[0:04] Oh, I thought

[0:11] » No, there was shades.

[0:21] » Mr. Clay, are you ready?

[0:22] >> Yes, sir.

[0:23] » Yes, sir.

[0:23] >> Okay. Thank you.

[0:24] » Okay. Thank you.

[0:24] Good afternoon, uh, mayor,

[0:28] vice mayor, members of council,

[0:30] Craig Clay, deputy city manager. Um, we

[0:34] generally start our budget process in

[0:37] February uh, each year as we begin to

[0:41] look at a number of things that are out

[0:43] there uh, in the universe.

[0:46] This year we started a little bit early

[0:48] because we knew that there were going to

[0:51] be some things happening. Uh we started

[0:53] in January uh right after the release of

[0:57] a report by the Florida Department of

[1:00] Government Efficiency that talked about

[1:02] a number of things

[1:05] um regarding what they termed to be

[1:07] wasteful spending etc etc.

[1:11] We then came back in June.

[1:13] >> Excuse me. Clay, are there any residents

[1:16] » Excuse me. Clay, are there any residents

[1:16] from the city of Miami Gardens present?

[1:22] None.

[1:23] >> But we're live.

[1:24] » But we're live.

[1:24] >> You good?

[1:24] » You good?

[1:24] >> Okay. We're live.

[1:25] » Okay. We're live.

[1:25] >> We are live. We are live.

[1:26] » We are live. We are live.

[1:26] >> No, don't don't say that.

[1:29] » No, don't don't say that.

[1:30] >> No, don't.

[1:31] » No, don't.

[1:31] >> We're live.

[1:32] » We're live.

[1:32] >> No, I just wanted that for the record.

[1:41] » You can go ahead, Miss CL.

[1:47] You

[1:47] >> Yeah, I'm ready. Okay, I'm ready. All

[1:48] » Yeah, I'm ready. Okay, I'm ready. All

[1:48] right. And so

[1:51] after after that we we began to think

[1:54] about where we would land moving forward

[1:56] in fiscal year 2027.

[1:59] And so where we landed is what we're

[2:03] calling a tale of two budgets. Um we

[2:07] know that there are some things out in

[2:08] the universe which we will talk about uh

[2:10] during the presentation uh in terms of

[2:12] state legislation that will potentially

[2:15] require us to do certain things. Um

[2:20] having said that though uh we we will we

[2:22] planned accordingly. Uh but today we'll

[2:25] take you through some things that you

[2:27] have normally seen in this budget

[2:29] presentation where we talk to you about

[2:31] what our taxable value uh has become uh

[2:34] what that means for us uh from a

[2:36] financial standpoint, talk to you about

[2:39] some budget highlights and talk about

[2:41] what we believe to be uh on the horizon.

[2:45] And so to summarize our general fund

[2:48] budget, the preliminary property tax

[2:51] value for this year is a little over 10

[2:53] billion, $10.1 billion, which is an

[2:57] increase of $482 million approximately

[3:00] above our taxable value for fiscal year

[3:03] 2026.

[3:05] The increase in taxable value would

[3:08] generate an additional $3.2 2 million in

[3:11] fiscal 27 if certain things don't happen

[3:16] come November.

[3:18] The budget will be estimated to be

[3:20] approximately 128 million uh which is

[3:24] about $6 million above this year's

[3:26] general fund in fiscal year 2026.

[3:31] Historically, our taxable values have

[3:33] risen since 2015.

[3:36] uh we see incremental changes which is

[3:39] kind of what we want to see uh from 15

[3:42] to 22. You look at 23 24 and 25 uh there

[3:47] were some blips in a good direction uh

[3:50] because of new construction and just

[3:52] general increases in taxable value u

[3:55] after subsequent to co uh and this year

[3:59] you see that percent change is about 5%

[4:02] we'll call it 4.82%.

[4:06] We are proposing a millage rate, our

[4:08] operating millage rate of 6.9363

[4:11] mills. Uh this is the same millage rate

[4:14] uh for the last 14 budgets.

