[This transcript was generated automatically from audio using AI and hasn't been reviewed by a person -- it can contain mistakes, including plausible-sounding sentences that were never actually said. Treat it as a starting point, not a verbatim record.]

[5:00] Good to see you, everyone. Welcome to your Hernandez County Board of County Commissioners special budget meeting. Today is Thursday, July 30th, 2026. It's 9 a.m. Please stand for the evocation followed by the pleasurable agents.
[5:18] Dear Lord, we are symbol this morning to go over some very important topics in our community and our community's future over the next fiscal year. And we ask your guidance, wisdom, patience and understanding.
[5:34] as much as possible to work towards a consensus that makes sense for the people in this community.
[5:43] And we pray for all the families out in our community that may be struggling,
[5:48] and also to bless those who are doing the right thing and trying to live their best lives
[5:55] and see the fruits of their labors and their families.
[5:59] Please pray this name in your son's name.
[6:02] She's a seamen.
[6:04] I find this name just to divide the United States.
[6:26] Item B, approval of the agenda.
[6:29] Move approval.
[6:29] No changes.
[6:30] No changes.
[6:31] All right.
[6:31] Got a motion for approval from Commissioner Champion.
[6:34] Second.
[6:34] Second.
[6:35] Commissioner Amsler.
[6:36] All in favor.
[6:37] Aye.
[6:38] Any opposed?
[6:40] Hearing none.
[6:41] Motion passes.
[6:42] 4-0.
[6:42] So, we're on to item C, counting administrator, Jeff Rogers.
[6:48] Thank you, commissioners, and welcome to a special budget meeting, welcome to the commissioner's staff and citizens.
[6:56] Today, we're going to start with the thing you're going to improve for the special budget meeting publication.
[7:02] This public site, the Internet and the website, and the public notice is published on July 20th, 2026.
[7:09] This meeting today board I'll go review just sort of by the educational
[7:13] amendments, remember how this process works for the county today by the in this month,
[7:20] the county administrator and the budget director will provide a tentative budget for
[7:25] the fiscal year 26, 27 budget year to the Board of County commissioners.
[7:30] That's all we're here today is to present this budget for the Board of County commissioners.
[7:34] The Board of Views, this budget makes any unnecessary changes at all, to the budget itself.
[7:39] At which point, many changes with that would involve result in the calculation of the,
[7:46] the proposed millage rate that the county benefited myself as provided.
[7:51] That millage rate is provided to the property appraisal by August 4th,
[7:55] which then is calculating goes on the trim notices, which is a notification to all the property owners in the county.
[8:01] That notification includes your basically proposed millage rates for taxation next year and also the dates and times of the public hearings.
[8:11] The public hearings is when the county goes through the budget at a post time, usually at the 501 PM, for the citizens to review the budget and that's when the millage rates are established and voted on at that time.
[8:27] Today, we vote on the anything that changes to the proposed budget that myself and my staff are provided to the county administration.
[8:36] We're saying that board.
[8:39] This board is this budget that providing you today translates the board's policies and priorities into a responsible financial plan designed to balance the revenues and expenditures.
[8:50] maintain essential core services, respond to the continued growth in our county, and also the increasing mandates that's on the county from the state and federal organizations.
[9:02] It also stabilizes, I believe, and strings in the long term financial position.
[9:09] This budget is presented during a period of significant financial pressure.
[9:13] The county, I believe, must address the plea to reserves.
[9:18] Following two major hurricanes that impacted this county in 2024.
[9:25] Increasing demands on services throughout the cost to the cost to shows and
[9:30] on the county services from the growth in the county, rising, mandated, cost, insurance cost.
[9:38] We'll discuss the delayed reimbursements on the money we spend on the FEMA storms continuation of that.
[9:45] And also, I believe, I will discuss today the uncertainty of the future regarding the property tax
[9:52] or aspirin, and that's been placed on the ballot by the legislature.
[9:56] I believe while this time, Fernando County continues-
[10:00] We can use to make meaningful progress and infrastructure, great investments in economic development, technology, and strategic planning for prioritizing the services that are funded. The recommended budget therefore takes a very disciplined approach. It preserves core public services, those prioritized first responder services. It stabilizes what I believe, the financial stability of our county.
[10:28] It advances the most critical investments, but it also does make difficult reductions that
[10:37] where reoccurring operational revenues are not sufficient to support the current service
[10:44] levels at the county.
[10:47] As I mentioned, this is the start of the real budget process.
[10:51] I present this budget to you today.
[10:53] We will go through the impacts of the county where I believe the state of the county is.
[11:00] We'll go through the budget, take any recommendations to the board, and then within the next two months, you have this documents board to review the citizens of the documents to review and come back in the public hearing where we will vote in the final milled rates for the county.
[11:15] Included in the agenda item board for you and the citizens today is published as they had proposed a tentative budget book and also light on in detail of all the county operations, including the costumes and also budgets also, which are those are included in the county's budget.
[11:34] Lastly, I'll say, you know, decisions we make, but this board, while we lot of times you make decisions that are impactful for today and what's the best today, I think we have to make decisions sometimes that are best for the long term viability of our county decisions we made last year in the years before effect wherever you are today, right?
[11:53] And so this budget is not for today, right?
[11:57] This budget starts October 1st, 2026 and goes through September 30th of 2027.
[12:04] The decision we make on this budget here will be where we start in the next fiscal year's budget.
[12:09] So I would make sure that we remember that we're trying to set up where we're going to be in the future also.
[12:13] And with that, I'll turn it over to our budget's director, Aaron Dorne, and her staff to go through the presentation.
[12:20] before you start, Aaron. Let's make sure we have them. Can we turn the microphones on on the table, please?
[12:25] Thank you.
[12:27] And for those in the back, you're welcome to stand. We're working on getting an overflow room and a video stream over there.
[12:33] We don't have that quite ready yet. But there are some seats on the front that you're welcome to.
[12:37] And if anybody this side seems pretty full, but if anybody on this side can scoot in, make some room for those sitting in the back.
[12:43] Can I have Aaron's computer, please?
[12:44] Good
[12:53] afternoon.
[13:08] Yeah, were we just waiting just a second to let people settle in?
[13:17] Good afternoon, commissioners.
[13:19] Aaron Doren, management and budget director.
[13:21] Today we have a presentation for you for the maximum village for fiscal year 2027.
[13:28] This first slide is kind of a recap of where we are now.
[13:32] We'll say to the county to your current millage rate is 7.8275.
[13:38] The Health Department of Millage is 0.1054 mills.
[13:43] Stormwater MSTU is 0.1139 mills.
[13:47] We cannot hear.
[13:49] There.
[13:50] There.
[13:51] There.
[13:52] There.
[13:53] Yeah, let me see. Yeah, let me see. Yeah, you can find it. What's organized up? Yeah, it's just a minute to regroup a lot here on the podium.
[14:02] Okay,
[14:05] she moved her on. You get her out there. Yeah, is it this one?
[14:34] My test
[14:40] now.
[14:43] All right, hold on.
[14:58] What is?
[15:01] I know I'm trying to restart it so that it'll be in presentation mode. There we go. All right. All right. You just wait just a second where people get settled again.
[15:17] We're going to make some room for the public. The staff is going to go on a separate area. Until we need.
[15:22] You know, I'm not.
[15:24] You're not.
[15:25] You're
[15:42] not.
[15:42] I'm no.
[15:43] Well, then you guys can support.
[15:44] Daniel.
[15:44] If we need to come down and get that
[15:45] size, we just need to get told that I need
[15:48] to.
[15:48] Kate.
[15:49] All right.
[15:51] It's okay.
[15:51] It's okay.
[15:52] This is working on a great audio.
[15:55] It's making your next week.
[15:57] No, she did that.
[15:59] You can leave.
[16:01] Thank
[16:07] you for your patience.
[16:10] Eric, you can go ahead.
[16:11] Sorry.
[16:11] Thank you, some.
[16:11] Okay, just for those who come in here, my name is Erin Doran, I'm the managing budget director for
[16:17] her NATO County. This is the Maximum Millage Presentation for Fiscal Year 2027.
[16:23] The first slide kind of
[16:25] goes over where we are now.
[16:34] I'm being told that's as loud as it goes. I will try to be loud or
[16:40] myself. So sorry if some of you hear me screaming. The current
[16:44] millage rate for the county is 7.8275 mills. The health
[16:48] department is 0.1054. Stormwater MST is 0.1139. Transportation
[16:56] trust 0.8091. Emergency medical services 0.9100 and a general
[17:07] So the current taxable value increased $290 million, $1,030, which was an increase of 1.4913% of the county's total taxable value that was certified at $19,447,968,771.
[17:33] Then there is new growth, which totaled 930,317,139 of the county's total taxable value.
[17:44] That equated to 4.736 of that taxable value.
[17:49] This slide provides a local comparison.
[17:52] in.
[17:52] Board this slide.
[17:54] We've seen him for on the left hand side is a, I like to compare the where we are.
[17:59] Tax rates is a comparison of the surrounding neighboring counties in Clay County's kind
[18:03] of similar to Hernandez County a little bit.
[18:06] You can see the taxable value of those counties.
[18:08] We have about 18 billion as Aaron's mentioned and the other counties around it.
[18:13] The top three lines that data comes from the state of Florida, that is per capita total
[18:19] So that's what we charge per tax citizen, per person for the total county tax bill that goes out, and you can see Hernandez County's very competitive with these five counties that are on here.
[18:32] Below that is a lot of ways you can, the purpose of that graph is to show the new meeting different ways that the county that gets the revenue to provide for the services that the county provides to the citizens.
[18:45] And you can see general fund and many different MSTU's.
[18:49] The different counties do EMS and store water.
[18:52] And then also you can see those bonds in the bottom pass go likes to use general obligation bonds to pay for large debt projects.
[18:59] That's kind of the purpose of that.
[19:00] But you can see the bottom of that is the total county avalorum tax rate.
[19:04] And you can see Hernando counties at 7.82.
[19:06] This is at the end of last year's tax bill.
[19:09] Very competitive with this neighbor pass going citrus county on the right hand slide.
[19:15] That is a graph that's put out by the state of Florida.
[19:20] That graph shows the impact of the property tax amendment that's on the ballot in November.
[19:28] The darker red counties, and we'll go back here, a lightning is getting us today.
[19:34] Okay, so the darker red counties have a higher percentage of impact to the county based on the reduction in the property taxes that's going to be voted in next year.
[19:44] And so there's a greater impact to the county.
[19:48] The will align small print in the bottom.
[19:50] It says we're small to medium counties with a high home state concentration, which
[19:55] in an county, the top five counties will listen to your hannanda counties, one of them,
[20:00] Should be the largest impact in the reason why we have a homestead properties and your valuation, they told you valuation is not as high, right? So the value of the properties isn't high. So the impact to the loss of revenue would be impacting more of the county next year. Next slide.
[20:16] So boy, I wanted to talk on this before we get into the budget here. Well, quick today just to make sure that we know what's happening. And I think it's my job is to educate you that year one, that's a $31 million reduction that would happen. That would be next year's budget when we're sitting here doing next year's budget.
[20:31] The budget will be $31 million, less than revenue, year two before the eight million.
[20:35] Less than revenue to the county, basically the prioritizing services.
[20:39] We'll get into a little bit of that today.
[20:41] The next thing that I was coming up with ideas and looking at a lot of,
[20:45] I don't know if that's how it makes work any sense, but anymore.
[20:48] But there is an idea that you can make, put all the core services.
[20:52] There are things you have to fund next year, and things you don't have to fund.
[20:55] You have to fund all your cost, you have all serves, you law enforcement, fire, rescue.
[20:59] you, some of those emergency manual functions have to be funded, discretionary things, parks
[21:04] and things.
[21:05] Don't have to be, you could put them all in MSTU, so it makes it simple.
[21:09] However, I don't think the revenues will allow, I don't think the revenues will be gone once
[21:14] you get by all the constitution offices in the parks and recs.
[21:18] I have a slide to explain what we think the impacts are for that.
[21:22] So there is an option, you could do it.
[21:24] I wanted to put everybody on board next year, there's fire EMS in roads and stone water.
[21:30] Those on your tax bill have a separate taxing bill, taxing line.
[21:34] Those next year, I think potentially we'll be okay, because EMS,
[21:38] we could within reason, within the limitations of taxing abilities,
[21:43] mental, military caps, and you could raise EMS enough to make sure you pop out of your ambulance services.
[21:49] Or you know, we'll be a little bit of reduction in service, I believe.
[21:51] But I think you could, you can raise that when Stonewater, I think you'd be fine, just less projects.
[21:58] And then the health department's in there, I didn't put them on here because that's a state self department, and I think the state can take care of the state self department.
[22:05] If the military don't support the current operations, and then transportation roads, that basically would end up, you could raise that a necessary to maintain the current level of service you have in your roads, hopefully with your military caps.
[22:18] If not, we will talk about road resourcing in a minute, too.
[22:22] And then the remaining parts of government are in Abelora, revenue.
[22:25] However, I don't think there'll be a lot of revenue and revenue left in Hernando County because of that impact.
[22:30] But I just, I don't want to be having them caring to be with that.
[22:32] It's just facts that I see today after the better solution I'm looking for.
[22:36] Maybe the legislature is going to go in session next year, right?
[22:39] And so they normally legislatures in session in the past, they haven't been so
[22:46] helpful to counties, right? And so potentially next year, you know, I thought about they
[22:50] could remove the restrictions on sales tax, right? And so you can't do it, but you can't
[22:55] do a vote now except every general election if they remove that next year and allow counties
[23:00] to do a special election, allow you to use sales tax for operating. You know, the citizens
[23:05] of the community could vote in its own sales tax to fund what they want. If they like parks
[23:10] and libraries then because it's not going to be on property taxes next year, you could vote.
[23:14] But that's one thing I thought about that legislation contains that rule.
[23:17] Currently, you can't use any sales tax for operating.
[23:20] But legislation going into section next year, maybe there'll be a solution.
[23:26] Normally, the solutions have been anti, against the counties because of lots of good reason for
[23:31] do for it, but this is my thoughts, but next slide.
[23:36] So as we get worried to get this budget here in a minute, we'll talk about some things,
[23:39] As Roger surfs thing earlier this year board, we talked about road surfs thing in the county.
[23:44] It's a critical issue that I believe we need to start addressing.
[23:50] The board you did gives a great direction this year.
[23:52] You worked on it.
[23:52] The direction was for me to raise the transportation trust millage up this year by lowering the avalorum.
[23:59] And so that was, unfortunately, my budget opportunity today I couldn't do it, right?
[24:04] And so maybe we can figure that out because I couldn't lower the avalorum revenues to allow
[24:09] for the transportation trust to go up as we requested.
[24:14] So that is, I do think that's, I was just going record again, I think in a few years,
[24:20] when the Barclay widening project happens, and then one after that, you're going to borrow money and
[24:26] take gas tax to pay that debt service.
[24:29] Your resurfacing ability is going to go down in this county, and I just want to know in a few years,
[24:34] we'll be talking about not resurfacing as many roads we do today and I think we don't
[24:41] do a very good job today. It's one of the areas that we've talked about sales taxes before
[24:45] to pay for this and it hasn't been voted in so still we need to move forward on resurfacing
[24:51] and that problem we'll talk about some more about that. And then the transit, go back and
[24:56] with things. Trans I just say with something I'm working on putting back you short.
[25:02] We're looking to see in which ones are really effective, but not, it's really a board policy, but you could maybe reduce a little bit of that and save a little money. That isn't gas tax, $150,000, and doesn't do a lot for resourcing, but it pays a parcel road or something. So, we are looking at trying to figure out if that's efficient, and there's some money we can save there.
[25:20] here. Next slide. So born, you know, today the budget I've provided you is the best budget
[25:30] I bet I should have presented to you with the direction from the board of not touching
[25:35] the average, the average.
[25:39] I had other solutions when I got all the revenues and expenses in
[25:43] from the Constitutionals and the county departments. I came this board and told you the county was
[25:48] up 6% in expenses of 10 main short to make it all work since then we've reduced all the
[25:55] county expenses were flat but we'll get to that in a minute.
[25:58] I would, if it was me, you couldn't do number one, it's tough, very tough decisions, right?
[26:03] But you raised .1 mil, that's what I was trying to do, it began fun road resurfacing because
[26:08] the best time to start planning like a new tree in your yard is today, it'll be there
[26:13] in 20 years, right?
[26:14] Next city tree.
[26:14] So it's a huge issue for our county.
[26:16] I mean, we have to start moving forward towards it, but you could do that and then I would fund the library too.
[26:21] I know that I will get to me closing a library, proposing to close the library in a minute.
[26:25] But that would end in the .05, provides a revenue that's necessary for that.
[26:33] So that was, I didn't bring that to a solutions to you.
[26:36] I mean, she was not to do that one because I've got direction,
[26:41] an avalorum needs to stay or even go down.
[26:44] And I don't think you can take it,
[26:46] I couldn't go down with meeting the policies,
[26:47] budget policies and things.
[26:49] So I didn't present those.
[26:50] I chose to reduce expenses,
[26:52] which is, and the reason why that has to happen also
[26:56] is looking forward, right?
[27:00] So, if you're on to a property tax referendum next year,
[27:05] if you're looking at,
[27:08] look at the numbers,
[27:08] If you're looking at that passing, and it's only really well, I got 58%, you probably have
[27:14] your own number.
[27:15] You're all really closely.
[27:18] Why do you keep reinvesting in things that are going to take the next week, right?
[27:22] And so it's tough, right?
[27:23] So these are tough times of the county, tough decisions, but a good announcement may tell
[27:27] me if you're going to get rid of a car next year, do you put new four new tires on it, right?
[27:31] And these are not easy decisions, but so we'll go to the next slide.
[27:39] Yes, so looking at and it looks like it hasn't messed up.
[27:47] Yeah, I don't know why.
[27:50] The board has a copy of it.
[27:51] You want to put it on Elmo?
[27:53] Yeah, can we go on?
[27:54] Switch to Elmo so people can see me.
[27:57] It's just Elmo, please.
[27:58] Thank you.
[27:59] No problem.
[28:01] The green ones are here.
[28:02] Okay.
[28:05] There we go.
[28:09] Okay, so looking at revenue that is in the general fund.
[28:14] That is one of the funds that receives avalorum revenue.
[28:18] We've heard a lot about the potential legislation regarding property tax reform.
[28:25] That will affect every county differently, as administrators Roger mentioned.
[28:30] We have here in Toronto County a very high ownership rate, higher than the average within the state.
[28:38] So when we go to look at the revenue that's currently coming into the general fund, they're really into two categories.
[28:44] There's recurring revenue that's your avalorum, that would be your sales tax, county revenue sharing, some building rentals, and some other income like that.
[28:59] But basically that revenue can be used to pay for any allowable expense.
[29:05] Then the county receives what we would call non-recurring revenue, or revenue that's for a specific purpose.
[29:12] It could not be used to go pay for constitutional officers, state candidates, perhaps debt.
[29:20] That includes grant revenue, which obviously the county receives and can only be spent on allowable expenditures per that grant.
[29:27] We also have some restricted use revenue that includes the opioid settlement funding
[29:33] that comes in, although it can be spent on certain activities, they still have to
[29:38] meet that requirement to be spent.
[29:40] We have fund balanced, so this includes the reserves from the previous year that was
[29:47] in spent, projects that haven't started yet, we also use that to balance the budget.
[29:52] it. So basically that is one time funding. The assumption is that that one time funding
[29:59] would be used.
[30:08] We also have some funding that's collected by libraries and parks, some fees for parking, rental, obviously if we did not have those, that income would not be coming in. Then the last category is what we have is cost allocation. And looking at that, those are your like central services that's HR that's managing the public.
[30:29] budget, that's procurement facilities, they get to charge out to various departments. And
[30:36] if this were to pass and you know we were to do what you know perhaps to meet this requirement,
[30:45] we don't believe that that would then be charged out to those departments. It would be those
[30:50] individuals that need to work for those departments would then be directly allocated to them.
[30:55] So, if you have an HR individual who is helping utilities, doing their HR, they would be charged directly to utilities.
[31:04] And so we would no longer really be doing that cost allocation.
[31:07] So, if you look at that difference, recurring revenue and then what they have estimated,
[31:15] would be losing when that full $250,000 exemption went into effect. That would be recurring
[31:23] revenue at approximately $98 million, $98.5. And then obviously just looking at our
[31:32] constitutional total, the total that we have for state mandates, the total for debt, those
[31:38] other things that need to be paid. It doesn't appear as of if we did it today, there
[31:44] there would be enough funding to cover all of those expenses.
[31:48] Now I've heard other things like, you know, the state may step in for parks, the state
[31:52] may help libraries, the state may set up a trust fund to help fund fire in the Sheriff's
[31:58] Office, and if it passes the state may do, some are all of those things, we don't know.
[32:04] But as of today, this is what we know, and that trust fund was not included when they discussed
[32:12] that's the final forage for that.
[32:19] Mr. Chairman.
[32:20] Thank you.
[32:20] I just want to clarify that the fire is not included
[32:23] because this has its own to you, correct?
[32:26] So it's misleading to say that the fire would be affected.
[32:29] It would not be affected at all because it has its own tax on it.
[32:32] Oh no, I didn't say that.
[32:34] I just said this is just general fund.
[32:35] I understand, but you mentioned fire.
[32:37] I just want to clarify that fire is not affected.
[32:39] They will have their same revenue.
[32:41] It would not be affected by this tax cut at all
[32:43] because it has its own to you, correct?
[32:46] It does. I think part of that, though, is like EMS, does have funding that comes from
[32:52] Avallarm, so obviously that would collect less.
[32:56] Okay. Yeah, I guess so. Yeah. Okay. On the EMS side. Okay. But yeah, we try to buy EMS.
[33:00] The virus side would not be effective. We talked about potentially being able to raise the
[33:03] EMS back up some more. For some changes in service, you know, to make it work. But yeah,
[33:08] the EMS side not to fall. You're right about the fireside. Yep. Yeah. Sometimes we say
[33:11] If I are, we mean it, yes, you can see me on the AMS, we should say AMS.
[33:16] It's like, where we go.
[33:18] Yep.
[33:19] Can we please switch back to Aaron's computer?
[33:28] Boy, yeah, real quick.
[33:29] Well, no, it's been a long time.
[33:31] This is the state's, we always like to compare this.
[33:33] The state's numbers on, actually not in that state.
[33:36] This is Florida Tax Watch Independent Organization that oversees county
[33:39] governments and their numbers on what counties are spending on taxes.
[33:43] You can see we are number 46 in this per capita total property tax.
[33:47] We are the 27th largest county, we used to be 28, I think we're getting 27 now.
[33:54] 27th largest county, so I think the Board of County Commission has done an amazing job
[33:59] and keeping the tax rate for citizen low in this county.
[34:03] Thank you.
[34:09] I'm getting this budget a little bit more talented, Board.
[34:12] Oh, Aaron, you're going to go to the slide this year?
[34:14] Okay, I'm sorry.
[34:15] We have a plan here, it's your plan.
[34:17] So these are current factors that would be impacting the budget.
[34:21] But the first one you'll see is FEMA reimbursement with Helena Milton,
[34:27] hernando county paid out approximately $22 million after those storms.
[34:33] The majority of that funding came from general fund reserves to date the county has only been
[34:38] reimbursed approximately $7.1 million from FEMA.
[34:43] The reserves have been budgeted at the minimum per the county policy of 18.5%.
[34:49] During Fiscal Year 26 reserves have also been used to fund un-budgeted expenditures, including body-worn cameras that were $2.9 million.
[35:00] A park's office remodel for our 155,000, and should see at fire, proper placement, which was $2,600, $660. Then, there is a knowledge reduction in fiscal year 25 and 26. The knowledge was reduced and balanced using reserves and removal of CIP projects or one time expenses. Reserves are now budgeted at the minimum, again, of 18.5%.
[35:30] This slide has some additional consideration.
[35:34] There has been some new legislation that has been signed.
[35:38] The first one is House Bill 1329, which is the local government,
[35:41] Financial Transparency and Accountability Act, just a quick snippet about that.
[35:47] That is providing new budgeting requirements to be completed by the county.
[35:52] This includes a 10% budgeting exercise yearly during the budget,
[35:57] budgeting to not only the funding department, but also now the program,
[36:00] and posting additional information on the county website.
[36:07] SB4F was the property tax administration law.
[36:11] This addresses a military and the votes that are being required to adopt them.
[36:16] So that has been updated.
[36:18] The county has ordinance number 2016-15 in resolution 2016-130,
[36:26] which relate to appeal off.
[36:28] This is a rental fee charge to the county utility for the occupation of the rights of way owned by and located in unincorporated Orlando County.
[36:38] The ordinance currently has a limit of 4.5% of revenues.
[36:43] The maximum amount allowed by ordinance is 6% and the maximum amount allowed is budgeted in the fiscal year 27 budget.
[36:53] Utilities revenues and or expenses will be adjusted to account for this expense.
[36:58] And the last part of that slide is pending legislation that is the ballot proposal for
[37:04] property tax for random.
[37:05] That just re-list the estimate impact for year 1, tolls 31.5 million and year 2, 48.2
[37:12] million.
[37:14] These are some items that may need to be considered regarding EMS, a reduced level of service within
[37:22] in the county filling only essential positions,
[37:24] review of transportation capital projects,
[37:27] and basically recreational fees possibly increase.
[37:35] This slide just shows the certified taxable value
[37:39] by Fiscal Year from 2017 through 2027.
[37:47] This slide shows the historical military starts in 2018
[37:52] and goes through 2026,
[37:56] And basically that last year, you can see it's 7.8275 mills.
[38:04] This slide just goes over some of the CIP projects that were not included in the budget this year.
[38:10] I won't go over every one of them, but basically the ones that were requested and were not included totaled $3,514,270.
[38:21] So, Board, in the past couple of years, you remember that obviously, the process works
[38:28] in the Department of Department.
[38:29] We look at projects.
[38:30] We have CIPs that come forward, you know, in a fund of different years.
[38:34] This year, basically, just the revenues and expenses.
[38:37] And normally, we have, you know, we're running about two or three million dollars, and
[38:43] This is general fund-only, CIP projects, when in-apprising gas tax and things.
[38:49] Normally, we don't have to bait these at this meeting.
[38:52] And so, we've, to hear the budget work, the majority, there's a couple of stuff left and a couple of things left in the CIP, but we've removed majority of these right now, pushed them out or canceled some of them based on the current revenues trying to get it balanced at this time, but I won't be forward with this.
[39:05] Thank you.
[39:08] Boy, this is, you know, as I go through the process, the budget, we talked about different positions.
[39:15] These are some of those that I don't really know what your department requested that I was going to prove.
[39:20] It didn't improve, you know, whom you're trying to do some training in the county, a lot of customer service training.
