[0:04] Good evening. We're going to call to order this special city council meeting. This is our final public budget hearing at this time.

[0:13] If you're able, please rise for the invocation and Pledge of Allegiance led by the vice mayor.

[0:21] Dear Heavenly Father, we come to you right now with hearts that are mourning the loss of patriots and local heroes and local children in our community.

[0:32] Lord just please be close to us you say in Psalms you stay close to the broken

[0:37] hearted Lord just please be with us right now and specifically be for this

[0:40] meeting Lord just please help us honor you and everything we do please help us

[0:45] to come together cordially and come with the best decision that honors you

[0:49] and looks out for the city in its best interest or please be with those

[0:53] overseas keeping us safe please be with our first responders Lord and just be

[0:58] with everyone who works to keep this whole ship a sail and just thank you for

[1:02] the volunteers you put in our lives in this community to help keep things afloat

[1:06] Lord and have your grace and your son Jesus die on the cross for our sins or

[1:10] we're so grateful for that thank you for that eternal hope and that and comfort

[1:15] in that and Jesus name I pray amen

[1:31] with liberty and justice for all.

[1:40] At this time, we'll move into item C,

[1:43] Approval and Modifications of the agenda.

[1:45] Do I have a motion?

[1:47] Move to approve the agenda.

[1:48] I have a motion.

[1:49] Do I have a second?

[1:50] Second.

[1:50] I have a motion and a second.

[1:52] Any further discussion?

[1:53] Hearing none, all in favor say aye.

[1:55] Aye.

[1:56] Any opposed?

[1:57] Hearing none, the agenda is approved five to zero.

[2:00] At this time, we'll move into item D,

[2:02] which is the public hearing of the fiscal year 2026 budget,

[2:06] The first item being the presentation of the budget for fiscal year 2026 starting October 1, the public announcement

[2:13] Advalorum tax rate term notice Madam clerk

[2:16] The proposed Advalorum rate for the fiscal year

[2:19] 2026 was advertised to be a maximum of 6.500 mils

[2:24] This millage rate would be a 13.23 increase over the current year's rollback rate of 5.7407 mils

[2:31] After reviewing revenue projections and proposed expenditure levels for the 2026 fiscal year,

[2:37] the general fund budget is balanced at a tentative rate of 6.500 mils, which is 13.23 percent

[2:45] more than the current year's rollback rate.

[2:47] This millage rate would be a 13.23 percent increase over the current year's rollback

[2:53] rate of 5.7407.

[2:55] and this means a 6.500 mills is being levied

[2:59] to fund the fiscal year 2026 budget.

[3:02] Because the 2026 fiscal year budget has been balanced

[3:05] utilizing the Advalorim tax millage of 6.500,

[3:09] there is an increase in Advalorim tax revenue of 13.23%.

[3:18] Thank you, Madam Clerk.

[3:20] We will now move into item two,

[3:22] consideration of the fiscal year 2026 budget

[3:26] to review the budget in points of discussion.

[3:29] Madam City Manager.

[3:31] Thank you, Mayor.

[3:32] The City Manager's Budget Memo of September 3rd remains the same.

[3:36] The budget before you is balanced,

[3:38] utilizing a tentative millage of 6.5.

[3:41] This 6.5 millage allows for an estimated reserves of 2.6 million

[3:45] and roughly 480,000 allocated to a CIP

[3:50] while a 6.2 millage would allow for

[3:53] estimated $2.4 million in reserves and roughly $290,000 towards CIP. To achieve this, we

[4:01] implemented $1.5 million in budget cuts across all departments, increased the tentative

[4:07] millage from $5.9 to $6.5, approved fire assessment estimated at $2.2 million, reduced the Sheriff's

[4:15] Office contract for fiscal year 2526 by an estimated $299,000 as well as other operational

[4:23] cost control measures. In addition, our finance director is here with us tonight if she has

[4:29] any additional input.

[4:35] Any discussions or questions from council regarding

[4:42] the fiscal year 26 budget? I have a question made. Well, it's not really

[4:48] a question. Okay, so this budget was based on 6.5 and last meeting we all unanimously

[4:55] obviously agreed to a tentative 6.5, so this evening we're going to cast the vote on whether

[5:02] or not we want to keep it 6.5. So do we have a budget based on a 6.2 in

[5:12] the event that,

[5:13] you know, because I did make a motion, but then I amended it for the tentative 6.5?

[5:20] are you I mean I think I come out autumn answer that before I give I guess I mean

[5:29] my quick answer would be yes it would just be the difference in what right the

[5:33] IP dollars right would be correct is right it's my understanding so so the

[5:39] balances just want to confirm the budget is balanced even at 6.2 it's just the

[5:44] CIP is going to be less, correct?

[5:47] Correct, and the reserves, yes, will be less.

[5:52] But we also have a big decision to make this evening as well.

[5:56] Correct.

[5:58] What, when it comes to the budget,

[6:01] I would actually like to make one change.

[6:07] I would like to cut some more funding for some things.

[6:11] So I'm going to make it quick.

[6:15] In every wine item of the budget, there, and before I say this, this is, well, I'll just,

[6:24] I'll just say what I have to say and then if anyone has questions, we can, we can get to that.

[6:30] So in every subject category of our budget, there are wines for travel and per diem,

[6:36] books, publications, and training and education.

[6:47] I believe training and education of our staff

[6:50] is important. I believe that we need certain books, publications, materials to run the

[6:57] city. It is necessary for staff to travel and have per diems. However, when I examine

[7:04] in the budget compared to where we were in the past three years, a lot of those line

[7:11] items have increased in our budget, but the actual expenditures, when I'm looking at what

[7:18] staff is actually spending year after year, never even touches close to what we are budgeting

[7:27] for.

[7:27] Therefore, I say that in terms of I don't think we need to budget what we're budgeting

[7:34] for, if you add up all three of those items over the course of our budget, it's $128,000,

[7:42] $128,000 and $438,000, so it's roughly $130,000.

[7:50] So I would like to get a better handle on what departments need, what we need to send

[7:57] staff to, what we don't need to send staff to.

[7:59] And so I would like to move that Travel Per Diem books, publications, and training in education

[8:08] actually all get moved under the tab in our budget that is general government.

[8:16] At the very beginning of our budget, I believe it's tab nine.

[8:20] In this book you have, there's a general government tab.

[8:24] Under that tab, we could list these three items.

[8:27] And some of them are actually already listed there anyways.

[8:32] And we could set an exact amount for each of these three.

[8:36] And then let the city manager work with our department heads over this next fiscal year.

[8:41] There would be an approval process with the city manager for staff needing to access

[8:46] these funds for certain things in these line items.

[8:50] And I think that would give us a better overall picture moving forward of what we

[8:55] need to be spending money on in these things. I know this might seem trivial or not important,

[9:03] but I would argue that every dollar in municipality spends is important because it's a taxpayer

[9:10] dollar, and I just feel that this is a way that I don't really believe we're taking

[9:16] anything away from our staff. I believe we're just accurately shrinking these budgets

[9:23] it's to kind of what we're already spending anyway.

[9:26] So my proposal would be that if you look at travel per DM

[9:34] right now, I would recommend we kind of cut all these

[9:37] in half and see where we're at.

[9:39] We are gonna have a CIP, we're gonna have excess funds.

[9:43] Should there be something we get halfway through the year

[9:45] and we need to allocate funding,

[9:48] we likely will also have that flexibility.

