It’s budgeting time over at City Hall and the City has set up budget workshops to allow citizens to give input and ask questions to the team.

Here is a link to the City’s budget website

Budget workshop will be held in the following locations

• District 1 – July 23, 2018 @ 6:00 pm – Community Workshop – Fire Station #3 5050 Broadway
• District 2 – July 25, 2018 @ 6:00 pm – Community Workshop – Fire Station #5 500 N. Congress Ave
• District 3 – July 26, 2018 @ 6:00 pm – Community Workshop – City Hall Flagler Gallery
• District 3 – August 1, 2018 @ 6:00 pm – Community Workshop – UB Kinsey Community Center 720 8th St
• District 4 – July 31, 2018 @ 6:00 pm – Community Workshop – Fire Station #7 8011 Okeechobee Blvd
• District 5 – August 2, 2018 @ 6:00 pm Community Workshop – Fire Station #2 4301 S. Dixie Hwy – District 5

If you’re interested in last year’s budget here is the full 357-page document, and here are the highlights:

• The City’s certified taxable property values increased $879 million, or 7.98%, to reach $11,894,514,378
• New construction projects added to the tax roll amounted to $89.5 million.
• Maintained millage rate at 8.3465 mills levied on every $1,000 in taxable property value.
• Fire Department increased $4.4 million due to one new position, employee raises, increased pension costs, and costs for sixteen Firefighters no longer funded through grants, and overtime for events offset by revenue.
• Police Department increased $0.2 million due to employee raises, lease payments on police vehicles, and costs for ten Police Officers no longer funded by a grant. The increases were offset by a reduction of expenditures due to twenty fewer mandatory retirement payouts.
• Mayor’s Office increased $1.4 million due to two new positions, employee raises, a student intern program, strategic initiatives, and economic development to support job creation and emphasize business expansion and retention.
  Parks and Recreation increased $1.1 million due to four new positions, employee raises, Youth Empowerment Center programs, capital funding for a new bus, two dump trucks, five new vehicles and a boat dock downtown for use by Police and Fire departments.
• Public Works increased $0.8 million due to additional Heavy Equipment leases, offset by $0.4 million additional revenue from garbage, recycling and hauling fees.
• General Government decreased $(2.9) million due to a reduction of $(4) million in transfers for capital projects, reduction of $(2) million for contingency funding, $(1.6) million reduction for Fire Chapter 175 pension contribution, and increases of $1.1 million for a one-time contribution to the City’s self insurance fund for estimated costs of claims. An increase of $3.5 million for Police Pension Bond 2016A Principal and Interest, $0.5 million increase for Capital Bond payments were also included.
• The City utilized a $2.5 million carryover from FY 2017 to balance FY 2018.
• A net of thirty-six new Full-Time Equivalent (FTE’s) positions were added to the General Fund bringing the total General Fund employees to 1,100.