[4:17] Our debt service millage rate which is

[4:19] solely for payback of our general

[4:21] obligation bond

[4:23] 4137 mills. So for essentially 41 cents

[4:28] on $1,000 of taxable value, our

[4:32] residents get all of the new park

[4:34] amenities that you see and continue to

[4:36] see as we finish up those projects.

[4:40] This next slide is the graphical

[4:42] representation of what you just saw. We

[4:45] want to continue to see those blue bars

[4:48] continue to increase and that orange

[4:50] line continue to come down. And as long

[4:53] as those blue bars increase, the orange

[4:55] bars uh will and should continue to uh

[4:59] come down.

[5:01] What is the impact on the average

[5:04] homeowner?

[5:06] And so based on our average homesteaded

[5:08] taxable value of $131,000,

[5:12] if

[5:14] nothing were to happen in November, the

[5:17] average homeowner would pay an

[5:19] additional $5.50 50 per month or about

[5:22] $66 per year. I want you to keep that

[5:27] $131,000

[5:28] number in mind as we move through.

[5:33] A few highlights on the personnel side.

[5:36] This is the first year of our new FOP or

[5:40] Federation of Police contract. Uh that

[5:42] used to be the PBA.

[5:45] Uh there is a slight increase in our

[5:47] overall pension rates. This is pretty

[5:50] good news for us. Since COVID, that

[5:53] number has been somewhere between four

[5:55] and 7% each year.

[5:59] On the flip side of that though, we do

[6:01] anticipate a rather significant increase

[6:04] in our health insurance premiums moving

[6:06] into fiscal 27. Uh we have asked our

[6:10] carrier to look at a couple of things as

[6:12] we've met with them. And in August and

[6:14] when we get back together in September,

[6:17] we hope to have uh some better news on

[6:20] that front.

[6:21] In our operating budget, the transfer to

[6:24] the CRA uh due to property values

[6:27] increasing in the CRA uh will increase

[6:30] from 3 million to 3.2 million. Um and as

[6:34] a result of many of the new buildings

[6:37] that we have, we anticipate an an

[6:40] increase in our property insurance

[6:41] premiums. We will also have a better

[6:43] idea of that when we get back together

[6:46] in September because we will receive uh

[6:48] those estimates around August as well.

[6:52] On the revenue side, uh this is typical.

[6:55] Uh we just checked the website uh

[6:58] yesterday. These values are not

[7:00] available. Uh these are the

[7:03] intergovernmental revenues that we talk

[7:04] about. They come from the state

[7:06] municipal revenue sharing, half cent

[7:08] sales tax and communications taxes.

[7:10] Those estimates should be available

[7:13] around early August. We will incorporate

[7:16] those uh into our numbers uh and bring

[7:20] that back at our first budget hearing uh

[7:22] in September.

[7:27] As we talk about

[7:30] how we move forward, there are two

[7:32] pieces of legislation uh that we believe

[7:34] to be critical for us to keep our eyes

[7:36] on. One of them is already passed, will

[7:39] become effective January 1st of 2027.

[7:42] And that's SB134.

[7:45] That is the DEI bill. And HJR1F is the

[7:49] joint resolution uh that was passed by

[7:52] the House, the Florida House, and

[7:55] Florida Senate back in early June of

[7:59] 2026.

[8:01] And so what what this calls for is a

[8:03] ballot amendment

[8:06] to be on our November ballot that talks

[8:09] about and asks residents of the state of

[8:11] Florida whether or not they want to at

[8:14] some point eliminate property taxes. So

[8:18] the first step in that measure is an

[8:21] increase in the homestead exemption from

[8:23] 50,000 up to 150,000.

[8:27] So throughout this presentation, we're

[8:29] going to talk about year one versus year

[8:31] two. So that is year one. Year one would

[8:35] be an increase in the

[8:38] uh homestead exemption from 50,000 to

[8:41] 150,000.

[8:43] The next step, if the measure passes,

[8:45] would be the implementation of what they

[8:47] are calling a super exemption. And this

[8:50] would be an increase in the homestead uh

[8:53] exemption from 150,000 to 250,000.

