tax rate is actually down from 16 to 14.54 for citizens in the unincorporated area of District 3.  She stated her presentation is not an attempt to show how everybody's property tax bill will look; not everybody's property's assessed value is going to increase; but everybody will experience a rate increase if the Board goes forward as planned; and a rate increase does not always correlate to a higher property tax than someone paid last year.  She advised last year, three Commissioners voted for approximately a 13 percent rate increase; and this year it equates to approximately 14.5 percent depending upon where one lives.  She stated the Board has had discussion about a tax increase; stated Commissioner Nelson mentioned he sent out a letter to the Commissioners about tax increases; if her property tax goes up on her tax bill, greater than the three percent increase in assessment, she calls that a tax increase; if the rate goes up, she calls that a tax increase; but legally the Board does not have to call it a tax increase; and as long as the Board is generating more revenue than it generated last year, legally it is not called a tax increase.  She stated she is asked about the three percent cap all the time; people think their taxes can only increase by three percent, but it is only the assessed value; the Board is allowed to increase taxes by whatever it will take to generate the same revenue it generated last year; whereas, last year it took approximately a 13 percent increase, this year it will take approximately a 14.5 percent increase; and again, it depends on where one lives.  She stated she did some assumptions, in District 2, the unincorporated area of Merritt Island, and an unincorporated area of District 3; each time she took a property that was valued at $100,000 in 2010-2011; and this year, assuming that their assessed value is below market, it will increase by roughly three percent.  She displayed a spreadsheet  and stated it shows the changes in rates; in year one, the taxes up to that point would be $716; they will go up to $859 for a property that went from $100,000 to $103,000; after factoring in the debt service for the individuals in District 2, that total tax bill will be approximately $815 for this year; and next year it would be $958, which is a 17 percent taxable dollar value increase, but the rate affect is only 14.1 percent.  She noted it is different from district to district.  She gave an example of a property in District 3; stated there is a little bit of a difference; the dollar value will go from $796 for this year; and next year it will be $945, which is a three percent increase in property value, plus a taxable rate increase of 14.5 percent.  She advised she just wanted to make sure that the public understood that the Board will have a rate increase, because sometimes Commissioners do not always communicate it very well; and stated she just wanted the public to know what their potential tax bill could look like. 

 

Chairman Fisher stated he believes it is fair to say that not everybody is going to get a 14.5 percent tax increase on their tax bills; stated his definition of an increase is what he is paying this year, and if he is paying 14 percent or 14.5 percent next year; and inquired if it is fair to say that the majority of the citizens will not see that.  Commissioner Infantini replied she does not know, as she has not seen the statistics yet.  Chairman Fisher inquired if Commissioner Infantini is saying that everybody is going to get a 14 percent tax increase; with Commissioner Infantini responding no, not everybody.  Chairman Fisher stated 75 percent of the citizens might not get the increase.  Commissioner Infantini stated that is correct, but that makes it scary because that means 25 percent is going to cover the weight of the entire County for that tax increase; and stated it will be like a redistribution.

 

Commissioner Nelson stated the Board received three emails from people in the Melbourne area complaining about the 30 percent increase; he did some research; and all three of those citizens will see their taxes go down.  He stated the danger is that it appears to be one thing, when in reality it comes down to how much one will pay; but all three of those citizens will see their taxes go down.  Commissioner Infantini stated a rate increase is not a dollar increase.  Commissioner Nelson stated he is not arguing that point, but the question is how much will be paid in taxes; that is what most people are concerned with; each of the three citizens said they did not the Board to increase their taxes; they did not say tax rate; they said they did not want to pay more taxes, which they are not; and he is comfortable with that.

 

Chairman Fisher stated his taxes are going up on his personal home; and according to Commissioner Infatini's definition, he is subsidizing the three citizens in Melbourne.  Commissioner Nelson noted the taxable values in the center part of the County did not fall as great as they did in the southern part of the County; and in effect, they are being subsidized.  He stated the reality is that it is a horrible system that the Board has been burdened with that it gets to take a single vote to do those things. 