[39:25] We're going to try to do that in a different way.
[39:27] We're going to try to get one person to kind of optimize doing that.
[39:30] There's been a request for additional veteran service officer that I was going to put it in and basically after I looked at all the
[39:38] buvv news and expenses, took and all these physicians out. IT business analysts working with the IT department, analyzing
[39:43] efficiencies and operations in different departments, trying to make things more efficient.
[39:48] Courts, requests and audio, visual engineer, just basically running the court rooms and basically what we're doing here now,
[39:53] technology and figured it all out making it work. And then Parks and Recreation, we use it
[39:58] been trying to add a-
[40:00] One, or two park records, people every year based just trying to keep up the maintenance in there, and then we do that. You know, mosquito controls is interesting. You know, as we continue to add to county, the growth, there's additional need in the county on departments, because every Sunday we put in, you know, there's a bunch of drainage in less if you didn't. And so we have to go treat all those, right? And so because they're a really good mosquito breeders, if they hold water in the bottom of their house, you know, highly highly
[40:29] early engineers, so we go and put little drains in it, so we have a drone and we're trying to fly it.
[40:34] The efficient if we can fly it and go in every subdivision and drop all the pellets in all the DRA so that,
[40:39] and no drainage in the surrounding county, because otherwise they grow a lot of mosquitoes.
[40:43] So if the little seapull gets stuck in the bottom of it, what happens to a little drain hole?
[40:47] And so, we're going to just, our staff's trying to do it just in timing and
[40:51] getting all these new houses and developments that are built and trying to keep up the mosquito level control.
[40:56] Also, just wouldn't do that this year.
[40:59] So we did, last year the board did a transfer to economic incentive.
[41:03] You know, that was, and not in your thousand, we transferred general fund last tangible property taxes to economic development.
[41:10] Last meeting we talked about, we use that as a match to get 13 men in here for
[41:15] a long time paying jobs.
[41:17] We removed that from the budget this year.
[41:19] It's unfortunate, but I was thinking about that, it's probably okay cuz we know this year we did the board did.
[41:26] We did borrow a lot of money to invest in the airport out there to allow for jobs and
[41:32] come out there and fix the infrastructure, and we're paying that little debt service long term.
[41:37] So we kind of are doing that transfer here again this year.
[41:40] So I thought about it and said we still are investing in economic development because it's
[41:44] the number two thing on our strategic plan, public safety, then we got to do economic development.
[41:48] It's important, preserves, and then communications to the citizens is important, right?
[41:53] So those are that community engagement is the other thing that's one point.
[41:56] So anyway, that's where I took those out of the budget for right now.
[42:02] Then we did some other expenses with options, right?
[42:05] So we had a fire MSPU.
[42:08] We kind of did as a lady, you know, this fireman and fire EMTs.
[42:12] That's kind of for that new station we're building on Atlanta.
[42:16] So we had those in there.
[42:17] We kind of removed them out.
[42:18] We'll bring that back next year when we're talking about
[42:23] about the MSPU rate for next year.
[42:25] But with the property taxing happening,
[42:26] and we need to see what the impacts are going to be,
[42:29] but we can bring those back next year,
[42:31] and then what is going to delay
[42:31] staffing the heavy rescue this time,
[42:33] so we don't put any more pressure on that fire on MSPU?
[42:37] This gave me, sir.
[42:38] Yes, Commissioner Lockeau.
[42:41] Are you able to answer how many of those fire slash EMS positions
[42:47] are affecting the fire,
[42:50] which is already the fire rate versus the EMS rate
[42:57] because obviously we're just talking about how they're different.
[43:00] One of them is going to be in the General Fund
[43:03] and one of them is a specific non-advalorem.
[43:06] Correct. I'll get a chief in here, but I will tell you.
[43:08] You want to answer it? I don't know.
[43:10] Chief's on the way.
[43:11] No, I was just going to say so when we were talking about that advalorem,
[43:16] the advalorem does go straight to EMS.
[43:18] Yes. Correct. Yes. But all these positions are in EMS positions. That's what I'm asking. Right. So no, I was going to say the seven library positions, the code enforcement officer, and the part times parks position.
[43:33] Okay. So the ones on the top are not going to be affected by the general fund that we're talking about. Correct.
[43:39] Okay. Just want to make sure. Thank you. Oh, yeah. Today. Yeah. Today. I was just going to say it was in a total budget. Right. So we have not we spent it's kind of costing on the general fund. There was other things that change.
[43:48] And so I just went this is a change that we were doing that I took out so okay, it's not that you're fine
[43:53] You're correct you're correct and typically fire splits
[43:58] 6040 or 50 50 depending on their duties
[44:02] She can confirm the question so I
[44:06] Caught part of it. I was talking about this showing current expenses removed
[44:09] I just was wondering of these 33 positions if you could tell us how many are gonna be affected by the general phone with the MSB
[44:16] the U versus the MST.
[44:19] Yeah, Paul Hosmer, Fire Chief Public Safety Director.
[44:22] So, Miss Brady is correct.
[44:25] There's currently a 50-50 split on how things go MSBU for fire and MSTU for EMS.
[44:35] So, typically, the firefighter EMTs or firefighter medics are coming totally out of the MSTU.
[44:43] the captain's higher part of them is coming out of both the driver engineers
[44:49] are typically coming all out of fire. There is a split, there's a strategy that
[44:55] but Aaron ultimately approves, I'm always, I mean.
[45:00] They said to be diversified, but thank you. I just wanted to, when we saw these up here, I just wanted clarification on that. Thank you. Thank you, sir.
[45:08] I'll continue. So, I'll go back on to trust the, so let's discuss the library positions. So I did in the budget. I recommended removing seven library positions to make the budget balanced while this is a, it's a very difficult decision, right?
[45:30] And so the decision is that we need to reduce reoccurring expenses, right?
[45:38] So as we've been working on balancing the budget the last few years,
[45:42] we've reduced a lot of non one time expenses.
[45:45] And so you just saw the slide before this, again, we did it again this year.
[45:50] I mean, we've reduced delayed, maybe remove some of the projects,
[45:54] the $3.5 million of one time expenses, right?
[45:57] So, but the reoccurring expenses have to be equal to the revenues in the county.
[46:02] So at the existing revenue, the existing revenue rates that comes in from advalorum and from state revenue sharing that we get, half-send we get from the revenues in the state.
[46:14] And then the funding all the county office and the public office office doesn't, it doesn't work.
[46:23] We've reduced, we'll get you in a minute, we've reduced operating expenses throughout the county.
[46:27] We're down almost 9.77%, the county's expenses are going down.
[46:34] The close is, the question is, that's why the library, right?
[46:39] So the closing, as it looked across the county, and it's not only library, it's the mother departments.
[46:45] The closing of the library does reduce programs for the citizens in this area.
[46:51] It's amazing programs that have happened in our library system.
[46:54] But it doesn't give rid of the library access, right?
[46:58] It's a little bit more of a convenience than a total loss because we do have the other libraries availability.
[47:12] So this is better, this is better.
[47:15] Guys, I know there's a lot of passion around this, thank you for being here.
[47:18] You're going to get your opportunity to speak.
[47:20] anybody that wants to speak is going to get an opportunity to speak.
[47:23] This is an official budget meeting and we're going to run it as accordingly.
[47:28] Please don't interrupt the presentation.
[47:30] You will get your opportunity to speak.
[47:31] Thank you.
[47:35] So this impact, it was a little, I believe, a little as impactful than some of the other impacts of closing like a permanent park.
[47:49] like, you know, I'll tell you because then the pickleball courts will be available and you may
[47:52] it all, right? And so the ability of our library system to still provide a resource at other locations,
[47:59] I believe was a little bit of a less of an impact now. I don't like making decisions. They're amazing
[48:04] team members of our county and they're not very easy decisions to make decisions as we go forward.
[48:14] Now the secondary issue that I've already mentioned here is why so why make a
[48:20] a decision at all about changing a level of service in a county.
[48:25] And I know it's not nice.
[48:27] It depends on what we believe in the future.
[48:32] If the $31 million that we just talked about happens,
[48:39] and why continue to invest in something that next year,
[48:45] I believe all close to more.
[48:47] I just hate to say it, but I just don't have the answer yet.
[48:49] I don't have the answer with the property tax thing pending yet.
[48:55] And that's why I mentioned legislative changes next year.
[48:58] They can help fix this thing if people vote the property tax then.
[49:01] If the public hold is looking good, that how we're going to fund the government.
[49:05] You just saw that the numbers that you have left will fund your constitution also in your public safety.
[49:11] The non required things in your county, and it's not only that code enforcement.
[49:19] A lot of things planning, permitting is all going to be very, how we fund that next year.
[49:23] So that's the decision, the library, the west side library where we can get into details about which library that one is currently closed in an AC upgrade that we're working on, be done a couple of months, hence why my opinion is close just one to another library, but we can have that conversation where, but the amount, the number of the amount of money and I know this in question, yes.
[49:49] Thank you, sir.
[49:50] Commissioner Champion.
[49:51] Thank you, sir.
[49:52] I was going to leave this at the end, but I'll go ahead and mention it now.
[49:55] At first, I'm going to just talk about the poll.
[49:57] And, you know, we have to look at this and say,
[49:59] Thank you.
[50:02] And I appreciate all the, what 1000 emails probably, 1000 emails and all the people that are supporting the libraries. I mean, that's a good thing. And you know what, more people should show up in these meetings and more people should be passionate because you could change government that way. So I appreciate that. So right now the polls are, and it was two different media sources that's 64%. And that was the main Florida polls. I mean, and you know what, I think there's a lot of people that aren't coming out for it, and they're going, will I save $2,000 in my taxes?
[50:29] when they go into the polling booth, they're going to check yes.
[50:32] I don't care what party you're part of, they're going to check yes
[50:33] because the money's better in their pocket than the government.
[50:36] I know you made a different opinion.
[50:37] But there is options for the library.
[50:39] And I know most of you guys are here for the library.
[50:41] Other counties have an MSTU for libraries and parks.
[50:45] You could have a separate taxing line.
[50:47] And I'm all for putting out a rough random and having you vote.
[50:51] If a majority of Hernando County says we need a separate taxing line
[50:55] to fund all the libraries,
[50:58] I'm with the people, if the majority votes that way, I'm fine with it.
[51:01] We can do the same thing for parks.
[51:03] We can do the same thing for some of these other categories.
[51:05] Now, I mean, there's requirements and new voting standards and, you know, etc, etc to do that.
[51:11] But I'm not about just getting ahead of it.
[51:12] I would like if the will of people says, hey, we want to cut the taxes and they vote this thing through,
[51:17] then I'm not going to arbitrarily vote it and say, we're going to determine that we're going to do this.
[51:21] We put it on ballot and we would ask you whether you want this or not.
[51:25] You know, so there is options, this is not the end-all-be-all, you know, this is this talk right now, because in order to be responsible, because our number one job is to control the budget, and taxing and basing laws, and the kind of we said policy for you, whether, you know, you get a shed or a fence, and how you get tax on your property, and each of these individual departments, and they enterprise funds, how they're funded, and how you affected.
[51:49] So, that's our job, but this is coming from the state and this is our governor's priority
[51:53] along with our CFO to reduce taxes on you, because you've been burned with this large
[51:58] tax bill.
[51:59] Maybe some of you don't have the large tax bill, I'm not sure.
[52:02] But looking at the holes right now, it would be irresponsible to say, are we going to increase
[52:06] anything?
[52:07] So, I mean, my vote is leaving it flat, that's what I want to be, like leave it alone, leave
[52:14] the library budget alone, leave all the departments alone, and that would be one more year with
[52:18] the status quo. Now, would you have increases, would you have raises? Maybe not. I don't know.
[52:22] You know, but is it responsible to increase it? You know, when you right now, you've got
[52:28] a sure thing pretty much is going to go through and they're going to cut the taxes by 48 million.
[52:32] Then what do we do? Then next year, we have to cut even more than we have what we're going to cut
[52:35] right now or if we leave it flat. And we have a lot of discussions and this is the first meeting.
[52:39] We've got several meetings on this. I appreciate your passion about it, but there's counties.
[52:46] There's
[52:46] separate line for libraries.
[52:48] They have a separate MSTU for libraries.
[52:50] They're funding that.
[52:51] They're funding that.
[52:52] No, we don't do that here, but we can.
[52:55] I mean, it's possible.
[52:57] You know, so if I'd rather really like to be a referendum,
[52:59] I like to have a vote for the people and says,
[53:01] hey, due to the changing of taxes,
[53:04] and maybe that's a 2028, would it be 2028, right?
[53:06] So it would be 2028, now would be that,
[53:08] would that be the second year of the first year?
[53:10] That would be our first year of the cuts,
[53:11] but you're going into the second year.
[53:13] It would be the second year of the second year.
[53:14] So it'd be painful, but does that mean that we can't vote that through and fully find it if the public came out and said?
[53:21] But I think it's more than just libraries. I think parks is another one.
[53:24] I think people are passionate about parks. And what is the first thing we cut every time, every single time we have the cut of budget, parks get slashed.
[53:32] I thought the Chris Lindsay back about that are leader of that department just yesterday. And I'm sorry, man. Every single time it seems like that's a low hanging fruit.
[53:41] So, we'll see what happens with this whole thing, but there are options, so I'm telling you, thank you.
[53:45] Yeah, I mean, that's some good discussion points about, you know, they must treat your other counties, do you have a sit-out that I need to get five libraries, and so I kind of agree with you about, you know, the mill, that's why I kind of proposed the millage stay in flat, is that same reason, right?
[53:57] And so, if we keep it flat this year, and I didn't increase it, so you know, I agree with you that we keep it flat, then kind of wait to see what happens in November, right? Maybe.
[54:05] Okay.
[54:06] Thank you, sir.
[54:07] The attorney is driving.
[54:08] Yeah.
[54:08] I just wanted to clarify what commissioner champion said.
[54:12] As far as he kept referring to a BU, but it's actually a TU.
[54:15] Okay.
[54:16] It makes stuff sometimes, yeah.
[54:17] Yeah.
[54:17] For the benefit of the audience, benefit unit is non-advalor.
[54:23] And a taxing unit is advalor.
[54:25] I meant TU, sorry.
[54:27] And that would be based on value.
[54:28] Correct.
[54:29] That would be based on value.
[54:29] The BU is based on a property benefit.
[54:32] It's a BU standard for benefit.
[54:33] like fire, every single property benefits from fire.
[54:37] In my opinion, I think every single property benefits from police too.
[54:41] But the law says we can't do that. I much rather have that.
[54:45] I much rather have a BU that says everyone pays for police because we all benefit from it.
[54:49] We want law and order, right? We don't want any, we don't want victims here.
[54:53] But they don't allow us to do that. I've never mentioned that a bunch of times.
[54:55] And I think it's something we can talk to the legislation about because I think I'm okay.
[55:00] Every single person benefits of that. It makes a lot of sense. Thank you, sir. Commissioner Alaka. Thank you. I just, this wasn't my original question, but I'm going to ask it now that it just came on. To do an MSTU, you would literally be increasing millage at that point. That's why I asked for a vote. I'm just saying, but I'm just saying I want to make sure we're all understanding. I find it highly unlikely that a board is going to want to increase taxes after a referendum.
[55:30] I'm not for it. I've said you would before it if they voted for it.
[55:33] If they voted for it, that's not the vote for yourself eventually to put it on there.
[55:38] Any time I can give the public a chance to vote, I would be about that.
[55:41] Okay, so here's my concern. This budget, which you're presenting right now,
[55:45] isn't even going to roll back. Correct?
[55:49] No, I wouldn't go to roll back.
[55:50] Okay, so including the cuts that are here already, we're not even to roll back yet.
[55:54] I just want to make sure that we're all aware of that means we're not aware of it.
[55:59] That doesn't mean that everything stays the same.
[56:01] We're about 10 million below where it would be from last year because we used reserves to balance the budget.
[56:08] And then we used more reserves to get the body worn camera.
[56:12] We used more reserves to fix the problem etching, see get help.
[56:14] We used more reserves for that building repair.
[56:17] I just want to make sure we're all on the same page.
[56:20] So my concern, because we were in the middle of the library discussion.
[56:24] And I'll be transparent, I'm in the west side of the county, right?
[56:29] That's my district.
[56:30] And that library has the best resources I believe for children.
[56:36] It's one of the, it's
[56:43] also in one of the busiest, most populated sectors of our county it provides services to Wikiwachi.
[56:51] Please, please, please, please, please, let me finish.
[56:54] We keep watching Hernando Beach, Northwest, her Spring Hill, and obviously the Royal Highlands area.
[57:03] Now, again, we have to have conversations here, and we do have to talk about how do we streamline?
[57:10] How do we find ways to reduce costs?
[57:13] If there had to be one, and none of us want that, I don't think that this is the right place.
[57:19] It's because of the population that it, that benefits.
[57:23] We have a spring hill outside that gets the south side of Spring Hill, a big portion of the community.
[57:29] We know the west, I mean the east side is the growing, I'm just concerned that if something has to happen.
[57:37] If I don't think this is the right place for it to happen based off of the, because we're supposed to be providing services for the population as a whole.
[57:45] And that's my biggest concern.
[57:47] If we're going to have to reduce, I think we have to be strategic about conveniences one thing,
[57:53] making sure you're close to the population center is a big part of that.
[57:58] And that's just one of my concerns, I just want to bring that forth.
[58:01] I've had this conversation with you already, administrator, again that's just my concern.
[58:06] If we have to go in that direction, I think that this is not a good place for
[58:11] that to happen because, again, of the population center, the population growth.
[58:15] And the fact that it's our best one, I believe, for the children.
[58:19] Thank you, sir.
[58:24] Mr. Champion, thank you.
[58:26] I just want to clarify a couple things.
[58:29] It's kind of misleading because this is done on purpose to mislead you.
[58:32] So when you look at all these firefighters, EMS, because we didn't increase and
[58:36] say because we can't afford to staff a brand new station, that's what these
[58:42] positions are coming from.
[58:43] We did not cut a dime from fire.
[58:45] We didn't cut anything, and we don't plan on cutting a dime.
[58:48] We already voted on this. They're getting the same money, the same rate they had last year,
[58:52] and we have one of the best ratings, ISO ratings, in the state of Florida, ISO2.
[58:58] Pasco's worse, Citrus's worse, Sumters worse. So, when we voted on this,
[59:02] at least the way I voted on it, I voted not to expand because we can't afford it right now.
[59:07] So, this is misleading because most of those positions are all for a new station brand new.
[59:13] So, that's not being cut. That's not being cut from the current head count, right?
[59:16] Now, the library thing is put out in public and put out there by staff to scare you as well
[59:23] because it's such a small percentage.
[59:25] I mean, you showed them, right?
[59:27] .05 mils, right?
[59:29] But it gets all of you out here to talk about it.
[59:31] Now, granted, we have to do what we have to do.
[59:33] This is one step of dozens of things that are going to have to be cut.
[59:38] This is not just libraries, you know, $48 million is a lot.
[59:42] But again, we're all going to remind you that 2019, to now, it's a 143 percent increase.
[59:47] So what was our budget of 2019?
[59:49] Maybe we need to pull that out.
[59:50] Maybe we need to look at 2019 and say, what have we spent in 2019, you know, and then
[59:54] go back to that budget?
[59:55] I don't know.
[59:55] You know, but this stuff is meant to, this meant, this is...
[1:00:01] If I vote for this tax, they're going to take all the libraries away. Well, there is options to fix that, like I told you earlier. So, you know, that you've got to be careful what you're looking at on the screen because remember, I represent you, and so do these other commissioners, not government, not the administrator. In fact, he works for us, along with the lawyer. We represent you, and all these governments are on the state are trying to scare you. Don't vote for this tax cut. You know, the $2,000 is better off in our pocket than yours.
[1:00:28] Because that's about the average savings of anyone that's going to, you know, on a homestead, especially when it gets a full amount.
[1:00:34] You know, $2,000 is it better off in our hands to make decisions with or better off in your hands?
[1:00:40] You know, and that's the argument. It's going to be, and you know what, whatever the citizens vote for, I'm going to respect that.
[1:00:44] If it fails, it fails. If it passes, that's what we got to do. Right now it's passing.
[1:00:49] And you know, when I think these numbers are underestimating, who's going to not cut their, when you walk into that booth and you go, yes or no?
[1:00:55] So it's like, well, no, I'd rather pay $2,000 more.
[1:00:58] Let me just go ahead and check, no.
[1:01:01] Homeowners aren't gonna do that.
[1:01:02] They're not gonna do it, right?
[1:01:04] So that's what they're realistic thing
[1:01:05] we have to deal with right now.
[1:01:06] And this is about scare and you for the library.
[1:01:09] And granted, it's realistic too.
[1:01:11] It could happen, you know?
[1:01:12] And, but again, this is so much passion about it.
[1:01:15] You know that maybe we need to look at
[1:01:16] a different funding source and talk about in the future.
[1:01:19] I'm gonna separate line for libraries.
[1:01:20] Thank you.
[1:01:21] Thank you, Sarah.
[1:01:22] I'm gonna try to lock up.
[1:01:23] Well, I just want to be clear and I want our administrator to answer this.
[1:01:28] Are we talking right now when we're looking at things?
[1:01:30] Are we talking about making budget this year or are we talking about in 2028?
[1:01:36] This is 2027 budget.
[1:01:38] Is it, these patients that we're talking about eliminate the fire because it's fine.
[1:01:44] But the rest of this budget that we're discussing today, is it for today or are we talking about 2028?
[1:01:48] Okay.
[1:01:49] This budget starts October 1st of 2026.
[1:01:54] Okay, thank you.
[1:01:54] So this budget that we're proposing now is not impacted by the property tax referendum.
[1:02:02] So I mean, that's the, but this budget you impact this year sets you up for where you're going to be.
[1:02:09] So next year when you're here, the past is it's going to be, it's not going to be the 10 million or something I'm sure this year, it's going to be 31 million, right?
[1:02:18] So, it is the future, the property tax thing is a future budget, but I think proper financial management you prepare for things in the future and not you wait for them to come.
[1:02:29] Okay, follow-up?
[1:02:30] Yes, sir.
[1:02:31] Okay, and I want to agree with Commissioner Champion.
[1:02:35] If it passes, it will be the law of the land and whoever is sitting on this board will be required to provide a balanced budget with those new rules.
[1:02:45] But right now, today, the conversations we're having are, how do we get to the budgets that we need this year, which is rollback, and this is higher than rollback that we're talking about.
[1:02:59] And if we are going to spend the tax money that we are going to be bringing in next year, where do we spend it so that we're not just throwing it away?
[1:03:08] Okay. Okay. I hope that's what this discussion is about. That's what we're talking about, responsible spending of the money.
[1:03:14] Right. If something is likely to get closed down next year, it doesn't make sense for us to invest more in that.
[1:03:21] It makes more sense to try to solidify the things that we have that we know we can hopefully keep going.
[1:03:27] Okay. That's what this is about. And if it gets hot up here, please recognize we don't get to talk about this outside of these meetings.
[1:03:33] Okay, and we all we all stand on our own we all have to give our our two cents on this but in the end all four of us
[1:03:40] Never budget we have there's no leeway in this budget
[1:03:44] We're all got to come together as four commissioners and pass a budget that is going to be balanced by law has to be balanced
[1:03:52] And it's also going to provide the maximum services to the community so that you're getting something for your tax money
[1:03:59] Thank you, sir
[1:04:00] I want to continue on, I also removed one code enforcement officer in the position and one part-time maintenance position.
[1:04:09] Those positions come open and just stop filling open positions that are not, well, I make judgment calls on what things are critical in the daily operations of the county, that's my job.
[1:04:20] And so those positions are not funded in next year's budget.
[1:04:28] The slide shows a few of the unfunded mandates the county is responsible for funding.
[1:04:34] The detention center currently $24 million, $716,192.
[1:04:41] There is juvenile detention that is $1,392,375.
[1:04:46] the medical examiner at $782,132 and Medicaid $4,659,161.
[1:05:00] So, if you think about any, some of you have been here many years, that Medicaid number used to be like 3 million, used to be a 25% 50% share with the county, right? And so now you got 100% of that cost to the county. Over 4.4 million, 4.6 million. I mean, talk about raising cost to government debts. And then secondly, I, I'd like to watch a lot of legislation stuff and Florida channel and stuff. And so the state of
[1:05:29] You know last year when the government shut down, you learned a lot about SNAP benefits, right?
[1:05:33] And so our county, I think there's 25,000 people that have SNAP benefits.
[1:05:37] That's federal dollars applied for people for nutrition assistance, program, right?
[1:05:42] So the federal government pays for that.
[1:05:44] There is a current move in Washington, D.C., for states to pay for paying for portion of that cost.
[1:05:50] Your state legislator had a home workshop on that.
[1:05:53] You can go watch enough for the channel on how they're going to try to figure out how much your percentage share of it is.
[1:05:59] I believe if past history is correct, I'm preparing for the county of one day for us to pay for that portion of that cost, right?
[1:06:08] And those costs are in the millions, millions of millions of dollars.
[1:06:11] So I would expect in the future years, two or three years for us to have another one called SNAP benefits of a couple million dollars a year.
[1:06:20] So just, I like to figure out what's coming in the future and I think they're going to increase unfortunately.
[1:06:26] Thank you, sir. For the benefit of the public, I just want to expound on the unfunded mandates for a second.
[1:06:35] So these are items that the state requires the county to provide, but they don't give us funds to do it.
[1:06:41] So we have to pay for it. When somebody passes away and a lot of times involved in a crime,
[1:06:48] medical examiner has to step in. Guess who's paying for that? You are, right?
[1:06:53] When people behave bad and we have to detain them, guess who's paying for that, you are.
[1:07:00] Unfortunately, our kids are in a lot of ways being neglected.
[1:07:05] It'll family units are falling apart, and there's a lot of things going on there.
[1:07:11] We've got a lot of positive things happening as well, but juvenile detention and
[1:07:16] the mental health problem in this county and in the state and
[1:07:21] in this nation and really around the world is an issue.
[1:07:25] And so all of those things we have to pay for,
[1:07:28] but they're not giving, they're not providing us funds
[1:07:30] to do so, and that number continues to go up.
[1:07:33] You can imagine, right?
[1:07:36] So that's what that unfunded mandate is.
[1:07:40] It's something that we're required to provide,
[1:07:42] but we don't have the funds to do it.
[1:07:44] We have to provide for ourselves via taxing the public,
[1:07:49] And that's where it comes really, really, really tough situation.
[1:07:53] Commissioner Alaco.
[1:07:55] Thank you for hitting on that.
[1:07:57] I'm just going to look at the top two, the tension center and juvenile detention.
[1:08:03] Okay, add those numbers up.
[1:08:04] You're looking at over $26 million coming out of your taxes every year because people can't behave properly.