[9:52] So, like I said, I mean, to a degree, I do want to keep this short.

[9:55] I would recommend that we set travel per geom.

[9:58] If you add up all those costs right now, it's roughly $21,000.

[10:02] I'd recommend we set it at 10, training and education.

[10:06] And there's some important things in there right now.

[10:09] Obviously, we have a big discussion tonight that affects two of these,

[10:12] but we do have reimbursement in there for paramedic training

[10:16] and certain fire training.

[10:17] but we also have some dollars in there for CDL drivers which is essential to our public

[10:24] works department and making sure that we can run as a city and folks can use our equipment

[10:30] properly. So right now that training and education across the city is roughly $91,000.

[10:38] I would recommend we put it at $55,000. And then the last one is the books and

[10:46] publications, et cetera, right now. That's roughly at 15,000. I'd recommend we set that

[10:54] at 7,000. So if someone else can do some quick – I mean, it saves roughly about $50,000

[11:07] or so. And I think more importantly, continues to establish our budget in future years

[11:15] and make accountable what we're truly spending dollars on.

[11:20] So I've talked a lot.

[11:23] I know that was maybe a little bit hard to follow.

[11:28] Welcome your comments, feedback.

[11:29] If that's not something you all want to do at this time, that's fine as well.

[11:34] I'm not going to make a big fuss about it.

[11:35] It was just a way where I saw we could save some.

[11:41] Mayor.

[11:42] I'm going to concur with you.

[11:44] Okay.

[11:44] And thank you for doing that because it came to my attention, you know, about travel.

[11:50] And so I thought, you know what, we need to address that.

[11:52] So, yeah, I concur with you.

[11:55] Yeah, we have so much access to stuff at our fingertips nowadays with technology.

[12:00] These are definitely outdated systems.

[12:02] Like, yes, they're great for networking.

[12:03] If you're going to go take a job somewhere else or something like that.

[12:06] But there's plenty of information.

[12:09] And we can get people here to come speak to the, without sending them on the road.

[12:12] and just going around the country on the taxpayer's dollars.

[12:17] I agree.

[12:22] Great.

[12:30] Any further discussion or we will open it to public input?

[12:36] Are we ready for public input on the budget?

[12:40] Okay, great.

[12:40] Item three on this agenda is public input.

[12:43] The public's opportunity to speak or ask questions

[12:45] regarding the fiscal year 2026 Mollage Rate

[12:48] and our proposed budget.

[12:50] At this time, we'll open it up to public input.

[12:53] Anyone wishing to speak?

[12:55] We'll just start right here on my right-hand side.

[12:56] Yes, sir.

[13:12] Hello.

[13:13] My name is Chris Kingsley.

[13:15] Our state is operating at a surplus,

[13:17] and yet you as leaders of a town of about 10,000

[13:20] want to bleed your constituents.

[13:22] Constituents who already are the most highly taxed people

[13:25] in Hernando County.

[13:27] If you live in the city, you pay the tax.

[13:31] The most highly taxed.

[13:34] Growth is supposed to pay for itself,

[13:35] and I believe most of us believe there is growing,

[13:38] even if it's just by default, it's growing.

[13:41] Yet the majority of you council people want to have current residents pay for the growth.

[13:46] That makes no sense.

[13:47] We have done our part.

[13:48] We've paid our taxes, supported efforts that have apparently failed by the council

[13:52] to provide some sort of fiscal responsibility as flight.

[13:56] 13% increase.

[13:57] I mean, I don't ever remember getting a pay raise of 13% in my lifetime,

[14:01] whether when I was a union guy or not.

[14:04] And you want to try to spend your way out of the business.

[14:06] It's like the old saying, you're spending good money

[14:08] to chase bad money, bad spending, bad decisions.

[14:12] This growth that you seem to anticipate

[14:13] and want to taxes for should pay for itself.

[14:16] What about low income residents

[14:18] for these taxes you're proposing?

[14:20] They're gonna be hit the hardest

[14:21] and possibly with the worst consequences.

[14:23] You'll be making them decide between food,

[14:26] medicine, taxes.

[14:28] One of you is quoted as saying,

[14:29] I just believe that we need to keep the rate

[14:32] at 6.5 mils.

[14:33] Well, I believe it should be four or less.

[14:35] but that's not going to happen. I believe as a young blood song suggests everybody get

[14:40] together and try to love one another right now, I don't think that's going to happen

[14:43] either. A belief or a feeling in my heart is not the criteria you should be using to

[14:49] decide how much tax you want to charge us. TAP is about 6.2, Clearwater is about 5.9,

[14:55] and St. Pete is about 6.4, all less than 6.5, more to

[15:00] You offer less growth and anticipated. Pinellas is built out. They offer everything a municipality

[15:04] should offer, yet realize that you all, that property tax rates should decline, not be raised,

[15:12] when housing and taxable values are soaring like ours are. Also, you should consider consolidating

[15:18] the fire department with the county fire department and save not just hundreds of thousands but

[15:22] millions. I know this is premature. You have taken two million out of the general

[15:26] budget. And as far as I know, I'm not sure. That used to be used for the Fire Department

[15:31] and transferred that particular cost to a fee. Did you reduce the general fund by 2 million?

[15:37] Not that I'm aware of. You just found a new way to spend it, plus raise our taxes.

[15:42] So that means our actual millage rate is actually higher than what you're trying

[15:46] to tell us. Again, this tax hits the elderly and low-income people the worst. ALS calls

[15:52] back to the fire department or the predominant calls for service by fire departments. The

[15:56] county already provides that. It would provide personnel who if they were consolidated with

[16:02] greater opportunities for advancement and responsibility wise as well as financially.

[16:07] If I were a Brooksville firefighter I'd be sort of upset too that I have the same certifications,

[16:12] do the same work, get paid less and have less opportunity. I believe the attrition

[16:16] about 13 more seconds. I said that once before. We already pay for the county so

[16:21] but why pay twice? Why pay more for less service? Personally, I want full service. It makes

[16:28] no sense.

[16:28] If you can't think of a better way of paying the bills and providing better service than

[16:32] you currently are, i.e., you're raising the taxes by 13%, do something that's considered

[16:40] by the Florida statute and consider the rollback rate. It's required that you consider.

[16:44] It was mentioned early on, and I'm assuming, and I know what happens when you assume

[16:48] crap is that that was your first step is throwing looking at the rollback right and saying well

[16:56] this doesn't pay for the bills but I never heard that anybody did that before the effort

[17:02] to bring it up to 6.5. Thank you for your time.

[17:07] Anyone else on this side wishing to speak?

[17:11] Seeing none, we'll move to this side.

[17:13] Anyone wishing to speak on the left hand side of the room? Yes, sir.

[17:19] Good

[17:27] evening, Bob Morgan. I am an unincorporated Hernando County, full disclosure, not a Brooksville resident.

[17:35] But it seems like I spend most of my weeks in town at different events or different businesses.

[17:43] I have a couple of comments just to throw out. One was during the last budget meeting,

[17:49] or maybe it was a prior one, there was discussion about sanitation department

[17:53] and potentially looking at a Hernando County option

[17:58] versus driving all the way out to Sumter County.

[18:02] And I was just curious how that discussion,

[18:05] if there was any final decision on that,

[18:07] because I think that was saving potentially $50,000

[18:10] if I remember right.

[18:13] Also, I would be supportive of defunding

[18:18] Brooksville Main Street.

