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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Commissioner Nelson stated it was his pleasure to go on the Monarch of the Seas Caribbean Cruise Lines, although they made him get off before they left port; he made the presentation to Captain Holm; the ship contributed over $50,000 Camp Chance, which is the Sheriff's program in the Port St. John area, and to the Cape Canaveral Youth Center; and when they presented the Resolution, they got a quick tour of the bridge, so it was really nice.  He went on to add they are a great partner, and the Captain said Port Canaveral was his favorite port.

 

 

 

Commissioner Infantini stated she attended the grand opening of Rodes Park; it is a wonderful facility and state-of-the-art; and it was very well attended. 

 

 

 

Commissioner Infantini advised she held an impromptu town meeting; with about five or six days notice, 120 people turned out at the park; and many people at the meeting were not aware that the Board was going to raise the tax rate 16 percent; and he or she saw the budget cuts and thought maybe taxes would go down or something.  She went on to say she would encourage everyone, even the elected officials, to reach out to the public to find how the people who voted the Commissioners feel about raising the tax rate 16 percent before the Board moves forward.

 

 

 

Commissioner Anderson expressed his appreciation to those who attended the grand opening of Rodes Park.  He stated they did their barbeque and guava, pulled pork, and served 409 meals; they ran out of food; and people had to run to Sam's to pick up more food.  He stated it was a well-attended event; and it is going to be a great facility for South Brevard County.

 

 

Chairman Fisher stated he met with Jim Taft and others regarding the Field of Dreams on Friday; they are looking at hiring professional help to assist them in getting off of the ground with raising some dollars; he was instrumental in helping put that partnership together; and he wanted to get a little more active and make sure that project happens.  He added, one of the things they are considering is starting programs now before going out to the fundraising to show the community there is a need for the kids; one of the ideas that came out of their meeting was to consider, at the new Rodes Park, to possibly start some wheelchair games or something like that for some of the disabled kids; they seem to be floundering a bit on getting going; and he agreed to help in any way he could to help that project move forward.

 

 

 

Chairman Fisher advised there are other communities who are coming aggressively after Harris Corporation; Harris Corporation is thinking about expanding its existing buildings; they have 5,000 square feet of space building they are interested in building; there are have been opportunities to build that building elsewhere; and there are some companies that are engaged in trying to attract Harris Corporation.  He went on to say there is a meeting today with Enterprise Florida coming in to have some dialogue with Harris Corporation; and hopefully there will be some incentives on that side of Florida to help make that happen.  He added, he may come back to the Board with some sort of letter of support for Harris Corporation to the State of Florida and the other Brevard Legislators to make sure Harris Corporation does not build somewhere else.

 

 

 

Chairman Fisher stated Commissioner Infantini made a comment regarding a 16 percent increase in people's taxes, and the 120 people she met at her event.  He advised there was a rollback last year, he is not sure how much staff is going to talk about that, but the Board did that to help preserve services; he does think the voters spoke; Commissioners Nelson and Bolin was on the ballot aggressively; he knows Commissioner Infantini was supporting others; and 60 percent of the people said they supported Commissioners Nelson's and Bolin's positions.  He added, that speaks louder than the 120 people at the park; and the Board will do what it needs to do to get through the budget cycle.

 

County Manager Howard Tipton stated what staff is present to do again is to share with the Board some of the details of the budget work and the proposals they are making; it is an opportunity for the Board to ask questions; and to ultimately hear from the Charter Officers and then the public on the third and final day of these budget workshops, which will be Thursday evening, July 21st.  He stated whenever something like this is put together for an organizational of this size, it is a real team effort; he expressed his appreciation to Assistant County Manager's Stockton Whitten and Mel Scott, Budget Director Alphonso Jefferson and his entire team, and all of the directors and financial staff. 

 

He stated Brevard County is a great place to live; one of the things they typically start with are Brevard County's natural resources, the beauty that brought people here; they are going to turn that around a bit a begin with the tax structure; and noted Brevard County has one of the lowest tax structures in Central Florida.  He went on to say when looking at the Countywide millage rate, and this is the millage rate, or tax rate, that is supplied to properties across the County, whether they are in cities or unincorporated areas; they compared where Brevard County is compared to other Central Florida counties; and Brevard County is right in the middle of the pack, Orange County is on the low end, and Osceola County is on the high end.  He advised the next perspective is taking a look at Countywide ad valorem taxes per capita; that is basically applying the millage rate to the values of the properties in the respective counties; and the situation changes as Brevard goes from the middle of the pack to the last.  He explained for those who do not know what ad valorem taxes means, it is basically the taxes based on the assessed value of real estate or personal property per capita.  He stated taking Orange County as an example, they in the previous slide had the lowest tax rate in the area, however when it is applied to the higher values of the properties in the county like theme parks and major hotels, the tax revenues per person go up and become the second highest in the region.  He went on to say the tax rate of Brevard County is in the middle of the pack, but in terms of the revenues that it produces per person, it is at the bottom within the region.

 

Mr. Tipton stated when talking about taxes it is important to remember that there are options for communities to enhance their overall tax picture; they can do that typically with either voted in additional taxes, like a sales tax might be a school tax or infrastructure sales tax, or there might be local option fuel tax, which are additional pennies that are added for roads construction; and then there is the public service tax, which is an optional tax that communities may chose that comes from additional surcharges on electricity, natural gas, and those kinds of things.  He stated by looking at the comparison chart all of the counties except for Brevard County and Lake County have a public service tax; in terms of additional sales tax, all of the counties except for Brevard have additional sales tax; and two of the counties, Polk and Volusia, have implemented additional pennies for fuel tax.  He explained, these are taxes often used to help keep property taxes lower, not as much of the general fund property tax dollars has to be transferred to road construction because there are infrastructure dollars coming in from additional sales tax.

 

Commissioner Infantini inquired how staff arrived at the 5.8632 figure; when she multiplied out the tax rate that the taxpayers and County pays, it comes out to a higher number; and inquired what millage items are included in the 5.8632 figure.  She advised she knows they are paying far more than that on the tax bills.  Mr. Tipton replied the overall tax bill varies by where a person lives; in certain areas there may be MSTU's that would provide certain services for unincorporated areas; the Countywide tax is something that everybody in the community pays; and those dollars go for, for instance jail operations, court security, or anything provided on a Countywide basis.  Commissioner Infantini stated she wanted to ensure the public was aware it did not include everything like law enforcement MSTU, parks referendum, and things like that.

 

Commissioner Bolin stated she was looking at the two counties that have a lower millage rate than Brevard County, but they both are raising their revenues by other taxes; and she inquired what their millage rate would be if they did not get the money by way of a public service tax or additional sales taxes.  Mr. Tipton advised he does not have those figures.  Commissioner Bolin stated it would be a lot more.  Mr. Tipton stated the last time he checked in Orange County, the public service tax brings in a little more than $70 million a year for them dedicated to capital projects as well as parks.