[8:58] The most critical part of the bill,

[9:00] which is not being talked about as much,

[9:04] is the mandate that some at some point

[9:09] the Florida legislature gets to full

[9:12] elimination of property taxes for

[9:14] homesteaded property

[9:17] after year two. What the bill says is

[9:20] that the homestead exemption would

[9:22] increase by the rate of inflation each

[9:24] year until full elimination.

[9:28] We don't know how long full elimination

[9:31] will be, but

[9:34] on the floor there was discussion about

[9:37] a five-year time frame. So that would

[9:40] take us out to 2032 potentially beyond.

[9:44] That part is very critical because from

[9:47] a budgetary standpoint we can't

[9:50] calculate it yet because we don't know

[9:52] what inflation would be come year three,

[9:54] four, five and so on and so forth.

[9:58] So if we take a look at our revenue

[10:02] sources in our general fund, we see that

[10:05] property taxes, which is the far left

[10:07] bar, is by far the largest generator of

[10:12] revenue uh in our general fund. And

[10:14] that's the case for any local government

[10:18] throughout.

[10:19] The next highest source

[10:20] intergovernmental revenue is four times

[10:23] less than property taxes.

[10:27] These revenue sources together total

[10:31] about $126 million thereabout in our

[10:34] general fund. What we anticipated to be

[10:36] in fiscal year 2027.

[10:40] If the ballot measure passes, what will

[10:43] happen is a significant reduction in

[10:46] property taxes from 68 approximate to

[10:50] $58 million approximate. [snorts]

[10:53] Reducing that general fund revenue to

[10:56] $116 million.

[10:59] Obviously, you see on the right hand

[11:01] side of the screen what that would do to

[11:03] us. If you total up all of those numbers

[11:06] that that $61 million to fund the police

[11:09] department, about $17 million for park

[11:11] and wreck, and everything else in the

[11:13] general fund, including uh debt service,

[11:16] our internal services departments, etc.,

[11:19] etc., is about $50 million.

[11:23] So that year one loss

[11:26] totals to $9.7 million or let's say $10

[11:31] million.

[11:33] Year two, as we talked about when we

[11:35] implement the super exemption, that

[11:37] number increases to $14 million

[11:41] thereabout.

[11:43] And so obviously

[11:46] that type of loss causes us to have to

[11:49] make adjustments to our plan.

[11:53] adjustments to our budget and

[11:55] adjustments to where where we will wind

[11:58] up.

[12:00] And so, as we began back in February,

[12:03] move through June, now here in July, uh

[12:07] we we talked about budget reduction

[12:10] philosophy uh and best practices.

[12:13] And with any budget, there are only a

[12:15] few things that you can do.

[12:18] You can increase revenues, decrease

[12:21] expenses, or do a combination of both.

[12:24] And so what we've done is is three

[12:27] things. We've done what we call

[12:30] strategic expense management. Uh as of

[12:33] July 1st, manager Benson implemented a

[12:36] hiring freeze in our general fund. Um

[12:41] and we've done revenue optimization.

[12:45] And so those revenue generating

[12:48] departments in the general fund uh park

[12:51] and recreation planning and zoning

[12:54] they have been tasked with taking a look

[12:56] at their fees and one making sure we

[12:59] generally do this every two years but we

[13:01] did it last year and because of

[13:03] everything that's going on we're doing

[13:05] it again this year. Uh do our fees make

[13:08] sense across the board? Doesn't always

[13:10] necessarily mean that fees will go up.

[13:13] It necessarily means that our fees need

[13:15] to be competitive with any and everybody

[13:17] that's in the surrounding area. Fees

[13:20] could be lowered, but if we lower them,

[13:22] does that mean that we will generate

[13:24] more revenue because of more usage?

[13:27] Those types of things we have to think

[13:29] about.

[13:30] And so, as we looked at that

[13:33] um on the expense side, uh a couple of

[13:36] adjustments have been made.

[13:39] 81 total vacancies um have been frozen

[13:46] and we've made a significant reduction

[13:48] in the number of special events.