[18:20] That's a mature organization that has survived off of county dollars.

[18:27] And I will have the same recommendation to the county.

[18:30] And it's also survived off city dollars.

[18:33] And as a mature organization, they should be able to work with local companies,

[18:39] local supporters to self-fund themselves in that respect.

[18:45] And I am a supporter of consolidation of the Bureau of Fire Department.

[18:49] and financially it makes good sense from a opportunistic perspective I think the

[18:56] firefighters while today it may look a little doom and gloom for them I think

[19:01] they will have enhanced opportunities career opportunities enhanced training

[19:06] specialties that they can take advantage of at that time when with the

[19:10] county they all are been guaranteed jobs if I understand the chief

[19:14] correctly from the county so hopefully if that is the direction that they all

[19:20] land on their feet. Thank you. Thank you. Yes ma'am.

[19:33] My name is Lee Johnson. I'm a

[19:35] city resident. I own three properties in Brooksville and a business in

[19:38] Brooksville, city of Brooksville. In regards to the millage rate you know I

[19:44] did a little research over the decades what our millage rate had been and you

[19:49] you know, back in 1979, our millage rate was over nine.

[19:54] Then it was in the 80s, in the eights.

[19:58] Politically, we did some rollbacks

[19:59] when we got to like 2017, 2018 to like 5.9.

[20:05] And we've been struggling since.

[20:08] Now we look at other cities like Inverness and Dade City

[20:12] and we say, wow, they've got so many things going on.

[20:15] Well, their millage rates are seven, eight and nine.

[20:19] And we're fighting, you know, we've been at 5.9 for years now, which is absurdly low.

[20:26] And I'm not talking about something that doesn't impact me personally.

[20:29] It personally impacts me.

[20:31] But I also care about the city and the city doing well, and us being able to take care

[20:36] of things like potholes.

[20:39] In regard to that gentleman's comment about the fire department, you know, I live through

[20:44] the defunding and consolidation of the police department with the sheriff's department.

[20:49] And I'm not going to fault the sheriffs themselves because they're good fellows, but that has

[20:54] been an abysmal failure in my eyes.

[20:59] Our police department needed some work, and what we should have done was focused on doing

[21:04] the work that it needed and bringing it in line so that we could control our police

[21:08] department.

[21:09] And back then, we had six to eight police officers patrolling at all times.

[21:14] Now I think we have two sheriffs, and they try and tell us to feel good about the fact

[21:19] that sheriffs come in and out as they're going other places.

[21:23] Yeah, they come in and they go out.

[21:25] They don't stop.

[21:27] They come in and they go out.

[21:29] And I'm not interested in doing the same thing with the fire department.

[21:32] I think we need to learn how to fix our problems, stop, you know, pandering to

[21:38] the public with these absurdly low millage rates to get elected and then turn around

[21:44] and then blame everybody else for the things that are going wrong in the city that we can't

[21:49] fix.

[21:50] If we would just be realistic about what was going on, balance the budget.

[21:54] The budget is balanced at 6.5.

[21:56] I'm all for it.

[21:58] Let's move ahead.

[21:59] We probably needed to be 7.5, but 6.5 is certainly a good start.

[22:03] Let's fix our Brooksville Fire Department.

[22:05] And as for that other gentleman who is in a city residence comment about Brooksville Main Street,

[22:11] what I will say about Brooksville Main Street as a volunteer board member who spends many, many, many hours every month volunteering for Brooksville Main Street,

[22:22] the whole nature of Brooksville Main Street is not that it be independent.

[22:27] It is a private, public partnership.

[22:30] It is the city and the nonprofit working together.

[22:36] That is how it's structured.

[22:38] It isn't a scenario of, oh, it's grown up now and it shouldn't need anything.

[22:44] The whole idea of the program, the Main Street program nationally,

[22:48] is that it is a public-private partnership and it benefits the citizens.

[22:53] You know, maybe we should start talking about what goes away if Brooksville Main Street goes away.

[22:58] Maybe everybody should think about that for a second because I don't think they

[23:01] realize what exactly Brooksville Main Street does. Thank you.

[23:07] Yes ma'am.

[23:11] Donna

[23:11] Moran, city resident. About Brooksville Main Street, if I could get some

[23:17] clarification maybe from Lee if we can get an honest answer and all about this.

[23:21] Volunteers, I remember the past director stating that the Brooksville

[23:27] Main Street gets funding of $25 an hour for every one of the volunteers when they have

[23:35] a function. I remember her clearly saying that. And they get their money from, they

[23:40] turn it in, their volunteer list every month, and then they get reimbursed from Tallahassee.

[23:46] There was a lady that came here from Tallahassee, and she also said that they get $25 an hour

[23:52] toward Brooksville Main Street, so maybe I can get some clarification, you know,

[23:56] because that is, you know, money coming in as well for them and how do they spend it.

[24:01] I'm just curious, it may not be happening anymore, but I just want some clarification,

[24:05] that's all, because I, she came here, the lady from Tallahassee, and gave a

[24:09] wonderful presentation for Main Street programs. It was fantastic, and maybe

[24:14] they don't anymore, but if they do, I think people need to know. Thank you.

[24:20] anyone else wishing to speak yes sir

[24:34] Richard Ross I am a resident of Brooksville

[24:38] two quick things one is people keep bringing up the police department that was

[24:45] disbanded emerged into the county I would suspect if you go back look at what the

[24:52] police department was costing I think it's 2018 when it was disband what it

[24:58] cost the city to have that police department and then just stretch those numbers into today's

[25:05] numbers our budget would probably be at a millage rate of around nine and a half to

[25:11] ten to pay for that and the fire department has just flat said that they need two more

[25:19] fire stations, more engines, more personnel to man those fire stations.

[25:25] So their $2 million budget ain't going to stay $2 million.

[25:33] It's going to grow and grow and grow.

[25:35] And right now the county has two new fire stations on their CIP,

[25:43] and they're $12 million each by the time you equip them and put people in them.

[25:50] So, you know, got to spend $31,000 right now to fix a truck that was allowed to fall into

[25:58] the ground, evidently.

[26:00] While we spend $31,000 in a chunk when there's a gazillion things wrong with it, why weren't

[26:07] things fixed when they went wrong to begin with?

[26:09] When there would have been $50 or $100 or $200 and now we got to send it to a fire

[26:14] truck specialist's place because not only is there mechanical problems, there's problems

[26:19] with the fire equipment. That makes sense. So, that's it. I'm not going to run close

[26:26] to the two minutes, but those are my comments. Thank you.

[26:30] Thank you. Anyone else wishing to speak? Either side of the room?

[26:36] Okay.

[26:42] Dr. Coney, Executive Director for Brooksville Main Street. I guess I'm going to respond

[26:47] back if that's okay, about the $25. In the past, I can't answer for what I have.

[26:53] I do know that going through the books and the financials since I've been on board as executive director

[26:57] We were never given $25 an hour per volunteer volunteers are volunteers. They are unpaid

[27:05] As you all know several of you participated in beautify Brooksville on this path or a lot weekend before and our volunteers

[27:12] They had over 60 volunteers. They were unpaid now. There are corporate programs

[27:19] coals, Walmart, that they entice their volunteers, their staff to volunteer and they do donate

[27:27] as the corporation, as Walmart Corporation on behalf of each hour of each volunteer.