 

Mr. Tipton advised there was a recent Florida TODAY article that some may have seen in May; it talked about the 350 top public and private companies in the State; staff thought it would be helpful because of Brevard County's economic competitive desire to take a look at where these companies were located; and they looked at the top seven counties where all of these businesses were located and compared their tax structure to Brevard County.  He went on to add, except for Broward County, Brevard County's tax environment was lower than Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Duval, Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Orange Counties; and out of the top seven counties where the largest public and private businesses are located, Brevard County's tax environment is more competitive.  He stated that is important because as the County looks at business attraction, retaining the businesses that are here, it is an important message to have; but at the end of the day taking into account the taxes Brevard County does have, and the taxes it does not have, it County is a leader in low taxes, not only in its own region, but around the State of Florida.

 

Chairman Fisher inquired if it is fair to assume that Osceola, Polk, Volusia, and the other counties also have MSTU's and other taxing increments in there; with Mr. Tipton responding it is a very fair assumption.  Chairman Fisher stated the other counties probably have more than the park referendums and MSTU's than Brevard County has.  Mr. Tipton confirmed that every county is a little different, they all develop their taxing structures based on those local needs; and typically, there are a variety of needs.

 

Mr. Tipton pointed out Brevard County has safe communities; the crime rate is down; it is safer than it has been in a long time; the Sheriff will be present tomorrow, he can tell the Board a little more about that; but reiterated Brevard County is safe.  He stated the County has access to transportation networks; it has a world class seaport, airports, an interstate; and Brevard County is as well-positioned as any community can be.  He went on to say School systems is one of the driver's for economic development and business attraction; Brevard County has an A-rated school system that continues to have one of the best reputations around the State; but not only just K-12, the higher education as well.  He added UCF is the second largest college in the country; FIT is one of the leading research institutions in the country; and Brevard has an outstanding Community College.  He mentioned Brevard County's natural resources, which are known worldwide for its beauty; in terms of quality of life, between the world class parks and libraries, as well as arts and cultural venues and opportunities, Brevard County continues to be a desirable place to be. 

 

Mr. Tipton advised he is going to spend some time talking about Brevard County's recent history.  He stated by looking at the proposed budget before the Board, the operating tax revenues are lower than the amounts levied in the Fiscal Year 2005-2006; inflation can eat at the cost of service, and even though it has been low, it still has an impact; since 2005, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is up 11.7 percent; they also know during this same period of time the population has grown in Brevard County by three percent; and certainly over this past decade, there has been a 15 percent increase in the County's overall population.  He went on to say on the last slide he mentioned that Brevard County's operating tax revenues are equivalent to where it was in 2005-2006; this slide is designed to show the drop in operating revenues from property taxes from the height of the boom in Fiscal Year 2006-2007 to this next proposed Fiscal Year; these are the property taxes that drive County services; and he will take them one at a time.  He advised by looking at the General Fund, which is basically the revenue source that Commissioner Infantini was just talking about that all County residents pay into, in Fiscal Year 2006-2007 it was $150 million; in this proposed budget it is $124.89 million; and it is a difference of about $26 million.  He added, the library fund the difference between 2006-2007 and next year is $6.5 million; Mosquito Control is down $1.65 million; Fire Rescue MSTU, which is the voted in millage for both equipment and the additional personnel on the engine, is down $1.84 million during that time; and the Law Enforcement MSTU is the only one in this group that is in the black, which shows the Board's continued commitment to public safety and lowering crime, and they are up just over $1 million.  He advised Road and Bridge MSTU's, which are taxing units found in each of the County Commission Districts that supplement Road and Bridge services are down $1.32 million; Parks and Recreation Districts are down just over $1 million; the overall Park-voted revenues are down 11.24 million; the EEL is down $2.36 million; and the overall difference when talking about declining operating property tax, the monies that drive the County's services, are down $51 million from the boom years to what is being proposed for next year.  He stated the next slide is just a representation of what the Board just saw in those declining revenues; and it shows the County has declined 22 percent since 2007. 

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He stated for the one-half cent sales tax, at the height of 2006-2007 the County it was at $24 million; it is down to $21 million, a three and one-half million dollar change; State shared is down $1.43 million; FPL franchise fees the County collects are down $2 million; and Communication services tax is down $1.56 million.  He added, Local Option Gas Taxes is relatively stable and down one-half million dollars; Constitutional Gas Tax is flat; and the Tourism Tax revenues are slightly ahead of the game; and overall the other major revenues that the County sees are continuing to be down, in this case just over $9 million. 

 

Mr. Tipton stated one of the things he wanted to talk about is over the past four years the County has developed and implemented a number of budget reduction strategies, and these strategies cover five different areas; they include personnel, operating, capital outlay and improvements, innovations and investments, and debt; and he is taking each of those one at a time.  He stated with personnel; the County has reduced the number of employees that it had back down to 2001 staffing levels and servicing a population that has grown by 15 percent at that time; it has been done through layoffs, eliminating vacant positions, and encouraging early retirements; in addition to these actions, the County has also provided for no merit increases or cost of living adjustments over the past four years; and it increased employee and retiree insurance contributions by 91 percent.  He went on to add, the County implemented unpaid furloughs, adjusted staffing models, and used staffing agencies; it increased the use of volunteers, adjusted staffing models, and used staffing agencies; and finally it converted full-time positions to part-time positions.  He explained one of the things seen over time is an increased population, it is up 15 percent, or 74,000 people, which is equivalent of adding another city such as Melbourne to the County during that time; what the Board will see going forward is Brevard will not be the fastest growing county like in parts of the 1960's, thanks to the Apollo Program; growth will continue to go up but it will be slow; and it will be the one to three percent range.  He stated with the population that had grown, it is people the County needs to serve;  and the staffing levels were up in the boom years, but it is back down to 2001 staffing levels.  

 

He stated the Board will hear more from Frank Abbate and Jerry Visco tomorrow about insurance; managing insurance costs is one of those things that any business public or private really wrestles with in today's environment; this County has done a great job at managing those costs; many difficult decisions were made in that area; but he wanted to talk a little bit about those things because these are big ticket items that make a huge impact.  He mentioned one of the things the Board sees on the slide are some of the things the Human Resources team, consultants, and employee advisory board have done; certain types of insurance were eliminated; changes have been made to the pharmacies; some of the positive things are establishing a more positive health and wellness program; but the big ticket items are the changes in the plan design.  He added, the employer plan costs have been reduced by approximately 24 percent, or $12 million; member costs have been increased by 91 percent or $11 million; member out-of-pocket expenses as part of this plan design change have increased by 162 percent or just over $9 million; and member premiums have increased by 26 percent or $1.6 million.  He went on to add, the County costs have decreased 24 percent during this time because of theses aggressive actions; and the member costs have increased by 91 percent.  He explained the next slide is busy but the red line is the national medical trend, what the average increase of health insurance premiums experience is for companies across the country; because of the way the County's program is managed, and the adjustments made over time, they have consistently been below the national average; and that is saving the County dollars annually.  He stated the big drop in 2010 is a result of the shift that took place there in terms of plan design changes, shifting the $10 million out of the employer's expense and on to the member expense.