[1:08:13] And that doesn't even include the cost for the Sheriff's Department to start the process.
[1:08:17] Okay? And so we're looking at long-term ways to control cost of government, there you go.
[1:08:24] All right, we all have to do a better job and the people that are in our lives to make those numbers go down.
[1:08:30] And that doesn't even include the court system, which by the way, is that when they have to increase their numbers of judges, and then all the staff beneath them,
[1:08:39] that's the reason why the county is no longer in this building, that's another basically unfunded mandate.
[1:08:45] because now we had to find another place for all our county offices to be, right?
[1:08:50] And so new buildings, new electrical, new liability insurance, all that kind of stuff,
[1:08:55] because this courthouse got too busy because people can't behave again.
[1:09:00] And so you just think about that, and listen, I know a lot of people need Medicaid.
[1:09:05] I'm a health care professional for over 20 years, 25 years, six years now.
[1:09:09] Gosh, 27, it's getting old, that's the gray hair coming from, right?
[1:09:13] But the reality is, you know, we all know there's fraud there.
[1:09:17] We all know there's people who don't need it that are using it, and because it, and we all know that there are people who definitely need it, who probably should be able to have more of it, right?
[1:09:26] But there's fraud there, and yet here we are, we have to pay for that as tax payers, it's just, these are big expenses.
[1:09:35] You know, if we weren't, didn't have, this county didn't have that $26 million that we were responsible for, we wouldn't be having this conversation.
[1:09:42] I can tell you that right now but but there we are and we talk about the health department where mandatory having to pay for that too
[1:09:49] It is the state health department that happens to be in Hernando County, but it isn't just for Hernando County residents
[1:09:57] So I just just those are things that I know
[1:10:00] It's convenient to get angry with us. And that's okay. That's what we could pay for, right? We signed up for it. We ran for office to get yelled at. But in the end, we have to balance a budget, but we also have to be honest with you with these are expenses. And I think most of our legislators are doing a fantastic job. But in the end of the day, these are unfunded mandates. These are things that maybe one less tax holiday and help fund these things. We make more sense. I don't want to do that.
[1:10:29] Thank you, sir, Commissioner Champion.
[1:10:31] Thank you, I agree 100% and actually your last comment kind of relates to what I was going to say.
[1:10:36] I think we need to, as a commission come together, we disagree on some things, but we agree on this.
[1:10:41] I think we need to have a letter to the Governor, he tells that we have all this extra money, we're paying down reserves, and
[1:10:47] cover Medicaid, cover the medical's hammer, help us do the detention centers because we're required to do it.
[1:10:53] I think we need to start pushing back on the legislators to say, just get rid of these unfunded mandates,
[1:10:57] and we wouldn't have a problem with that, because there's a lot of revenue that's coming
[1:11:01] into the states and it's obviously where a tourist destination is a lot of money that
[1:11:05] comes in that way.
[1:11:06] So, but there's got to be some fundamental changes like we talked earlier about the road
[1:11:10] paving.
[1:11:11] And most of you, I bet you've raised your hand and say, do you think your property tax is
[1:11:15] fund roads?
[1:11:18] Nobody's raised their hand, so maybe you know.
[1:11:20] But most of it is not funded by your property tax, it's funded by gas tax, and that's policy
[1:11:24] from Tallahassee. And Tallahassee steps the limit, and I believe it's what 15 cents for
[1:11:28] Gellon, it's been the same for 20, well it's been the same for years and years, a lot
[1:11:31] of money. But years and years, but even though cars got more efficient, electric cars don't
[1:11:35] pay anything, and whether it's five dollars a gallon or two dollars a gallon, we get 15 cents.
[1:11:39] You know, so, and has the expenses changed? Have the, have the expenses doubled or tripled? But,
[1:11:43] but again, Tallahassee's pushing this stuff on us as well, and that's something I don't agree
[1:11:47] with, I think that if they're going to push something on you, they need to add some funding
[1:11:50] with it. You know so why can't we as a board send a letter to the governor and say you need
[1:11:55] to help the counties with these unfunded mandates. You know and it's worth a try they may just tell
[1:11:59] us a panel saying and they've never been respond to us but but again this would yeah we wouldn't be
[1:12:04] having this conversation you wouldn't be in here we would be talking about libraries because all that money
[1:12:06] would be paying for those things. Thank you. I'll go back to the medical examiner for a second each
[1:12:12] one of us said on different boards representing this board on other boards. I have the privilege of
[1:12:18] sitting on the medical examiner board and representing this board and that capacity.
[1:12:25] So the medical examiner, we've already created as much efficiency as we can, right?
[1:12:31] There's always opportunities, but we're running pretty efficient, so we don't just run this
[1:12:37] on our own, we share this with five other counties.
[1:12:40] And so, but one of the things that really drives that number up is we want justice for victims,
[1:12:47] right? Or were a nation of justice? And so when people behave badly and somebody loses their life,
[1:12:56] they end up in a medical examiner's office. Now that medical examiner is going to be called as an
[1:13:02] expert witness. Guess who pays for that? You do on behalf of all the victims out there, right? So it's
[1:13:09] again, it's an unfounded mandate. Can you imagine that the medical examiner's cost to go and be an expert
[1:13:18] So these are all of the things that we're dealing with that the normal general public doesn't understand and so that's why when it comes to these decisions, they're really, really, really tough decisions, you know, what do you do?
[1:13:34] You want justice for the victim and so we have to fund that.
[1:13:40] I just want to bring one other thing in this to light, and this isn't going to be, this isn't going to be probably well received, but I got to say it anyway, we can go back to 2020, and I'm going to tell you, not all of these expenses, but a significant amount of these expenses are people.
[1:13:58] Okay, and if we go back to 2020, the voters of the state of Florida voted in a referendum.
[1:14:05] And I think most of you can remember when I bring it up, they thought it was a really good idea to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour.
[1:14:12] And as of September 1st of this year, the cost for the bottom line employment and then includes government to increase by 75%.
[1:14:24] Okay, $8.53, so it was at $0.56, whatever, $0.3 is going to make a difference, $0.15, as of September 1st of this year, that is a 75% increase.
[1:14:37] Now, when you work for government, you're part of the Florida retirement system, okay?
[1:14:41] And so we have to now, we have to contribute to the Florida retirement system for each one of our employees.
[1:14:46] And I love our first responders, they do a very, very difficult job.
[1:14:50] every first responder who's listening to me right now. I love you, I love what you do,
[1:14:55] and I appreciate it. But every year, to make sure that the state remains
[1:15:00] All our high risk employees have been getting significant increases in the mandatory contributions that the taxpayer pays into their retirement. Every year, we're talking, we're not talking about small amounts, we're talking 2% a year, 2% a year, 2% a year. That adds up over time. So the cost of employment, or labor, I should say, has gone up significantly. And every time a detention center needs more people, every time a juvenile detention needs more medical, whatever parks and rec, you name it.
[1:15:29] That cost has gone up tremendously, and I'm not even talking about the inflation that happened after COVID, right?
[1:15:35] And notice nothing came down.
[1:15:37] It's amazing how that happened.
[1:15:39] When COVID ended, the prices didn't come back down.
[1:15:41] So I want you to understand that there are always unintended consequences.
[1:15:46] And we're doing our best to make sure this works.
[1:15:48] And again, we're going to have arguments back and forth.
[1:15:50] I'm sure it's going to be heated at times.
[1:15:52] But we're trying to, this board has to make a budget based off what the law is.
[1:15:58] And at $15 minimum wage, listen, when the tide comes in votes rise.
[1:16:03] Nobody who was making $15 an hour in 2020 is going to do the work they were doing in 2020 when they can scoop ice cream for $15 an hour now.
[1:16:12] But just, that's the way it is.
[1:16:14] Thank you, sir.
[1:16:17] Okay, sir?
[1:16:18] Yep, good, Aaron.
[1:16:20] This slide recapped the military, the current military, and then the rate that is proposed,
[1:16:28] which is the same rate for fiscal year 27.
[1:16:31] There's also the rollback rate that you can see and then the different.
[1:16:37] So the current military total 7.8275, the rollback rate for fiscal year 27, total 7.7048.
[1:16:48] and that is a difference of 1.59 percent between the current military and the
[1:16:56] rollback rates.
[1:17:01] There's a recap of the constitutional budgets. I will say what
[1:17:05] you're looking at right now shows the basically the request and the adopted
[1:17:14] budget.
[1:17:17] The sheriff had a amendment during the year to have body worn cameras
[1:17:22] that is not reflected in here because that was not part of the adopted budget.
[1:17:26] So when you go back and you look at his budget with that amendment, his increase is about 7%.
[1:17:32] Also, the supervisor elections had some special elections in her budget, adopted budget.
[1:17:39] And so that's why that is showing a decrease because obviously those special elections are not in her request for fiscal year 27.
[1:17:46] in? This case made, Miss Doren. So, same thing with the Sheriff's Office. Commissioner
[1:17:53] Alaco alluded to a fire in EMS and the FRS and the money that we have to pay into the
[1:17:59] retirement system, which again, these are people that are running toward danger. These
[1:18:04] are people that are up in the middle of the night protecting us. We appreciate every one
[1:18:08] of them. But if you look at the unfunded mandates, the things that the Sheriff's Office
[1:18:15] has no control over like the FRS, I think the line item went up to 100%, but as a total
[1:18:21] budget, 2% of his total budget. If you look at unfunded mandates, and Ms. Daring just said
[1:18:27] his budget went up 7%, unfunded mandates are over 6% of that. So that's what you have to keep
[1:18:34] in the account when you're having this conversation as well. Commissioner champion, thank you.
[1:18:39] So I want to clarify that when we put these numbers up, we need to separate
[1:18:45] They're enterprise funds that come in, like for example the tax collector we've paid nothing
[1:18:49] None of your taxes are going to it. It's going there. They work on revenue
[1:18:53] So that line should be stricken. It has nothing to do anything, right? If actually gives us money back
[1:18:57] So actually helps them out helps a budget in the year. The clerk's house does it. It's not completely funded
[1:19:02] But they do bring in revenue. So this property pays are very little the surprise elections is 100% tax funded because we got to have elections
[1:19:09] It just what happens this year, you know, we don't have that special election
[1:19:12] So it's gonna be reduced. That's a good thing
[1:19:14] But the sheriff's office is 100% you know, avalorum, I mean it's coming from, I shouldn't say that, there is some
[1:19:20] propped shared revenue with sales taxes and things like that, and there's some of that that comes in as well.
[1:19:26] But you know, it's kind of disingenuous to put like tax collector up there, okay, she's 2.39%.
[1:19:31] Well, she works on 100% revenue, it does not come from your taxes.
[1:19:34] I mean, unless you count your paying sales tax under a vehicle and stuff like that, which it is a tax.
[1:19:39] It's just a different form of tax. It's not the same, they're the same lover.
[1:19:44] I'll just say, the reason that is up there is, chapter 129 requires it to be part of this presentation.
[1:19:51] I don't think it's part of the tax discussion.
[1:19:53] I understand you point, yeah.
[1:19:56] Okay.
[1:19:59] Thank you.
[1:20:00] My question was going to be, do we know in those budgets what percentage are new mandates that were added? That was where I was going to get out of it. And it becomes difficult, but we do have to figure that out, right? Because if we want to, let's just make it as elementary as possible. If we want to keep services the same, but we're mandated with increased costs in certain budgets. How do we make that happen, right? If the cost goes up.
[1:20:29] And so I was just curious, I think the last I heard from the sheriff, it was like set around 2.1% was FRS increases.
[1:20:37] And to be clear, when I say first responders, I'm including sheriff's department in that conversation.
[1:20:44] And frankly, I think our detention officers are they part of those high risk as well, they can say high risk, if they're going up as well.
[1:20:52] And 9-1-1 operators, sometimes, I'm not sure if they were in the latest.
[1:20:57] Yeah, I think it was a move, I can't, could I check with the sheriff on, I'm not sure, okay, I believe so.
[1:21:02] I think it was a move that they wanted to talk, that should be, that's a really tough job too, the stuff that they have to listen to.
[1:21:07] I wouldn't want to have to rehearse those in my head at night trying to sleep so, okay, thank you.
[1:21:16] This is a breakdown from the Sheriff's Office budget.
[1:21:19] So these are the different categories that are turned in, so you can see the difference between law enforcement,
[1:21:26] the detention center, the courthouse security, and then animal services.
[1:21:31] And again, that is the adopted budget and the budget request.
[1:21:36] So it is slightly different because they received an amendment during the middle of the year to add body-worn cameras.
[1:21:45] Man, yes, sir.
[1:21:47] And that was one of the unfunded mandates that I was bringing up.
[1:21:49] Courthouse Security, the state tells us what we've got to have there, right?
[1:21:53] So they add more staff because of the court system having to grow.
[1:21:59] So again, we have no choice but to fund that, and that becomes challenging.
[1:22:03] And it's interesting that it comes out of the sheriff budget, but I guess because he has to provide the deputies.
[1:22:11] The bailiffs.
[1:22:12] Yeah, I think he's a part of the security law enforcement officer of the county where he's in charge of safety and security.
[1:22:19] Well, the jail is our responsibility, we just, we've ponded off to the sheriff.
[1:22:23] So I mean, I mean, yes, you could not use the law enforcement officer the better.
[1:22:28] And you touched me, you wanted that way.
[1:22:29] There's only one private one left in the state, and that one's not doing real well.
[1:22:33] And he's the best at providing security at the courthouse, right?
[1:22:36] Why would you have someone that's not in the law for some of this is doing, right?
[1:22:39] That's why we do separate it, right?
[1:22:41] So we make sure we separate that from him.
[1:22:44] It would be the best to run it, right?
[1:22:45] Well, what I would say right now, but I just want to, it's just strange that it has to go anyway.
[1:22:50] It's probably a law, no.
[1:22:51] And as I said, it's part of the Article 5 funding unfunded mandate.
[1:22:54] Hopefully it's all the courthouses, computers, all of the state attorneys off the tech services,
[1:22:59] property, public defender, all of those things, the state has required us to fund with no funds to do it.
[1:23:09] And they all work hard too, it's by the way.
[1:23:11] Well, just continue that conversation, I believe, if you look at the sheriff's office budget.
[1:23:17] There's an unfunded mandate for a position for a bail-up in this calendar year, so that would add to that number.
[1:23:26] To the point of Commissioner O'Locko, the operation of the jail is this board's responsibility.
[1:23:34] And the sheriff has graciously taking on that responsibility on our behalf.
[1:23:41] Animal Services is also our responsibility to share if it's taken that.
[1:23:46] Animal Controls, our responsibility to share if it's taken that, crossing guards is our responsibility to share if it's taken that.
[1:23:54] So when you see the sheriff's budget and people increasing, all of that has something to do with it.
[1:24:01] Commissioner Champion, thank you.
[1:24:03] Any crime is too much crime, I think we could all agree with that.
[1:24:06] We don't want crime in our community, especially by that crime, nobody would want that.
[1:24:09] So, one murder is too much, one assault is too much, et cetera.
[1:24:13] Having said that though, that in our president talks about it all the time, so it was our governor, and the numbers are the numbers.
[1:24:18] So, Florida is down 8.7% by the crime.
[1:24:22] Those are their numbers.
[1:24:23] Down it was 10%.
[1:24:24] Technology is helping.
[1:24:25] There's a lot of things helping around the, you know, to affect crime is a good thing.
[1:24:31] This naturally, property crimes down 9.3%, violent crimes down 12.4%.
[1:24:36] So, hearing those numbers, why is there a double digit increase every single year?
[1:24:41] And we also, we're law enforcement, we're all Republicans up here, and we all swear an oath at a Constitution, and you know what, I think we all attend to a buy by that.
[1:24:49] But at the same time, there's not an unlimited sky of revenue.
[1:24:53] You can't keep going up and up and up forever, and in business, you would never do that.
[1:24:57] So obviously with a new law.
[1:25:00] All we can't touch, we can't go lower if they say this thing passes, we can't go lower and reduce this budget. That's kind of built in. And there's a lot of safeguards built in to make sure counties don't go strict, first responders away, which is a good thing. But at the same time, do you keep increasing double digits? And that's a real question, you know, that you've got to look at and say, okay, but again, you go back to what I say is one crime too much. There was an ugly crime that was supported today, and then involved a former police officer doing things that little kids had just got arrested last night.
[1:25:30] night right around the corner, five super felony counts of touching a step
[1:25:35] daughter looks like under 12 years old sick you know I mean that kind of
[1:25:40] stuff is like one of those is too much that is not that's not good you know I mean
[1:25:45] so so of course we got to have law enforcement of course we got to have we got to
[1:25:48] protect the kids etc but but again you got to look at it say do we increase when
[1:25:53] the primates now or did we say the same I don't know I don't know what that
[1:25:56] answer is I guess I'll determine that today or another day this is just
[1:26:03] It's a very good conversation, I just wanted to see if I could clarify, because I thought, with the referendum, it said we couldn't go below 20, 24, 25.
[1:26:15] I believe it's going back a couple of years with it.
[1:26:18] I believe that is correct.
[1:26:20] Okay, so you could go back two fiscal years back.
[1:26:23] Which I mean, can be significant when you look at these numbers.
[1:26:27] I just wanted to make sure, because I thought that's within that, I didn't know if that was one of the things they took away at the last minute like the trust fund that was supposed to help the counties, so I didn't know if that was changed or not.
[1:26:38] We need to follow up and a lot changed. I didn't see that in it, but there's a there's some
[1:26:44] Anytime a loss pass was like, you know, there's imposing bills that have to pass the fight out. Oh, yes
[1:26:49] So that's how it and so I haven't seen that yet, but it might be in there. I'm not sure. Okay. Thank you
[1:26:54] We can cover that you can't make changes to this sheriff's budget today. Yeah, you can't make it the first
[1:27:01] Get that information for you though for the public hearing
[1:27:04] Just for the benefit of this board and the public
[1:27:06] Like telecommunications, our dispatchers are not in the high-risk FRS, but forensics is.
[1:27:13] Okay.
[1:27:13] Another thing, so I just stated somewhere around the 6% number of the 7% increase is coming
[1:27:21] from unfunded mandates on the Sheriff Office budget, and then the other is made up mostly of body
[1:27:30] warrant cameras.
[1:27:35] Yes, ma'am?
[1:27:35] The
[1:27:38] next key slides go over the funds in particular that are receiving at the loan dollars.
[1:27:44] So the first is the general fund.
[1:27:46] You'll see the fiscal year 26 adopted budget, the fiscal year 27 budget request, and then
[1:27:52] that percentage increase or decrease.
[1:27:55] Obviously, like we discussed earlier, there are other revenue sources within the general
[1:27:59] fund.
[1:28:00] That first line has both the county and the constitutional's included in the total.
[1:28:05] The second line has just general fund without constitutional and that is the 9.72% decrease administration
[1:28:14] Rogers mentioned earlier in the presentation there is a little note at the bottom just
[1:28:19] to let everyone know this also includes grant budgets it does not currently include cash
[1:28:24] carry forward that will come in September and final state revenue estimates are pending.
[1:28:32] Aaron, who comments, when one request, I think in all this we got a lot of things changes, but the total county budget, I don't think you put that on a slide.
[1:28:43] And the total budget for the whole county, because this is a general fund, right?
[1:28:48] And so that went down, right, for the total budget for the county went.
[1:28:52] Yes.
[1:28:53] And if you can look those on and up and tell us those numbers, it's in the budget.
[1:28:57] Obviously it's in the budget of people.
[1:28:58] Why did you work?
[1:28:59] I have it down there.
[1:29:00] I can get it for you.
[1:29:01] Okay.
[1:29:01] Do you want to know?
[1:29:03] Yeah, I'd like to see that number.
[1:29:04] Okay.
[1:29:04] I can tell you we're down on your main dollars.
[1:29:07] The total budget.
[1:29:08] Then the board, the general fund, I came to you about a month
[1:29:12] and a month ago, right?
[1:29:13] And so two month ago, you gave you a preliminary, after I had
[1:29:16] everything in June.
[1:29:17] I was up six percent.
[1:29:20] Ten main deficit.
[1:29:22] Why we are here today.
[1:29:24] Why?
[1:29:24] The revenue's added.
[1:29:25] It's expensive to cut.
[1:29:26] But we got it close to being flat.
[1:29:28] And then you can see the general fund going significantly down on the county side.
[1:29:33] We did, I hope to see we can still do more.
[1:29:36] We've went through the, you have the line-on review of all the departments.
[1:29:42] You can see the changes in operations, we would love things and remove as much as things we could to kind of basically remove, we do see general fund and setting it up for the future, right?
[1:29:54] So we're going to have, we need to have the government's size of the government needs to decrease.
[1:30:01] And so this is an effort by myself and directed to my staff to try to minimize the size of the county government within, without minimizing the impact on the citizens. It's a tough thing for me to do. But that is, that was my attempt to do that is that's why that significant decrease. And then obviously in there there's a lot of maintenance deferred capital projects also deferred.
[1:30:27] And then some operational things are getting reduced, obviously,
[1:30:31] library and code enforcement in parks, but I'll.
[1:30:34] Thank you.
[1:30:35] Chair again.
[1:30:36] Commissioner Acko.
[1:30:38] Just a question, because I'm looking at the description underneath this table,
[1:30:43] says includes grant budgets.
[1:30:45] If we were, I mean, grants are a good thing, right?
[1:30:48] We don't want the county to stop looking for grants, right?
[1:30:51] Because that's money that we don't have to pay things with.
[1:30:54] From the taxes.
[1:30:55] Can you tell us what that general fund looks like if you remove the grants so that, I mean, most people are upset about what's coming out of their tax role, right?
[1:31:05] I mean, when they get taxed on their homes or their properties, that's what we're talking about.
[1:31:10] And I'm just curious what the difference looks like if you pulled out those grants from that, because, again, I'm just trying to figure, because I don't want to discourage the staff from looking for grants.
[1:31:22] If you want to explain how to count and grants worth an accounting, you do it because you're
[1:31:26] any.
[1:31:27] I know it makes it more confusing, but I don't want us to not be looking for grants because
[1:31:31] that helps offset the cost.
[1:31:33] So right now looking at this, when I looked at the revenue and expenses, it was slightly
[1:31:40] over $11 million that was coming in and being expense for grants.
[1:31:45] If you want in September, I can bring you a total list of every grants.
[1:31:49] It would just be helpful.
[1:31:50] Because again, you know, and if we do have, you know, safe for instance, you talk about $11 million in grants and it costs the $50,000 or $70,000 in employees for us to be able to use those grants that, you know, we're looking at, you know, it's like it's dollar for dollar, that makes a lot of sense.
[1:32:07] It's not something we want to cut out, right? Because every time we can get a grant and we can use it to help do something in the county, that's another thing that we're doing that's not being subsidized by the people who are being taxed.
[1:32:19] So, if that's possible, I know you guys are going to be really busy, but I think that would just be helpful for us to understand.
[1:32:24] Yes, we can bring it all us.
[1:32:25] And Aaron, you can correct me if I'm near the expert financial officers, but my understanding,
[1:32:31] I mean, when you get the grant revenue comes in, right, you get the grant coming in.
[1:32:35] Look, we just got 13 million, right?
[1:32:37] So, that 13 million is going to come into the county, but it's also offsetting expense to it, right?
[1:32:43] So, these grants come in, but you have a revenue, and you also have the expenditure that you're spending it on, right?
[1:32:48] So they were all budgeted, you know, in fact, the best way I think to take him, you know, to why maybe you have those out of this is because all those grants are the relevant and expensive.
[1:32:58] So, you know, all of those that 11 million, the revenue and expenditures are included in that right now.
[1:33:03] Because they're part of the Gemma fund when they come in, that's where they're put.
[1:33:08] But he's correct. Obviously, you all see those resolutions when they come forward.
[1:33:11] They have the revenue. They have the expense. Here's where we're going to expend it and it offsets but the public sees that.
[1:33:19] Yeah, so they need to understand it.
[1:33:21] And I think that's also why there is, if you want, and I can provide you a list as well, like we were talking about earlier,
[1:33:29] there are other revenue sources in there that like opioid that we get maybe not considered a grant, but can only be spent on certain activities.
[1:33:38] Technically, I mean, it's an award that we got from a court, it kind of functions the same way as a grant.
[1:33:44] It does function the same way.
[1:33:45] Like I said, I think it's important for the board as well as the community to know that we're working hard to get grants and funds from other sources, but they are being counted in that.
[1:33:56] There.
[1:33:56] And I think it's important for them to see that.
[1:33:58] Yeah, so I will do a list of all of the various funding as earlier, but detailed and then the expenditures and then you can see what's in there.
[1:34:08] That's really not per se a part of maybe what is considered general fund tax dollars, tax dollars.
[1:34:14] It's all part of the budget. The budgets in government are a little different, right?
[1:34:18] I mean, if somebody gives you, you know, you get a card for your birthday with some money in it, you don't usually edit to your income.
[1:34:23] But you would have to do it here, right?
[1:34:26] It's just the way it works in government accounting.
[1:34:28] I know it's kind of an elementary way to look at it,
[1:34:29] but that's the reality, right?
[1:34:31] So every time we get money from another source,
[1:34:33] it still goes into our budget,
[1:34:35] and it still gets, you know, the budget is this high.
[1:34:39] Yeah, it is, but look how much of it
[1:34:40] we're getting in grants, right?
[1:34:41] Or, you know, a birthday card money.
[1:34:44] Or a birthday card.
[1:34:44] I love it.
[1:34:45] Thank you so much for your champion.
[1:34:48] It's a great energy.
[1:34:48] Thank you.
[1:34:49] I got some clarification on what we can't do.
[1:34:52] and I'd ask Joban to correct me if I'm wrong, but first off fire because we have a separate
[1:34:58] T. W.
[1:35:00] Let's just say, it is not affected. Right now, we can lower, we can cut it or raise it at will. We know right now, so it really does not matter. This, this, this, actually, wrote none. However, on the sheriff's budget, the law specifically says that the budget for 25, 26, and the one we're doing right now, 26, 27, whichever one is larger, that's the minimum. Okay. So we're setting a budget. So if we approve a 10% increase, you're stuck with that when the, when the tax cut comes. You have to give them that, that, that,
[1:35:29] whatever the budget is, but it's only for the law enforcement portion, it's not for detention, it's not for animal services, it's not for any of those other things.
[1:35:38] And Joe, but you could look that up and see if I'm correct on that, but that's what I'm reading about the law, if it passes.
[1:35:44] I believe that it's correct, and I think the one thing I would add to that is that, remember you don't have.
[1:35:51] The sheriff's office is divided into three, four because we have animal services, silos of money.
[1:35:56] And there's no restraints on the sheriff moving money between them.
[1:36:01] So he could assign all of it to law enforcement and then move it around as he sees fit.