[27:33] Now if there was a state program giving each employee or each volunteer $25 an hour, we

[27:40] did not receive that.

[27:41] And I can tell you by going through the books from the last five years since Brooksville

[27:45] Main Street became an independent entity of the Brookville Vision Foundation, that is

[27:50] not true.

[27:51] And again, I just will reiterate that we are a public-private partnership and that is

[27:58] part of our Main Street accreditation and our Florida Main Street accreditation.

[28:03] So I do thank you.

[28:07] Anyone else wishing to speak?

[28:12] Okay.

[28:12] Seeing none, we will now move into item four, which is the consideration of Resolution 2523.

[28:22] Madam Clerk.

[28:25] Resolution 2523, a resolution of the City Council and the City of Brooksville, Florida, setting a

[28:30] millage rate for the budget for the fiscal year 26 taxing year pursuant to section 200.065,

[28:37] Florida statutes and providing an effective date.

[28:42] Mayor, may I ask a question for clarification?

[28:46] Sure.

[28:46] We were speaking about the travel impredient and the three line items.

[28:52] You weren't including enterprise funds, were you?

[28:56] I do not believe so, no.

[28:59] But if you have different numbers than I do, no.

[29:02] I was only looking at the general fund.

[29:05] Yes, ma'am.

[29:05] Just wanted to clarify.

[29:06] Yeah.

[29:07] And those would only relate to the general fund.

[29:11] Enterprise obviously is separate.

[29:13] It is separate, but I wanted to make sure when you added up your numbers you didn't add up all departments

[29:17] You only added up general. I only added a general fund. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Yes. Thank you for that clarification as well

[29:25] Okay counsel it is time for us to set our

[29:31] Militrate

[29:34] Can I

[29:36] Can't read something first. Is that possible? Yeah, the four is

[29:41] Thank you.

[29:45] I put a lot of thought and energy into the numbers that we came up with for this

[29:52] millage rate. And honestly, after hearing Mr. Kingsley speak,

[30:00] You're right, 13.23%. But you've got to remember this. The city for the last four years has been

[30:09] underpaying. They have been taking out of their reserves. That number should have been higher.

[30:14] It never got bumped back up after I think it was the 2018-2019 year. So, therefore,

[30:21] the city's been running at not a deficit, but it's been pulling out of reserves to balance

[30:27] that budget. So what seems like an enormous jump is not. It's previous councils were not

[30:36] doing, I believe, their due diligence in balancing the budget year to year. If I came up with

[30:44] a number, I would wait till the next year and go, okay, well, that didn't work out

[30:50] real well for us. We had to take out of reserves. Let's bump it back up a little

[30:55] a little bit.

[30:56] Doesn't have to go all the way back, and let's see where that number rides out at.

[30:59] But it didn't happen, and it continued on to the point where we are at right now.

[31:05] And you're right, I don't know who it was, it was Lee.

[31:10] Other cities have been running at seven and a half or higher, and it was commented

[31:15] just last meeting that the reason they are is they have, they have done it properly

[31:22] over the years at a slow process.

[31:24] We have, and it sounds like I'm just a layman, my first term on this board, but I've dealt

[31:31] with numbers all my life.

[31:33] And I can tell you this, you're not going to, our reserve fund is at $2.5 million, which

[31:41] sounds like an enormous amount of money.

[31:44] It's not for a city.

[31:46] The city of Inverness has $30 million in their reserve fund.

[31:53] They didn't get it overnight, but they surely have been working on it year after year.

[31:59] And that is why their situation is a lot different than ours.

[32:04] And responding to the, again, the 13.23, if they had been charging the correct amount

[32:15] of money for the fire assessment fees for the last four years, which they hadn't been.

[32:21] They were at almost 50% of what they should have been charging.

[32:27] Take that money over four years and we wouldn't even be talking about our fire department

[32:34] right now.

[32:35] But that's in the past and there's nothing I can do to change it.

[32:40] But moving forward, I sat down today and I wrote this and I apologize.

[32:46] as I usually like to speak eye to eye, but I didn't want to leave anything out, so please

[32:52] forgive me for that. The City Council is committed to ensuring the long-term financial stability

[32:58] and sustainability of our community. After careful review of the city's financial position,

[33:04] we're proposing an adjustment to the millage rate from 5.9 to 6.5. This increase is necessary

[33:11] for two critical reasons. One, rebuilding our reserves. In recent years, the city has had to draw

[33:17] from its reserves multiple times in order to balance the budget. This was due in part to

[33:24] decisions by past councils that did not adequately prepare for long-term financial challenges,

[33:31] as well as a false sense of security created by the temporary COVID-19 relief funds.

[33:37] funds. And personally, I think that's where most of all of this started. While those funds

[33:43] provided short-term relief, they did not address the city's underlying financial needs to protect

[33:48] against future economic downturns or unexpected costs. It is essential that we restore our

[33:55] reserves to a healthy and responsible level. And number two, something this city does

[34:01] not have at this time, and when I got on this board I was appalled, we do not have a capital

[34:08] improvement fund. I have never in my life seen a city that did not have that. We have zero

[34:15] in the bank for capital improvement funds. You cannot operate like that.

[34:21] It's because we had $800,000 a year from ARPA funds. That goes to my point.

[34:27] We did what we had to do at the time, we can correct it now, but don't act like we were

[34:33] just being frivolous.

[34:35] First off, Thomas, I'm speaking, okay?

[34:38] And second of all, I address that, that I do believe it was short-term relief funds

[34:44] right there, okay?

[34:47] Now if I can finish, our city's infrastructure, roads, facilities, utilities, our essential

[34:53] services requiring ongoing investment. Without a structured and adequately funded

[34:59] capital improvement plan, the city risks falling behind on critical projects that

[35:05] affect the quality of life, public safety and economic growth. By modestly increasing

[35:10] the millage rate, we can establish a dedicated and sustainable path forward to invest in

[35:16] these necessary improvements. We recognize that any increase in taxes must be carefully

[35:21] considered and this decision has not been taken lightly. However, if Brooksville is to

[35:27] learn from its past and properly plan for the future, we must take steps today to protect

[35:33] our financial health and avoid future depletion of our reserves and ensure that the city

[35:39] is positioned to meet the needs of both the current and future residents.

[35:44] And let me just finish with this. It's easy to give you guys the popular and possibly

[35:51] lead the politically correct answer that you want to hear, that I want to lower taxes.

[35:57] And I'd love to stand up here and tell you, Chris, that we want to lower it to 4 percent.

[36:01] But it can't happen.

[36:04] You've got to run a city as a business, and this is the way it has to be.

[36:09] We have to make hard choices, and that hard choice is doing the right thing for this

[36:14] city, and nothing less than I believe 6.5 is going to reach that goal.

[36:20] Not to say that it has to stay there forever, but it has to be a starting point to be reevaluated year-to-year. Thank you.

[36:34] Any further?

[36:35] Oh, I'm going to. I got something to say as well, but I didn't prepare a speech.

[36:39] First of all, I want to address everyone that spoke. Thank you, Chris, for coming up to the podium speaking. I agree with you.

[36:48] Lee? No, I don't support the fire department. And as far as the police

[36:51] department, we had to do what we had to do back then, because Richard is correct.