[13:52] Uh these two adjustments would prevent

[13:56] any furlows being necessary and it would

[14:00] prevent any layoffs from being

[14:03] necessary.

[14:06] Here are the detailed list of the

[14:08] special event cuts.

[14:10] Uh some of them uh we have incorporated

[14:15] them into parks programming uh with

[14:18] little impact

[14:21] and some uh those national holidays

[14:24] where we have done things in the past

[14:27] Veterans Day, MLK Memorial Day, 4th of

[14:29] July uh those uh remain.

[14:35] Moving forward, uh, we will have a

[14:38] workshop on, I'm sorry, a our first

[14:41] budget hearing will be September the

[14:42] 9th, 50:01 p.m. And our final budget

[14:47] hearing on September the 23rd at 5:01

[14:51] p.m. Mayor, that's all I have.

[14:55] There are any questions, we'll be more

[14:57] than happy to address those.

[15:04] How will we for those new incoming

[15:08] council members? Will they get a budget

[15:12] workshop for them during the uh time off

[15:15] in August?

[15:18] >> Will you have you have two budget

[15:22] » Will you have you have two budget

[15:22] hearings in September? So the the date

[15:26] of the election is the 18th.

[15:28] >> Yeah.

[15:28] » Yeah.

[15:28] >> Okay. So we would meet we we will be

[15:31] » Okay. So we would meet we we will be

[15:31] meeting with them prior to the September

[15:34] hearings

[15:36] as a part of their meeting with us. We

[15:38] will walk them through the sim similar

[15:40] presentation andor updates to that

[15:44] uh prior to those September meetings.

[15:47] >> Okay. So they will have the same

[15:49] » Okay. So they will have the same

[15:50] information you have currently and the

[15:52] updated information going forward.

[15:54] >> All right. Thank you.

[15:57] » All right. Thank you.

[15:58] >> Question. I don't have a question.

[15:59] » Question. I don't have a question.

[15:59] >> Well, it it's not more so of a question.

[16:01] » Well, it it's not more so of a question.

[16:01] It's about moving forward. So, should we

[16:05] uh should the voters of the state um

[16:08] decide to move forward with the elim the

[16:10] elimination of property taxes and a

[16:14] implementation plan is put in place? How

[16:17] would we go about with the implementing

[16:19] of our

[16:22] uh the new budget that will basically

[16:25] include the cuts and the adjustments.

[16:29] Another uh bill that recently passed uh

[16:33] vice mayor which I didn't have it up

[16:34] here and I I don't remember the the

[16:37] identifying number but the governor is

[16:39] now required that when we submit our

[16:42] budget on uh in late September we also

[16:46] submit with that a listing of cuts that

[16:51] you have identified and and that is will

[16:54] be required of of us. uh if it does not

[16:58] pass, you can certainly restore any cuts

[17:01] that have been made um

[17:05] it would through a budget amendment or

[17:07] budget adjustment uh that we would do at

[17:09] that particular point in time.

[17:10] >> So, so the budget that my colleague my

[17:12] » So, so the budget that my colleague my

[17:12] colleagues and I will vote on with the

[17:15] first and second hearing in September,

[17:18] we're voting on that would be with the

[17:20] proposed cuts.

[17:21] >> Yes, sir.

[17:25] I thought we were the proposed cuts

[17:28] wasn't going to be t that wouldn't take

[17:31] place unless it was I mean unless it

[17:35] passed in November. That's that was the

[17:37] purpose of me saying how would that

[17:38] implementation look what that imple

[17:40] implementation would look like.

[17:42] >> Do you get what I'm saying?

[17:43] » Do you get what I'm saying?

[17:43] >> I get you. I get you.

[17:45] » I get you. I get you.

[17:45] >> So why are we voting on the cut of the

[17:48] » So why are we voting on the cut of the

[17:48] budget if we don't necessarily know

[17:51] what's to come?

[17:54] I I think for us uh Vice Mayor, it's a

[17:56] it's a timing thing. Uh because

[18:00] you're going to you're going to start

[18:01] implementing your budget October 1st,

[18:03] your new budget October 1st.