[1:36:07] So that part is a little illusory.
[1:36:11] I got to follow up to you, Chair.
[1:36:12] Yes, sir.
[1:36:13] Thank you.
[1:36:13] The other thing, and this wasn't popular before, and I actually voted against it years ago, and I kind of regret it.
[1:36:19] I was a deciding vote.
[1:36:20] There was a sheriff's MS to you that came forward, which means you'd have his own taxing line.
[1:36:25] on your bill, just for law enforcement, for deputies, et cetera.
[1:36:28] And it would show that, that, that TU meaning that there's a separate,
[1:36:32] separate, when you vote, you say, okay, is it going up or down on that line?
[1:36:35] And you choose whether you like that or not.
[1:36:37] You know, do you like that line going up or down?
[1:36:38] And maybe it's okay, maybe not, you know, and most of us are going to be, yeah,
[1:36:42] check mark, we want more law enforcement officers, right?
[1:36:44] But if we move that, and maybe this sheriff would change his mind because he was against it,
[1:36:48] but if we move to a TU, it would not affect it.
[1:36:51] We can raise it at will or lower it at will at any time we want.
[1:36:55] So that might be something that you have to look into.
[1:36:57] Kind of like what we're talking about with the live race and all the things.
[1:36:59] So there is definitely things that we could do because I think that every single
[1:37:03] constitutional should be accountable for their budget.
[1:37:05] Not just the county commission.
[1:37:07] Now, we have their final say.
[1:37:08] That's what we signed up to get beat up like John Locke said.
[1:37:11] You know, they come at us and say, you're damn if you do, damn if you don't.
[1:37:14] If you raise taxes, you're terrible.
[1:37:15] If you cut a budget, you must be anti police.
[1:37:18] You know, I mean, that's got what we deal with, but that's what we,
[1:37:20] That's what we signed up for, but at the same time, of course we care about all these
[1:37:24] programs, we care about the libraries, we care about fire, we care about cops, we care
[1:37:26] about all this stuff, but there's only so much money, so where does it go?
[1:37:30] Now, this is kind of concerning this law, and if it passes, which I think it will, we have
[1:37:34] to consider that going forward, and if we adopt a budget with a temperature increase, we're
[1:37:39] stuck with that temperature increase, forever.
[1:37:42] The law says that constitutional amendments and the constitution, you cannot go lower than
[1:37:46] that.
[1:37:46] That's what I'm reading.
[1:37:47] You know, so there's going to be some decisions to make.
[1:37:49] That's not going to be made today.
[1:37:50] We're going to only talk about the military.
[1:37:52] It's not going to be made today, but the future meeting is coming up.
[1:37:54] We're going to have to have some conversation.
[1:37:56] And maybe the sheriff comes back and says, hey, the TU is there.
[1:37:59] Yep.
[1:38:00] And we may vote that in next year and put it on the TU.
[1:38:02] And therefore, he can control his budget better.
[1:38:04] Where it doesn't have to be affected by property taxes.
[1:38:07] And he can be accountable to you saying, okay, I need to raise it 15%.
[1:38:10] Yep.
[1:38:11] And you could choose whether that's good or not.
[1:38:13] When you go to the ballot box, and you say, do I want this sheriff?
[1:38:16] for that one somebody else just like you do for us you can come in there and you say do I want him here or do I not want him there that's you you put us there it will so thank you thank you
[1:38:28] So Mr. Rochester's question the budget for fiscal year 26 the adopted budget versus the
[1:38:35] budget for fiscal year 27 that we're presenting is a reduction of a hundred and twenty eight million five hundred fifty three thousand
[1:38:41] than $27. That is the entire budget. So that is every department, every fund, a big portion
[1:38:49] of that has to do with a utilities project, approximately $100 million that was budgeted
[1:38:57] in this current year. They have issued a purchase order for that project. And so when we
[1:39:02] do the PO role, coming November, it will be in that and it will add to the budget.
[1:39:08] But even with that, it's still 28, it's 128 million down, so it'd be $28 million down.
[1:39:15] So with the water cleaning plan that we did, the water cleaning plan coming forward in the future,
[1:39:22] the overall budget for last year, to this year for Hernando County currently is down 128 million.
[1:39:30] But for all transparency, we think that other projects that come forward in the future next year.
[1:39:34] Because budgets, they're really, they're here today, it changes tomorrow, right?
[1:39:39] Like you're housing budget, right?
[1:39:40] And it asks the budget of your finances, but we think it's a, we're all at the $28,000 decrease, and you're over all budget from last year to this year for the county.
[1:39:47] Thank you.
[1:39:49] Can I share a lock out?
[1:39:50] Thank you.
[1:39:52] I would say, I would, they say, I would say 98% of all statistics are made up on the spot, right?
[1:40:00] So, I'm going to guess, I think the statistics are probably 95% of the new homes that are going up in her hand, okay, maybe 90% are going to be on the utility system, okay?
[1:40:11] Because they're in defined communities. So, my question then would be, when we look at the total budget of the county, what percentage of the total budget of our county is the actual utility system, which is an enterprise fund?
[1:40:27] I can grab that.
[1:40:28] Yeah, thank you.
[1:40:29] It's kind of important, again, when you're looking at the total budget of a county,
[1:40:33] when the utility system, even though it's not your app alarm taxis that are paying for
[1:40:37] that, it's a standalone system that works off of the subscribers to the system, so to speak.
[1:40:44] Okay, clearly.
[1:40:45] Actually, let me see if I can pull this up, it might be easier for our, I think it's got to be close to 40%.
[1:40:53] No,
[1:40:59] can we have 26.9% we'll see what we get.
[1:41:04] I mean every time you add one of these big projects in there, it bumps it up.
[1:41:08] Well, yeah, so that project's out today.
[1:41:11] Today is $26.9 I think. It's kind of neat.
[1:41:13] No, it's just on page.
[1:41:20] It's close to a third of the total budget.
[1:41:22] Okay, 33% okay.
[1:41:24] I mean, it's close.
[1:41:26] Yeah, it's a big deal.
[1:41:28] A lot of counties don't have it.
[1:41:30] Right, and you get.
[1:41:31] And so, separately, there's utilities, there's this whole budget, the eight.
[1:41:38] So it's over 30%.
[1:41:39] And that's pretty much a part of that sheet at the beginning of the meeting.
[1:41:43] By comparing these other counties and Clay County, you know, and they don't have the utility system in the board of county management budget.
[1:41:50] It's a whole separate water and sewer district, different tax, different things, a lot of counties in that way, right?
[1:41:57] And so things get developed, it's all different, right?
[1:41:59] But then you compare the budget to ours and like, oh,
[1:42:02] we have utilities with it as our budget's under there.
[1:42:05] So it's just my friends and clay, but we know the better they are.
[1:42:09] I may be an interesting opportunity in the future.
[1:42:12] I mean, you don't have to, right?
[1:42:13] So the county doesn't have to oversee it.
[1:42:16] You can't make a whole now.
[1:42:17] I'll tell you that it's a bad idea because you want to see
[1:42:20] the growth of government keep making small governments, right?
[1:42:22] And so you have to have a director and a board of directors over there.
[1:42:25] And so, the idea that we do here is combining things like the fire at the City of Bookter, right?
[1:42:30] It wasn't that the city, I mean, it was the fire, they probably couldn't afford it.
[1:42:34] But it's a really good unification that you don't need two fire chiefs, right?
[1:42:38] So one combined government, not having separate mosquito control districts in County.
[1:42:42] We fund a mosquito control here, right?
[1:42:44] 1.3 for more in dollars.
[1:42:46] Citrus and Pasco, separate mosquito control districts, separate small governments, right?
[1:42:50] And these small, specific districts, they all have directors, and they all know finance people, HR people.
[1:42:57] And so in Citrus and Pasco, you know, we do a great job here on mosquitoes in Hurne County for like, just to remain the two men.
[1:43:04] Citrus was some reason that's a $7 million program.
[1:43:06] I guess they got bigger mosquitoes and Pasco is $37 million, right?
[1:43:10] And so they all have helicopters and planes and we don't know any of that.
[1:43:13] We have a truck, and we have a truck, you know, and that's what we have in a drone.
[1:43:17] And now I have a drone, but trying to figure out a flight.
[1:43:20] And citrus, they got a helicopter operator, and then by the way, helicopter is around, so we, so it's all relatively just looking, but be careful creating new governments because that's where the growth of government really is, you've got to put everything together and not have this duplication of administration, you don't need one of me everywhere, right?
[1:43:37] Thank you sir.
[1:43:40] I agree with Commissioner Lacko-San about separating the departments because it is an enterprise fund, you know, with utilities but I've been pretty critical and it's not because the staff is a staff is great, the utilities department I think you do a fantastic job, but overall, if you're forced to be on something that government makes you pay for, it's a tax deal.
[1:44:00] They're making you be on their utility, they're making you do this, that I'm a proponent of keeping my septic tank in my will
[1:44:05] And I know that you've got to maintain those and are expensive. I get it, you know
[1:44:09] Richelocco said that a bunch of times
[1:44:11] But when they force you on what if it what if we and we raise the rates by the way, where are the ones that vote for this?
[1:44:16] So if you don't have a choice still attacks you still have to go not use you still want to be it
[1:44:21] We would need to be accountable to it
[1:44:23] So I've said a bunch of times if we decided tomorrow that your water bill is $500 guess what you be paying $500
[1:44:28] You would have a new choice, you know, so to me it's still important the whole almost billion dollar budget every dollar if it's forced on the person and
[1:44:38] They're made to pay it. It's a tax. That's my opinion. Thank you.
[1:44:42] Thank you, sir. I'm going to go back to the MSTU discussion for just a second attorney Joven.
[1:44:49] So with the new legislation and the proposal of the increased home set exemption of a MSTU was passed.
[1:44:58] as commission.
[1:45:00] Senator, a champion has suggested putting it on the ballot for the citizens to vote on. That would still be affected by that new legislation, right? Yes. And, what way? I mean, the assessed value of the homes would change. Right. So, yeah.
[1:45:20] All property taxes are, I think I'll add the law and by value. Right. If some of you values go down, you would have rings taxes on everybody else. But if you go down,
[1:45:30] Yes, but I just wanted to bring that going up, so it would require us to find revenue somewhere else or raise that one significantly.
[1:45:40] So I just want to make sure that everybody's aware of that.
[1:45:44] The store.
[1:45:47] Back to computer, please.
[1:45:57] This is emergency medical services.
[1:45:59] Again, it shows the 26 adopted budget, the budget request for fiscal year 27 and a percent
[1:46:06] decrease.
[1:46:08] It also includes grant budgets.
[1:46:10] Several grants were completed and reserves were used to do their budget.
[1:46:19] Transportation trusts, their adopted budget, their budget request.
[1:46:24] The percentage increase is 14.14%.
[1:46:29] They had an increase in their estimated fund balance.
[1:46:32] They also have other revenue sources into their fund.
[1:46:40] Stormwater, their adopted budget, budget requests, it's a 10.85% decrease.
[1:46:47] It's a decrease due to budgeted projects, so you will either see those projects increase
[1:46:53] their budget, either during carry forward in September, if they have not issued purchase orders yet,
[1:46:59] or you will see it in November when we do the PO roll.
[1:47:01] it will add back into their budget.
[1:47:05] County Health or the Health Department,
[1:47:08] their adopted budget requests,
[1:47:11] the percent increase at this 3.3%.
[1:47:14] It includes their reserves
[1:47:16] and some new CIP projects for them.
[1:47:21] And that is the end.
[1:47:31] So commissioners, this point today,
[1:47:35] as I mentioned at the beginning of the meeting
[1:47:36] that the goal today is to present you the budget.
[1:47:39] We've provided you an overview
[1:47:42] the way the budget stands are provided you line in details of the departments and all the fees the goal today would be if there's any changes to the budget, we could I could go through those departments if it's a request that I could show each department areas or if there's any anything the board is as reviewed like they like to go today or you could set the max millage today and we would work towards September.
[1:48:12] I remember where we had the budget hearings where we go in the detail of all the hearings if that's so.
[1:48:16] So it's up to kind of the board direction on if there's any change or anything you want to change from the budget that they seem presented or if they would like me to go I can go through each department of Italy we have the data and documents and kind of talk about each one of the details that's if that's a desire also or we do that it's a public hearing in September.
[1:48:38] Okay. All right. I think we're going to take a ten minute recess and then we'll come back.
[1:48:44] There will be an opportunity for everyone that wants to speak to speak today when we come back
[1:48:49] at some point. Again, we appreciate you being here. Just as a side note, I know, unfortunately,
[1:48:55] some of the students that we had is so great to see young people in the audience. Thank you for being here.
[1:49:01] But we have a special sticker for you if you would like that you'll just meet me over here during the break and we'll get that for you, okay?
[1:49:10] All right, we'll be in recess for 10 minutes, we'll be back at 10.55.
[2:02:11] And Sasha,
[2:02:21] assistance, part of the roll that goes in, in fact, we talked about the roll that goes in effect next year, is an exercise required to be done for next year, about 10% cut from existing budget expenses.
[2:02:40] Commissioner has kind of dragged me to look at this here, and I was doing that exercise this year. And doing that side is very helpful. I found, you may not have found, obviously we always go through all the expenses in the county.
[2:02:49] and reducing a lot of the expenses in the county.
[2:02:52] So I didn't make a slide for it because when we got done,
[2:02:57] this is what ended up resulting.
[2:02:59] So you can see that slide there.
[2:03:01] The kind of decalms on the right hand side.
[2:03:03] It's a fiscal year, $26 a doubt, the budget.
[2:03:05] We did mention a minute ago, but I think I'll make sure
[2:03:07] you're unaware that he's discussed being flat.
[2:03:10] The county overall budget did end up being flat this year, right?
[2:03:15] And so more or less in that, I did overall 10% cut,
[2:03:18] which is, I think it's, we don't normally end up with that but it's 993, man, all 864, 13% cut at just time.
[2:03:26] And so, I wanted to go through that process of the budget.
[2:03:30] So, we did talk about, there is a big project in there, 100, man, which, which resolved in that.
[2:03:37] But it would still be very close to a significant cut in operation and expenses in the county at this point.
[2:03:46] Thank you, that's all I have.
[2:03:47] All right, so we're going to go to the public before we do that, I wanted to get some clarification from Commissioner Champion.
[2:03:53] You stated a little earlier when your position was being flat.
[2:03:57] Can you just let the board know what your position is, is it flat as current budget proposed or is it rolled back flat?
[2:04:07] Yes sir, you call me no?
[2:04:08] Yes sir.
[2:04:10] My vote will be for at least maintain, I'm not sure where anybody else is at.
[2:04:14] If there's a reduction, I'm okay with that too.
[2:04:16] But I think the responsible thing would be able to be flat, the same thing, that's rollback, and that's what the law is now.
[2:04:22] The law is you start with rollback, you start with the exact same money you spent last year and any increase after that, we need 4 out of 5 votes.
[2:04:29] Anything more than 10% we need 5 out of 5 votes, you know, so I do not plan on voting for any increase over rollback.
[2:04:35] Okay, so just for clarification, you know, none of this is set in stone, but that would be eliminating rollback would be eliminating everything we talked about eliminating up here, right?
[2:04:48] It would include all those eliminations.
[2:04:51] Mr. Alaco, before we go to the public, I wanted to say, I want to thank everybody for your emails.
[2:05:00] I tried to respond. I got to about 200 of them. If I got a canned response, if I got a canned email, you did get a canned response. But those who actually gave me, you know, a personalized email, I tried to give you a personalized email back until I got to about 200 of them. And so you guys did amazing job. And then we were here. I don't even know what we were here until six o'clock on Tuesday. And so, and I just kept seeing the email. There was no way I could catch up with all of them.
[2:05:29] But very impressive, good, good job by all of you coming out and giving your opinions.
[2:05:35] And 90, gosh, 99% of them were, you know, we're very kind even when there was a response, you know, and I appreciate that.
[2:05:44] I think, you know, obviously we've heard you and the communities heard you and that's what you're supposed to do.
[2:05:50] But I just wanted to commend you on that before you come up.
[2:05:53] Thank you.
[2:05:54] How am I going to Commissioner's campaign right after this, but I want to echo the same
[2:06:00] sentiment.
[2:06:02] Very organized, probably the most organized I've seen, and so you guys should be proud
[2:06:07] of yourself.
[2:06:09] For that, that's the way government is supposed to work, that's the way your local government
[2:06:12] is supposed to work.
[2:06:13] So I want to applaud you for that, and again we have heard you.
[2:06:19] Before, you know, there was a QR code, I had never seen that when it comes to this kind
[2:06:24] of thing, but that was very successful, obviously.
[2:06:28] And so it was a lot of, I don't want to call on Can, but for lack of better term, you
[2:06:36] know, there were emails that you could send very easily for your voice was heard.
[2:06:43] And before the subject line was changed, I had close to 700 emails that I received.
[2:06:51] And so it was probably well over a thousand, and so I just want to commend you as well.
[2:06:57] I think this is the most organized, I've seen anybody, I know I hear conversations and
[2:07:02] talk about some things in the past where people were very passionate about projects and
[2:07:08] and whatnot where we had a lot of turnout for,
[2:07:12] but I would love to see this same thing happen.
[2:07:15] The next budget meeting in September
[2:07:17] is where the real meat potatoes happens,
[2:07:20] and that last budget meeting is when it's final.
[2:07:23] So I would encourage you to please stay engaged
[2:07:26] and advocate for what you care about.
[2:07:30] That's important to Commissioner Champions Point.
[2:07:33] I would love to see, we'll have a final budget hearing,
[2:07:37] And I'll be 10 people in here.
[2:07:40] You know, and people are get upset.
[2:07:43] Well, you know, I didn't know this.
[2:07:45] Nobody showed up.
[2:07:47] You know, and we have those.
[2:07:48] Everybody talks about a lot of people
[2:07:51] having meetings in the evening.
[2:07:52] We have those meetings in the evening, 501.
[2:07:56] And so I know we all have busy lives.
[2:07:59] Mom and dad both have to work in today's economy.
[2:08:01] I understand all that.
[2:08:04] But I would encourage you to please stay engaged.
[2:08:06] advocate for what you believe, it does make a difference.
[2:08:10] Commissioner Champion.
[2:08:11] Thank you.
[2:08:12] I just want to clarify what the Chairman said, and by the way, I appreciate all you guys coming out to and you know you're passionate about something you should, you should, you should say something, you know, and I am not set on like the Chairman said, well, I'm for those cuts.
[2:08:25] That's what he put on there.
[2:08:26] I didn't put it on there, you know, I'm talking about the administrator, you put it on there, you know, and I clarify that we're not cutting anything from fire.
[2:08:34] We left it exactly the same. That was a new station. Those are new positions. So don't get confused by all that because we put all this government math out there and it's confusing to the public, right?
[2:08:44] So if we decide to keep every library, I'm okay with that too, but we got cut off from somewhere. So you just shift it around. I am not advocating to cut the library if there's a choice.
[2:08:55] There's a choice and there's a better choice.
[2:08:57] We get here for me when you come up and you say, hey, why don't you cut from here instead?
[2:09:01] Why don't you do this or that?
[2:09:02] Well, listen, you know, but the bottom line is, it's not the environment to increase taxes.
[2:09:07] And that's not what the public wants.
[2:09:08] So I got to go with the majority of the public.
[2:09:10] The majority of the public doesn't want their taxes increased.
[2:09:12] So I'm saying, I'm going to stay flat.
[2:09:13] I think it's responsible to actually cut this year knowing this probably going to happen.
[2:09:18] I'm not going to do that right now because it's going to be, that's going to be chaos trying
[2:09:22] to do that.
[2:09:22] But if we can be flat and we can keep the budget exactly the same.
[2:09:25] But you know some budgets are going up 10% and then you know this man's having to offset because you have to get a balanced budget
[2:09:31] So so let's say the sheriff's office goes up 10% and we don't cut it, but we got a cut 10% for our budget
[2:09:37] And then that's not raising it. That's cutting more than 10% so there's gonna be a balance and today we're not gonna solve all that
[2:09:42] What we're gonna say is are we gonna increase the millage are we gonna do rollback are we gonna cut even more we're gonna
[2:09:48] to give direction to staff and tell them what to do.
[2:09:50] If the majority says, keep every library?
[2:09:53] Fine, keep every library.
[2:09:55] We've got to figure out where to get the money from.
[2:09:56] Thank you.
[2:09:57] Yeah, so let me just appreciate that, Commissioner.
[2:10:01] So again, none of this is set in stone, but if we go to roll back, we're going to have to cut an additional $1.8 million out of our budget, right? It's got to come from somewhere. We just talked about all of the unfunded mandates and all of those things. So the government is going to shrink something has to go away, right? In order to continue to cut. So I just want to make sure that people, that's what people understand.
[2:10:28] And as if we're doing that, then we're going to continue to cut.
[2:10:34] Commissioner Amsler.
[2:10:35] Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[2:10:37] I want to say a great job to the staff administration.
[2:10:41] Great job, Aaron.
[2:10:43] This is a great presentation today as way in depth, more than way more than last year, I believe.
[2:10:51] So, great job.
[2:10:55] My feelings so far on this, I've tried to do a lot of listening as we had this meeting since we're going into September when we have the really important two budget meetings.
[2:11:07] So my thoughts so far is that with the trim notice going out that we hold the line on where we're at, so that then we can adopt final middle of trade for
[2:11:21] fiscal year 27 in September.
[2:11:25] I see that because I'm in support of the state ballot proposal in November.
[2:11:30] I think it's going to pass.
[2:11:32] I think we have to be proactive.
[2:11:34] I think that's responsible.
[2:11:36] If we have to find a lot of money, then we have to find a lot of money.
[2:11:39] But that's what the people will decide.
[2:11:42] And I think when people go to the ballot box, they're going to say, you know,
[2:11:46] So, when was the last time that I could directly decide to lower my taxes?
[2:11:52] So, it's a pretty, pretty big deal.
[2:11:55] And I think when you look at the numbers post-COVID as government's grown in Florida, we've had
[2:12:02] an influx of people, so we had an influx of property prices.
[2:12:06] But just like the average household, you know, someone gets a new job, they make more money.
[2:12:11] A lot of times, they end up spending that money because by default, they think, I need
[2:12:15] this, you know, new car or this new item or this new fridge. So some of its human nature
[2:12:20] and some of it are things we can't control, obviously. So that's not a dig at staff in
[2:12:26] any way. So I think we should pull the line on the millage rate whether John legal describes
[2:12:36] That is $930,138,713 or $5.889,1, but I'd also like to get feedback on the presentation we got today.
[2:12:52] So a great job identifying 10% reductions.
[2:12:57] I think the feedback I have on it is I'd like to see a revisitive that in September.
[2:13:08] With specifically sustainable cuts, we're moving a lot of capital improvement projects around, we're closing a library.
[2:13:17] We know we probably can't responsibly close that library long-term, I'm not a fan of it and texting the water utility, we don't have, you know, we don't really have the data and studies on how that would affect people's water bills in the next five years to even make the decision.
[2:13:34] So I'd like to see the 10% identified in other ways as much as possible.
[2:13:43] I know that's difficult, I know it's hard, but that's what I'm looking at is how do we
[2:13:50] reduce costs.
[2:13:53] And then I'd also like to find a way for us to actually include that 0.2 mills towards
[2:14:01] road resurfacing in that plan because if we don't do it now, it's just never going to happen.
[2:14:08] And if I was running for office this year, I would be talking about roads every day.
[2:14:13] So why aren't we talking about it?
[2:14:15] I wouldn't.
[2:14:16] You know?
[2:14:16] And I know you brought it up.
[2:14:18] I know you brought it up.
[2:14:19] Like we've talked to a lot of the length about roads, me and the administrator.
[2:14:25] So I know it's very important to you, but those are my thoughts and feedback so far.
[2:14:30] Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[2:14:31] Thank you, sir.
[2:14:32] Commissioner Champagne.
[2:14:34] I just want to clarify one more thing.
[2:14:36] The government a lot of times, like, you know, I'm sick about us, or the state, federal, whatever, is doom and gloom.
[2:14:43] It's like if we do this, of poor children, you know.
[2:14:46] And I'm just going to give you a couple facts, right?
[2:14:48] So in 2009, it's 2010, this government strength, 50% 50% was overnight.
[2:14:54] Hernana County is still here.
[2:14:55] You know the downturn it was painful jobs or laws buildings are half built
[2:15:00] It was a mess, right? Nobody was buying or selling anything, and there was no jobs. It was horrible. Hopefully, we'll never see that again. Hopefully, we stabilized the banks, and we'll never see that kind of downturn. You already see in a change in real estate now when there's 400% inventory sitting online. There's all kinds of reports on there with these new builds just sitting empty. Nobody's moving here because they're slowing down the moves because it's costing too much, returning to California. And that's why DeSantis is pushing to try to reduce the property taxes. And when they say, we'll be saying things like, okay, we hold the line.
[2:15:29] We're going to have to close libraries. We've got to do all this stuff. I don't know if that's accurate because last year
[2:15:33] Now, I'm going to do we vote rollback. We cut your taxes three percent. Did your life change?
[2:15:39] Is it different? Did we close any libraries last year? We roll back minus three percent in the world continued on
[2:15:47] But again, we got you gas lit. You're all here because you're they're going to close a library because we put it on a news report
[2:15:54] And it may happen. I mean listen, that's part of the plan. So you have a right to be here and tell us how you don't like it
[2:15:59] But again, this is all directed to hopefully change your mind and make you vote against the
[2:16:06] tax cut for yourself.
[2:16:07] That's what really is about.
[2:16:08] And that's what's happening all over the state.
[2:16:10] They want you to vote.
[2:16:10] No.
[2:16:11] They want you to say, I want to give you my tax money.
[2:16:14] Give it to the government.
[2:16:15] They'll do a better job with it.
[2:16:16] They'll do a good job with the money.
[2:16:17] And I just don't think people are going to vote for that.
[2:16:19] I may be wrong.
[2:16:20] Maybe they'll come in 58%.
[2:16:21] I don't know.
[2:16:21] We'll see what happens with that.
[2:16:22] But responsibly, what do we do?
[2:16:24] And all our proposing is flat.
[2:16:26] Last year, we did flat minus 3%, we didn't close in libraries.
[2:16:31] I'm just telling you that there is choices on everything.
[2:16:33] Thank you.
[2:16:34] Thank you.
[2:16:36] Just to piggyback on that and all of that is, I believe accurate.
[2:16:42] The only thing that's not included in that is,
[2:16:48] I've been on this for three years, I've been through three budget cycles.
[2:16:52] And every budget I can remember,
[2:16:54] We have, instead of making cuts, i.e. library or something else, right, we've taken money
[2:17:02] from reserves, right, including last year, we took money from reserves.