[36:57] If the police department still existed, we'd be looking at a five, six million

[37:00] dollar fire, or police department, which we can't afford. Now we're looking

[37:04] at a three million dollar fire department. We cannot afford. So we're

[37:08] looking at the same thing we were looking at in 2018. So the city

[37:12] saved money. And as far as the past counsel, I was part of that past counsel. I was proud

[37:20] of what I accomplished on that counsel. We had tough decisions to make. But let me remind

[37:25] you, when it came to fire fees, the same gentleman that comes before us and gave us

[37:29] the presentation of the fire fees was the same gentleman that was coming in the past

[37:35] making recommendations. And what does the counsel usually do? We listen to staff,

[37:40] We listen to recommendations and what do we do? We do what the staff recommends and that's what this council

[37:47] I'm speaking. Let me please finish. I didn't

[37:50] Okay, so

[37:53] As far as mr. Morgan, I wholeheartedly agree with what he said, you know what?

[37:58] We have been funding Brooksville Main Street since 2016 and they have received a lot of money over the years

[38:04] They get grants they get sponsors

[38:06] They get volunteers and all the events they put on the city put on and we've did great events way back then and we can go back to that

[38:14] But I feel like you know what more cuts need to be made

[38:19] More I mean we need to revisit the organizational chart and we are top management heavy than we ever been

[38:27] If you look at 2022 and compare it to the current budget a lot of spending going on

[38:33] So, there needs to be more cuts, I don't think we did enough cuts.

[38:38] I also agree, like I said with Mr. Morgan, we need to defund Brooksville Main Street,

[38:42] which we had no discussion over.

[38:46] And I do believe tough times, 6.2, is fair.

[38:54] We can look at all the other cities and what they're doing, that's great.

[38:58] But this is Brooksville.

[38:58] We need to focus on what's for our residents that are struggling.

[39:03] And if you think it's bad now, the governor is looking at eliminating property taxes.

[39:08] How do you think we're going to manage without property taxes?

[39:12] So there are a lot of things that the state's working on that's going to affect our city

[39:18] as well.

[39:19] So I'm looking at today, the present moment, 6.2 is realistic, especially when we have

[39:25] to make a big decision this evening.

[39:27] I just feel like we need more cuts, and I don't feel there has been enough cuts.

[39:32] So that's just where I support 6.2.

[39:37] So if I may add my input into this, I think I made it pretty apparent in the last meeting

[39:42] after looking at the numbers of surrounding cities.

[39:47] That is what people, again, compare us to.

[39:50] They compare Brooksville to the surrounding cities.

[39:53] And I'll first start off with what the gentleman said about 13% increase into that.

[40:02] If I was at my employer and for the last four years I got no increase to my pay for the

[40:08] last four years, I would be pretty upset.

[40:12] You know, there are things that, yes, you can put it in terms of if my employer were

[40:16] to raise that or if there was an issue about that 13%, all of a sudden, it's not all

[40:22] of a sudden we've been looking at this over the last four years. And again, we had the

[40:27] ARPA funds. We had the funds to be able to invest into capital improvement through those

[40:33] funds. But those funds are no longer here for us. We no longer have the ability to

[40:37] access funds like that. We have to set ourselves down the right direction for the future.

[40:44] And not just looking at today. Yes, today we are making a big decision. Yes, today

[40:48] day is a hard thing that we have to look at. But at the same time, we need to be looking

[40:53] at the future as to not setting up future councils for the same issue that we're running into

[40:59] right now. The same issue is going to happen in five years from now if we keep being behind

[41:05] the ball on making decisions, if we keep letting other people make decisions for us,

[41:10] if we keep letting other people come in and bail us out of previous decisions that were

[41:15] made because that's what's happening. We're now in dire straits and we're thinking about

[41:19] getting rid of one of the most crucial pieces to a municipality, which is your fire department.

[41:24] We're thinking about getting rid of that because we've already had to be in the situation

[41:28] where we've had to get rid of our police department. And yes, every year, yes, the budget might

[41:33] go up for the fire department, but so does the budget in general. Our budget in general

[41:38] goes up just because of cost of everything going up. It's not just an isolated incident.

[41:43] And at Brooksville is not an isolated situation.

[41:46] We are not an entity that is having these struggles.

[41:50] There are other municipalities, other cities,

[41:53] and I'm sure even other counties around the U.S.

[41:55] that are having these issues where, yes, there were good times,

[41:58] things were coming in, things were happening,

[42:00] but they weren't looking at what happens in the future.

[42:03] And that is what I think we really need to be doing.

[42:06] And I understand.

[42:07] And again, we sit up here,

[42:09] and as Council Member Halau mentioned,

[42:12] I'm in my first year.

[42:14] I'm, what, seven, eight months into sitting up on this council, and boy, what a hard decision

[42:20] that it's had to be for me, looking every day at what's going on and what's happening,

[42:25] seeing what people are posting about, and I think it's become absolutely crazy that

[42:29] there's been all of this infighting that it doesn't need to happen where if we

[42:35] can actually make a decision as a city instead of letting other people make decisions

[42:39] for us because that's what's happening right now. We look at this and we're like, oh, we're

[42:43] in such a dire strait with our fire department. We look at the fire department and we say,

[42:47] well, why don't we just cut the fire department to save us some cash? That's a crucial, crucial

[42:53] important piece of what the city represents is our fire department and having control

[42:58] over what happens with that. So at the end of the day, if we get rid of our fire

[43:02] department, we're getting rid of a very crucial part that our city functions with

[43:08] just because of dollars at the end of the day where we have now balanced our budget.

[43:13] We are now adding to it with either the 6.2 or the 6.5.

[43:17] But it's going to happen in next year's budget where we're going to say, okay, things

[43:21] have increased.

[43:22] Now, not just the ladder truck has gone out to where we have to buy it.

[43:25] We can't plan for what the future is going to look like if we're not making decisions.

[43:30] And sometimes there are aggressive decisions.

[43:32] And I hate to be the guy that sits up here and say, we need to make an aggressive

[43:35] of decision to raising it to 6.5%. But honestly, at the end of the day, we should have been

[43:41] raising it a point. Even just a point every single year to keep up with rising costs of

[43:48] not only crucial infrastructure like asphalt costs or repaving a road. I don't know the

[43:56] number off the top of my head, but I'm guessing if you looked at what it cost to repave

[43:59] a road in 2019 compared to 2025, it's a pretty significant increase in that cost.

[44:04] So if we're not moving with that cost, then we're just going to, at the end of the day,

[44:10] we're just going to end up bankrupting the city and then we're going to have to get rid

[44:13] of everything at the end of the day.

[44:15] So in my opinion, I think having it at the 6.5% is very crucial for the city's future

[44:21] health.

[44:23] I don't want to stifle conversation here, but I just want to clarify, and I don't,

[44:29] no one has made a motion at this point.

[44:32] I don't want to if you were about to say something by all means vice mayor. I will you know, I'll give you

[44:38] the opportunity but

[44:42] We have a whole nother meeting after this so I'll just I

[44:52] I get it and

[44:53] In the past we're we're operating with an extra eight hundred thousand dollars a year and should we have read?

[45:00] We're trying to raise the millage and say some of that. Maybe, maybe not, but we're trying

[45:03] to do right by the people. We're telling our citizens to figure it out with inflation, but

[45:08] we're not telling our city council to figure it out. That's what we were doing. We were

[45:12] figuring it out. Now that those funds are gone, I do agree we need to raise this millage

[45:16] up to get an extra $700,000 because last year, Richard, we could say we have $700,000

[45:23] in ARPA dollars. Use that for roads and infrastructure. And we don't have that anymore.

