[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