 

Mr. Tipton advised the operating hours have been reduced in various County departments; the County does not have a computer replacement cycle, it goes until it breaks; the bad news is there is a lot of software that cannot run on the older, slower computers; training has been reduced; funding levels for Community Based Organizations have been reduced; and the First Responder Program funding has been reduced.  He went on to say non-essential travel has been eliminated; the County is utilizing outsourcing, such as privatization of misdemeanor probation; it reduced overall operating budgets by a total of $10 million; and contracts, such as janitorial and grounds maintenance, have been revised.  He added, employees are now taking out their own trash, and they have turned off the hot water to specific buildings to help reduce electrical costs. 

 

He stated the third area staff has been focusing on over these past four years is capital outlay and improvements; in this area, the key strategy has really been to defer major repairs, renovations, and new construction until economic times get better; from roads to traffic signals, from roofs to HVAC units, from software enhancements to radio systems, from fleet vehicles to heavy equipment, the County has been deferring investments in these areas; to be sure, this is a short-term strategy; and if this is continued, it can be expensive because the Board would not be looking at maintenance, it would be looking at the cost of replacements.  He stated what staff has been working on and having significant success are innovations and investments; in spite of the challenging economic times, the County has been able to make investments using one-time federal dollars to help meet immediate needs while working to build a long-term operating savings; additionally, it has been able to leverage funds through transit services at a 13:1 ratio, and this year coming up, Valkaria Airport takes the prize at 991 in terms of leveraging dollars; and this year service partnerships include providing dispatch services for the Town of Malabar, and Public Works performing GIS work for the City of Rockledge.

 

He explained the last area to talk about is debt, which is important for any organization to understand; in difficult times, some organizations take out a credit card and charge their way through it; that is not what this organization has done; its fiscal integrity is strong; and it has been made stronger by the actions taken, especially this past year.  He went on to say in this past year commercial paper was re-financed to lower annual debt payments by $200,000; the utility debt has been re-financed to reduce those obligations by $1 million; bonds have been defeased to lower annual debt payments by $1.5 million; and all of that has gone to give the County a better image within those credit rating companies that gives it the thumbs up or down when the County goes out to the marketplace.  He stated in terms of historical perspectives, the last thing he wanted to cover were some of the things that happened over time; the County has made investments in public safety, both in Fire Rescue and Sheriff; investments have been made in infrastructure in Public Works, Utilities, Solid Waste, and Facilities; investments have been made in economic development through the Tourist Development Office as well as through the Economic Development Commission; and money has been put into recreation through EEL and Parks and Recreation Referendums.  He went on to add transit services has seen a big expansion in ridership and capability; and grant funded support has increased to support housing initiatives.

 

Mr. Tipton stated in the Budget Development section, he wanted to talk about where the County is today; and he wants to talk about what went into developing the budget, including the guiding principles, the considerations/demands for services, key impacts, and employee investments.  He went on to state staff focused on the Board's priorities, the County's vision statement, and if done correctly, the County Manager's priorities, which should support the first two areas.  He stated the Board's priorities are preserving existing minimum service levels, public infrastructure, public safety and health, and economic development and job creation; the County's vision, which has been in place for more than a decade, provides for health, safety, education, and social needs of the community; to protect the environment and conserve valuable natural resources; and to build a diverse, strong economic base with the needed infrastructure to support a quality of lifestyle.  He added, more visions of the County are to create cooperative partnerships between governments, business, community organizations, and residents; and to maximize performance and communications to provide excellent service for customers.  

 

He presented the County Manager's priorities as meeting Board and vision priorities, focusing on the customer, maintaining fiscal integrity, implementing innovations/process improvements, investing in technology to drive efficiencies, investing in employees, and establishing and maintaining partnerships.  He stated one of the things that is a little unusual for public sector services versus a private sector agency or company when the economy goes down is the customers increase; as the economy has gone down, one of the things that was unexpected is owners turning in their animals because they are no longer able to care for them; that had a dramatic impact on the animals shelter; and it impacts the reduced staff who are there to handle those animal turn ins.  He went on to say there has been growth in transit services of a 57 percent increase in riders since 2007; Library Services has seen a 13 percent increase in circulation of books and media; Fire Rescue has seen an 11 percent increase in Fire/Rescue calls; Housing has seen 187 percent increase in energy assistance requests; and departments are meeting demands with fewer employees. 

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Mr. Tipton advised the proposed budget reflects a total of $925,126,907; this is a 9.14 percent decrease from last year's adopted budget; by looking at the amended budget, and staff does amend the budget throughout the year because it is a living document needed to reflect changes in both revenues and expenditures, it is a 17 percent decrease from the current amended budget; and the aggregate operating millage rate is proposed at 7.2394, which is 1.36 percent below the aggregate roll back rate.  He went on to say in budget development staff typically has to deal with increasing costs and decreasing revenues; it does not seem to matter what year they are in, it is always the case; and this year, the combined total of those are about $10 million.  He stated it will be a Presidential election year, and that means primaries, early voting, bilingual ballot changes, and ultimately redistricting changes as well; that means that in 2012 there will be an increase in providing the Supervisor of Elections services.  He added, he is proposing to do away with furloughs; the cost of that to the general government is about $1 million; there have been increases in IT costs of $700,000 and Court IT of about $500,000; and in both of those areas Reserves have been used to maintain the current level of service, and those Reserves are now exhausted.  He stated with the increase in fuel, staff is proposing $500,000 increase there.  He stated in terms of decreases in revenue sources, there has been a $4 million decrease in major revenues; the balance forward, the money left over at the end of the year continues to decrease, is going down by another $2 million; and those two things together are just over $10 million. 

 

He stated in order to meet a host of competing needs, staff needed to utilize a number of different strategies; they have adjusted the State-related revenues to meet the State projections, and they very much track what was projected last year, so their confidence in those projections are pretty high; they are using the roll back proceeds; they are proposing no increases in employer paid rates for health insurance; they have seen a reduction in employer-paid Florida Retirement System costs of approximately $7.7 million from the General Government, $4 million from Board Departments and $3.7 from the Sheriff; and it reduces the employer contributions and increases the employee contributions.  He went on to add staff has reduced operating, capital outlay and capital improvement expenditures again this year; they have reduced personnel; and they have made slight adjustments to reserves, mostly done through the decline in balance forward.