[2:17:07] I believe we added nine positions in the general fund, and to do that took money from reserves,
[2:17:14] right.
[2:17:15] So, and then you fast forward, and you saw the list, the four items, body one cameras, and
[2:17:20] see get hill, fire pump, the other two items on there that then additionally came out of reserves.
[2:17:29] We don't have that piggy bank of reserves fall back on anymore, but that's why this year is different, right?
[2:17:36] That's why this year is we can't pull money from the reserve.
[2:17:41] We could, but the reserve is going to have to go significantly down and I'm not going to vote for that.
[2:17:47] So, when it comes to September, because of the situation we're in currently, we have to have a unanimous vote on the budget.
[2:17:56] All four of us have to agree.
[2:17:58] I'm not voting to lower our reserves, I'm not voting in any way shape or form to do that.
[2:18:05] I did not do that the first year, I voted no on the budget.
[2:18:09] And we're going to talk about things, maybe we regret it, I wish I wouldn't have voted for the last two budgets.
[2:18:14] It's because I fundamentally disagree with pulling money from our reserves over and over again instead of doing the hard work of cutting something, right?
[2:18:24] It is hard, and I'm not in favor of the first thing we talk about is cutting the library.
[2:18:30] But you just saw it and it's not, it's not people, is there some doom and gloom out there?
[2:18:37] probably, right? But I don't see it from our staff. I don't see it from our board.
[2:18:46] What I see is an education of $70 million are going to have to be cut from your budget,
[2:18:53] from our budget, your taxpayer dollars. Something has to go, right?
[2:18:59] $70 million, something has to go. That is the reality of it. That is not as
[2:19:04] and any way shape or form, that's the fact.
[2:19:10] So, you know, I get where Commissioner Champion is coming from,
[2:19:14] and I get, you know, that there are people out there,
[2:19:18] you know, the sky is falling, the sky is falling, all of those things.
[2:19:22] But it's going to be very painful.
[2:19:25] It is. Can we do it? Absolutely.
[2:19:28] And if the people vote for it, are we going to do it?
[2:19:31] absolutely right but that is the reality of it.
[2:19:36] Commissioner Lacko.
[2:19:38] Thank you. I appreciate you bringing up and listen we're all I think
[2:19:41] I think there's a little bit of criss-crossing of ideas. I want to make sure we're understanding this right.
[2:19:48] If we start at rollback that is a millage reduction correct.
[2:19:52] And what is that millage reduction?
[2:19:56] It's not this, we can't say we're going to keep flat on millage and then talk about them.
[2:20:00] Uh, um, and then talk about roll back. So I think it's important for us to make sure we're all talking about we're talking apples to apples to apples to oranges. I think it's three to eight. Right, but what I want to see what the millage reduction. So for all categories, the millage reduction would be point one, two, two, seven mills, totaling two million, three, nine, 86,000, two and our in 66 dollars. If you were just looking at general fund, um, millage reduction is point zero nine, two, two,
[2:20:29] mills? Or, oh, sorry.
[2:20:32] No, okay, so.
[2:20:32] Or $1,793,103.
[2:20:36] So, general fund we're talking about, little under one tenth of a mill would be rollback.
[2:20:41] Yes.
[2:20:42] The reduction, okay. I just want to make sure, because, again, we've heard it both ways described and I just want to make sure I had it clarified from you.
[2:20:49] And I think it's a good that we're having this discussion as we go into this because we did use reserves.
[2:20:56] And you use the idea of talking about birthday card money for grants.
[2:21:01] This is more like you went into your savings, right?
[2:21:04] We use savings, so we don't have savings this year to provide all those services.
[2:21:09] So there has to be an adjustment somewhere.
[2:21:12] We can't get to the same place because the budget would not have those reserves in there that were there last year.
[2:21:21] That supplemented the millage to get us to that dollar amount.
[2:21:26] So the millage doesn't get us there, the millage plus 10 or so million in reserves got us to the service level we are this year, so we're going to have to figure out what do we adjust because we won't have that to do because I'm not going into reserves again either.
[2:21:42] We just can't because we just don't know.
[2:21:55] we're going to see it, so those are, you know, they give us with 7 out of the 21 million we got passed.
[2:22:01] Yep.
[2:22:01] Okay, so it's just not going to happen, and so we're just going to, we have to tighten our belts and figure out how to make this work, but this, we're going to make it work, we have to, it's, we're required to have a balanced budget.
[2:22:12] We'll do it.
[2:22:12] We'll do it no matter what happens.
[2:22:14] We'll do it no matter what happens in November, but we have to provide a balanced budget.
[2:22:19] There's no way around it.
[2:22:20] Thank you.
[2:22:20] Yes, sir. Thank you. Commissioners, champion. Thank you. Just want to clarify a few things there. They're right about a lot of these things
[2:22:26] We are misleading you on the on the reserves, right? So in general our former policy was 18 and a half percent
[2:22:33] We revised it like good conservatives do to say let's do 25% better number, right average state of Florida is 16.7%
[2:22:41] Such as counties about half of that. I mean a horrible they're having all kinds of fights on that, right?
[2:22:45] Not to say that I'm not for 25% because I am I'd rather have 25%
[2:22:49] But to say that we dipped into reserves, and we were irresponsible, we dropped a 21.7 percent,
[2:22:56] which is well over the average of 60.7.
[2:22:59] And on top of it, you know what we collect?
[2:23:01] We only budget to collect 95 percent.
[2:23:04] We consistently collect 96 and 97 percent.
[2:23:07] You know, obviously if everyone pays their taxes early, we only collect 96 percent because you get a 4 percent reduction.
[2:23:12] Right? You see the bill comes in the mail says, you pay early, you pay 4 percent.
[2:23:16] Well, mortgages are going to pay early, you know, people on fake sick, hopefully you're smart enough to pay early because you don't want to pay 4% more.
[2:23:24] Each month you pay late, you lose a percent, right? So on the rough years back in 2009, 10, 11, you saw that number of creep up to 8, 98, 99%.
[2:23:33] A lot of people were losing houses, there was a lot of stuff that was going on, 4 closures, etc.
[2:23:38] But, you know, consistently we collect 96%.
[2:23:41] So on purpose, and we do that on purpose, that's our policy, to make sure that we're under, rather than over,
[2:23:46] because why would we want a budget 97% if you want to cut 96? Well, you're not going to have a balanced budget,
[2:23:50] you're going to have a disaster on your hands, right? But if you budget 95, you're going to have a pleasant 1%
[2:23:55] that's going to hit you, and it does. And there is extra revenue there. Now granted, if we spend money,
[2:24:00] we did the body one, cameras, there's some things you can give them that listen my long probably to spend some money.
[2:24:04] But to say that it was all doom and gloom, and we cut into the budget, that historically this county was 18.5%.
[2:24:10] We chose on this board recently to go to 25 percent, which I'm not saying is a bad decision because it's not.
[2:24:16] You need to be at 25 percent if possible.
[2:24:18] So we didn't get responsibly cut into the reserves.
[2:24:21] We just, at the last minute, we couldn't agree on what they cut.
[2:24:24] We said, okay, what are we going to do?
[2:24:26] And we pulled down from the budget to get the number right because offers and vote knew a tax increase.
[2:24:31] What's going to happen, right?
[2:24:32] And along with other people.
[2:24:34] So it's kind of misleading to say that we dipped into it and this and that.
[2:24:37] We're going to be above 18 and a half percent.
[2:24:39] Hopefully we have 25 percent.
[2:24:41] I don't know, what is the number right now that you have for the reserves?
[2:24:44] 18 and a half.
[2:24:45] 18 and a half.
[2:24:45] Okay, so it is lower than what it was last year.
[2:24:48] And I believe, I don't have this that number.
[2:24:49] I believe it was 21.
[2:24:50] We cut it to.
[2:24:51] That's correct.
[2:24:52] It was 21 percent.
[2:24:53] And did you get extra revenue in over the 95 percent?
[2:24:57] So we they just
[2:25:00] Let's finish the financial statements, and we're getting that information so we can get the ending fund balance. And see if there's going to be a true or a true down. I bet anything, everything I got, it was over 95%. And trust me, it was. Right. So it's misleading to tell you that we're dipped in the reserves and it's irresponsible because it's not. We're still well above the average. And we're still we're at 18 and a half percent. We're not going to get below that. I don't get both of that either. So I mean, that's not responsible to do that because you've got to run the government. I don't know if you guys know this now, but you have to run the government on reserve.
[2:25:30] Why are you waiting for taxes to come in?
[2:25:32] So as of October 1st, you don't click the taxes.
[2:25:34] You get a big chunk of them by the end of November.
[2:25:36] If most of you pay early and save that 4%.
[2:25:38] So at least two months, you got to run this government on reserves.
[2:25:43] And you do the math on there.
[2:25:44] It's a big number.
[2:25:44] You got to run the government on.
[2:25:45] You still got to have core services.
[2:25:47] So when that number, not many starts coming in and starts
[2:25:49] make us feel a little better, but I'm sure you get a little stressed.
[2:25:52] When you look at that number and November going,
[2:25:53] man, of course, we're down like 8% left.
[2:25:56] I mean, wouldn't that be crazy to have the bar all to keep the government open?
[2:25:58] You know, and that's why you don't dip into reserves too low, et cetera.
[2:26:01] So, you know, they're not wrong about what they're talking about because we did set a policy.
[2:26:04] We wanted to be a 25% and revised it.
[2:26:07] But historically, we were 18 and a half and we were at 21 last year just to have the numbers out there.
[2:26:13] Thank you.
[2:26:13] Thank you, sir.
[2:26:15] All right. Just for the board, say I have administrator Rogers.
[2:26:18] I have, I'm going to share a lot of code.
[2:26:22] I'll give everybody one last chance to say it and then we're going to go to the public, give them an opportunity to speak and then we'll come back.
[2:26:28] I encourage you guys to stick around, it's going to be an important conversation afterwards as well, I encourage you to stick around if your schedule allows.
[2:26:35] One last comment on the reserves and commissioners champion is correct, the point I was making is what makes this different in previous years, the statement was made that we went to roll back last year and then 3% and that's correct and we didn't close any libraries.
[2:26:52] the difference this year is we don't have that buffer and reserves to take from right we're at
[2:26:58] the 18.5% I'm not voting to lower that I'm not voting to change that board policy so we're at
[2:27:05] the 18.5% I miss your champion saying he's not voting to lower that either so that's not going
[2:27:12] to happen so it has to come from somewhere else that's the point I was making administrator Rogers
[2:27:19] I think you said standing I must say it's the concern this year is that we used the
[2:27:24] rare reserves last year to fund an ongoing operational expense in the county budget.
[2:27:29] And that reserve funding source is not there this year because we're at the minimum reserve.
[2:27:34] So we have to come up with another reserve funding source or we just expensive.
[2:27:39] I'm sure Aka.
[2:27:40] I'm thanking everybody for saying they're not going to go below that 18 and a half.
[2:27:44] This budget that is presented so far today is at 18.5%, but we're not to roll back yet, and that's why we're having this discussion.
[2:27:54] We're not to roll back yet.
[2:27:56] So, we've got to figure out what we cut to get to roll back and not affect reserves to put them below 18.5%.
[2:28:05] And that's going to be the challenge, it's going to be very difficult, but we can make it happen.
[2:28:11] Again, I just want to make sure that we all say, again, I'm not going below 18 and a half either, so we've got that's three out of four.
[2:28:19] I'm sure you'll be the same.
[2:28:20] So today, we need three votes to move forward, right? I'm sure we're going to have all four votes, right?
[2:28:26] Today.
[2:28:27] Yeah, we don't have to vote on anything today.
[2:28:29] Okay, the 100 chapter 129 budget officer presents her proposed budget.
[2:28:35] You can make reductions by a majority vote to the parts under the board of kind of commissioners control if you want.
[2:28:44] But and then the military that sent what they call the DR440 MMJR I think is what goes to the property
[2:28:53] for the trim notice, trim notice only.
[2:28:56] And so whatever number is required to fund the proposed budget is what goes on that form.
[2:29:03] You make the real changes in September.
[2:29:05] Can you clarify something?
[2:29:07] I thought that the millage that goes to the property appraisal has to be,
[2:29:13] had requires a vote to go above rollback.
[2:29:16] No, that's the individual budget hearings in September, right?
[2:29:19] Okay, I just want to make sure that you don't wait.
[2:29:20] You don't wait, set it back.
[2:29:21] All you're doing is putting the max amount.
[2:29:25] Well, what you're doing is you're setting the proposed rate to the property
[2:29:28] prison, which becomes, there's especially just fine statutes from the maximum
[2:29:31] military.
[2:29:32] That relates to September.
[2:29:33] But this is the number that goes in the trim notice, it's the maximum the county
[2:29:37] can let me without having to redo the trim, may I have a whole new set of trim
[2:29:42] notices.
[2:29:42] So the three votes, four votes, unanimous votes, doesn't apply to today's
[2:29:47] hearing.
[2:29:47] But I wanted to say why this conversation is important, because of the circumstance we're in having one less commissioner.
[2:30:00] We have to be unanimous vote, right? So it would be a supermajority, but for us it's unanimous vote in September, right? So that last budget meeting in September, so if you have somebody that wants to go to roll back, which commissioner champion has stated, I don't know where everybody else is just yet, but if we have somebody that wants to go to roll back in order to get the vote passed, we need all four people, right? And so if one person is going to roll back, we're going to be probably out of roll back, right?
[2:30:28] That's the only way we're going to get all four votes.
[2:30:32] So then all of the cuts, I'm not saying specific cuts, but
[2:30:37] money is going to have to be cut if we go to roll back at a significant rate.
[2:30:43] And so that's why it's important to stay involved in the conversation.
[2:30:47] Okay, so now is your opportunity to speak.
[2:30:52] So everybody that would like to speak is going to have an opportunity to speak.
[2:30:56] you'll have three minutes please state your name please spell your last name
[2:31:01] there'll be an indicator up front here and I also will let you know at the end
[2:31:06] it'll have typically an audible sound but if you want to pay attention
[2:31:10] green means you're good yellow means you have 30 seconds of wrap up and red means
[2:31:16] your time is up so we'll start with you ma'am please state your name please spell
[2:31:22] While you're last name, you will have three minutes.
[2:31:24] Veronica Moore, M-O-O-R-E, sorry, I live at 1-1-4-2-7 C-U-L-A-N, and my zip code is 3-1-6-3-1-4-1-6,
[2:31:36] which is the library area.
[2:31:40] Jeff talked about impact almost every sentence he mentioned's impact.
[2:31:45] Why can't we raise up the impact fees for all the new developments that are coming in?
[2:31:49] That would really help.
[2:31:50] We don't really need all these developments, you guys are flooding the area with why can't we just add that money in, make it worthwhile to our budgets.
[2:32:04] I live less than about four miles to that library, but if I have to go to Spring Hill, it's 11 miles.
[2:32:12] It's too far, that's it, thank you.
[2:32:15] thank you ma'am. I failed to mention before this young lady comes off. I failed to mention that I appreciate you clapping is going to be a long day if we clap after everybody.
[2:32:25] Okay, so if you guys all want your opportunity, which we're going to sit here until everybody has our opportunity, I would respectfully ask you to keep the comments down and wait until the end.
[2:32:37] Just real quick, I just wanted to tell people you don't have to disclose your address.
[2:32:41] Right, it's only your name.
[2:32:42] Yeah, just rename, state your name, spell your last name.
[2:32:45] That would be good.
[2:32:47] And we will respond at the end.
[2:32:49] So if you're asking us a specific question, we'll do our best to respond.
[2:32:53] But just know we're not going to, it's not going to be a back and forth.
[2:32:57] But out of respect for everybody, let's try to give everybody an opportunity to speak.
[2:33:02] Again, we'll say here until everybody does.
[2:33:04] Thank you. Yes, ma'am.
[2:33:05] Good morning, my name is Amelia Holman, H-O-M-A-N.
[2:33:10] I'm a week you watch in resident and Hernando County school teacher.
[2:33:14] After listening to the County Administrators presentation, I can't help but feel angry at
[2:33:19] the state of this budget.
[2:33:22] After you all spoke about the rollback last year of plus minus 3%, it seems irresponsible
[2:33:31] the way that you are now saying, oh, our budget is short and we need to cut the library.
[2:33:37] But I digress, I'm here to urge the commissioners not to close the West Fernando Library branch.
[2:33:43] Literacy is a growing problem nationwide and closing our local library branch will only exacerbate the problem.
[2:33:50] I do not need to stand here and tell the board the benefits of reading and literacy.
[2:33:54] However, I feel that I need to explain how detrimental the loss of this particular branch would be to
[2:34:00] in my students and similar children in the county.
[2:34:03] Libraries allow students access to a wide variety of texts,
[2:34:08] not only to find what interests them,
[2:34:10] but also to experiment with different types of texts,
[2:34:12] something that is impossible for most families
[2:34:16] to provide themselves.
[2:34:18] As a Winding Waters Middle School teacher,
[2:34:20] I can speak from experience to say
[2:34:22] that the middle school appropriate section
[2:34:24] of our school library is miniscule.
[2:34:26] It is no wonder that students struggle to enjoy reading
[2:34:29] when there is not a big enough selection to find something that actually interests them.
[2:34:34] The main library and Spring Hill branches are over half an hour away from my school.
[2:34:40] That means a round trip library visit even to do something as simple as return a book takes
[2:34:45] over an hour.
[2:34:47] This is a significant barrier to library access that will hurt our most vulnerable population.
[2:34:54] Furthermore, as this board continues to approve new developments on the northwest side of the
[2:34:58] the county. The need for the
[2:35:00] Our library in our area will grow exponentially. While I understand that rising costs across the board are squeezing budgets nationwide, closing a library should be a last resort, not the first. As an average library user myself and advocate for my students, I urge you to do the right thing and do not close the western end of branch of the library. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am.
[2:35:30] Good morning. My name is Kathleen Goldsmith, G-O-L-D-S-M-I-T-H,
[2:35:35] and I am here speaking as a citizen of Fernando County.
[2:35:39] There's a quote that's been going through my mind lately
[2:35:42] by a journalist Walter Cronkite, and that line is,
[2:35:45] whatever the cost of our libraries it is cheap
[2:35:48] compared to that of an ignorant nation.
[2:35:51] And certainly from a fiscal standpoint, that is true.
[2:35:53] According to Forbes.com, lack of literacy costs the US economy
[2:35:57] up to $2.2 trillion in lost productivity and lower wages.
[2:36:02] It contributes to dependency on welfare and creates strain on social services.
[2:36:07] But I'm sure there are people here far better at mathematics than myself who could more effectively present to you the financial value of literacy and libraries.
[2:36:17] I, however, would like to talk to you about the social value of the library, Ford is very much intertwined with the physical value.
[2:36:25] What happens in libraries?
[2:36:28] Children are read books like Good Night Moon and Green Eggs and Ham for the first time.
[2:36:33] High school senior study for their SAT exams.
[2:36:36] Small business owners go there to print their flyers for their establishments.
[2:36:41] New residents often register to voced at libraries.
[2:36:45] They are programs to teach people how to use a computer, to write a resume, to sew.
[2:36:50] Citizens check out museum passes to learn about our local history.
[2:36:55] All walks of life use the library for a variety of purposes, and though these may seem
[2:37:01] like purely social elements, they are both directly and indirectly affect our economy.
[2:37:07] Libraries boost local tourism, businesses and test scores.
[2:37:12] To invest in our libraries is to invest in the future growth and prosperity of this county.
[2:37:17] And as this county continues to grow, it is important to write by its citizens, the people
[2:37:23] of Hernando County deserve access to the programs and services that they pay for, libraries
[2:37:29] of the fruits of their labor from which they deserve to harvest.
[2:37:33] For what are libraries but the very definition of community, where we all work together
[2:37:39] to create an environment in which we can all benefit?
[2:37:43] I feel that anyone who has ever set foot in a library can attest that they are like lighthouses
[2:37:48] in the darkness leading us to refuge.
[2:37:50] They are sanctuaries, where anyone, regardless of status, can go and make use of its services.
[2:37:58] The monetary cost of a library is but a dent in the body of government expenses, but
[2:38:03] the price of losing a library would be astronomical.
[2:38:08] It would be a financial wound that would bleed slowly, one that this county will not recover
[2:38:13] from.
[2:38:15] I'm going to close with yet another quote, this one by author T. S. Eliot.
[2:38:19] The very existence of libraries affords the best evidence that we may yet have hope for
[2:38:25] the future of man.
[2:38:26] Thank you.
[2:38:27] Thank you, ma'am.
[2:38:34] My name is Noreen Shigila, S-C-H-E-L-E-R. I live at 8171 Ramboo Road.
[2:38:42] I want to address the closing of our library.
[2:38:45] I'm sure that the citizens have expressed their concern about losing their access to
[2:38:51] reading materials and all other resources, including the wonderful programs offered through the library.
[2:39:00] But now, I would like to talk about some of the obscure features of the library.
[2:39:05] The area surrounding the library has a large homes population.
[2:39:11] They use the library for warmth in the winter and easy in the summer.
[2:39:16] Restrooms, charging stations, and guest-computer usage are their lifeline.
[2:39:22] Filling a bottle with water or simply relaxing in a comfortable chair is important to them.
[2:39:30] We have families in this county that are living in their cars.
[2:39:35] Please consider the impact on them. I also would like to address something that Commissioner
[2:39:42] or local said I'd love to know how this library was selected because it seems that the school
[2:39:50] expansions are on that side of the county. I know that Eastside has expanded their resource
[2:39:57] And that's obviously on the east side.
[2:40:00] I just don't know how that bridge got hit. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am.
[2:40:14] My name is Colleen Garrison. Put yourself in the mind of any child of all ages as they walk through the doors of a tranquil library, immediately reaching out to view the monthly calendar of events. A treasure trove of no cost activities such as bilingual story time fostering cultural diversity.
[2:40:37] Free movie gatherings, arts and craft sessions, Lego clubs, new arrival DVDs, seasonal activities,
[2:40:48] technological skills learning while enjoying indoor computers, book discussions, all building
[2:40:55] stronger, more knowledgeable communities with occasional local authors as special guests.
[2:41:01] children appreciate that environment to explore and discover their own
[2:41:07] interactive creativity. There's always something for everyone. These community
[2:41:14] hubs children share inside with their peers are the opposite of what we see
[2:41:20] on nightly news. Where police are chasing active shooters on schoolgrounds while
[2:41:27] small children suffered from shots fired. It is a free police zone environment as nurturing
[2:41:34] library employees give very tender care. Shelves are stocked with newspapers of Tampa
[2:41:41] Tribune, Hernando's son, New York Times, along with rotating community brochures, with
[2:41:47] free donated take home magazines like National Geographic, Better Homes and Gardens, AARP,
[2:41:53] U.S. Weekly Rolling Stones, Southern Living, New Yorker, Architectural Digest, all too
[2:41:59] expansive for a family subscription for such high-end magazines.
[2:42:05] Depriving children of good, clean fun while closing their library can, as they grow into
[2:42:14] teenagers ranging from 12 to 14, begin their initial substance experimentation into alcohol
[2:42:21] and marijuana from Bordeaux.
[2:42:25] As age, desiring to spend all productive time
[2:42:28] at hemp dispensaries, THC cannabis usage,
[2:42:32] fentanyl, opiate cigarette smoking.
[2:42:35] Soon adolescence is a road that leads to nowhere.
[2:42:38] According to Florida Health charts,
[2:42:40] deaths in Hernando County from drug poisoning rate
[2:42:43] per 100,000 population was 77 in 2023,
[2:42:47] 93, 99 deaths in 2022, 101 in 2021 regarding poisoning.
[2:42:54] You do not hear on the nightly news of children being kidnapped from a library because it's
[2:42:59] a child's safe place.
[2:43:02] Each one of you know how to create fundraisers for yourselves.
[2:43:06] Colleagues and their startup businesses, the sheriff also could have participated all this
[2:43:12] time in a monetary fund drive will off duty on his own time to raise money for the needs
[2:43:18] of keeping the child friendly safe library sanctuary. I got plenty more, but I'll give
[2:43:23] it to her and let them publish it. Thank you.
[2:43:30] My name is Susan Cuppie, K-U-P-P-E. I moved here in 2006 to help my elderly father who lived
[2:43:37] at High Point. He passed in 2009 and of course we had cable TV and the Internet and I was
[2:43:45] on the computer a lot. And then I was talking to friends and a family and a couple of times
[2:43:51] imagine, yes, this is, and every time we talk to you, you're still at home. You need to get out.
[2:43:56] You, they were worried about my mental health. Um, yeah, I was depressed. I loved my dad. We were
[2:44:02] very close. And I thought, okay, um, well, my, you know, can go out to eat in their shops, but I didn't
[2:44:09] have a lot of money to spend so I went to the library and you can ask the librarians I'm a regular
[2:44:16] they all know me and the thing is they talk about all the building out east there is a street I can't
[2:44:26] remember the name of it right next to the hospital or kill hospital and there's all kinds of new
[2:44:31] developments going on and all kinds of new developments going up on 19 there's plenty of new building
[2:44:36] And I'm sure a lot of people say, oh, look, there's a good library close by.
[2:44:40] Now, somebody mentioned, like, they didn't know why the library was closed.
[2:44:44] I was told they are conditioning without, and it's going to cost 30,000 to fix it.
[2:44:48] So, what I did, I worked in banking for 24 years, was really simple.
[2:44:52] I googled how many homes in Hernando County, 98,407.
[2:44:58] and if you do
[2:45:00] I invite that by 30,000, that is less than 30 cents per house in tax. Now, I gotta say, when my dad passed away, in 2009, the taxes were like about 550, have a two-bedroom mobile home. And over time, they keep going up, and up, and up, and like, I'm around 1,800 now, so they haven't doubled. They've tripled. Okay. And so for 30 cents, I know people don't want their taxes to go.
[2:45:29] go up, but for less than 30 cents to get that air condition or
[2:45:34] fixed in the Hernandez library, I don't think that's asking too much for all the
[2:45:40] homeowners, people who live in paid taxes here. The other thing is they were
[2:45:45] talking about, gosh, I can't forget, I didn't have things to know like a lot of the
[2:45:51] other people did, but the thing is, is you guys can approve getting a loan at
[2:45:58] bank, the county obviously has a checking out somewhere where they write things, get
[2:46:01] a loan for 30,000, fix the library, open it back up, and then have our taxes go back
[2:46:08] up 30 cents. Why not even do it a dollar and put a little slush fund aside for the
[2:46:16] Hernando library and the other libraries. One person mentioned, well you can go to Spring
[2:46:20] Hill, you know what? Because I'm so close to Marinor and Cortez, I have everything I need
[2:46:26] near me and the library too but I have been driving down the spring
[2:46:30] hill. It used to be I only had to fill my car up every week and a half. Now it's
[2:46:36] every five days so I really need that library. Thank you.