[45:28] So I think with either one of these millage rates, whatever we come up to, having that

[45:33] money for capital improvement will just get us to where we were with those ARPA dollars.

[45:39] And I'm not saying we need to, I'm not necessarily for $30 million in reserves, that's kind of

[45:45] a crime in my opinion, but I mean, I'm also having to take that for a rainy day.

[45:52] And we're a business, but we're not a business here to make a profit, we're a business

[45:56] is here to figure it out and sacrifice for the sake of the taxpayers.

[46:01] So that's kind of where my mind's at with things.

[46:04] If 6-5 is what the majority of the council is wanting, but we dang sure about figuring

[46:10] out a way to lower it in the future and a way to create revenue through the city,

[46:14] because we can't go up to 6-5 and expect the taxpayers to just be okay with that

[46:22] without us working hard, working extra hard

[46:25] to make sure that we can lower it in the future

[46:27] or at least keep the same,

[46:28] so we don't have to go up 0.1 every year.

[46:30] I mean, that's a cheap way out,

[46:32] just raising the millage rate every time we need more money.

[46:36] We gotta get creative.

[46:38] And we got some plans, once we get through this,

[46:40] we'll figure it out.

[46:44] Okay.

[46:46] Well, seems like everyone has said their piece,

[46:50] So, I might as well join the, the last meeting I, what's before us is the millage.

[47:01] At 5.9, at keeping the millage rate at 5.9, that puts our reserves at exactly where they

[47:07] need to be to meet the state standard.

[47:10] It gives us approximately only $15,000 to put towards anything else that is not

[47:17] already outlined in our budget.

[47:18] That's called a capital improvement plan.

[47:21] So at 6.5, we could put more money in our reserves.

[47:28] Right now, it's around where we would have 2.6 million versus almost a 2.2 at a 5.9.

[47:36] And it would roughly give us $480,000 in capital improvement plans to invest into

[47:43] things, believe it or not, that the city does need.

[47:46] because this budget, unfortunately, at what it is doesn't cover it.

[47:53] Sure, that's a sad statement. I think we could all agree things cost money.

[47:59] If the last budget workshop are first, we always have two of these.

[48:04] State mandated, that's how every municipality works.

[48:07] I tasked council with figuring out what they thought the city needed in our CIPs.

[48:15] What do you think we need to spend money on?

[48:20] What do we need?

[48:22] What are you hearing from Department Heads

[48:24] or the city manager who you're talking to?

[48:26] I took it upon myself to ask the city manager

[48:29] to call a meeting with every single department head

[48:32] here at the city.

[48:33] That meeting took place last week.

[48:35] I was here for two and a half hours meeting

[48:38] with the department heads and the city managers

[48:40] for them to tell me, folks,

[48:43] books. I don't have time to sit here every day. That's not the role of this government.

[48:47] Just, you know, we rely on our staff. That is how this city is chartered. That is, but

[48:53] so I rely on our department heads. I rely on our city manager. And we have some really

[48:59] good people in place for the first time in a long time. And I'm very proud of that.

[49:03] And that's a testament to this Council sitting up here. And I applaud this Council

[49:08] for that. But I had that meeting and that meeting ended up with a sheet, multiple sheets

[49:16] like this of every department. Some of these things you could say certainly are wants.

[49:23] Some of these are absolute needs in the future, absolute. Things like if we choose to keep

[49:30] the fire department, we absolutely have to invest there. Everyone knows that I am

[49:33] I'm not saying anything new.

[49:36] Things in DPW, we have to invest there.

[49:39] Cleaning of certain drain fields in our city

[49:43] and of those degrees.

[49:44] I mean, those things are things we need to identify.

[49:48] Making sure our parks are safe for kids,

[49:50] continuing to invest in our parks.

[49:52] If you look at this, I mean,

[49:53] we are looking at millions of dollars in the future

[49:57] that is not funded.

[49:58] Now every city, most cities have one of these.

[50:01] We haven't had one in a while.

[50:02] Apparently, we had one years ago, we're bringing it back.

[50:09] I don't really care about what happened back then.

[50:12] That's a real negative place to get into.

[50:16] I've sat on this council for two years,

[50:21] and I am not a perfect person.

[50:22] I am sure.

[50:24] I always ask God to bring me the wisdom

[50:26] and to bring me the courage to make the right decisions.

[50:28] But, look, sometimes that doesn't happen, you know, we're not perfect people.

[50:36] And so with that, we have to invest in our city.

[50:42] I don't think, from what I'm hearing, that's necessarily the argument that's taking place

[50:48] here.

[50:48] I think that everybody believes at a certain point we have to make an investment because

[50:54] nobody is saying that we need to keep the mill enjoyed at what it's at.

[50:57] but I think the question is, is where do we put it?

[51:02] And based on what I see here,

[51:05] I unfortunately think that the millage has to be 6.5.

[51:09] But...

[51:13] Mayor, I'm going to make a motion to levy the general fund

[51:17] ad valorem millage rate of 6.5%.

[51:20] I have a motion. Do I have a second?

[51:23] Second.

[51:24] I have a motion and a second. Any further discussion?

[51:29] Any public input?

[51:33] Any public input on this motion? Yes, sir.

[51:53] My name is Chris Kingsley, and I was listening to the discussions, and it started to surprise

[51:58] me at some of the things that were said. Brooksville is not some other city. It is

[52:04] Brooksville. People don't expect us to run a city like Inverness or Dade City or something

[52:10] like that. And everybody seems to be intent on saying, well, we figure it out how much

[52:16] money we can spend at 16.5, and dang it, we're going to spend it, or 6.5. I'm sorry, 16 would

[52:22] be, but so instead, I didn't hear anything about other than Krista, Mrs. Tanner, Mayor

[52:29] or whatever, was talking about the travel, which is kind of refreshing to hear, but

[52:35] But at the same time, it's like, well, and Mr. Halal talked about people in the past.

[52:43] So what I said earlier, you're throwing good money after bad instead of just throwing money

[52:49] at everything and saying, it's okay, our stuff goes up in value.

[52:54] So just because you want to raise our millage rate, as each year's go, the value of my

[53:03] house goes up and whatever the rate is goes up. I pay more every year without having my

[53:10] millage rate increased. That money comes here. It would be in my opinion responsible to figure

[53:17] out what that is and then spend it instead of saying, well, let's make it as high as

[53:22] we can to make it for bad things in the past if there were bad things in the past

[53:26] and figure out how to spend it. I don't think that's your job to figure out how

[53:30] How to spend is how not to spend and as Mr. Bronson said also you're not a bank, you're

[53:36] not here to see how much money you can put in your savings account, you're here to have

[53:40] and I think Mrs. Tanner said it correctly when she said what the state requires is what

[53:48] probably is the right amount to have in reserve.

[53:50] So I mean you had a good discussion but I think most people who are having to pay

[53:55] the taxes would disagree with it.

[53:59] any further public input on this motion okay

[54:07] we will bring it back to council

[54:12] real

[54:16] call customer hallow hi customer mckayton hi customer erhard nay

[54:21] vice mayor bronson no mayor tanner I oh

[54:29] it does not pass past it's it's 3 2

[54:41] you

[54:42] tell me what I rely on legal counsel for autumn

[54:52] do we need a supermajority or do

[54:54] we need a majority do we need four or three we just need a majority vote isn't

[55:01] three to two majority three two is a majority but you're saying we need a

[55:08] supermajority I'd have to go get my trim information to see I'm not I don't

[55:15] think it says supermajority but I can have to go get it to find out and

[55:27] you

[55:27] you want to go on to the next item and then circle back or?