 

He advised the next five slides will show the General Fund transfers over the past seven years; it is important to understand how this all plays together.  He stated the slide shows how the $925 million comes together; there are revenues restricted by source, which is 78 percent of that; utility services, water/wastewater, solid waste, mosquito control, and libraries are all dedicated funding sources; and for just the General Operating Government there is $201 million, which makes up about 22 percent.  He stated the distribution of that $201.5 million goes as follows:  Charter Officers $102,862,540 or 51 percent; Board Departments $75,530,302 or 37.5 percent; Mandates $20,666,405 or 10.3 percent; Outside Agencies like the Economic Development Commission and Community Based Organizations; and the County is mandated to pay for Court Services through Revision 7 to Article V.  He stated the Chart shows the General Fund transfers by groups; all of the lines have decreased from the height of the boom; the next line are the Court Operations; the scales are different but the point of this slide is to show the overall trending of these; the next group are the Outside Agencies, again showing decreases; and the last group are Board Departments.  He added, Board Departments, over time, are now at 2004 funding levels and have shouldered the brunt of much of the budget reductions.

 

Chairman Fisher requested Mr. Tipton explain the category of Board Departments.  Mr. Tipton advised those are Departments that are under the County Manager, such as Road and Bridge, Planning and Development, Animal Services, Libraries, Parks, County Manager's Office, Human Resources, Purchases, and all those kinds of things. 

 

Mr. Tipton stated the next slide shows reserves; the Board has a policy of 10 percent in Reserves goal; in 2006 to what is proposed this year the County has been anywhere from 7.25 percent all the way to 9.85 percent; in comparison to other counties, it is not necessarily a lot of money; and it is money used for cash-flow and emergencies, and given its current state, not necessarily a solution for funding challenges or concerns.  He went on to say one of the things proposed in this budget is a one-time payment to employees of 2.5 percent for this coming year; one of the questions is why he would consider something like that during these economic times; the average full-time salary for all Board employees is $40,556; on the chart, the next line shows average of contributions, including insurance premiums; and the biggest impact are out-of-pocket expenses through plan design changes.  He added, next was pay reductions of 2.5 percent due to furlough days and 5 percent pay reduction due to furlough through the leadership team at Director levels and above, including the County Manager's office; now employee pay is being reduced another 3 percent for contributions to the Florida Retirement System; and overall during this period of time, employees have seen an increase of 281 percent in cost shifts and an overall decrease in net pay of 13 percent, not including any additional impact from inflation during this time.  He went on to state the County started early in its impacting of employees compared to other public agencies, and it is his opinion that when considering staff reductions that have taken place, employees now wearing two or three hats with ongoing and increasing demands for services, reductions in training, the Board needs to think more of how it can make investments in its own valuable assets, its people; several of the Constitutional Officers are considering making similar adjustments to employee pay, and that would be the Tax Collector and the Sheriff; and whether action is taken or not, there will be others who will.  He explained what he is proposing in making employee investments is a one-time payment for all funded departments and agencies, the Charter Officers included; the reason that he is suggesting this be a one-time deal and not ongoing commitment, is he is uncertain where FRS rates are going for the future; he knows the Sheriff has been working hard with the legislative delegation and leadership; he has been talking with the Governor; and he is of a belief that retirement rates are going to stay stable.  He added they are projected to go up 25 percent July 1, 2012, and because of that additional cost, he is not able to suggest that at this time he can make the one-time adjustment more permanent; it can be revisited as the legislative sessions turns out next time around; but he just cannot recommend it at this time.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated she has reached out to a number of people over the past couple of months regarding this, and many of them have asked her how she could ask them to dip even deeper to pay a little more property taxes; not that the County employees are not deserving, because the County has outstanding employees; but so many people are not working.  She inquired how should the Commissioners approach the public and explain to them why the County would give a one-time raise when someone does not have a job.  Mr. Tipton responded to remind everyone that they came early to the budget cut parties; the Federal Government is talking about freezing salaries for the next two years; the County has done that; there are communities and organizations within the community that have been giving raises in the more recent history than Brevard County has; and the County employees have been at the forefront of these budget reductions.  He added, it is time the County make an investment in its most valuable resource; there are people taking care of increasing demands for service, wearing multiple hats because the person next to them was laid off two years ago; and they have not seen any benefit.  He inquired in the ongoing years how is the County going to make investments in employees going forward because it has to be done; stated training must be increased; retirements are coming up; there is a brain drain coming up; and inquired how is the County to replace that with either investments in technology and investments in future leadership. 

 

Commissioner Anderson stated there was a proposal by the Clerk of Court, for a pretty healthy pay raise; and inquired where that stands for his employees or his contractors.  Mr. Tipton advised he does not know the current status of that; the Clerk will be in tomorrow to talk about that; his was a little more complicated because he had done some restructuring within the organization; and it was not just a pay adjustment, it was more than that.  Commissioner Anderson stated at least three Constitutional Officers have proposed pay increases; and inquired if the Property Appraiser's office is doing increases.  Mr. Tipton replied the Property Appraiser's office said whatever the County does, he will do for his folks; and he thinks the Supervisor of Elections has said the same as well.

 

Mr. Tipton stated as one-time pay adjustments, they will not be dollars applied to employees' base salaries; there will not be a retirement impact or benefit for that; it will not be part of their overtime calculations; and as it is set-up, he is trying to limit the impacts from that.

 

Commissioner Bolin inquired if this goes forward, will the money be distributed monthly or doing it for the first six months and re-evaluating the situation; stated the Board goes through the budget and in six months sees where it stands; and further inquired if it could be done twice, one in the first six months and one in the second six months of the year.  Mr. Tipton advised how it gets distributed is certainly open for discussion; it can be a one-time payment; it could be something done twice; it could be done over the course of the year in all 16 paychecks; and reiterated how it gets distributed is certainly an option.

 

Mr. Tipton inquired what will happen to potential service level impacts without roll back or keeping the millage rate at its current levels; stated Brevard County has reduced to the point where it is at minimal service levels; it is able to meet the Board's priorities and the vision for the community but not much else; if the Board wanted to make further reductions, it can do so; but in his review of the Departments and this budget, it cannot be done without significant impacts to the Departments and to the Constitutional Offices as well.  He stated if the current millage rates stay where they currently stand, with the reduction in home values and property values that have been seen, it will reduce the amount of revenue the County will be taking in; the Countywide General Fund would have $18,346,327 less, Library District $2,230,046 less, Mosquito Control $803,438, Fire Control MSTU $1,333,363, Law Enforcement MSTU $2,263,535, Recreation Districts $565,326, Road and Bridges MSTU $571,444, and EEL Operating $158,672, for a total of $26,272,151.  He stated when they talk about trying to find that money from the distribution of General Revenue; there will be challenges in making these reductions; and there will be service impacts.  He stated by following recent history and do not make reductions to the Charter Offices and Jail Operations, it is $102.9 million out of consideration, leaving a balance of $98.6 million from which the Board needs to find $18.3 million to balance the budget.  He stated allocation of General Revenues Mandates are as follows:  Courts-Article V is $2.2 million; Medicaid is $5.2 million; Emergency Management is $500,000; Pre-Trial Juveniles is $2.6 million; Baker Act is $1.7 million; Medical Examiner $1.4 million; Child Protection, Legal Aid, Health Care, Indigent Burials is $400,000; General Government Debt is $4.8 million; and General Government Mandates is $1.9 million.  He added, that totals $20.7 million, and that now leaves a balance of $77.9 million from which the Board needs to find $18.3 million.      