[18:07] I think the safest thing for us to do is

[18:10] to march along a path that prepares us

[18:12] for the worst case scenario. It is much

[18:15] easier for us to begin restoring cuts if

[18:19] something doesn't happen versus trying

[18:22] to implement cuts once we've started

[18:25] down a certain path.

[18:32] Okay. I'm I'm fine with either or, but

[18:35] it wouldn't be implementing cuts because

[18:37] we have two prepared but we basically

[18:39] have a tail of two budget. So, it

[18:41] wouldn't be implement. we know what

[18:44] we're looking forward and what how we be

[18:45] moving forward. So, it wouldn't be that,

[18:47] but I'm cool with either or. I just was

[18:49] curious as it relates to moving forward,

[18:53] why would we why would we do that? But,

[18:55] okay. Thank you.

[19:00] » No other questions.

[19:05] » Questions?

[19:08] >> Thank you, Mr. Clay.

[19:11] » Thank you, Mr. Clay.

[19:11] I guess these are the hard facts we got

[19:13] to deal with right now.

[19:24] » Mr. Manager,

[19:26] that's it.

[19:28] >> Unless there are other questions.

[19:32] » Unless there are other questions.

[19:32] >> Showing no other questions then. and and

[19:35] » Showing no other questions then. and and

[19:35] mayor I just want to thank you vice

[19:37] mayor for your question but also keep in

[19:40] mind that we have to submit a balanced

[19:42] budget going forward. So that's why

[19:45] we're taking the path that we're taking

[19:47] right now

[19:48] >> and if there needs to be an adjustment

[19:50] » and if there needs to be an adjustment

[19:50] down the road if it doesn't pass we have

[19:53] that flexibility to address it at that

[19:54] time as well. So, and I think that's

[19:57] important as well that we can always do

[20:01] a budget amendment

[20:03] um to bring back or to unfreeze the the

[20:08] 81 positions and all of that. So, I I I

[20:11] think although, you know, we're we're

[20:13] working towards the, you know, being

[20:17] prepared should this happen in November

[20:19] based off the voters's decision. Um but

[20:22] but I I don't want to shine away from

[20:26] 81 cuts is an interruption to municipal

[20:28] services because although we're

[20:30] functioning now without them, but that

[20:32] doesn't mean one don't need it to

[20:34] effectively do their job. So that's

[20:36] that's what the reality hit in for me

[20:38] when I heard that and saw that I was

[20:40] like, "Yeah, okay. This is this is

[20:42] actually really happening." Um, so

[20:45] that's all I have for that.

[20:49] » All right.

[20:50] >> I just have a statement to say. I I

[20:53] » I just have a statement to say. I I

[20:53] commend the um finance team and everyone

[20:56] for putting together this budget

[20:58] especially at this time when so much is

[21:02] at stake. I think fiscal conservatism

[21:06] probably is the name we'll give this as

[21:09] we go forward.

[21:11] But I believe as stated the beauty of

[21:14] being conservative now

[21:17] um even if the

[21:22] law does not pass, it now gives us an

[21:25] opportunity to re-evaluate

[21:28] our expenditures

[21:30] and are they truly really contributing

[21:34] to the

[21:36] needs that the residents have. Sometimes

[21:40] a reset is not a bad idea.

[21:43] Um, of course, keeping in mind as my

[21:46] councilman said that for those things

[21:48] that require

[21:51] such as departments, I'm sure our

[21:52] manager will implement the needed steps

[21:56] should any department fall below. And

[21:58] I'm confident he would not have our city

[22:01] function below standard of safety and

[22:05] care. Um, so just thank you for the

[22:09] work. I know it was difficult um going

[22:12] conservative at any time on a budget. As

[22:15] a business owner myself, I definitely

[22:16] understand. So just want to give

[22:19] gratitude. Thank you.

[22:23] » All right, there's no more questions or

[22:25] any issues. Our hearts and minds are

[22:27] free and clear. This workshop is

[22:30] ajourned.

[22:33] So that wasn't

City Council Workshop Meeting

Transcript