 

 

 

Howard Tipton, County Manager, advised there are staff members in the lobby outside the Commission chambers who have all of the tax information; if anyone is interested in how what is being proposed might impact them, they are welcome to go to the information booth and provide staff with an address; and staff will give them a piece of paper to show what the impacts will be.  He stated every year the County Manager is required to present to the Board, for consideration, a balanced budget; at the County level a balanced budget must be provided; and stated this year's budget is balanced.  He advised the total County budget is $925 million; it represents a 9.14 decrease over last year's adopted budget, which is a reduction of approximately $93 million.  He stated staff amends the budget periodically throughout the year to recognize additional revenues from grants or other expenditures that may occur; from the amended budget it is a 17.7 percent decrease, or a $198 million decrease; and the aggregate operating millage, which is the total of all of the millages that are applied is proposed at 7.2394, which is a 1.36 percent below the aggregate roll back rate. He explained the $925.1 million budget breaks into several pieces of a pie; the general revenue, which includes property taxes, makes up 22 percent of the revenue stream; and it is basically used for government operations.  He advised the enterprise funds include the Utilities Department for water and wastewater, as well as Solid Waste, which is also the landfill and recycling operations; it also includes Transit Services; and in the budget proposal there are no rate increases for any of those areas being proposed.  He noted the largest revenue source is the special revenue funds, which are at 38 percent of the total budget; special revenues include activities in a number of the departments, such as road construction services, road and bridge maintenance, and road maintenance districts; these activities are usually funded by a single major source of revenue, and are typically considered self-supporting; and examples of funding sources for these activities include gas taxes, MSTU's, tourist development taxes, and grants that the County may receive.  He noted the Countywide use general revenue is 22 percent of the overall budget; and some other funding sources within the general revenue, in addition to the property taxes, include the half-cent sales tax, State-shared funding, communication services tax, and franchise fees for FPL.  He stated he would like to discuss the distribution of the general revenue; the jail is a County responsibility, but the Sheriff operates it on behalf of the County; Board departments require 36.6 percent of the general revenues to operate; the Charter Officers are included in the group and take up 32.8 percent of the available general revenue; the County jail is 19.4 percent of the general revenue; and the remaining two percent goes to pay for mandated court support and outside agencies such as the EDC, Community Based Organizations, and the Brevard Cultural Alliance.  He stated from property taxes the Board can see a decline of 22 percent from 2007 to what is proposed for next year; some other major revenue sources include sales tax; and the revenue trend there has gone down 28 percent from 2007.  He noted there has been some dramatic revenue reductions over the past few years; and he would like to talk about how the County has addressed some of those things.  He explained the County has focused, over the past four years, on five different areas: personnel; operating expenses; capital outlay and improvements; innovations and investments; and debt.  He stated the County has reduced its number of employees by 16 percent compared to 2006, or by more than 400 positions; there have been no merit increases or cost of living increases; employee and retiree health insurance contributions have been increased by 91 percent, while lowering the County's obligations; there have been unpaid furlough days; staffing models and staffing agencies have been utilized; the use of volunteers has increased; outsourcing has increased; full-time positions have been converted to part-time positions; and there have been layoffs and early retirement.  He advised in terms of reducing the operating costs, the County has cut back on operating hours; reduced training; reduced funding levels for Community Based Organizations (CBO's); reduced funding to the First Responder Program; eliminated non-essential travel; utilized outsourcing with the privatization of misdemeanor probation; reduced overall operating budgets; and revised contracts, such as reducing the janitorial and grounds maintenance.   He stated in terms of capital outlay and improvements, the County has deferred capital projects and maintenance needs; reduced the County's vehicle fleet by 10 percent; decreased funding for capital outlay and improvement projects; and utilized federal stimulus dollars.  He stated despite the challenging and economic times, the County has made strategic investments using one-time federal dollars to help meet immediate needs while working to build long-term operational savings; additionally, funding has been leveraged through Transit Services at a ratio of 13:1, and at Valkaria Airport it is 99:1; and stated this year, service partnerships include providing dispatch services for the Town of Malabar, and providing GIS services for the City of Rockledge.  He advised debt is always a big concern for any organization; the County has aggressively been addressing its fiscal integrity; the County has refinanced debt and commercial paper loans; utility debt has been refinanced to decrease debt obligations by $1 million; bonds have been defeased; and overall the County's debt position is sound and its fiscal integrity is good. He stated the County has been doing all of this while facing increasing service demands from a growing population; since 2001 the County has added 74,000 residents, which is equivalent to adding another city the size of Melbourne; during the same period of time, staffing has risen and come back down; and the County is currently at 2001 staffing levels.  He noted in spite of the recommended rollback rate, Brevard County still has low taxes; and the County also enjoys a competitive economic position within the region and the State.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated the County does some outsourcing in Parks and Recreation; and inquired how many employees were outsourced in 2000 compared to how many employees are currently outsourced.  She noted probation and misdemeanor is outsourced, which is about 20 employees; and inquired how many employees were outsourced in Parks and Recreation.  Mr. Tipton replied he does not know the exact number; but outsourcing has been done to help reduce costs. 