[55:30] Yes, is that?

[55:31] Becky's OK with that.

[55:33] Can I ask what the question is?

[55:35] I'm not like, we didn't hear you down there.

[55:36] So she's, do we need a majority or a supermajority?

[55:40] A supermajority would be one, would be four or five.

[55:44] The majority is three, two,

[55:49] based on a five.

[55:57] And should it be the supermajority then?

[56:01] Then it would take six.

[56:03] I mean it would take, I'm sorry.

[56:05] it would take four out of the five correct but I'm saying okay so say we

[56:12] don't get the four out of the five then what's the next step here the next

[56:18] sales that would be another motion as a council we still would not have a set

[56:23] millage yeah the millage is set right now or it's not set is what you're

[56:28] saying yes we just need to figure out if we need we need to set it tonight

[56:33] right and I mean so good I I believe if it goes over the rollback but be under a

[56:43] hundred ten percent it's the rollback plus the percentage from the state and

[56:48] she would have that and that sets a level at which you need to have for and then

[56:55] if you're a hundred and ten percent over that which I know we're not then you

[57:01] need to have it be unanimous.

[57:06] OK.

[57:07] Look, we've got a lot to cover tonight.

[57:08] Well, hold on.

[57:09] We do.

[57:10] But we have to set this tonight legally.

[57:12] So I'm trying to help with that.

[57:13] So I'll change my opinion.

[57:15] If we are going to work hard to lower it next year,

[57:19] we need to get through this.

[57:20] Hold on.

[57:21] We are out of order here.

[57:22] Hold on.

[57:23] Vice Mayor, I appreciate you.

[57:24] I hear you.

[57:25] Thank you for that.

[57:26] One second.

[57:27] What?

[57:29] This says majority vote of governing body.

[57:30] majority vote of governing body so

[57:36] we're good so it is it is I know it's

[57:39] under the hundred and ten percent maximum

[57:46] military is equal to the majority

[57:48] vote maximum rate what it says right

[57:55] what is the majority vote maximum what

[58:00] is that percent

[58:05] okay we're gonna we're gonna take a five minute recess and

[58:13] and let staff and legal counsel figure this out

[58:15] and we will come back.

[58:26] Good evening.

[58:27] We're going to re-adjourn our special meeting

[58:33] which is the final public budget hearing.

[58:35] I know some people came in from outside

[58:37] just so you're aware we are still in our special meeting.

[58:42] We do have a scheduled city council meeting

[58:45] after this that will start promptly

[58:48] when we have wrapped up this meeting

[58:50] but there was a question about the vote needed in terms of a majority or a supermajority

[58:57] to set the millage rate, depending on what it's set at.

[59:00] And I'm going to turn over to the attorney to give counsel her legal opinion on how we

[59:04] should move forward.

[59:05] Okay.

[59:06] All right.

[59:07] Well, when I spoke with Autumn, who is a very good finance administrator, we had

[59:15] a little bit of a difference of opinion.

[59:18] It would be much safer to take another vote on this, and I suggest that we have a vote

[59:28] to see if there are four out of the five, which would be the safest thing to do.

[59:36] Okay.

[59:37] So in terms of Robert's rule of orders, then aren't we saying that the first vote

[59:44] does not set the millage rate?

[59:46] Someone who is on the essentially walk us through how we do this properly.

[59:57] Someone who voted in favor of.

[1:00:00] This would need to ask for a re-vote and then there would be a second and to withdraw that

[1:00:10] that vote. So it would have to be someone who voted in favor of it to do that.

[1:00:17] So I'll request a re-vote on my previous motion.

[1:00:21] Okay. Is there a second for that?

[1:00:23] Second.

[1:00:24] Okay. I have a motion and a second for a re-vote.

[1:00:30] public comment again?

[1:00:32] Sure.

[1:00:33] A brother.

[1:00:34] Public comment.

[1:00:41] Okay.

[1:00:45] On a mourn city, uh, city resident, you all took a vote.

[1:00:49] It's 3-2.

[1:00:50] That passes it.

[1:00:51] I've been coming to these meetings for 15 years.

[1:00:54] I'm either watching them for the last three years,

[1:00:57] and now I'm here back here because I'm healthy.

[1:01:01] So you all voted 3-2 for no 6.5.

[1:01:06] That's a majority of vote. That's how you vote.

[1:01:10] Now you're going to take another vote,

[1:01:11] and you're hoping somebody's going to change their mind to vote for 6.5,

[1:01:16] and that's not okay. We've never had a super vote.

[1:01:20] I mean, that's everybody has to vote the same way,

[1:01:24] and that's not going to happen.

[1:01:26] So to take another vote, this is not okay.

[1:01:30] You're cheating the taxpayers out.

[1:01:33] You vote. It failed. 3-2. Thank you, too. Mr. Bronson, thank you. Thank you. It's wonderful.

[1:01:43] And Ms. Krista, wonderful. Ms. Erhardt, wonderful.

[1:01:47] It was three in favor and two against.

[1:01:49] Of the 6-5?

[1:01:50] Yes.

[1:01:50] Oh.

[1:01:51] It was three in favor. It was three in favor and two against.

[1:01:55] So three were in favor because I didn't hear Krista vote.

[1:01:58] So it passed a 6.5.

[1:02:00] So then why are we taking another vote?

[1:02:03] Because it is honestly belt and suspenders.

[1:02:06] We just want to make sure that there is not a trim issue.

[1:02:11] Well, we've never had a super vote before ever.

[1:02:14] We've never had that.

[1:02:16] And I don't understand why we need to do another vote.

[1:02:19] If it passed 6.5, then that's it, it passed.

[1:02:23] Just saying, it's really weird how this meeting is being

[1:02:27] run, because it's not fair. Because now you're going to take another vote, hoping somebody

[1:02:33] changes their vote. Well, they voted the way they voted. They don't take another vote.

[1:02:39] Well, they changed their mind and it's hung up again. The past, the past. Yay. I've just

[1:02:46] never seen this before, ever. You all voted. And a super vote, never heard of it. So

[1:02:54] thank you.

[1:02:55] Thank you.

[1:02:57] Thank you.

[1:02:57] I'm not too prideful to change my opinion and not agree with what the consensus is.

[1:03:04] Obviously 3-2, it's going to pass.

[1:03:06] I'm going to make sure we cross our T's and dot our I's right now.

[1:03:09] I want to, I just want to make sure that we work hard to lower it in the future.

[1:03:15] Okay.

[1:03:16] We're in the middle of public input, Mr. Morgan.

[1:03:21] Bob Morgan.

[1:03:21] Again, I don't think the question of a re-vote is necessary.

[1:03:26] It's a matter of what statute and the city ordinances and regulations state.

[1:03:35] And honestly, our attorney should know that, and it shouldn't be forced to a new vote.

[1:03:39] I honestly think it's an invalid vote to do it again a second time.

[1:03:43] And by the way, 6.5 divided by 5.9 is 1.1016 percent, so it exceeds 110 percent.

[1:03:55] Thank you.

[1:03:56] I probably should address that.

[1:03:59] The 110 percent relates to the rollback rate raised by the CPI, which is determined by the state.