[2:46:46] I'm Carol and
[2:46:47] Sue Nordstrom from Weeky Watchy. I've been working at the Little Red School House
[2:46:53] library use bookstore since 2011. I'm a lifetime member of friends of the
[2:47:00] library, and I'm a reader, and I love the library. My daughter loves libraries. It's a haven,
[2:47:07] and very important. I know you have to be responsible about money issues, and I do too.
[2:47:15] That's important, and you're doing that, but you need to be responsible for people.
[2:47:19] People issues. And that's where I think, you know, it's, I think the 3% you say you cut,
[2:47:26] you do need to raise it back up. And you should support that and push that so people understand
[2:47:33] that we need that. People need that for their mental health, their happiness,
[2:47:41] my daughters disabled, the librarians are very nurturing and have helped her. You want to keep people
[2:47:48] out of detention centers. This is one of the things you do. You do things for people directly.
[2:47:55] And Tallahassee, I have to say, I don't think that law that they are pushing and we're
[2:48:01] going to vote on is responsible, I think it's irresponsible, it's caused chaos.
[2:48:07] And really, I think they're trying to take power away from counties where we make decisions
[2:48:13] on how we spend our tax money and we decide if we need to cut our taxes or increase them.
[2:48:20] They've decided that they're going to ask, you're going to have to go to them to ask for
[2:48:27] funds.
[2:48:28] It's what I've been reading from the papers and so forth.
[2:48:33] So I think they're taking your power away and they're making, they're just causing chaos
[2:48:39] here.
[2:48:43] Like others have said, this is libraries really are a lifeline to a lot of people, including
[2:48:48] homeless people.
[2:48:49] and they really need help and they offer so much they can't even apply for a job without
[2:48:56] doing it on a computer anymore usually. So I'm I'm almost done I guess
[2:49:05] I do want to say that
[2:49:13] the library the the Hernando County Library System as a whole is very good in 2013
[2:49:21] The library association of Florida declared we were the best library of the year in 2013.
[2:49:29] That's what this shirt was made for.
[2:49:32] This is the logo that they used in 2013.
[2:49:41] So it's really a jewel in my life and for a lot of people, I'm in book clubs there.
[2:49:49] That's about all I can say to add to what's been said, but I hope you consider people not just your dollar signs when you vote for this.
[2:49:58] Thank you, ma'am.
[2:50:04] I'm Beverly Coe, COE, and I live in Brooksville. We all know the negative impact of screen time on our kids. Excuse me, I'm not second. Just allergic to big meetings like this. And the slow decline of entire votes being read for street.
[2:50:34] students. But thankfully, parents and educators are waking up to the reality of the importance
[2:50:43] of reading whole books. Studies show the written word in the form of a story. Strengthens
[2:50:49] the synapses, synapses of the brain, and improving cognition, and has had a domino effect on students
[2:50:58] grades, rising in other subjects, as well as a healthier sense of self than one's relation
[2:51:04] to the world.
[2:51:07] So I don't know that much about the age of that system situation, but in regard to
[2:51:15] that, I just wondered if there were some of a comprehensive study could be done or see
[2:51:22] if there are other avenues to keep the library open.
[2:51:25] And here's some ideas, I'm simply throwing out, and if you recognize the footprint of chat GPT in this, you're right.
[2:51:35] But like different, let's say, look into municipal bonds or seeing if an HVAC being an essential infrastructure can qualify as a capital expense rather than an operating expense, does Florida offer grants for public libraries, improvements or energy efficiency upgrades,
[2:51:54] buildings, renovations, or infrastructure improvements?
[2:51:57] Are there federal funds for energy efficiency, or community development funds, or
[2:52:02] there are foundation grants that might help?
[2:52:06] As for the age-fac system, electric utilities frequently offer rebates for energy efficiency,
[2:52:12] low interest financing, energy audits, and commercial efficiency incentives.
[2:52:17] As also a member of the Friends of the Library, perhaps our county can come together for a massive fundraising campaign that includes seeking donations from local businesses.
[2:52:30] Please, please keep all our strategically placed libraries in our country open and thriving to provide a multitude of productive services to all members of our community.
[2:52:43] no great civilization close their libraries.
[2:52:56] Dear commissioners, my name is Karen Lachisek,
[2:53:00] the little nervous.
[2:53:01] You doing great.
[2:53:02] But I want you to continue to fund the
[2:53:05] Land Accounting Public Library System,
[2:53:09] especially the West Ternando County Library.
[2:53:13] Libraries, and I'll probably reiterate what everyone has said,
[2:53:18] that libraries provide so many valuable resources to the citizens of her Nando County.
[2:53:25] They provide the books, technology, educational programs, job search, a system,
[2:53:32] meeting spaces and lifelong learning opportunities for residents of all ages.
[2:53:38] And we also heard about the social support for parents, for children, for teenagers,
[2:53:46] and many times for senior citizens especially for those living alone and we
[2:53:53] have a large population of senior citizens. Closing one library places a
[2:54:00] burden on other libraries as well as citizens who have to drive further to get to
[2:54:05] one especially if they're taking a bus it's like you can't get there from here.
[2:54:11] potential residents look at what the counties have to offer in terms of libraries and schools
[2:54:19] when they're seeking places to reside in.
[2:54:23] That Hernandez County continue to shine in this area.
[2:54:29] Please continue to support Hernandez County libraries and ensure they remain accessible to all
[2:54:36] members of our communities. Libraries represent one of the few places that tax
[2:54:45] paying residents can go that doesn't charge a fee. Our parks charge a fee, our
[2:54:53] fishing peers charge a fee, everything seems to have a fee. And by the way
[2:55:00] Was there anything listed? Were some of our, our fees? I didn't see anything on your budget. I mean, is there an area for that for us to see what revenue is coming in from other sources? Please continue to support Hernando County Libraries and ensure they remain accessible to all members of our communities. Libraries represent one of the few
[2:55:30] places. Oh, I'm repeating myself, but I want you to get that point. That tax paying
[2:55:35] residents can go that doesn't charge a fee. Thank you for your services to Hernando County
[2:55:41] and considering funding all Hernando County libraries. And one of the things I'd like
[2:55:47] to mention is that many time some of our residents moved to other counties or states and they
[2:55:54] come back and they remarked they wish they had the library system that her
[2:56:00] Nanda County has and what we offer. I'd like to invite you to stop by and spend some
[2:56:08] time in the her Nanda County libraries. You might be surprised at what you have
[2:56:14] been missing. Thank you. Thank you ma'am.
[2:56:22] Good morning commissioners my name is
[2:56:24] Marina Syrette, SURETE.
[2:56:28] I'm speaking today as a professional librarian
[2:56:31] with a master's degree in library science
[2:56:33] and 32 years of experience in libraries.
[2:56:37] Others have already spoken about the social value of libraries
[2:56:39] and I could wax on forever about it, it is my vocation.
[2:56:43] But I'm going to add that closing the Western End of Branch
[2:56:46] to reduce the budget is very short-sighted.
[2:56:50] We should be eliminating waste, not adding to it.
[2:56:53] Fernando County taxpayers have already invested heavily in this facility.
[2:56:59] The West Branch House is nearly 37,000 physical items, and with an estimated replacement cost
[2:57:07] of probably $1.2 million, along with an additional estimated three to 400,000 in infrastructure
[2:57:14] and technology.
[2:57:16] Those investments have already been made.
[2:57:18] The question is whether taxpayers will continue receiving the full value of
[2:57:24] what they've already paid for. Closing this branch also means losing programs
[2:57:29] and services that have already been planned and funded. The community has made it
[2:57:34] clear that this library is needed. Nearly 21,000 residents identify West as their
[2:57:41] home branch. Between October 2024 and May 11th of this year before it closed, the
[2:57:48] The branch welcomed nearly 78,000 visitors, despite major disruptions, including serving
[2:57:55] as a FEMA site for two months.
[2:57:58] During that same period, nearly 2,500 new users registered at the West Branch and staff
[2:58:04] answered almost 15,000 informational questions, helping people with technology, schoolwork,
[2:58:12] job applications, government services, and access to reliable information.
[2:58:17] West is a very busy branch in this county, and suggesting that Spring Hill can absorb
[2:58:22] these services, places, and even greater burden on an already overextended branch.
[2:58:29] Closing West would leave Spring Hill serving more than 130,000 residents.
[2:58:35] This proposal does not increase efficiency.
[2:58:38] It reduces the return taxpayers' receive on an investment that they've already made.
[2:58:43] We don't build roads and then close them because they require maintenance.
[2:58:48] We don't turn off street lights because they have ongoing costs.
[2:58:52] We maintain public infrastructure because it continues to provide value and libraries
[2:58:59] deserve that same consideration.
[2:59:02] Physical responsibility is not about cutting services that are working.
[2:59:08] It is about protecting the investments taxpayers have already made and ensuring that those investments
[2:59:13] continue to benefit the community and the West Fernando branch is doing
[2:59:18] exactly that thank you.
[2:59:25] Hello I'm Joan Taylor I live in Wiki Watchi and I want to
[2:59:29] build a little bit on the previous person's presentation by talking about the
[2:59:35] Hernando County Public Library Master Plan which was presented and it's very
[2:59:41] detailed with many things and in the SWOT analysis, the strength, weaknesses, opportunities
[2:59:48] and threats. Under the threats area, rapid community change and growth. Population growth
[2:59:55] and increasing diversity are outpacing the library's
[3:00:01] And I just did a quick search of some of the residential areas along the commercial way, 19th corridor
[3:00:11] there, and especially in Royal Highlands. There's approximately 250 homes expected in winding
[3:00:19] Oaks, 3,085 homes in the Pinery, I don't know that's that newer development, there's
[3:00:27] currently I think 1,500 homes in Glen Lakes, I know they're still constructing some
[3:00:33] new ones, and Sandal Key is approximately 3,000, I'm sure that some of those people will
[3:00:40] be wanting to use the library.
[3:00:42] Also in another section of the master plan, it talked about the statistics of the usage
[3:00:50] and it is the West Hernando Branch as the second largest number of public service hours
[3:00:58] and programs for the public and also the second largest annual program participation in
[3:01:06] venue count.
[3:01:08] So I hope that in the future, as some of you said, this is not just for this year, this is for the future, that you take a look at the details of this plan that Kim Lee Horn did and think not only about this building, but the facilities, the need for a better constructed building and maybe some more landscaping.
[3:01:35] So it's not really a chamber of commerce, hey come and look at our libraries.
[3:01:41] I hope that you will consider that in the future.
[3:01:45] So this is thinking ahead but I do hope that we can save Western End of Ranch.
[3:01:51] Thank you.
[3:01:52] Ma'am, before you leave,
[3:01:56] and for everybody else's want to speak, I neglected to say that the overhead is available to you.
[3:02:02] Just know anything you place on the overhead will be a public record and we have to keep that anything that's placed on the overhead
[3:02:09] So if you would like the opportunity to place what you presented on the overhead you can have that opportunity now
[3:02:15] Just know we'd have to take it. It's not going to be clear enough
[3:02:20] Thank you, but I also would like to use overhead please feel free to do so and we'd be happy to assist with that. Thank you, ma'am
[3:02:30] Good morning
[3:02:32] Tim Gartha, G-U-A-R-T-H-A, Wildland Firefighter, Spring Hill.
[3:02:39] So, what is every single person benefit from, every single person benefits from libraries,
[3:02:46] from having an educated, engaged population.
[3:02:49] I can defend my home.
[3:02:51] If you give me $2,000, I can't reopen a library.
[3:02:55] This is why we bother having a society.
[3:02:58] If this is just about numbers, I'll make it simple.
[3:03:01] Education is cheaper than incarceration.
[3:03:04] Announce the prevention as we're the pound of cure.
[3:03:07] Don't cry about juvenile detention needing money
[3:03:10] when you close a library.
[3:03:12] If we want a separate line for libraries, great.
[3:03:16] But we need to fund it now, no matter what happens in November.
[3:03:19] And I have a little more faith in that particular outcome.
[3:03:22] And that's for looking forward, looking forward to a library,
[3:03:26] to a county with less libraries means less civil engagement or homelessness, more illiteracy, less resources, more crime.
[3:03:36] Keeping tax rates low means nothing without quality of life.
[3:03:40] I am a homeowner, I will pay for what matters.
[3:03:45] Can you talk about people not behaving?
[3:03:47] I acknowledge that crime doesn't come from demonic possession.
[3:03:51] stop criminalizing nonsense, invest in a society, fund the library,
[3:03:56] no one will remember you for holding the line or for rollback or not dipping into the reserves.
[3:04:02] People will remember if our quality of life goes down and we will vote accordingly.
[3:04:15] Well, I'm Tanya Grunwell, it's GRUNWELL.
[3:04:20] I'm a resident Brooksville and I'm also a teacher.
[3:04:25] I am also a tutor who has met with students in West Fernando Library frequently.
[3:04:31] I am also a homeschoolman.
[3:04:35] I come to you today to represent that homeschool community.
[3:04:39] When you think of libraries, I don't know how you can separate it from homeschool families.
[3:04:44] These are lifelines for homeschool families.
[3:04:49] Huge users of libraries.
[3:04:53] Homeschool is booming in Florida if you know anything about the
[3:05:00] Step up for student scholarships that are available for homeschool families in Florida. You'll know that families are taking wide advantage of that. Which means we have more people in our county who are looking for services. They are looking to use those library programs, taking away that opportunity from West Fernando would be a tragedy for these families. Especially when you're talking about the Northwest
[3:05:29] corner of our county, booming, that's what somebody was just talking about, all the community development that's going there.
[3:05:37] I can't imagine that there aren't going to be families so we're going to move into those homes.
[3:05:44] In my opinion, West Trinando is our best branch, especially for children.
[3:05:50] I can't tell you how many children, how many families I've seen there,
[3:05:55] are taking advantage of so many of the resources and programs that are available.
[3:06:03] Not only have I also done this, but I also spent almost a decade as a children's library
[3:06:08] and in my hometown in Segnon, Michigan, part of it in an inner city library.
[3:06:15] Libraries are community.
[3:06:17] If you want, just as he just said before me, if you want that number of juvenile detention
[3:06:22] to come down, you invest in your community.
[3:06:24] you invest in your kids, you invest in your families.
[3:06:28] I saw that firsthand working with those kids.
[3:06:31] You are in their lifeline.
[3:06:33] You see these kids sometimes every day.
[3:06:35] They just come, they just want to hang out with you because you're safe.
[3:06:39] I can't say enough about that.
[3:06:43] In my hometown, we have our own library village.
[3:06:46] I would implore you to please do that.
[3:06:49] I cannot believe that this county does not have its library
[3:06:52] as a separate millage item. I cannot believe it.
[3:06:59] Please think outside of the box, think
[3:07:02] of some other way to find a solution other than closing Western Endow Library.
[3:07:10] Thank you.
[3:07:15] Good afternoon. My name is Nicole Salorino. That's S-A-V-E-R-I-N-O. In our opening prayer,
[3:07:23] Mr. Ambassador mentioned wanting to do what is best for the community and Mr. Rogers
[3:07:28] you said that we have to think about where we want to be in the future.
[3:07:32] So I want you guys to consider those two statements.
[3:07:35] Libraries are essential for the heart of a community in a world that is increasingly
[3:07:40] divided, libraries build community.
[3:07:42] The library is where we can come together for book clubs, learn new skills and teach our
[3:07:47] children about the love of breeding.
[3:07:48] We get to watch them experience the joy of finding a new book on the shelf.
[3:07:54] Mr. Campbell, you had mentioned our kids are being neglected in a lot of ways where else but the library can our youth spend safe quality time, come rain or shine.
[3:08:04] The joy and peace that a library brings is endless and before you start reminding us that it's not our only library.
[3:08:14] I'd like to mention Mr. Olokov had said that it is perfectly located.
[3:08:19] The community's north of it are getting bigger and how far should our residents have to
[3:08:24] drive to get to these services, how far should our teens have to drive to enjoy the quiet
[3:08:29] of a library.
[3:08:31] It is such a great place to raise good citizens.
[3:08:35] Several of you have mentioned that high homeownership and homesteaded properties here might be some kind of a bad thing for the budget, but it means people are invested in raising their families here.
[3:08:49] There is an ever increasing number of families to use a homeschool, their children, so please keep in mind that more and more of our children will grow up in these very libraries.
[3:09:04] Thank you all for clarifying what it meant to take money from the reserve fund and how you
[3:09:11] do have like a higher than average savings account to start with, but with the money that
[3:09:18] we spent on body cameras from last year, I as a homeowner would not be able to just spend
[3:09:25] my emergency fund money on security cameras from my house that would be something I'd have to
[3:09:30] save up for. So just having trouble understanding why that constitutes as an emergency purchase
[3:09:37] over funding the library. It just it doesn't make sense to me and I wouldn't be able to do that as a
[3:09:42] homeowner.
[3:09:45] And then please color correct me if I'm wrong because it's just something that I heard as
[3:09:49] As I whisper around town, but I heard that you all have approved the purchase of 671 South Front Street with the intention to rehome some government buildings.
[3:10:00] Or some government offices. I bring that up because it is currently listed on the property appraiser website as having a market value of $2.7 million. So we would have to pay that. But if we kept those offices where they are, that money could be used to fund the library for five years.
[3:10:21] Thank you.
[3:10:35] I was going to put this down on the projector, but I won't.
[3:10:39] No, don't do that.
[3:10:40] That's right.
[3:10:41] This is my granddaughter.
[3:10:43] And my flat, me sitting in a rocking chair,
[3:10:47] reading to her, before she's two years old.
[3:10:51] And readers are reading.
[3:10:57] I think we all know what a library is.
[3:10:59] It does have books, but it has so much more.
[3:11:01] And we've all said that.
[3:11:03] All right.
[3:11:04] Today, libraries have computers and printers.
[3:11:08] is my husband has had to go to you to the library just for a paper but I have a printer now.
[3:11:15] I love books. I was a teacher for 30 years,
[3:11:26] especially some
[3:11:29] of my favorite books,
[3:11:33] reading and not showed you my granddaughter. I had two books that are, oh probably over 65 years old.
[3:11:40] Then
[3:11:43] I got my third grade and I've had all my life.
[3:11:52] Man, would you mind telling us, I'm going to pause your time for a minute, would you
[3:11:55] mind telling us what those two books are?
[3:11:59] If I were going and I read this one and that gave me
[3:12:02] to want to travel the world because it has other countries in it.
[3:12:06] Very cool.
[3:12:07] That's right.
[3:12:10] Is Betty June and her friends.
[3:12:12] Okay.
[3:12:12] Now that teaches about, you know, friendship, love, and caring.
[3:12:19] And I can't believe I moved three times or more.
[3:12:24] But these books came with me.
[3:12:28] Libraries are important for both kids and adults.
[3:12:31] There are clubs. I have two friends here that are in book clubs.
[3:12:36] And they've already spoken.
[3:12:39] I heard that the Spring Hill Library, as we were talking,
[3:12:43] and it's going to increase how many people they have to accommodate.
[3:12:47] I hear now 500 people a day are in there, 501 day for
[3:12:55] more than that and all right.
[3:12:59] I use the library as a place to tutor after I retire teaching.
[3:13:07] Books are near and dear to my heart.
[3:13:09] I read every day.
[3:13:11] I have so many books.
[3:13:13] I got adult books, cookbooks, help books, Bible reference books, animal books, love stories
[3:13:19] and mistress.
[3:13:20] interest. I want to know why. You have to close the library. Why? West library or any library.
[3:13:32] I heard seven employees going to leave out a job when you close West library. Is it all about money?
[3:13:39] I heard you get our condition.work but can't somebody else do something about that? If it's broken, fix it.
[3:13:46] You say not many people go there?
[3:13:48] Well, I just told you, over 500 go to Spring Hill Library.
[3:13:52] I don't know how many went to West, but I imagine it was quite a few.
[3:13:56] There has to be some other way to solve this problem.
[3:14:00] There's so many homes being built.
[3:14:02] We just talked about that.
[3:14:03] All these homes are going to be in Texas.
[3:14:05] There should be, there are state money and federal money set aside for libraries.
[3:14:10] We talked about grants and bonds.
[3:14:12] There must be another way.
[3:14:16] Anyway, you know what, I'm worried.
[3:14:18] This is the first library you close in West.
[3:14:21] There's three more.
[3:14:22] You just said the other one, what Spring Hill?
[3:14:25] It might be next year.
[3:14:27] What are these kids, and parents, and people going to go?
[3:14:31] You know how many homeschool kids there are?
[3:14:33] Thank you, ma'am.
[3:14:34] All right.
[3:14:35] Thank you very much.
[3:14:36] Just please.
[3:14:38] Think about what you're doing.
[3:14:39] I have a statue. I'm just going to look
[3:14:43] at the marble arena book or somebody.
[3:14:47] The boy has a soccer ball. She said, you guys listen to this book for a week like this.
[3:14:53] Thank you.
[3:14:57] Probably because I got a swollen foot and I had it off this point.
[3:15:00] I canceled it to be here. Thank you, ma'am.
[3:15:08] He's right here.
[3:15:14] Good afternoon. My name is Scott Waldron,
[3:15:16] w-a-l-p-r-o-n. You served my district. I came here today,
[3:15:25] but it turns out it's a figure budget issue taxes. Not certain? We don't know anything.
[3:15:44] I, as a homeowner, I'm with you, extra money will go great in my pocket instead of years.
[3:15:50] I would say yes.
[3:15:51] But, again, as homestead, we are building larger communities, renters, still paying taxes.
[3:15:58] You still have your commercial taxes and everything else that are going to be brought in.
[3:16:01] We got more businesses coming to Hernando County than we have in decades.
[3:16:06] I've lived here 48
[3:16:13] years.
[3:16:16] So, all around this library, I don't
[3:16:25] think that the tax issue is going to be as big as it is.
[3:16:30] I agree we need to plan. We need to budget, we need to go and prepare for the worst.
[3:16:36] I don't agree with taking the library to social skills, social programs, everything.
[3:16:46] Libraries also do one of the only places you can buy a physical bus pass for
[3:16:52] the month. You got people who can't go to one bus can't go to get
[3:16:56] prescriptions can't whatever you're gonna go in devastated community. If we
[3:17:03] need to raise money we organize today volunteers we need to step up if we need
[3:17:13] We need to put your money where your mouth is, which don't he?
[3:17:17] Find him money, keep the place open, keep all our libraries open.
[3:17:24] Thank you, sir.
[3:17:33] Hello, my name is Vivian Garner, G-A-R-N-E-R, and I am retired teacher, 28 years.
[3:17:42] And I came today because I heard about this decision about closing the Western
[3:17:47] Fernando Library. I'm a grandmother, I'm a mother, and I also am a reader.
[3:17:57] The Board
[3:17:58] of County Commissioners has a very difficult job, and I can see that from today, from listening
[3:18:05] to all of your presentations. You're kind of caught between a rock and a hard place from
[3:18:11] what to do. The decision in November and the ballot that's going to happen, we don't
[3:18:18] know what's going to happen. And I understand they're trying to change a language and they're
[3:18:22] not sure what they're going to do. It does put the counties in a very difficult and the cities
[3:18:28] in a difficult position on how to fund their programs. Now I have a son who has very high
[3:18:36] property taxes. He's paying over $5,000 a year so I understand how he needs some tax relief
[3:18:45] and I understand what the governor's trying to do but we can't get rid of essential programs
[3:18:51] for all of our citizens that they need and libraries is one of the most essential. I had two grandchildren
[3:18:59] children that went during the summer program, and they did the 24-hour program for reading.
[3:19:07] It goes through the raise.
[3:19:09] If you read 24 hours during the summertime, you get a free ticket to a raise game.
[3:19:15] And they filled this out, and they read their program.
[3:19:18] That's just one program that the library is doing.
[3:19:20] And it's essential, the mission statement for the library is to provide space where all
[3:19:29] are welcome to discover, to create, and learn through innovative technology and resources.
[3:19:38] Now, we've got to be able to do that for all the citizens, whether it be for adults that
[3:19:44] need to come in and use a computer or access to the Internet.
[3:19:48] Some people don't have internet at their houses.
[3:19:51] They need to come to your libraries to use that internet.
[3:19:55] They also need to look for jobs or go online.
[3:20:00] Or maybe just to read the newspaper and see what jobs are available out there. So, it's important that they have these opportunities. Little children say toddlers, they have programs for them to read books with the people who are in the work of the library and the parents come in. Maybe they're a single mom and they have a program that they come to be able to read with their children. These things are the most
[3:20:29] essential things that you people can provide for them. We cannot close these programs. We've got
[3:20:35] to find a way to be able to fund them. And I brought some books that I love.
[3:20:58] And I wanted to just
[3:20:59] our Bush and Jenna Bush, and these kind of books are real important, and these are things
[3:21:05] that I've had my whole life, and I'm not going to get rid of them because I love books
[3:21:09] so much.
[3:21:10] Thank you, man.
[3:21:10] Thank you.
[3:21:23] My name is Lauren Burrito, B-A-R-R-E-T-O. I'm a pediatric speech language pathologist.
[3:21:29] Every day, I work with children who are learning how to communicate, how to understand language,
[3:21:34] how to read, how to succeed academically.
[3:21:37] I see first-hand that literacy is not just a school issue, it affects a child's
[3:21:43] entire future. And that is why we are all here asking you today to reconsider
[3:21:50] the proposed closure of the West Fernando Branch Library. Closing this branch
[3:21:55] may save approximately $500,000 on the budget, but the true cost to our
[3:22:01] community will be much greater. As everyone else has said, a library is not just a
[3:22:05] place where people check out books, is where children discover a love of reading, where
[3:22:10] a student without internet at home can complete homework, study, apply for colleges.
[3:22:16] It's where a job seeker can apply for employment, a senior can access technology, families can
[3:22:21] attend educational programs, residents can find resources, they may not have anywhere else.
[3:22:26] As a professional who works with children and literacy every day, I am deeply concerned
[3:22:31] about reducing access to these services when your community needs them so much.
[3:22:36] Hernando County is already facing literacy challenges.
[3:22:39] In 2025, 53% of Hernando County students scored three or above on the fast.
[3:22:48] That's nearly half of our students that are still struggling with reading skills that are critical to their success.
[3:22:53] When literacy rates are concerned, we should be expanding opportunities for learning and not reducing them.
[3:23:00] What concerns me even more is that this proposal comes at a time when the county itself recognizes that her nana county is growing.
[3:23:07] The county is adding positions in other departments to make the needs of that growth.
[3:23:11] If our population is increasing, why would we reduce access to one of the resources that helps support growing families, students, and residents?
[3:23:19] We've also heard the suggestion residents can use Spring Hill Branch instead.
[3:23:23] But access isn't about whether another building simply exists.
[3:23:26] It's whether they can realistically get there.