 

Mr. Tipton displayed a chart of the Countywide millage rate comparison and explained it is for those who live in cities as well as unincorporated areas; the Counties compared are Osceola, Polk, Volusia, Lake, Seminole, and Orange, with Brevard being in the middle in terms of its overall Countywide millage rate; when the millage rate is applied to properties in the respective counites, the rate charged in Brevard produces the least amount of ad valorem taxes, which are taxes based on the assessed value of real estate; and that is done on a per capita basis.  He stated for example, the Board will recall that Orange County had the lowest tax rate in the area on the previous chart; however, when that tax rate is applied to the higher-valued properties in Orange County, taxes per person are the second highest in the region; and Brevard's tax rate is in the middle in terms of rate, but brings in the least amount of revenue per person.  He stated it is important to understand each community may choose to utilize other major sources of revenue, which is often done to keep their property tax rates lower; some of the major sources of revenue used by Central Florida communities include the public services tax, which is a surcharge on electricity, natural gas, and other utilities; there is also additional sales tax of either a half or full percent; and there are also additional gas taxes.  He noted Brevard is the only County in the region not utilizing any of these additional major tax generators.  He stated additionally, and from an economic development perspective, in the May issue of Florida Trend magazine, there was a focus on the top 350 companies in the State; except for Broward County, Brevard County's tax environment was lower than Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Duvall, Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Orange; and he believes Brevard is the leader for low taxes in the region and the State.  He summarized by saying Brevard County is a significantly smaller government than it was four or five years ago; the proposed budget is $93 million less than the prior fiscal year, which represents a 9.14 percent decrease; the proposed budget continues to focus on the Board's priorities and aligns with the County's vision; the budget will be the fourth consecutive of decreasing budgets; between 2008 and 2012, the County budget has been reduced by $310,000; and his recommendation to the Board is to set the aggregate operating millage 7.2394.  He stated he believes his recommendation preserves the minimal level of services; he believes it continues efforts in job creation and economic development; and it aligns with the vision of the organization.