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Mr. Tipton stated if the Board were to assume that public safety, in terms of Fire Rescue, continues as a priority, that is $9.8 million off the table for consideration, leaving a balance of $68.1 million; there is $8 million dollars for Facilities, and $5.9 million for Public Works, leaving a balance of $54.2 million; it is under funded in both of those areas; and he would not recommend reducing those anymore.  He added, the $54.2 million is basically other services, that makes up 27.3 percent of the overall budget, and the Board would need to find $18.3.  He went on to say other services are Reserves, Board of County Commissioners, County Manager's Office, County Attorney's Office, Transit Services, Central Services, Budget Office, Brevard Cultural Alliance, UF/Agricultural an Extension Services, General Operations (Internal/External Auditor, Advertising, etc.), Housing and Human Services, Natural Resources Management, Planning and Development, The Government Channel (SCGTV), Payments to Redevelopment Agencies, Human Resources, Information Technology, Economic Development Commission, and Community Based Organizations.  He stated what has been through is a series of assumptions showing the Board how it starts at the $201 million dollar level and going down working its way through each area; it is certainly able to redirect any of those assumptions; it is difficult to do; at the end of the day when it considers the mandates, it will impact Charter Officers, jail operations, and other mandates the County is responsible for; he believes those reductions cannot be made totaling $18.3 million without making cuts to the Courts and all Charter Offices; cuts will impact public safety; and maintenance of roadways will be impacted.  He went on to add, Transit Services, Housing, and Emergency Management will be unable to leverage dollars, job creation, and economic development will be impacted; outside agencies such as Brevard Cultural Alliance, Economic Development Commission, and Community Development Agencies will be affected; facility closures will need to be reviewed; and it would continue to defer facility maintenance and improvement. 

 

He stated he wanted to walk the Board through some other tax areas; if the Board stayed at current millages for Library Services, the Board would see a reduction of $2.23 million in their revenues; it is important to look at this from a historical perspective to know where the County has been; Brevard County did not just begin budget reductions now, they have been in that mode; and since Fiscal Year 2006-2007, Libraries have seen a $6 million reduction in revenues and expenditures.  He went on to say Libraries have reduced 101 positions; they have converted full-time positions to part-time to reduce salaries and benefit costs; they have seen a reduction of 20 percent in operating hours, 212 a week across all 17 libraries and 11,050 annual hours across all 17 libraries; the volunteer hours have increased by 34,183 or 38.33 percent; and volunteer hours equal 42.87 full-time positions.  He explained if there is another reduction operating hours will be reduced at all 17 libraries, elimination of 80 positions, and either the closure of three large libraries or seven small libraries.  He advised the Board there is no other way as staff sees it to get from here to there with that kind of history in terms of what they have already gone to and in terms of what is left to reduce.

 

Mr. Tipton stated there has been a lot of press lately about Mosquito Control; if a person steps out at the wrong time, he or she feels the impacts of the most active mosquito season in the past decade; he fully appreciates the value of Mosquito Control; the reductions would mean a reduced spraying schedule; mosquito borne illness is a public health issue; and it would eliminate 11 seasonal field positions, 2.5 full-time positions including a pilot.  He added, this would eliminate schedule fleet replacement, including four spray trucks; it would reduce chemical purchases; and it would eliminate a culvert replacement at Ulumay Sanctuary decreasing the ability to fight mosquitoes without chemicals. 

 

He addressed the impact of Fire Control MSTU and the impacts to Fire operations; their operating revenues have decreased already $8.74 million since Fiscal Year 2006-2007; their reserves are exhausted at the end of Fiscal Year 2011-2012; the closure of a fire station would be necessary; and overtime would be eliminated to fight wildfires.  He went on to state the impacts to the Sheriff's MSTU is the part of his budget that funds the deputies for service in the unincorporated areas; according to the Sheriff, and again he will be here tomorrow to share this with the Board, but they would need to reduce 36 deputies in order to accommodate the reduction; and it would obviously be an impact to their overall law enforcement efforts.

 

He stated Parks staffing has been reduced by 203 positions since Fiscal Year 2006-2007; staff reduction represents 33 percent reduction in the workforce; the General Fund transfer to the Parks and Recreation Department has been reduced by over $11.6 million since Fiscal year 2006-2007 volunteer hours have increased by 130,820 hours since Fiscal Year 2006-2007; and the total volunteer hours are equal to 346.49 full-time positions.  He advised what would have to be cut is $565,326 at current millage; the impacts would be the community centers and recreational amenities have been drastically reduced; recreation partners are contributing significantly more funding towards the operational and capital expenses of various parks; and non-fee support programs will have to be eliminated or a collection of fees would have to be necessary to participate.  He went on to add, other reductions would be reduce the ability of staff to maintain athletic turf at the frequency required such as mowing, fertilizing, verticutting, aerifying, disease, and pest control; reduction in community center hours; and further reduction in the ability to support community special events.

 

Mr. Tipton explained to the Board some of the impacts to the Road and Bridge operations if the millage stayed the same; since 2006-2007, resurfacing funds have decreased from $5.4 million to $3.5 million, or 35 percent; elimination of Countrywide ditch cleaning crew, which was instituted after flooding from 1995's Hurricane Erin; and further staff reductions would compound affects of non-sustainable maintenance cycles. 

 

He stated EELs operations would be a $158,672 reduction; the nature centers would need to be closed; and the facilities would be available by appointment only and would have to be self-guided.

 

Commissioner Anderson stated he appreciated the illustrations and simplification of this, but it is pretty generalized and elementary.  He stated each one of those line items the Board votes on separately are far more complex, because some of those programs have reserves and other funding sources; and he does not want the public to be misled that this would definitely happen if these millage rates were not rolled back.  He added with EEL, it can be operated for three to four years without rolling the millage forward.  Mr. Tipton agreed, if the County wanted to move away from land acquisition. 