[3:23:29] For a working parent, a senior without reliable transportation, a student who needs resources
[3:23:33] close to home, or a family with limited options, distance can be the difference between receiving
[3:23:38] a service and going without it.
[3:23:42] Before closing an entire branch and eliminating seven library positions, I respectfully ask
[3:23:47] the commissioners to look for other solutions.
[3:23:50] A decision that saves money today should not create a greater cost for our future.
[3:23:55] Canada County is obviously growing. Our children are depending on us, our families are depending on us, and choose to invest in education, literacy and opportunity by keeping all of our branches open.
[3:24:06] Thank you, ma'am.
[3:24:28] Hello, my name is Katie Long, L-O-N-G. I'm here for the obvious reasons, because how much
[3:24:36] we value the West Fernando branch. It is the largest children's library section in
[3:24:42] county. We also home school. I have three children at home school and we also
[3:24:49] participated in that lovely reading for the raised program and the
[3:24:54] thousand minutes of reading and we went to the main branch because we couldn't.
[3:25:00] We're going to go to the West Fernando. And they're with the first one at the branch to finish because of how much they love the library. We go every week, every week. And before that branch closed, we were going every week, where we would do our lessons, get books, check out, we check out what 50 books every time we go, every single time, we do every program we can. And basically, all my thoughts just echo,
[3:25:29] So I couldn't what everyone else has said about it.
[3:25:34] This is my daughter, Gwendolyn.
[3:25:37] She has a seventh grade rating level.
[3:25:41] She is seven.
[3:25:48] Every day for an hour at least.
[3:25:52] Keep that up.
[3:25:53] Gwendolyn, what's your favorite book?
[3:25:56] What would you like to say?
[3:25:57] I want to say that I don't want you to get rid of the West
[3:26:03] It's Fernando Library because it has the biggest child room and it has the best books that I ever bought there.
[3:26:11] Awesome, great job.
[3:26:15] Many of the, we go to Spring Hill right now because that's where we have to pick up and most of the stuff that we reserve,
[3:26:22] it's from the last Fernando branch.
[3:26:24] So what would happen to all those books that closed out? Where would they go?
[3:26:29] We don't want to keep buying books, right?
[3:26:32] We want to use the resources that we have in the community.
[3:26:36] Thank you.
[3:26:37] Thank you.
[3:26:38] Great job.
[3:26:39] Hello,
[3:26:48] my name is Mary Lynch, a white NCH.
[3:26:51] I've been educated for over 30 years.
[3:26:53] I'm a school of my eight children.
[3:26:55] Most of them to the, you know, this library.
[3:26:58] When we moved down 20, over 20 years ago.
[3:27:01] About 15 years ago, I heard a rumor that there was going to be a books of million.
[3:27:05] It was when Panera was opening up on 50 and I was like yes, because I will take all my
[3:27:11] kids and we'll go down to that book's million and I love it and go the children's section
[3:27:16] wonderful.
[3:27:18] Books are expensive.
[3:27:19] I have a library full of them myself.
[3:27:22] I didn't buy books all the time but what I did do is I bought a coffee every time I went
[3:27:28] down.
[3:27:28] So my suggestion I said I love the library but man it needs a coffee shop.
[3:27:34] So, I looked it up. Is it possible? Could. And yeah, look at Google says, yes, a private coffee shop can open at a private library.
[3:27:43] And many modern public libraries partner with private vendors or local businesses to operate on-site cafes.
[3:27:50] Okay, so there you go. And something, you know, obviously it wouldn't be able to bring everything that needs to be to have a library.
[3:27:58] But, you know, maybe something and then maybe even more people, you know, to come by.
[3:28:04] Okay, there you go.
[3:28:05] Thank you for your time.
[3:28:06] Thank you, ma'am.
[3:28:11] Hi, my name is Amanda McParlin, MC, F-A-R-L-A-N.
[3:28:15] Please excuse if my voice is shaky.
[3:28:17] Public speaking is like my least favorite thing that you could ask me to ever do.
[3:28:23] So I wrote everything down.
[3:28:25] My first question would be, I know that the branch first shut down in summer
[3:28:30] because of the air conditioning going out for half of the building.
[3:28:34] And I was wondering, I think I could be wrong that the air conditioning is in place to be replaced for that building already.
[3:28:42] So if it does get fixed, now we have a building sitting empty without the air running perfectly fine.
[3:28:49] And now it's just empty when it could be used or I'm sure it will be reallocated to be used for something else.
[3:28:55] But I think the library is obviously the best option.
[3:28:59] I'm not going to pretend like I'm qualified to talk about the budget with you, but this
[3:29:04] is just my personal testimonial for this particular branch of the library.
[3:29:08] My kids love for reading and books started when I started taking them to the library
[3:29:13] at the West Fernando branch and they learned that they could check out however many books
[3:29:16] that they wanted because usually we go to the stores and we go only spend $5, get one thing
[3:29:21] and they are so excited that they could just get a whole bag and then they can keep recycling
[3:29:27] them.
[3:29:28] So now I'm just going to read the email that I sent out because it seems like you probably
[3:29:36] did not get to it since you got so many of them.
[3:29:39] My main argument for keeping our amazing library is the fact that it hands down has the
[3:29:43] best children's area.
[3:29:44] I live in the Spring Hill side of Sterling Hills in Hernando County and the only reasonably
[3:29:49] close library other than West Hernando is the Spring Hill branch.
[3:29:52] And while it's a maze, it's a nice library. The kids area in that branch is nothing compared to the western.
[3:30:00] It's the size of, like, these benches, and it's closed off with walls, and you just can't really enjoy it in there. If you have a couple of families in there, there isn't any more room for anyone else. The amount of books in the small space is minimal. Even if books from the West Fernando branch get dispersed there, there isn't room for them. Browsing online for books be sent to be picked up isn't in the spirit of a public library. The experience is all about browsing the shelves,
[3:30:29] and finding a book, not doing internet research
[3:30:32] to see what books are available and just picking it up.
[3:30:34] We need libraries, especially great libraries,
[3:30:37] like the Western Handle Branch for Kids.
[3:30:38] We used the Western Handle Branch all the time
[3:30:41] and have been disappointed that we haven't been able
[3:30:43] to use it during the summer.
[3:30:45] The thought of it not being there anymore is truly upsetting.
[3:30:47] They put on so many events, which is essential
[3:30:49] for a sense of community, especially since my kids do school.
[3:30:53] Virtually, they do a lot of virtual school.
[3:30:55] It may be the easy option to just close it to save money,
[3:30:58] but sometimes you need to take the road less traveled and work a little harder for the greater good.
[3:31:03] Thank you.
[3:31:04] Thank you.
[3:31:10] Hi, my name is Elliott McFarlane.
[3:31:13] I'm CF-A-R-L-A-N.
[3:31:16] I just want to say,
[3:31:18] me and my family love going to the Western Aino Branch Library
[3:31:22] because the library,
[3:31:23] the kids' section is huge.
[3:31:26] And when it's closed,
[3:31:27] we have to check out our books at the Sterling Hill Library.
[3:31:31] and my sister wants just to go browse there and we see that it's super small and
[3:31:38] like it can only fit like three kids and one adult so we're super disappointed
[3:31:44] that the western end of library is closing.
[3:31:48] Awesome job.
[3:31:50] Kelly,
[3:31:53] before you leave, can you tell us what your favorite book is?
[3:31:58] I like the new girl's panties books.
[3:32:01] Awesome.
[3:32:02] Thank you.
[3:32:03] Great job.
[3:32:04] Hi,
[3:32:08] my name is Ariana King Aldrich, K-I-N-G Space-A-L-D-R-I-C-H.
[3:32:16] I have been a Spring Hill resident and I have been going to the West Hernando for
[3:32:20] an instance.
[3:32:20] I was six years old, but there's more than just nostalgia that makes this library important
[3:32:26] as all of those before me have pointed out.
[3:32:29] I am a social worker and I work for the Hernando County School District and the students and
[3:32:34] families that I work with every day go to the West Fernando Branch Library. Many have told me
[3:32:41] that they are upset about the potential closing because of many barriers that could not get them
[3:32:47] to this meeting today, being the same ones that would not be able to get them to an alternative
[3:32:51] library if the West Fernando Branch is close. Many before me have discussed the importance of literacy.
[3:32:58] For many, literacy starts at the library reading time and exposure to books before they even
[3:33:05] start going to school.
[3:33:07] You have presented that the budget is tight, there are many mandated costs, and in times
[3:33:11] of need, I would like to see our local government be open with our community and work with the
[3:33:16] community to try to figure out ways to support our libraries.
[3:33:20] So together as a community, I think it is important to ask how to save the library, how can
[3:33:28] To save the library with less impact to the budget,
[3:33:31] there was a discussion of grants.
[3:33:33] Who finds these grants?
[3:33:35] Are there grants available for libraries or parks?
[3:33:39] A brief review of the Hernano County Library website
[3:33:42] showed me that there's a form that has to be filled out
[3:33:44] for donations and that hard copy has to be brought in.
[3:33:48] Is there a way that we could have a digital option?
[3:33:52] If we want to donate to our library,
[3:33:55] let's try to make it easier.
[3:33:57] Are there ways to increase revenue to help sustain a library such as
[3:34:02] many machines, sponsors for community agencies and families where those
[3:34:07] businesses can be displayed like we do at our schools. We have banners up.
[3:34:11] Businesses pay for those to be there. Can community members volunteer for
[3:34:16] some things that could be removed from the budget like painting or businesses
[3:34:20] that may donate labor to help with the air conditioning?
[3:34:24] A post on social media is why I was aware of this meeting today in the potential closing
[3:34:28] of the West Fernando Branch Library.
[3:34:31] Using these tools and these ideas in any similar ideas and using this as a stepping stone
[3:34:38] could be beneficial not only to the West Fernando branch but to all of our libraries and our
[3:34:43] county.
[3:34:44] These may be small ideas in a grand budget, but many small steps can create big impacts.
[3:34:50] Thank you.
[3:34:51] Thank you, ma'am.
[3:34:55] Before you start, ma'am, I just want to mention Valley and your
[3:35:03] Over here on the left hand side, Ms. Brady has. So feel free to get those to be of life. Thank you. Hi, Jessica Hare, H-A-H-E-R. I'm on the Library Advisory Committee,
[3:35:18] a past president of the Women's Club who established the first library in
[3:35:24] Hernando County. And I want to book discussion groups and I love the library.
[3:35:32] We have been award-winning, as was mentioned before, and this is not the first place
[3:35:40] one should be looking to cut or to find more revenue is one of the things
[3:35:47] that I've spoken a few times here about is the impact fees.
[3:35:53] You talked about mosquito control was going to cost more because of all the extra people
[3:35:59] that are moving here, the new buildings, but why doesn't impact fees cover that?
[3:36:06] You said that the drainage was covered by the impact fees, supposedly, so why not?
[3:36:14] The mosquito control as well.
[3:36:16] So, yes, I would not go with sales tax increases, I would say this whole unanimous voting,
[3:36:25] which is one of the reasons impact these won't go up, is also the rollback that you're
[3:36:33] insisting upon here is also because you can't get a unanimous vote on it.
[3:36:37] I mean, that idea is just ridiculous to me.
[3:36:43] So if we're ending up with no property taxes because the state is going to take care
[3:36:51] of it all, then none of this will happen.
[3:36:57] It'll happen in some other way, I guess.
[3:36:59] But then the MSPU that you talked about perhaps would be good for things like parks and libraries.
[3:37:06] If we can't control it anymore and it all goes to Miami, because the state has control
[3:37:11] of our property taxes, well then we've got to do some of those things to find the money
[3:37:17] to keep our programs going.
[3:37:19] Thank you.
[3:37:20] Thank you, ma'am.
[3:37:25] Good afternoon.
[3:37:27] My name's Linda Morehouse, M-O-R-E-H-A-U-S-E.
[3:37:30] And I agree with everything that's said in the libraries, but I'm not going to talk about
[3:37:33] the libraries or change.
[3:37:36] I've been thinking about what you're doing with the taxes and how we have to make money,
[3:37:40] find money.
[3:37:42] Just to give you a little bit of personal information, I spent 30 years trying to make sure that
[3:37:46] I had to make my numbers.
[3:37:48] I had to make numbers for two of the largest animal health companies in the world.
[3:37:54] To tell you that I'm not giving you wine, my company was bought by Pfizer for $68 billion.
[3:38:00] And my division was spun off for $2.2 billion.
[3:38:03] dollars. I went from that manufacturing and development company to a distribution company
[3:38:08] who is right now worth $4.7 billion dollars. During those times, my first company I was
[3:38:14] salaried with bonus. My second one I was 100% commissioned. If I lost something, I had
[3:38:21] to find it somewhere. I used my brain to find it somewhere. I found places that needed to
[3:38:27] be plugged into. If I found a clinic that didn't have an X-ray machine, I plugged in an X-ray
[3:38:33] machine. If I found somebody that wasn't used as our vaccines, I made sure they used
[3:38:36] our vaccines. And I took a $2 million territory that $8 million in four years. If I'm finding
[3:38:43] something to plug in somewhere, I'm going to give you some things that I've been thinking
[3:38:47] about. I know a couple of you guys have electric cars. I get it. Your cars are 500 or 1000 pounds
[3:38:54] heavier than my car. I pay 15 cents a gallon. You pay nothing. The electric company loves
[3:38:59] you or the solar companies love you but I know love you. You're using our roads for free.
[3:39:06] 40 states in our country charged an extra annual registration fee for electric cars based on
[3:39:13] their mileage that has to be turned in every time the registrations are bought or purchased. And if
[3:39:22] you lie, you get fined. And some states that think you're trying to make it a felony. Every electric
[3:39:28] car should be paying that $290 a year average.
[3:39:32] It costs us an average of $200 every 10,000 miles to run a gas car, and gas tax is not
[3:39:39] tires and all that.
[3:39:41] Another thing is you're missing an awful lot of fees with our developers.
[3:39:47] Right now if they tear down vegetation that's not approved, they should be paying about $500
[3:39:53] per foot.
[3:39:53] if they cut down an old tree there's supposed to be 15 trees per acre if they
[3:40:00] We're going to cut down more than those trees. There are fines of up to $1,000 a day, $15,000 per violation, $500 per inch of trunk when they cut down an aged tree that they're not supposed to cut down. Then you want to talk about the fees for the tortoises that they're killing because I was told by a developer that it's cheaper to let those animals suffocate underground than it is to pay the relocation fees. So those relocation fees are high, but those fines
[3:40:29] need to go up. Find the money. It's there. You're missing it. It's there.
[3:40:42] I want to speak about you tearing down the Wisdom & Adult Library. I really like that
[3:40:47] library and I just don't feel really good about it when you're going to tear it down.
[3:40:54] So can you not tear it down, please?
[3:40:58] Thank you, ma'am. Where do I live?
[3:41:05] Hi, my name is Kyrie Denard, D-E-N-N-A-R-D, and I'm 12 years old, and these are some reasons why the library should stay open.
[3:41:16] The library should stay open. The library is a good place, even if you're a good mood or a bad one. The library has been there all my life, and seeing it go would be so sad.
[3:41:27] I used to be homeschooled there with my family and it always was a good it always was a good day
[3:41:33] Sometimes we would even do arts and crafts and it would be a good time, too. The library is where I
[3:41:41] Made my first friends those memories are valuable. Thank you. Great job
[3:42:08] Okay. Good morning. Good afternoon, commissioners. My name is Javine Sunkit Brown, S U N K E T T hyphenated
[3:42:18] brown. I definitely understand what you guys are talking about in cutting budgets. My nephew
[3:42:25] is one of those individuals who is wind up at the medical examiner, so that is something that's
[3:42:30] very powerful for me, bad people doing bad things, so I totally understand where the cuts
[3:42:36] and things like that come in.
[3:42:38] So my proposal to you guys would be, instead of cutting down and removing the western
[3:42:44] and old library, create a community hub for it, to bring education, starting with freedom,
[3:42:52] letting our residents really know about that, keeping all the resources that we currently
[3:42:57] have there, keeping it free to our community, keeping the books in there, keeping the
[3:43:01] furniture in there, keeping the computers in there, keeping everything exactly what it
[3:43:05] is, which is zero impact for you guys, because you won't have to pack it up relocated
[3:43:10] or anything of that nature.
[3:43:12] It also keeps the community engaged and still being able, like my grandson just said, to be
[3:43:16] able to be homeschool, be able to still keep those environments going on in there, but
[3:43:21] vamp it, bring it to hawk awareness, bring stuff to this abuse awareness in there, bring
[3:43:26] any other research that our residents need in the community there, and collaborate with
[3:43:30] other businesses as well to use that same space that I used to right now. When I started
[3:43:35] my nonprofit, they allowed me to come in there for free, have virtual support group meetings
[3:43:40] there, all the from New Jersey, because I'm the director, board of directors that told you
[3:43:45] before for NAMI New Jersey, so I held support groups for mental health for residents that far
[3:43:50] from that library. And those librarians all seven of them know my grandson and my other
[3:43:55] grandchildren and myself very, very well. And so when you've been there, like he said, his whole life
[3:44:00] so is very important to maintain the work that was going on in there. And again, what I offered you
[3:44:07] guys as a proposal to be able to bring a nonprofit, which is in the statues, I think 125.38, that you guys
[3:44:14] can do a nominee and be able to lease it to a nonprofit and keep it still, what we were doing with it,
[3:44:21] But being able to again extend other services there underneath of it.
[3:44:26] Thank you.
[3:44:26] Thank you, ma'am.
[3:44:32] Good afternoon.
[3:44:33] Diane Greenwell.
[3:44:35] And I just want to bring it to your attention that on page four of your fiscal year budget
[3:44:39] book, it reads the Board of County Commissioners has a responsibility to provide general government
[3:44:46] services, fire, rescue, library services, building inspections, and then concludes which
[3:44:53] which provide for the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of Hernando County.
[3:44:58] Well, you've heard the citizens of Hernando.
[3:45:00] The county today. The Hernando County Arts Council also has used the library for summer programs with the children. They weren't able to use the West Hernando branch this year, but we served over 100 children this summer doing art programs and helping with the kids having recreation to do for the summer. So that's very important. They also offer the meeting rooms. We use those for Hernando County Arts Council meeting sometimes.
[3:45:28] mental health, senior citizens, veterans, kids, they all need those services from whether
[3:45:35] it be computers, folks, or whatever.
[3:45:39] And the other thing that I have a question about is on the budget, the line item budget,
[3:45:50] that there is state aid libraries, and in 25 we had $801,103, and it dropped to $697,000, $546.
[3:46:07] And in fiscal year 27, we're only budgeted, there are $328,381, and that's almost a $500,000 loss.
[3:46:16] So, I'd like to know why that has decreased on the state aid.
[3:46:23] And then the other thing, take a look at the seniors and the parents and the children
[3:46:28] that have come here today and realize how just pennies on the tax dollar may make a difference
[3:46:36] to be able to save this for the citizens of Hernando County.
[3:46:42] commissioners work for the citizens and I think the citizens have spoken and I
[3:46:47] think the library is an important amenity to them and I ask that you reconsider
[3:46:52] removing that from the budget. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am.
[3:47:02] My KCCA-S-E-Y, I
[3:47:04] resident didn't come here to talk about libraries, but I think I got them. First of
[3:47:09] all, God bless all these people who want the library. God bless them, but it's
[3:47:14] time to put your money where your mouth is.
[3:47:16] Everybody comes up with figures and say it doesn't cost that much.
[3:47:21] Get yourself a nonprofit, put your money where your mouth is, and support this stuff.
[3:47:26] And I'll go with Mr. Alaka, who says all the time, you tell me to cut, cut, cut, but then
[3:47:31] you turn around and say, spin, spin, spin.
[3:47:33] And the same thing with Mr. Champion, he doesn't want to talk tax people, but he also said
[3:47:37] the day about criminals, wanted to paraphrase a little bit.
[3:47:41] But one more dollar stolen by the government is one dollar too many.
[3:47:47] So we kind of need these library, but I think to a certain extent, the library people
[3:47:52] have to educate themselves a little bit more and make their own libraries.
[3:47:56] There's a book out about 2008, 2007 by Arthur Herman that I think all these library people
[3:48:01] should read.
[3:48:02] How the Scots and Vin at the Modern World starts about 1500 and it goes through all the thing.
[3:48:08] they're the poorest country in Europe. But they had the most educated population. Every
[3:48:14] Scott had a thinly sliver that they set up by themselves with no government at all.
[3:48:21] So if you guys want to do it, you can do it. But then you got to volunteer and you have
[3:48:26] to put your effort into it. If you want to do it, do it. If not, be quiet. Because these
[3:48:31] guys are restricted. And if I wonder, I wonder if these people do get their extra $2,000
[3:48:37] dollars back from property taxes? How many of them are going to run a check? They got
[3:48:43] win-free money. What are you going to do? It's up to you. And if you don't want the nonsense
[3:48:48] that's been in the libraries, make it happen. All this won't stuff and all that black lives
[3:48:57] matter, the school board, make that happen. And don't go to one or two meetings, go to the school
[3:49:03] board meetings come here every time I'm almost here every time given these guys
[3:49:07] in grief I don't think they like me you know you know I've agreed
[3:49:14] against something and Mr. Lockham Mr. Champion goes I don't agree with you so
[3:49:20] if you if the library people want to make this happen you make it happen government
[3:49:26] government? I want government out of my life. You want it out of your life? You know, it's
[3:49:35] up to you now.
[3:49:42] Hi, I'm Patricia Zerahut, Z-I-R-H-U-T. And I just have a really concern about
[3:49:48] the books that are in the library right now, because there's no air conditioning in there.
[3:49:53] There's nothing drawing the humidity out unless y'all know something that I don't know.
[3:49:58] And Natalie.
[3:50:04] I'm sure the same kind of thing is going on with our library if they don't have any kind of de-humidifiers in there or something to take care of those books. So, we need to do something about that air conditioning or do something to protect the books that are in the library. Or there's not going to be any kids going to the library and be able to use the books because they'll be full of mold. Thank you very much.
[3:50:29] Good
[3:50:37] morning, Bob Morgan, M-O-R-G-A-N, Brooksville.
[3:50:42] My comments will be broad in scope, so it won't specify the library, but perhaps throughout something I mentioned,
[3:50:50] you might find some savings that will definitely help the library.
[3:50:56] In 2026 budget year, the sheriff came in late, by the way, and asked for the body cameras,
[3:51:05] which we paid for out of reserves as we should have, but my concern was the way he came to us
[3:51:15] after the budget had closed only a few meetings prior and then asked you to pay for something
[3:51:22] that should have been included in the prior budget. Well, I think it's payback time and I would
[3:51:26] recommend that you all consider recapturing if it's statutorily permitted the two million dollars
[3:51:34] that you paid for the body cameras in this budget year, and reduced the share of budget by that amount.
[3:51:43] So that's one item. Number two, I'd like better public disclosure of debt levels.
[3:51:52] In this year's budget, there's a tremendous amount of spending that's going to occur on county
[3:51:59] facilities by my calculations pretty darn close to $50 million in county buildings, whether
[3:52:08] it's renovations or new buildings, acquisitions, training centers, compost centers, $50 million and
[3:52:16] that's not including another 50 for the airport. What I know the airport has a grant, but what are the
[3:52:24] current debt levels for the county and what will they look like at the end of the year?
[3:52:30] And I asked that because that translates into ongoing debt service, interest payments
[3:52:34] every year.
[3:52:35] And at $100 million in debt, if you do the math, that's a significant payment on a monthly
[3:52:45] basis or annual basis that could be used.
[3:52:48] Even if you only save $10 million of that, you pay easily for the library expenses on an ongoing basis going forward, half a million dollars a year.
[3:52:59] Third item, an MSPU for Kettering Road and Lockhart.
[3:53:06] So specifically, the plan development district out there, we're going to spend this year $2.95 million on road improvements for Kettering Road.
[3:53:15] which is all a result of growth.
[3:53:20] So if we're going to talk about growth paying for growth,
[3:53:25] specifically geographically narrow it down to an MSPU for
[3:53:28] the plan development district of I-75 and SR-50.
[3:53:33] Royal Highlands, Hernando Beach,
[3:53:35] rural Hernando should not necessarily be paying for that
[3:53:38] road because it's all the residents of sunrise or
[3:53:42] Are Benton Hills or the other industrial areas that are going to benefit?
[3:53:46] Thank you, sir.
[3:53:47] Thank you.
[3:53:53] Last call for public comment.
[3:53:55] Is there anybody else in the public who would like to speak that has not had an opportunity to speak yet?
[3:54:01] Going twice, going three times, public comment is closed, we're back to the board, commissioner champion.
[3:54:07] Thank you.
[3:54:09] First of all, do you know what makes me happy?
[3:54:13] And it's not the public criticizing our decisions, trust me, that's not a fun place at all.
[3:54:17] But what makes me happy is that the young people coming up here and speaking and I think you can see smiles on all our faces
[3:54:22] When these young people come up and stress there's gonna be our future leaders, you know
[3:54:26] I won't be here forever. I'm already in my 50s already counting down the days. Not good
[3:54:31] But I'm happy that and I'm really happy with the public that came forward and offer solutions and talked about things
[3:54:36] That's important. Mrs. Sunkett Brown, right? Do you mind if I mention what you came for last time about your son?
[3:54:43] This woman, she's truly an inspiration.
[3:54:45] Not only did she come, we're a proposal for a fix, but she's went through a lot.
[3:54:51] She lost her son recently to a cratum overdose, what I'm told, and it's something that
[3:54:56] shouldn't even be in the store as in this county, and, you know, we were all in, we were
[3:55:00] We're all unanimous behind doing whatever we can to keep another young person dying off of something so senseless. But this one is so strong. She came here with her grandson and offer solutions, which is fantastic. I don't know if this is necessary yet. And I'm going to explain why I'm the numbers, because really when it comes out of this, we're all business people. We all control budgets before. I'm control large budgets, I still control budgets. And we all control budgets in our household, right? So we got to look through all the smoking mirrors and say, okay, where is the money being spent at?
[3:55:29] And like I said earlier, when it comes to libraries, even though it's, I was the number 3.9 million, the 4.5 million, something like that, it's around $4.8 for all the libraries.
[3:55:39] My numbers may be off a little bit, but you know, when you look at the budget, it's really crumbs compared to everything else.
[3:55:45] But it's all important. All those crumbs add up the whole piece of bread, right?
[3:55:48] So when we got to cut, depending on the number you're looking at, $60, $70 million if this needs to, I mean, this is going to be a lot more than just a library we're talking about.
[3:55:56] We're going to be talking about a lot of other things, but what I like to look at is what is the growth of every department?
[3:56:01] You look at the numbers and my numbers, I came up with a 143 percent increase. There's other numbers out there that say 100 percent increase.