 

 

 

Ed Priselac expressed appreciation to the Commissioners for their service; and commended the Board's effort for doing the best it can in trying to cut the budget.  He stated he found the Board's budget online; specifically, the Board has talked about 2.5 percent pay raises; and inquired if there is a dollar amount associated with that number.  Chairman Fisher replied it is approximately $2.5 million.  Mr. Priselac stated the Melbourne-Tillman Water Control District has a 8.21 percent in its budget; and he is curious as to what is going on that they need the additional money.  Stockton Whitten, Assistant County Manager, stated primarily, the District is rolling over a lot of dollars for incomplete, or uncompleted, capital projects.  Commissioner Anderson stated the Melbourne-Tillman Water Control District is the most efficient government entity in the County; they have projects that have not been finished; they are carrying money over to finish the projects; and those projects need to be completed before the area gets another tropical storm. Commissioner Nelson noted residents of Central Brevard do not pay for the Melbourne-Tillman Water Control District; and it is strictly a South Brevard district.  Mr. Priselac stated he was not aware of that.  He inquired if the Sheriff's Office has four helicopters; with Mr. Tipton responding he is not sure how many helicopters the Sheriff's Office has.  Mr. Priselac inquired if there are four helicopters, could one be sold.  Mr. Tipton stated his recollection is that the Sheriff's Office does not have that many helicopters.  He noted sometimes the County will lend a Mosquito Control helicopter to the Sheriff's Office to help out, but he is not sure of the exact fleet size.

 

Gerald Storrs stated he has no problem whatsoever with a millage increase, as it is obvious something like that has to be done or the County is not going to survive; but he is concerned about whether the County has or has not gotten much as far as cutting costs or changing the organizations; an organization is like a company or a person; as a person gets older he or she tends to get fat; companies and County organizations do the same thing; and the longer they exist, the tougher it is to get rid of the fat.  He stated corporations and government can use zero-based budgeting to trim the fat; stated he has seen the justification of equipment purchases in the County's budget, but he does not see the same thing for people; and he would like to hear some comment from the Board about zero-based budgeting.

 

Commissioner Infantini inquired if the County does any type of zero-based budgeting; and stated she is not aware of it, but she thinks that is what Mr. Storrs was asking.  Mr. Tipton replied no, the County is performance budgeting right now, and not zero-based budgeting.

 

Terri Fulton inquired why the rate increase would affect some and not others. Chairman Fisher replied it is because of the State of Florida taxing system, unfortunately.  He noted Ms. Fulton can live in her house and her neighbor could pay one rate to the right, and to the left another neighbor pays another rate.  Commissioner Infantini stated everyone pays the same rate; but it is based on a different assessment; everyone pays the same percentage into the General Fund; and it depends on one's house value.  She explained if Ms. Fulton bought her house 20 years ago she may have a lower house value than her neighbor.  Ms. Fulton stated the Mr. Tipton spoke of a 15 percent increase in people; and inquired what percentage of that 15 percent would be illegal aliens.  Mr. Tipton stated no, he would not know that; the information is census based; and typically, there has been a little effort to cleanse the data, but it is approximately 15 percent.  Ms. Fulton stated she did not understand Commissioner Infantini's explanation of the three percent Save Our Homes; and inquired if it could be explained again.

 

Commissioner Infantini explained if she paid $100,000 for her home 10 years ago, every year it may go up three percent; in the second year it would go up to $103,000; the third year it will go up to just over $106,000; and she will be paying tax on that amount.  She stated if Ms. Fulton moved in next to her and paid $300,000 for her house, she may be paying tax on an assessed value of $106,000; whereas Ms. Fulton could be paying tax on her value of $300,000.  She stated her assessment can only increase three percent per year; Save Our Homes was intended so that somebody could not be taxed out of their homes; and that was the whole concept of Save Our Homes. 