 

Mr. Tipton stated there are still things that are unfunded, things that must be addressed; economic incentives are important; there are things in the works that staff will be bringing before the Board in the not too distant future where there are additional economic incentives being requested; inquired where do those come from; and will they continue to be funded from reserves.  He stated the 800Mhz radio system is the backbone for all public safety in the County; all of the cities and public safety personnel use this system; as staff mentioned to the Board last year, it is in need of replacement; staff will be bringing a proposal to the Board for that replacement in the coming months; and right now the cost is estimated at approximately $10 million.  He stated fire assessment has postponed the issue of this; it is a supplemental fee that provides funding to the fire department for their operations; it was artificially low so those reserves could be drawn down; staff is in the process of drawing those reserves down; and that fee will need to be revisited.

 

He stated when looking at water quantity issues in terms of flooding and water quality, especially those related to the Indian River Lagoon, the stormwater assessment is inadequate to even begin to meet any of those needs; the County has had good fortune in having partnerships with State and federal agencies as issues have been dealt with; a lot of those opportunities may diminish at the federal level as those dollars begin to tighten up.  He stated the County needs to be more proactive with it facility maintenance requirements rather than be just reactive; once something breaks it is more expensive to fix than it is to maintain it.  He advised an animal services facility in the north that has been rehabilitated but is still inadequate, and a facility in the south that has been overwhelmed with the increase of animal turn-ins and populations, but is really not capable of sustaining a no-kill environment, which is the Board's policy.  He stated lastly is employee investment; the Board has got to get to the point where it makes investments in its workforce.

 

Mr. Tipton summarized by saying the County is in a highly-competitive position in terms of taxes at both the regional and statewide levels; Brevard County is a significantly smaller government than it was just five years ago; the proposed budget is $93 million less than this current year's budget; and that is a 9.14 percent decrease.  He went on to say the proposed budget continues to focus on the Board's priorities and aligns with the County's vision.  He added, this coming year will be the fourth consecutive year of decreasing budgets for the County; between 2008 and 2012, the County budget has been reduced by $310.5 million; the slide shows how it is broken out year-by-year; and the biggest cut was in the year 2009.  He stated his recommendations are that the Board sets the aggregate operating millage rate at 7.2394; it is slightly below the full roll back rate; the budget that was presented preserves the minimum service levels to be maintained; it continues efforts in job creation and economic development; the budget focuses on core services and the Board's priorities to include public infrastructure, safety, and health; and it aligns with the vision of the organization. 

 

The Board recessed at 10:25 a.m. and reconvened at 10:42 a.m.

 

 

 

Chairman Fisher stated the County Manager is looking for direction regarding the budget presentation, especially if any of the Commissioners opposed his suggestions or if anyone wanted something added or taken away in the budget process, and this is a great time to do that.  He inquired if that is what the County Manager is looking for today.

 

County Manager Howard Tipton advised staff is here to answer any questions as a result of the presentation; if there is anything the Board would like staff to look at for tomorrow, they are prepared to do that as well; and whatever the Board would like to discuss, staff is ready.

 

Commissioner Bolin stated she thought it was a very good presentation; the County Manager laid out the facts of how the Board could reduce the budget; and gave a perspective of where the County would be if the roll back was not done.  She stated the County Manager mentioned almost a complete roll back; and inquired how much would there be with a full roll back.  Mr. Tipton advised approximately $1 million.

 

 

 

Natosha Smith stated this is her first Board meeting; she is a resident of West Cocoa; and she is present about the transportation system in that area.  She went on to say Transit Services has implemented a temporary eighth-route for West Cocoa, which connects them to the inner part of the City towards Cocoa Village, and connects to the transit station; however, it is extremely limited; there is no early morning service that allows people to go to work; they are a working community; there are no services that allows connection to the library system, which the County Manager pointed out is lacking in certain areas and in need of certain things; and the West Cocoa community has a chance, by bringing in the transportation system, to increase business, because they have no grocery store and no pharmacy, but there is a lot of land.  She added, if the transit system is opened up and there is some type of arrangement made with the budget planning in order to incorporate more lines to West Cocoa, businesses will increase.  She opined transportation should be one of the Board's first priorities; public safety and health is on the County Manager's list; a public transit system in West Cocoa would increase changes for public safety and health; there are no doctor's offices there, but there are many elderly and children, who they need to get to those appointments, and it is difficult to do; and a lot of the citizens of West Cocoa have to walk.  She stated economic development and job creation was on the County Manager's list as well; with the bus line coming there, there would be an increase in that development in West Cocoa like in Cocoa Village and the beach area; the constituents in West Cocoa are feeling a little left out simply because everything is advancing towards the beach; they have wonderful land and opportunities for businesses that seem to be lacking; and the only thing that gets fixed over there is construction on S.R. 520, which helps connect Orlando to the Beachline.  Since the bus line has expanded in the area, the Dollar General has built a store; they make massive money from that community; the thought would be, if a grocery store would opened up, what would that do as far as the economic status; and that is job creation, partnership, and development in the community.  She explained if the County does not expand the bus service to West Cocoa, it could become dilapidated; and people coming from Orlando to visit the beach would have to drive right through that area, and the Board would not want that.  She went on to say this helps with health, safety, education, and social needs to the community; the bus line would create a lifeline for the community; there are a lot of single mothers over there, a lot of elderly, and a lot of children who fall below the reading standards; the connection to the bus is they have no connection to the library; and if 90 percent of the occupants have no transportation, the children cannot go to the library.  She explained they are only asking for one bus that could run maybe every two hours; they are not even asking for nighttime service, only commuter hours; and they want something so the citizens can get to work, school, and activities.  She stated a bus would benefit a good portion of the community that seems to be left out; the Board should not view her as one person who rides the bus; she represents 50 people; her friends represent 50 people each; and inquired if they all took the bus system, how much revenue would be generated.  She advised she is present to make a statement for the people who she lives with in her community; she has only been there for a year; she loves Brevard County; and she has come back to help in the community; and she is here to educate the Board of the needs of that community.  She stated one of their needs is just a bus.

 

Jerel Banks stated he recently moved back to Brevard County; he came back with more of a sense of community, because where he lived in California it was about the people.  He advised he has a few ideas regarding revenue; stated he told SCAT that the County is advertising on the outside of the buses, but people are riding on the inside of the bus who can benefit from the advertisements inside of the buses; there are a lot of blank spots; whoever is running the advertising section is not doing a good job; and they can be making money, because people who ride the bus do spend money.  He stated he asked his Commissioner's assistant if employees get paid mileage driving around to different agencies throughout the County; he understands about the street cleaners, but if people are just going back and forth to different agencies, maybe the County can get a commuter bus for employees that goes from agency to agency; and that would save money on gas.  He added, the furloughs should be continued; he appreciates the employees who work for the County, but right now is not the time for a pay increase; inquired how much would it cost for those pay increases; and he does not think the taxpayers wanted to foot that bill.  He stated with the way the economy is, people are just happy to have a job; with his job, he has to wear four or five different hats; but he puts up with it, because he needed his job to pay the bills.  He asked the Board to talk with SCAT about the advertising to make more money; he suggested to SCAT hook up with Lynx; and people who do not have a car can take a bus and be able to go to the beach.