[1:04:12] You add those two together and then in order to require a

[1:04:17] unanimous vote it has to be a hundred and ten percent over that and I know that that's not the case

[1:04:26] Any further public input?

[1:04:32] seeing none

[1:04:34] We have a motion in a second for a revoked

[1:04:37] Madame clerk

[1:04:40] customer mckayton hi, that's my hello. Hi customer erhard

[1:04:45] Vice Mayor Bronson.

[1:04:46] Aye.

[1:04:47] Mayor Tanner.

[1:04:47] Aye.

[1:04:49] The millage is adopted at 6.5.

[1:04:51] No, no, we need to have a motion for a, a re-vote.

[1:04:57] Oh, there has been a motion for a re-vote.

[1:04:59] We need to take the vote.

[1:05:00] Correct.

[1:05:01] Okay.

[1:05:01] So somebody else needs to make a motion for 6.5.

[1:05:05] We need a second.

[1:05:07] What in the motion?

[1:05:07] And then we take, we take a vote.

[1:05:10] Okay.

[1:05:12] Okay, I take back what I said. It has not been said. I have a motion that we up the

[1:05:21] village rate to 6.5. Second. I have a motion and a second.

[1:05:32] Any further discussion from

[1:05:33] this council?

[1:05:36] Any public input on this motion? I think don't I have to call for public input

[1:05:42] every time I don't want to legally be told I didn't call for it they can they

[1:05:47] can under the statute it says that at some point in the process the public

[1:05:52] opinion okay great I'm rescinding public input madam clerk

[1:05:59] Council Member Earhart.

[1:06:02] Nay.

[1:06:03] Council Member Hallow.

[1:06:04] Aye.

[1:06:05] Council Member McKeithen.

[1:06:06] Aye.

[1:06:06] Council Member Bronson.

[1:06:07] Aye.

[1:06:07] Mayor Tanner.

[1:06:08] Aye.

[1:06:10] The millage is set.

[1:06:11] Correct.

[1:06:14] Okay.

[1:06:15] We will now move into Item 5.

[1:06:17] Consideration of Second and Final Reading of the Budget.

[1:06:20] Ordinance number 1003.

[1:06:22] Madam Clerk.

[1:06:23] Ordinance 1003.

[1:06:25] Inordinance appropriating certain monies for the general operations of the City of

[1:06:31] period beginning October 1st, 2025 and ending September 30th, 2026. This was advertised in

[1:06:38] the Hernandez Sun and the Tampa Bay Times.

[1:06:43] Thank you, Madam Court.

[1:06:47] I have a motion from

[1:06:49] council. So if we approve this, would we have to make a motion with your added suggestion

[1:06:56] if we agreed with your added suggestion? Yes, she would. Okay. Then I make a motion

[1:07:01] to approve the budget with the added adjustments to bringing the travel and

[1:07:12] per diem to 10,000, the training and education to 55,000, and the books and

[1:07:20] publication etc. to 7,000 and move that into the general but or the general

[1:07:25] government part of the budget. I have a motion. Do I have a second?

[1:07:30] I have a motion and a second any further discussion from Council any public input

[1:07:39] Seeing none

[1:07:41] Madam clerk roll call vote

[1:07:44] Councilor McKee-thin I that's my air hard

[1:07:46] nay

[1:07:47] customer. Hello

[1:07:49] Hi, that's my Bronson mayor Tanner

[1:07:52] The budget is adopted

[1:07:56] At this time we are going to adjourn as the City Council and convene as the CRA.

[1:08:16] This is called to order to the CRA.

[1:08:21] Approval modification of the agenda.

[1:08:25] Motion to approve.

[1:08:26] Second.

[1:08:27] Motion passes.

[1:08:29] No, you have to say on favor.

[1:08:31] On favor.

[1:08:32] Aye.

[1:08:35] Item C, CRA agendas.

[1:08:37] of one approval of February 3rd, 2025 CRA meeting minutes.

[1:08:42] Move to approve.

[1:08:44] Second.

[1:08:45] All in favor?

[1:08:46] Aye.

[1:08:48] C2, CRA budget resolution number 2025-01

[1:08:54] for CRA established in 1999 presented by the clerk.

[1:08:58] I'll go ahead and read it by head note.

[1:08:59] Resolution 2025-01, a resolution adopting

[1:09:02] the annual budget for the City of Brooksville

[1:09:04] Community Redevelopment Agency

[1:09:05] for fiscal year 2025 beginning October 1st 2025 and ending September 30th 2026

[1:09:11] for the original CRA area providing for severability and providing an effective

[1:09:15] date.

[1:09:21] Do we have a motion or

[1:09:25] do I need public comment on this or can we just get

[1:09:27] a motion to approve and then you'll need public second motion second all

[1:09:35] All in favor?

[1:09:36] Aye.

[1:09:36] All right.

[1:09:37] Public input.

[1:09:37] Oh, public input.

[1:09:38] Sorry about that, guys.

[1:09:40] Public input.

[1:09:41] Anyone on my right?

[1:09:42] Anyone on my left?

[1:09:43] Good.

[1:09:45] It's a roll call vote.

[1:09:46] Roll call vote.

[1:09:47] Thank you.

[1:09:47] All right.

[1:09:48] So your voting is Board Members.

[1:09:49] Board Member Earhart?

[1:09:50] Aye.

[1:09:51] McKethan?

[1:09:51] Aye.

[1:09:52] Hallell?

[1:09:52] Aye.

[1:09:54] Tanner?

[1:09:55] Aye.

[1:09:55] Chair Bronson?

[1:09:56] Aye.

[1:09:59] Motion passes.

[1:10:01] C3, CRA Budget Resolution 2025-02 for Sierra Expanded

[1:10:06] boundaries established in 2023. Presentation. I'll go ahead and read it by head in the twenty

[1:10:12] five oh two resolution adopting the annual budget for the city of Brooksville Community

[1:10:16] Redevelopment Agency for fiscal year twenty twenty five beginning for beginning October

[1:10:21] first twenty twenty five and ending September thirtieth twenty twenty six for the expanded

[1:10:25] Sierra area providing for severability and providing an effective date to approve

[1:10:32] second all in favor public input oh public input sorry seeing none roll call

[1:10:42] the so you're putting it again as board members board member McKeith and I

[1:10:46] you're hard I howl I Tanner and Bronson I

[1:10:53] motion passes citizens input limited to

[1:10:59] three minutes per speaker seeing

[1:11:03] none response by city manager staff and

[1:11:05] CRA members seeing

[1:11:09] none items by attorney nothing thank you items by the

[1:11:13] city manager nothing thank you

[1:11:19] we already said items by CRA board members

[1:11:22] but it's there in age items by the CRA board members again motion adjourn all

[1:11:30] in favor okay

[1:11:38] we're now reconvening as the city council we are still in our

[1:11:41] special budget hearing we're now moving into citizens input of that special

[1:11:48] budget hearing anyone on my right hand side wishing to speak

[1:11:52] Seeing none anyone on my left hand side wishing to speak

[1:11:57] Seeing none response by city manager staffer council

[1:12:02] Hearing none items by city attorney

[1:12:06] Items by city manager

[1:12:09] Items by council we

[1:12:14] are going to adjourn our special meeting at

[1:12:19] 730 we will reconvene for our regular scheduled city council meeting

[1:12:23] Thank you.

Sep 15, 2025 Special City Council Final Public Budget Hearing

Agenda

Transcript