 

Barbara Knick stated she voted for Save Our Homes a long time ago, not fully understanding all of the implications of it.  She stated the Board keeps saying that the budget is not a tax raise, but a change in a tax rate when it goes up, to her, is a tax raise; just because the values go down it is still a tax raise; and she does not understand why it is necessary that you have to  maintain the same revenue as last year.  Chairman Fisher interjected and said State law says counties can do that.  Ms. Knick stated if the economy is down and people are out of work, why would the Board want to take advantage of their bad situation.  Chairman Fisher stated it depends on whether people still want to have government services, such as the Sheriff's Office, Fire Rescue; and inquired if Ms. Knick wanted the Board to stop those services.  Ms. Knick inquired how many services are available that the citizens do not have to have.  Chairman Fisher stated the Board will go through the list of what it has cut and what it has not  cut.  Ms. Knick stated when she had her business, which is gone because of the economy, she was able to pay her taxes, but now she is not; her business is gone; she is living off her retirement; and her retirement is not going to last long.  She inquired when Mr. Tipton was comparing Brevard to other counties, what is the median income of those counties; and stated there are other factors besides the tax rate. 

 

Francis Herr stated he does not care what other counties are paying for their rates; six of the counties Mr. Tipton compared are what he calls the richer counties; and he would be more curious to know what it is like in other counties of similar demographics.  Mr. Tipton advised his reason for sharing that information was that those are the counties Brevard is competing with for jobs; and stated from and economic development perspective and a competitive tax perspective, that is what he was showing.  Mr. Herr stated from his perspective as a taxpayer he is competing with the County Commission, because he wants his money and the Board wants his money; and stated he cares about how much he pays in taxes, and he looks for value added.  He stated he does not care about the parks, or dog trails, as they do not mean anything to him; and from his perspective those things that are liable to be cut.  He inquired while State law allows the Board to call its revenue stream taxes, from his perspective the Board is the receiver, and it should call it revenue versus taxes, because it makes him think it is taxes he is paying; and that encourages himself and others to look at the bottom line and not look at the formulas that are used.  He stated there really is a tax rate increase to hold the tax the same, which causes the revenue to be the same; it comes down to integrity and ethics; and if the Board is going to hide behind a State law that says it can call the two the same, what happens in five years when he hopes the economy turns around a little, and the rate is still there.

 

Commissioner Nelson stated the second part of that law, and actually the part that Florida has dealt with for most of history with the tax law, is that as property values go up the millage has to come down or it is called an increase; and anything else is called an increase.  Mr. Herr inquired if Commissioner Nelson was trying to say it was protection; with Commissioner Nelson responding affirmatively.  Mr. Herr stated he likes hearing that there is protection, because he does not know what a future Board is going to do in eight years.  He stated he appreciates the fact that the millage has gone down over the years, but it needs to be lower.

 

Penny Canales stated the previous speakers have covered everything she wanted to ask.  She noted Brevard County had a 15 percent increase in population; she inquired how many of those people were employed and were homebuyers; and inquired if those kinds of things are revenue generators for the County, or are they expenditures for the State.  She stated she wondered if the Board looked at the 15 percent; and stated the population increase cannot be counted unless they are coming to Brevard with a business receipt and opening up a business. 

 

Mr. Tipton stated if there was a couple who retired from up north and moved to Brevard, if they are living on a new subdivision street, the County is now spraying that street with mosquito control; there are also jail related issues; and there are Countywide services that are impacted.  Ms. Canales stated the County would have mosquito control anyway in that area; and inquired how many mosquito control helicopters the County has, and if that service can be contracted out.  Mr. Tipton stated staff has looked at contracting that service out, but he believes the County's operation is more efficient; the County currently has three mosquito control helicopters; and the average age of them is 40 years old.  Ms. Canales inquired if the budget is basically a tax rate increase; with Mr. Tipton responding affirmatively.  Ms. Canales stated people hope the housing market will come back, but she would like the Board to say when the housing market comes back, the taxes will be lowered; and stated it might bring more people to Brevard.  Mr. Tipton stated there is a State law that says if those revenues come back up, which they will, there are requirements for the Board to advertise if it is going to go beyond the revenue than it had the year before; and the County Charter also has a cap that limits the amount that the County can grow by.  Ms. Canales stated there is nothing that says if an over abundance of money is being produced, that taxes need to be cut.  She stated if the tax millage goes so high that the revenue has to be retained for infrastructure, she would like to see cuts in the things that people could volunteer to do themselves, or they could give a contribution to the County for Fire Rescue and the Sheriff's Office.  She stated when Brevard is compared to other counties, they might have people who need more services than what Brevard has; and other counties might have more roads and larger police and fire departments.  She stated she would like to see a comparison with a County like Brevard.