 

Barbara Knick stated she is new in understanding this; there are things that do not make sense to her; when she worked as a bank teller and handled money; it was not money to her, it was paper; and a lot of times when a person does not handle the money and just looks at the numbers, he or she does not understand how it relates to the people.  She went on to state there are a lot of people who have lost jobs and homes; inquired how they are going to pay for taxes; stated it will force them out of their homes even more; services and necessities have been given up just to survive; and inquired why it is necessary to feed the monster called government.  She inquired why government needed to buy land; stated it is not the governments purpose; in her way of thinking, in a budget to take the amount of money that is there and figure out how to spread it out for what has to be paid for; those are for necessities and not wants; and it would be nice to get a job, decide how much money a person wanted, and tell his or her boss how much he or she must pay a person.  She asked the Board to advertise the rate increase to the public to see if they wanted to keep these services.

 

Commissioner Nelson expressed his appreciation Jimmy Liesenfelt, Transit Services Director, for the schedule he was able to achieve for West Cocoa; stated he took bits and pieces of routes to create where they are; but he would like to understand what the County can do to get to where Natosha described.

 

Mr. Liesenfelt stated both his cell phones were ringing with text messages while Ms. Smith was talking, so people were watching her.  He stated they have public meetings every year to talk about routes; West Cocoa residents came last year requesting service; they cobbled together a schedule and rerouted two of the loops; the third loop is the Seniors at Lunch program bus that comes into the West Cocoa Community Center; and they reworked its lunch hour, so they got a loop out of that.  He went on to add, they had meetings last week and next week; they are looking at getting them an earlier loop without adding any service; they have not bought a bus or added a new driver for West Cocoa; and they just reworked what was there.  He stated if they wanted to do another loop so they would have service every two hours, it would have to be taken away from somewhere else; they are that tight right now in terms of bus drivers; and buses are not as big of an issues as drivers.  He stated the West Cocoa area ridership is twice as high as staff would have ever figured; people are connecting to other buses and going to other places; and reiterated they are working on one more loop.  He went on to say, he was on Route 6 last week, and when he boarded the bus he spent some time with three different folks trying to get them back on Route 8 at the proper transfer time; they are not only riding the West Cocoa Route, they are connecting to other routes to get to other places in the County.  He stated one more loop could be managed, and reiterated beyond that, another route would have to be taken away.

 

Commissioner Infantini commended the speakers regarding the bus loop; stated they did an excellent job presenting their point; it educated the Board, because if it does not know there is a problem, a solution cannot be found; and she expressed her appreciation to those speakers.  She stated regarding Barbara Knick's point about advertising the 16 percent tax rate increase, the other two Commissioners were elected with the 13 percent tax increase, although there was a little timing issue with the delivery of the tax bills, but last year 72 percent of the voters said they did not want a tax increase when asked on the Referendum, it was an item on the ballot to vote on; what she would like to propose, and get approval from the Board, is send out a public service notice announcement that the Board plans to increase the tax rate 16 percent and in exchange it will keep the level of services it currently has to get input; she thinks a lot of people are not informed and not aware of the rate increase; and if there is nothing to hide and the Board wanted to be straight forward and make sure it gets the feedback from the community, it should be advertised with exactly what the increase was.

 

Commissioner Nelson stated Commissioner Infantini has been using this scare tactic; she has sent emails out that say there is 16 percent increase; one gentleman from his neighborhood actually emailed him; they looked at his taxes, and based on the proposal, they will go down $100; and requested Commissioner Infantini explain to him how she could send a notice out to someone who's taxes are going down $100, that their taxes are going up 16 percent, because those numbers do not work.  He added, the math is not accurate; his neighbor, a boom buyer, is going to see another $400 to $500 drop; they have already saved $2,500 over the last five years in their taxes; and Commissioner Infantini is not being honest.  Commissioner Infantini advised she was being honest.  Commissioner Nelson stated it is different for everyone based on what taxes he or she pays; it depends if a person lives in Municipal Services Taxing Unit, where they live, if a person lives in the city, if he or she lives in unincorporated, and it is different for everyone.

 

Commissioner Infantini stated she took the unincorporated area of District 3, she did an analysis and spreadsheet, and she put it on a PowerPoint presentation, and when subtracting out last year's rate with the proposed rate this year, multiply it times the property values, it will be found it is a 16 percent tax rate increase; the tax increase is not for everyone in unincorporated Brevard County; however, if the property value drops more than the rate of increase, a person will see a decreasing tax bill; but the rate will be high than it was last year.  She went on to say, she is not wrong, she will bring in the spreadsheet, and she will present it at the next workshop, because she knows it is challenging if a person is not spreadsheet literate, but she has all of the numbers and the whole analysis; she will be happy to share it with everyone; and she would like to put it on the screen that it is factually accurate.

 

Commissioner Nelson inquired how that person saved $100 with an increase.  Commissioner Infantini advised because their assessed value dropped greater than the 16 percent increase.  Commissioner Nelson inquired if it was an increase.  Commissioner Infantini stated in taxes there could be a real decrease while having a rate increase.  Commissioner Nelson stated if a person is not paying more money; and if he pays less than he paid last year is that an increase or a decrease.  Commissioner Infantini advised it is an increase of tax rate while experiencing a tax decrease.  Commissioner Nelson stated she cannot say it is a tax decrease.  Commissioner Infantini stated the taxes can increase even thought the increase of tax rate is higher; she inquired if he is going to deny it is a tax rate increase.  Commissioner Nelson responded it is different for every person.  Commissioner Infantini pointed out it is a tax rate increase for every person, but the percentage could be different.  Commissioner Nelson stated if it a decrease for that person, he or she is paying less out of their pocket; the one thing she did not mention is even at the existing millage rates, if there is a three percent recapture, people are going to pay more.  Commissioner Infantini explained it then works out to a 20 percent tax increase.  Commissioner Nelson advised it is a tax increase doing what Commissioner Infantini wanted to do.  Commissioner Nelson inquired with the three percent increase for homestead property at the existing tax rate today, is it or is it not a increase.  Commissioner Infantini replied there will always be an increase of three percent, but what it is going to be now is a 20 percent increase by taking the three percent assessed value increase, plus the 16 percent tax rate increase, it correlates to a 20 percent increase in a person's taxes.  Commissioner Nelson advised Commissioner Infantini emailed his constituent it was 19 percent, so she has added another percent. 