 

Commissioner Nelson stated one thing that got lost in the early days of tax reform, he and Commissioner Bolin cut $25 million their first year in office; but what got lost was that  the Board also re-prioritized $6 million to the Sheriff's Office for corrections officers; the County was under a court order to reduce over-crowding in the jail; and Sheriff Parker built tents for the inmates.  He reiterated the Board funded $6 million and cut $25 million; the Board had to get that $6 million from other organizations from with in; taxes were not raised;  and there was also a bad year with lifeguards, so the Board bumped up that funding without raising taxes, but re-prioritized.  He stated the Board probably did not do a good job of explaining when it did those things, but $6 million in the budget is a sizeable chunk.  Ms. Canales stated agrees that re-prioritization is very important. 

 

Alice Kreitz stated she is originally from Minnesota where the state has been closed down as far as governmental services, for over 20 days because of the nutty left-wing governor that is there; and that governor wanted to make a point, but his point was not well taken.  She stated the people of Minnesota mostly complain about the liquor stores that are municipally owned, because they wanted wine, which is how they cope; and the Board is going to turn a lot of Brevard residents into alcoholics if it continues down the road it is going. She stated the state of Minnesota does not spray for mosquitos so the residents went out and sprayed their own properties themselves; and stated Brevard residents can do for themselves.  She stated all she needs is a road that is not full of potholes that she can get to Publix; she indicated a chart and stated the population in Brevard has pretty much remained the same.  She stated she bought a house for $103,000; now, her house is valued in the $80,000's; the proposed aggregate tax rate is being raised 16 percent in order to keep the status quo of services; and she is saying there does not need to be a status quo of services.  She stated it is upsetting to people on a fixed income that the General Fund spending and the ad valorem spending have continually gone up, whereas the population, inflation, and per capita income has stayed level. She stated the Commissioners should be more courteous to people with different opinions than theirs; stated she has never lived anywhere where she has seen such disrespect for people on the same Board; and stated some Commissioners talked differently before they were elected, making people believe they were conservatives.

 

Luis Benitez stated he has been retired from the Air Force for 20 years; and he is working today, but he is worried about the future.  He expressed appreciation to Commissioner Infantini for making an effort to inform him that his taxes were going up; it seems like when the governor wants to lower taxes, everybody else pushes them up; and the bottom line is that his taxes are going up.  He stated he is concerned, and there are a lot of other people who are going to be concerned.

 

Mary Hillberg stated more people need to understand that public service is different than private for-profit service; for-profit makes money; the Board's job is to serve and take care of the people; and that is a totally different objective than the for-profit sector.  She stated everyone is looking for economic survival; no smart business would located in a place that does not care enough about its infrastructure, amenities, and services to support them; and there is an aspect of supporting the County so it is attractive for the economic influx that the Board is hoping for.  She noted with the shuttle landing this morning, there were a lot of people hurting today; it will not be any easier as the weeks and months go by; and stated even though there are people who say they do not use the parks or libraries, there are many people who do use them because they cannot afford to go to Disney World or even a movie.  She stated it is not true that the only services needed are police and fire fighters; and businesses cannot be attracted to a place that is diminished.  She commended the Board on its well-educated staff; the staff has presented the Board with a decent conservative proposal; and she hopes the Board votes wisely as it did last year and rollback the millage. 