 

Commissioner Nelson stated rollback for county government is a single vote that generates the same amount of money for government operations next year as it received this year.  County Attorney Scott Knox replied in this environment, yes, because the County is not experiencing a lot of new construction.  Commissioner Nelson inquired if the Board does it the other way, it would reduce the millage and the County would still collect only the same amount of money they it collected this year.  He inquired how the Board can cut the Sheriff's MSTU by over $2 million by doing what she suggested, which is to do stay at the same numbers, and to have an audience filled with deputies and their families; and stated she wanted of list of things that are not controversial, and will not fill the Commissioner chambers with people.  Commissioner Infantini explained the way it is done is the same way the County is paying for the parks in the Merritt Island District and District 1, when there is not enough millage collected from a referendum projects, and all of the .8 mills is going to fund debt service, then it comes out of the General Fund; and the parks in the north area are being supplemented and Merritt Island.  Commissioner Nelson advised that cannot be done.

 

Commissioner Nelson inquired if it is legal to pay County General Fund, collected from everyone, including those folks in cities, to the Sheriff's MSTU.  Attorney Knox replied no, it cannot be done.  Commissioner Nelson advised it is a service provided it is a service provided only outside of city limits, it cannot be supplemented with County General Fund, because it is not fair to city residents.   Commissioner Infantini inquired why is the County supplementing the District 1 and Merritt Island referendum projects.  Commissioner Nelson advised parks has always been a General Fund operation.  Commissioner Infantini stated she just does not understand the difference.  Commissioner Nelson stated the referendums were for the purposes of supplementing what the County Commissioner did not do on a countywide basis; two of his communities did not even have referendums, Cocoa Beach, Cape Canaveral, and Cocoa/Rockledge did not do referendums; they have always been General Fund supported; and he probably knows a little bit more about this than Commissioner Infantini does because he was there and he understands how the funding occurred.  Commissioner Infantini stated the Board promised the taxpayers in the referendum that the taxes would not increase and there was sufficient millage to be collected from those referendum projects to fund all of it, and there is not.  Commissioner Nelson stated that is not true. 

 

Chairman Fisher inquired from the Property Appraiser's standpoint, what percentage of people will be affected by a rollback this year, and have they seen those numbers.  Assistant County Manager Stockton Whitten explained what the Board saw on the database for all taxed property are 75 percent of the residential properties have a taxable value decrease; 88 percent of the commercial properties have a taxable value decrease; to know specifically what happens to one versus what happens to another, the entire database would need to be ran; but generally, when looking a people's taxable value, that is what they get from the Property Appraiser.  He added, it is a product of where a person is in relation where the roll back rate will be, the  percentage decrease and taxable value to the percentage decrease or increase in the roll back rate.  Chairman Fisher stated so the 25 percent that may not see that is because of the time a person has been in their home, their assessed value is similar to the market value.  Mr. Whitten advised the property tax system in Florida is a system that is very complicated; as Save Our Homes was passed, it gave advantages to folks who were in their homes and had been in their homes; and very simply, if there is a differential between the market and assessed value, there is a rule that is called the recapture rate.  He added, if a person has been in their home for a period of time, there will be a differential and there is going to be an automatic increase multiplier to the assessed rate; this year it is 1.5 percent; Florida Law says until a person's market and assessed values are equal, they can apply whatever the annual recapture rate is; that is what is going to happen to a lot of folks; and it is not specific to Brevard County, it is the Florida Property Tax System.     

 

Commissioner Anderson inquired if Mr. Whitten would go over the commercial property figures again.  Mr. Whitten advised 88 percent of commercial property will have a taxable value decrease.  Commissioner Anderson inquired if it included all properties, even vacant and unimproved; with Mr. Whitten responding everything, there are 28,000 commercial parcels.  Commissioner Anderson inquired if Mr. Ford could get the Board something that shows the improved active businesses versus just vacant land that is zoned commercial.  Mr. Whitten replied he thinks there is a way to do that.  Commissioner Anderson stated he worried about small business owners in a roll back or roll forward; and he would like to see what percentage of those developed lands, whether it is a mom and pop store or a real estate office, what their burden would be with any changes the Board would make.

 

Commissioner Infantini advised basically 12 percent of the businesses and 25 percent of the residences that will be bearing this entire tax increase to make up the difference, because if the Board left the millage rate the way it was, there is about an $18 million shortfall, and if all of the 75 percent of the homeowners will not be paying more and 88 percent of the businesses will not be paying more, than 12 percent of the businesses and 25 percent of the homeowners will be making up that $18 million shortfall.  Mr. Whitten advised that is not what he is saying.  He stated the taxing system is an unequal system to begin with; he could have a neighbor to the left of him paying more and one to the right of him paying less; each year there are those who pay less and those who pay more; even with the 75 and 88 percent, there are different degrees of increases or decreases; and it cannot really be said that if a person is outside of that, that he or she is paying a disproportionate share than if a person is on the inside of that.  He added, it is geographic and tax-rate specific.  Commissioner Infantini stated she understands the Board feels that perhaps it is an unfair system, but the voters voted for this unfair system; and because this elected Board of five individuals have chosen to override the wisdom of the voters by raising tax rates on the individuals who do not pay their fair share anymore, as they benefit from Save Our Homes.  Mr. Whitten stated when looking back at the history of Save Our Homes, the voters voted for that; recapture is actually an administrative rule; the voters voted on Save Our Homes with maybe not a complete understanding of how the recapture provisions would later be applied; but that is a vote of the voters that happened in the early 90's or late 80's, so that is the system the County deals with.

 

County Manager Howard Tipton stated he thinks on the 2012 ballot there will be an item that extends those benefits to non-homesteaded properties and commercial properties as well.

 

Commissioner Anderson stated he requested a breakdown of what is general allocation from Alphonso; the breakdown is the First Responder Fee of 1976; there are certain cities that are proposing instituting fire fees; inquired if the cities are going to do fire fees, what the wisdom of this Board to provide another supplement on top of it; stated the County should look at discontinuing its supplement to the EMS fees to that city; and that city can recapture that through their fire fees.  Commissioner Nelson stated he thinks it is unfair to the cities; the County pays the cities for a service; it is up to the cities whether or not they need a fire fee; but the County is paying for a specific service.  Commissioner Anderson stated it is not to penalize the cities, it is a double whammy; he pays as a citizen to the Palm Bay General Fund, which without a fire fee it is like getting back to the General Fund to help that service; but if they are adding fire fees on top of that, as a resident he would be getting a double whammy.  He went on to say if a city is instituting a fire fee, then do not rely on the County as a whole to carry the EMS assessment.  Commissioner Nelson advised when the County instituted its fire assessment, it reduced 2 mills off of that.  Commissioner Anderson stated that is a whole other point, and he will discuss it with his City Council as a resident.

 

 

 

Upon consensus of the Board, the meeting adjourned at 11:22 a.m.

 

 

 

 

 

ATTEST:                                                            ____________________________________

                                                                           ROBIN L. FISHER, CHAIRMAN

                                                                           BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

_________________________                 BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

MITCH NEEDELMAN, CLERK

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