 

Vince Lamb stated he respects the work the Board is putting forward to deal with the budget the best it can.  He stated he has an issue involving the EEL Program; the budget as it stands now eliminates two full-time equivalent positions in environmental education for the EEL Program; eliminating the two positions seriously cripples and virtually eliminates the environmental education; a letter from the Procedures Committee went to each Commissioner about the value of environmental education; and stated from the environmental education he has had, his family uses less water and does not fertilize and pollute the Lagoon.  He stated eliminating the positions is expected to cause the Enchanted Forest Center and the Barrier Island Center, and Sam's House, to be closed one day per week, or more, because the environmental education people are very important in providing the staff that keeps the doors open.  He stated the two positions together cost less than $100,000; the other part of the equation is that it has been determined that EEL Program operations can be funded from the $5.2 million remaining from the 1990 referendum and from the interest earned on the money from the referendums; and that is $5.2 million that is available for funding that is being used as a reserve for the EEL Program.  He noted there is also another $1 million in reserves; that totals $6 million in reserves; the two positions could be funded from that reserve just by increasing the amounts drawing against that reserve with no affect on the tax rate that people would pay in the year ahead; and he would like to ask the Board to direct staff to amend the budget to add back in the two positions, and to keep environmental education healthy in Brevard County.

 

David Norman inquired if there is a chart showing the history of the millage for the last 10 years; the comment was made that in good times it can go down; and then there was a comment that if the Board wanted to raise it, it would have to be advertised.  Mr. Tipton clarified in the Truth In Millage laws, the millage rate can be set at the amount that it will generate the same amount of money next year as it did this year; if property values are going up, the Board has to reduce the millage rate or advertise it as a tax increase.  Mr. Norman asked if the Board has ever done that.  Stockton Whitten, Assistant County Manager, replied it is a statutory requirement that is also a Charter requirement.  Mr. Norman inquired if the County has ever raised the millage.  Mr. Whitten replied there have been instances where the millage has been above the rollback figure; there have been instances where it has been below the rollback figure also; and again, the advertisement is a statutory requirement and a Charter requirement.  He advised with one of the Charter amendments there is a requirement to advertise a tax increase whenever the operating revenues are above what is collected; it is also a special act requirement specific to Brevard County and its cities; and there are about three governing doctrines that actually guide when there is a notice of a tax increase.  Mr. Norman stated a chart showing the millage rates from 2001 to now would be helpful to see that they might have gone down some in good years.  Mr. Tipton stated staff has that information in last year's presentation and he will get it to Mr. Norman.  He stated the 5.8 is the countywide millage; and the 7.2 number is the overall aggregate.  Mr. Norman inquired if all the other counties were not aggregates; with Mr. Tipton responding no, they were not, it was just their countywide millage rate.  Chairman Fisher noted those other counties have public service tax and seven percent sales tax, which helps them generate more revenue. 

 

Commissioner Infantini inquired, in 2006 did the County's ad valorem revenue increase just below that 10 percent mark.  Mr. Whitten replied in 2006-2007 it was approximately nine percent; the aggregate went from 5.7 to 5.91.  Commissioner Infantini noted a way to get around that 10 percent advertising rate is to take a fee, or expense, in the ad valorem and move it below the line and call it a fire assessment; and it is a way of generating more revenue without exceeding that 10 percent cap the Board is not allowed to exceed.  Chairman Fisher stated by Charter, the Board cannot raise rates more than three percent; and the Board has not been in that situation.

 

 

 

Commissioner Infantini distributed a letter to the Board that was sent to her office and was extremely detailed; and stated the letter addresses the tax rate increase.  She expressed appreciation to the public who attends the Board meetings.

 

Howard Tipton, County Manager, stated if anybody is interested in the individual impacts that they will see from the proposal, they can visit with staff in the lobby who can take the information and share with them what the proposed budget will do.

 

  

The meeting adjourned at 6:20 p.m.

 

 

 

 

ATTEST:                                                                                                                                

                                                                        ROBIN L. FISHER, CHAIRMAN

                                                                        BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

                                    _______                      BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

MITCH NEEDELMAN, CLERK