[3:56:07] You know, whatever that number is, the final number you take, look at it, you get a pull out grants and all that stuff, okay, whatever.
[3:56:12] The truth is, this budget has at least doubled since 2019.
[3:56:17] Right? So now I looked and said, okay, how much is the library grown in that same period?
[3:56:23] and the answer is 54%. Still a big number. So a huge growth in a big number, you know, compared, I think it was 2.6 million, the numbers I'll find it are like 3.9 million.
[3:56:32] So that's what I came up with, maybe awful little bit, but it's pretty close, right? So when I look at that number and I say, okay, it's a 54% increase.
[3:56:39] Could we look at what we spent money on and could we trim that down maybe until 40% so keep all the libraries open? Possibly.
[3:56:45] We can look at it. We can say, hey, what's necessary? I love the ideas. Well, I'm going to pop coffee shop or vending machine. Love that.
[3:56:51] All that revenue that comes back, put it back towards the library is fine. That would be great.
[3:56:55] Or a nonprofit who wants to take over and be able to smaller libraries and do the same service for the community.
[3:56:59] Maybe apply for grants and stuff. Fantastic. We made it to think outside the box.
[3:57:03] Especially if this tax constitutional amendment goes through, which I think it will personally.
[3:57:09] So here's my proposal, is that we shouldn't touch the libraries until every department
[3:57:15] is at 54% or less compared to 2019 because if the library is at 54%, but everything else
[3:57:22] is up 100%, then the numbers would say, what's fair, right?
[3:57:26] Because every department is critical, if you ask any of the individuals, right?
[3:57:30] U.S. libraries is critical, right?
[3:57:31] If you ask utilities, they say it's critical.
[3:57:33] U.S. DBW is critical.
[3:57:34] We've got to do with it, right?
[3:57:35] right? You ask mosquito control, critical. Is there anybody's going to go out and say,
[3:57:40] nah, we don't need that department no more, we just cut it. Nobody's going to say that,
[3:57:43] right? And that's a difficult job we have up here as commissioners to be able to make
[3:57:46] a decision and say, where do you cut from? Commonly, we'll go through the whole thing and
[3:57:50] go, well, Harry's challenge, we're not showing you what line you want to cut, Mr. Champion.
[3:57:55] You know what my answer mostly is? Across the board. If you increased over last year, then
[3:58:00] you should decrease this year. If you increase over 100 percent from 2019, maybe you should
[3:58:06] decrease that. And until the libraries are equal with the other departments that are over,
[3:58:11] then it shouldn't be cut because there's somewhere else it could be cut from. Now it's not
[3:58:16] excusing the fact that the libraries are not 54 percent. If I was a betting man, it's probably due
[3:58:20] to the minimum wage. I mean, I would imagine those people are probably not the highest paid,
[3:58:24] unfortunately. We know that teachers aren't the highest paid. We know that childcare providers aren't
[3:58:29] high spade but they take care of almost critical possession right which is our children right we care about them
[3:58:34] probably more than anything else in the world I got five kids and three grandkids I care about them more than anything in the
[3:58:38] role I'm sure you you're you're you're kids and grandkids the same you know so we need to look at that and say what's fair right you know and when
[3:58:46] we have constitutions to ask for double digits increases every year even though it's very important we all know that you know first
[3:58:52] spawners are very important we all know that road is very important all this stuff but it all adds up and again you know so where do we
[3:58:57] What do we do? What's fair? You know, what's fair is to look at look at that number and say, okay, until the departments are at 54 percent, then and I have to say that we can't cut some of the libraries.
[3:59:06] Maybe we can look at it and say, well, we can just have a little different or maybe we can add a volunteer to each one.
[3:59:11] If we can add a volunteer instead of running with six or seven, we can run with five and have a volunteer staff that some people come in that like you guys want to help.
[3:59:18] They want to help 200 kids or do whatever to help us in the libraries or a nonprofit.
[3:59:22] that was maybe your nonprofit steps up and just provides volunteers to come into all the
[3:59:26] libraries and help out and that would reduce some of the expense that we could keep everything
[3:59:30] to community wants to but these are not easy decisions and this is only the drop in
[3:59:34] the bucket.
[3:59:35] When this goes forward we're not going to be talking about one library we're going to be talking
[3:59:38] about a lot of other things that are out there.
[3:59:40] So to me that's a fair way to address this but I appreciate that the solutions that you
[3:59:46] guys gave as well you didn't just come up here and say and I'm glad you got to listen to
[3:59:49] budget, first budget meeting. We had a lot more to go, but the last meeting last year, I think
[3:59:53] Mr. Campbell touched on it. And the final meeting that was one person, Ms. Pam Everett, who was in
[3:59:59] in the audience.
[4:00:00] Call her out. If she was a candidate for county commission, there was a single, regular citizen here for a billion dollar budget. At night. You know, I mean, and you know what, commonly, it's less than 10. You know, so it's very important to get involved with what's going on in your community. I appreciate you guys coming out and doing this day because you're showing the passion for what you care about. And we all care about this in some way, including myself. You've not been a little critical on some of the things. I think technology's changed. You know, there's been some, there's been some changes, but we have to, we have to figure out something.
[4:00:29] and there's going to be a lot more conversation and I hope you come back to the other meetings
[4:00:32] and offer other solutions like the lady that came up and started quoting like numbers and stuff.
[4:00:38] I mean I was great. I'm glad to hear it. And AI now, whether you like it or not, and there's
[4:00:42] to be like, hey, AI, and I know we don't want any data centers here, by the way. We don't want any
[4:00:45] data centers here. But you can find out, you can find out right now about the budget. You can simply
[4:00:50] go into chat GVT and say, how much has the library system grown since 2019 and today?
[4:00:55] It'll take the same number I just told you. Fifty-four percent. It'll give you the numbers.
[4:00:58] It'll break it down, line by line.
[4:01:00] You can tell it to evaluate every department how much it's grown, and you don't have
[4:01:05] to go for anything.
[4:01:06] Don't go to Google because it's nonsense, so it'll give you ads over the place.
[4:01:09] But this AI stuff has a positive suit, but number one, you can get informed about what
[4:01:14] we're doing, and you should be informed about what we're doing.
[4:01:17] Thank you.
[4:01:17] Thank you, sir.
[4:01:19] Commissioner Ocho.
[4:01:20] Thank you.
[4:01:21] Well, thanks everybody who came up today.
[4:01:23] It is really important to hear from you and hear from you in these meetings.
[4:01:28] You know, I know that you get this idea that we're very different than you, but the reality is most of us are just like you.
[4:01:38] We homeschooled three out of our four kids.
[4:01:41] My girls used to walk, literally we could walk to that library on the west side. That's why it's important to me as well.
[4:01:47] And I know about the children's section because we spent a lot of time there.
[4:01:51] They were reading at four.
[4:01:54] Okay, my kids, they had to read every day and when it came time to go to bed, they got a bonus.
[4:02:00] If you want to stay up an extra half hour, you can do it reading.
[4:02:02] Otherwise, the lights go off, right?
[4:02:05] Their mother and I, we read, I was trying to think about how many books.
[4:02:12] We probably have about 350 books in our house right now.
[4:02:15] Okay, and I like the hard covers, I don't like the paperback.
[4:02:18] So I always look for it, so book I really like, I'm always looking for the hard cover version of it and then I'll sell the paper back one or give it to a thrift store so they can try to make some money, but it's important, reading is important.
[4:02:31] Interesting, I had an email from somebody who quoted one of my favorite, I'll consider it a classic Fahrenheit 451.
[4:02:38] I can tell you why not here to burn books, why not here to turn down libraries.
[4:02:42] I'm grateful to hear that if anyone's read that book, I don't know if you have, you should.
[4:02:47] It's one of the most prophetic books I really think it was written in the 50s, and
[4:02:50] they were talking about literally the society being addicted to unreality television.
[4:02:56] And trying to get the biggest screens they could get in the house, so
[4:02:59] literally their whole living room was like, was a television screen, so
[4:03:02] they could be immersed in reality TV, which we all know is not reality.
[4:03:08] But I mean, that was in the 50s.
[4:03:10] Never mind some of the other technology that was used in there as well but listen this board's not looking for that okay
[4:03:16] I think it's very important for us to be reading and getting away from the screens and all the garbage that we see you know
[4:03:24] And you know your 30 seconds worth of screen time is making your brain rot. It's not it's not making you smarter
[4:03:30] It's not making you healthier. That's for sure
[4:03:34] But there's some things in here that we also need to do you showed up to this meeting here today
[4:03:39] And that's fantastic, and I'm not picking on anybody, I'm just giving facts.
[4:03:43] Most of you, your school taxes are over 40% of your tax bill.
[4:03:48] If you are a business, you're probably closer to 70% school taxes.
[4:03:53] It's a lot.
[4:03:54] And I had somebody who works in the school system, I think she said she worked in the school system,
[4:03:57] talking about the facts that the libraries were abysmal in the schools, okay?
[4:04:02] I hope that you will also go to the school board meetings and
[4:04:07] and demand that they open up these libraries
[4:04:09] because your kids should be getting
[4:04:11] once we're in the school system,
[4:04:12] should be able to get those books out of the school library also, right?
[4:04:16] If they don't ever get into a library in school,
[4:04:18] some of you are great parents and great-grandparents
[4:04:21] and you're doing something that's more unique
[4:04:23] than you probably realize,
[4:04:24] even with the level of activity at our libraries.
[4:04:27] Okay, and we need to make sure that these kids
[4:04:29] are going to have the opportunity to get books out of there, you know?
[4:04:32] And then there's a balance, right?
[4:04:33] And it's like, okay, the county is providing opportunities
[4:04:35] in the community, but those kids when they're there for six and a half hours a day, seven hours a day, five days a week are gonna
[4:04:42] get an opportunity to go into the libraries too. And that's your tax dollars also, and you should be
[4:04:46] up, you should be asking about that. And we talk about taxes, and the community actually voted to increase their
[4:04:53] taxes by a whole mill for the school system. And I know it goes to, mostly to salaries, but, but again, you know, it's
[4:05:00] Important, it should be important in the school system where they're being educated as well. The homeschoolers are using the libraries, some of the public school parents, they're bringing their kids to the libraries and that's great. But this has to be, it can't just be county. It just can't because, guess what? Next year, your school taxes for some of you might be almost 90% of your tax bill, right? If you're in that $250,000 range, you know, of taxable value, there's not going to be much left of your pain on the county side.
[4:05:29] But you're going to be all of it on the school side still so I think we have to hit this a little bit more broad
[4:05:35] Okay, we're going to do what we can keep these libraries open. You've heard my opinions about the library
[4:05:41] Especially the west side library and an amazing kid section that we have there
[4:05:46] There were some really good suggestions and I just since many of you probably says your first county commission meeting
[4:05:52] I just want to help you understand a few things
[4:05:54] Impact fees can only be used
[4:05:56] just for capital expenses, right?
[4:05:59] You can't use impact fees to run something operating expenses.
[4:06:03] So you have capital, that means expansions new, like you think about a road, right?
[4:06:07] You can, your impact fees can expand the road, right?
[4:06:11] If it was impact fees for, we'll say, libraries, it's for expansion of libraries.
[4:06:18] Okay, we can't run them on that.
[4:06:19] And that's a state legislature issue.
[4:06:22] And that's the same thing goes with sales tax.
[4:06:24] We mentioned it earlier, no one wants to hear about that, but they can't be used for operational costs either.
[4:06:31] You can't run your county on those currently.
[4:06:34] There's a lot of things that we've looked into, I can promise you, we've had long discussions year over year over year.
[4:06:40] What's the ways that we can do some of these things?
[4:06:43] And most of the time, or handcuffed from the state legislature, I don't think there's a single commissioner on this board who would disagree with that, trying to find other ways.
[4:06:53] And so it's important for you also then to engage with your state legislature.
[4:06:59] Again, I'm not saying anybody's bad, we're not talking about that, but they need to hear from you.
[4:07:03] I guarantee if they start hearing from you about the importance of the library system, for instance, in this case,
[4:07:09] they're going to start thinking different because you are your voters, right?
[4:07:13] But usually the only thing they're hearing is my taxes are too high, it's unaffordable to live here, right?
[4:07:20] Mr. Casey brought that up right you know we've had that conversation 90% plus of this and again
[4:07:27] I know I'm making up a statistic on on the fly here but when people come in here to complain it's
[4:07:32] about tax isn't affordability and we're trying to find a way to provide as much service as we can
[4:07:37] the last thing I'm going to say is when we're talking about reductions every year during their
[4:07:43] budget season I ask and I check with our constitutional officers those of you know what that means
[4:07:49] It means that your sheriff, your tax collector, your clerk of the court,
[4:07:53] supervisor of elections, and property appraiser, okay?
[4:08:00] They're like 80% of their budget, or more, is personnel.
[4:08:05] The county, we're lower because all the buildings and everything, that's us, right?
[4:08:10] So we're usually low 70s, maybe high 60s depending on the situation.
[4:08:14] There's no way you can cut without affecting services.
[4:08:19] That's not a scare tactic.
[4:08:21] It's just, it's statistics.
[4:08:23] Okay, it's math, right?
[4:08:25] You're not going to have, we're not going to tell the sheriff,
[4:08:27] we're going to get rid of your cars and your ride e-bikes, right?
[4:08:30] You know, we're not going to get rid of our mowing contracts
[4:08:32] and get goats, right?
[4:08:34] It's reality.
[4:08:35] And so, you have to understand that if everyone's screaming,
[4:08:38] get rid of them, get better.
[4:08:39] Are they getting away parloridil?
[4:08:41] Then we'll be in trouble with that.
[4:08:42] or animal services will be busy, right?
[4:08:45] So, no, the reality is we're trying.
[4:08:47] We're trying to find a way how do we reduce the budget?
[4:08:50] How do we make this work, but also provide the service level?
[4:08:54] Not a scare tactic, these are verifiable numbers.
[4:08:58] You can come in, you can ask, you can send it to the administration
[4:09:02] if you want to get those numbers or you can come to more budget meetings.
[4:09:05] Not a scare tactic, but we have to understand that when we are doing this,
[4:09:09] when we're reducing, we're not going to sell the courthouse, right?
[4:09:12] Right, to save money, right?
[4:09:14] You meant, you know, like, yeah, it's 80% plus payroll for
[4:09:19] our Constitutionals, that's, you know, and at the county level, we're closer to 70%.
[4:09:25] And I think, honestly, if you think about that, and none of us like the increases, okay?
[4:09:30] I'm not finding any way to say the increases are palatable, okay?
[4:09:39] But when we look at that, it's like, okay, so
[4:09:41] So now, how do we make this difference when everybody is screaming for relief, right?
[4:09:47] We've got to figure it out.
[4:09:49] And we're going to make somebody unhappy.
[4:09:51] We're going to make a lot of people unhappy as we get through this budget process.
[4:09:55] But I'm going to do what I can to make sure, at the very, very least, that this west side
[4:10:00] It's going to be there for our kids especially, okay, and the adults that bring them there. I think we've heard that from all of us here. But at some level, we're going to have to find ways to make this budget work. I want to thank all of you for being here. And I hope you continue to come to the budget hearings. Be involved, be involved, be involved. And I appreciate everybody who sent me an email. I do appreciate it. I couldn't get to all of you. Like I said earlier, there's no way with 500 emails coming in.
[4:10:29] But I appreciate the ones who did.
[4:10:32] Thank you.
[4:10:33] Thank you, Chair.
[4:10:34] Mr. Antler.
[4:10:35] Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[4:10:37] I think it's pretty clear probably how I feel on the subject to, you know, today was really kind of special because we don't usually see this type of level of engagement.
[4:10:51] I don't know if I've ever gotten more emails on a subject since I've been in office.
[4:10:54] I mean, I would just look at my phone and I'd look at it and I'd say library, library, library, library, and it's going on for days to the point where I'm like, I'm probably missing like, you know, other emails on other topics.
[4:11:07] So it was, I've never seen that before.
[4:11:10] And for me, you know, obviously I, someone who cares very much about the financials of the county.
[4:11:18] But it's also, you know, it's a fair point that educated citizens, residents, you know,
[4:11:28] are educated residents make for better communities.
[4:11:30] They just do.
[4:11:31] It's part of what you learn about in studying communities and how they evolve over time and
[4:11:38] invest in those communities.
[4:11:39] And if the people there also invest in it, because that has to happen, you know, it's a little
[4:11:45] bit close to my heart because when I was in first grade, I almost failed first grade
[4:11:50] because I couldn't read and when my parents do, they said, we're going to take you down
[4:11:55] to the local public library and you're going to sit here a couple times a week with this,
[4:11:59] you know, the best tutor they could afford at the time, you know, someone they've found
[4:12:04] through friends and, you know, I ended up turning that around that I, like, won a book
[4:12:11] content later in the year. I passed first grade and then that being set up and having
[4:12:19] that help, you know, I remember that library. I remember, you know, as a kid, going to
[4:12:26] Little Red School House back when the county ran it. I remember, you know, I grew up in
[4:12:32] walking around the West Turnando Library thinking about what jobs I wanted to do and read
[4:12:41] It's very dear to my heart and then later in like fifth grade, I actually became a mentor
[4:12:47] to the second grader to help them learn to read and do math and stuff.
[4:12:51] So as you see, as you look back and you connect the dots on how that, you know, widened
[4:12:57] out over lots of people's lives, you can really, I just wish the people cared this much about
[4:13:03] a lot of stuff we do and would come, I mean the quality of like so many different people coming
[4:13:10] up and offering so many different ideas and like you got us thinking about well maybe we could
[4:13:17] do like a public-private partnership maybe we could put a coffee shop in the library it's like
[4:13:21] maybe there's like a revenue share where a little bit helped the county and like that business
[4:13:25] had foot trap you know you always open a business where there's already foot traffic happening so
[4:13:30] they'll stop at your business that's why everyone wants to put a business next to a public's right
[4:13:35] because they're almost guaranteed to succeed so having that foot traffic maybe there's a way
[4:13:40] you know forward and maybe not maybe we'll just you know find a way to fund it but I mean I can't
[4:13:46] commend you more for coming out for this and sticking up for it um it definitely is inspiring
[4:13:50] to me uh to do a better job as best as possible to utilize your mind the best we can so I appreciate
[4:13:57] you thank you thank you sir okay um obviously I don't want to see any of our libraries close I think
[4:14:05] it's important. So thank you, Commissioner Amseler, for sharing a little bit of your background.
[4:14:12] I have a similar, somewhat similar background. And we can go around the room and we all have a story,
[4:14:17] right? We all have a journey to what has made us to who we are today and what has brought us to
[4:14:23] where we are today. Part of my story was I spent the first 12 years of my life in the foster care system.
[4:14:30] I can imagine I bounced from home to home to home to home, the same issue.
[4:14:35] I couldn't read for great, I couldn't do multiplication, you know, so I had to have a tutor.
[4:14:41] Guess where I met the tutor at a library, yes where I met my social worker a lot of times
[4:14:47] we didn't go to IHOP, I tried to talk her in and take it as IHOP, but if not IHOP, we went
[4:14:53] to the library, that's where we went.
[4:14:56] And so I think it's important.
[4:14:58] I was also home school.
[4:15:00] I said this at the last meeting when home school wasn't cool. It was not a welcome thing. You can step foot on a public school property. You can play sports, you can do anything, let's use our libraries. So the library was a huge, huge, huge benefit to me and my family over the years. We also had a family of 12, 10 kids, seven boys.
[4:15:29] you know and so we couldn't afford to go to books a million or you know by a
[4:15:37] Kindle once those came along, you know, we didn't have air conditioner in our house
[4:15:41] you know, we had an attic van, you know, in Florida. And so we got a
[4:15:46] Ford book, so where do we go? Because I love the read as well. My wife loves read
[4:15:51] and I have two daughters, they love the read more than I do. But you know sometimes
[4:15:57] times might have more opportunity to do that, but I think it's important, it's super important.
[4:16:04] So I say all that to say, you know, thank you, this is one of, and it's been said already,
[4:16:12] but this is why you get in this business of public service, you know, is to hear from you
[4:16:19] the people, you know, and I want to commend every one of you.
[4:16:25] I sat here time after time after time saying, wow, that was powerful, wow, that was impressive, wow, that was well spoken.
[4:16:38] From adults to kids, young and old, you all were very articulate, and you made your point, and I want to thank you for that.
[4:16:47] a lot of times, you know, I said to everybody that comes here, but I said to somebody before
[4:16:57] after one of the meetings they got up here and they yelled at mostly me for three minutes.
[4:17:05] And afterwards, you know, we had a conversation face to face, you know, person to person, human to human.
[4:17:13] And half jokingly said, I don't know if you realize this, but I can understand words if they're not screened at me as well.
[4:17:21] You know, I can, I can understand a calm, reasonable voice, you know.
[4:17:27] And sometimes that might be even more effective.
[4:17:30] So I want to commend each one of you.
[4:17:32] I counted over 30. I think I counted 33 people. They came and spoke. I counted 75 to 100 total that we're here, and of course, what does that noise?
[4:17:45] It's my law. I just want to make sure it wasn't a fire alarm or something.
[4:17:52] So 75 to 100 and then 1000 plus emails. So again, great job to that.
[4:17:59] We do want to do want to remind you up front September 10th, 501, I expect you to be here September 22nd, 501, I expect you to be here if you can, you know, that's when the final budget will be sealed, that's when those votes will be made, so if you can be here September 10th, that's when a lot of the conversation will be had, and then September 22nd, more conversation and a final vote.
[4:18:26] So I would encourage you, if you can at all be here, I would love to see each one of you and to hear your additional concerns.
[4:18:36] So the administrator started today kind of saying, you know, what do we want her and Andrew County to be for now?
[4:18:45] And what do we want for her future? That's really what it's about.
[4:18:48] And I'm not many more in quarterback appointing the finger at any previous board.
[4:18:54] Everybody does the best they possibly can.
[4:18:56] I might have opinions about it and I do, but we're not here to debate that.
[4:19:03] But we have had a history in this county of kicking the can down the road, right?
[4:19:08] And not doing the things.
[4:19:09] And then guess what, when it comes time where we don't have a choice, then we're playing catch up, right?
[4:19:14] and the things cost four or five, you know, 100 times what they would have cost
[4:19:19] before. So that's the issue that we're experiencing in Hernando County and on
[4:19:24] top of that we're growing. And so how do we how do we deal with that? Talked
[4:19:30] about impact fees and Commissioner Alaco already mentioned it could only be used
[4:19:35] for capital improvement. It can't be used to fix an air conditioner. It can't be
[4:19:40] used for operational equipment but there is an opportunity there for the
[4:19:44] future so we're using an old impact fee study I believe from 2017 so 2017 for
[4:19:52] every new there's a bunch of different buckets right but if you talk about
[4:19:56] just single-family homes for single-family-
[4:20:00] Any homes are impact fee for libraries should be $222. This is probably doubled by now, if we do a new study, probably closer to $400.
[4:20:11] But our current impact fee for libraries is $107. There's opportunity there to grow.
[4:20:19] Developers who are paying their way and not the current resident subsidizing. I'm a fan of that. To the point that somebody made that brought the impact fee to the state
[4:20:29] up, we have to have the votes on the board. We currently don't have those votes.
[4:20:35] Now, the good news is we did raise them. They went from $5,757 for a single family home
[4:20:43] to $13,000. But it really should be probably $25,000 or $30,000 total impact fees. And there's
[4:20:50] different buckets in there, you know, paying for all these different things. And so it's
[4:20:57] important. And I am a fan. You know, I don't want things to become unaffordable. But if the fundamental question is who should pay for growth, should the current people subsidize that or should the developers pay for that? At every day of the week, I'm going to vote on the developers paying that fair share.
[4:21:15] So that's where I stand on that. Somebody mentioned government specifically federal and state government taking the power away from us.
[4:21:25] Yes, but they're really taking the power away from you, right?
[4:21:28] Every time they pass these mandates that take local home rule away, they're taking the power away from you.
[4:21:35] And you should stand up against that, you should organize, you organize well, contact your state reps and your state senators and our governor,
[4:21:43] which our governor's doing a fantastic job, but we're going to have a new governor, right?
[4:21:48] And so we need to make sure that we advocate because a lot of what happens
[4:21:55] Any more doesn't happen here, you know, it might happen here by
[4:22:01] By no choice of our own, you know a lot of things we vote on they say you're gonna vote on this you have to vote on it
[4:22:07] But you don't have a choice, you know, so that's where that is
[4:22:12] I'm going to get Mr. Herring or somebody if you can get the answer when the issue is going to be fixed.
[4:22:18] Be one or Mr. Herring?
[4:22:20] You don't have to come up now but at the end I would like to but we are working on getting that air conditioner fixed.
[4:22:26] That's really not the issue. That's why it's closed now but the long term issue is operating costs of the library.
[4:22:34] But I think you heard all of us say we're going to try to find a way to not have to
[4:22:44] I'm going to get to the fuel whoever mentioned the fees for the parking and all the different fees I can get that number to you if you be so kind as a send me an email my cards on the back all of our cards.
[4:22:56] By the way, we all serve you countywide, so you can reach out to all of us and you guys did.
[4:23:01] So we get voted voted out what we have to live in a district that we represent, which I think is a good idea.
[4:23:08] So you don't have five people from the beach or five people from Ridge Manor or five people from Spring Hill.
[4:23:13] So you get a kind of diverse representation up here.
[4:23:16] So we all live in the district that we represent, but we represent you county wide.
[4:23:22] We have voted county wide, but I can get you those fees.
[4:23:27] Thank you for reminding us that we did use that library as a FEMA site.
[4:23:33] I don't remember getting one email saying that you guys were mad or inconvenience at
[4:23:39] that time.
[4:23:40] And so I want to thank you for that.
[4:23:41] So for your patients for allowing that to be used as a FEMA site during that critical
[4:23:47] time when our whole community needed it.
[4:23:50] And so that's a important thing to remember.
[4:23:52] I had actually forgotten that.
[4:23:53] so thank you for that. Somebody mentioned quality of life and that's what these conversations are all right so we can talk about, you know, what are the bare necessities we can strip everything down to the bare necessities and we're going to run the courthouse we're going to fund the fire department and we're going to fund fire and EMS and then anything else that the state tells us we have to everything else is quote unquote option.
[4:24:25] right? But is that what we want her native county to be? Is that what we want for our families? Is that what we want for our grandkids, our children, our grandkids, you know?
[4:24:35] I don't have grandkids yet. I'm looking forward to it. I'm not in a hurry. I know it's going to be, you know, some of the best times of my life.
[4:24:41] But I, to Commissioner Alaco's point, I live here, I work here, I have a business here.
[4:24:51] I deeply care about her name of county.
[4:24:53] That's why I got into this position of serving you, the people.
[4:25:00] Because I care deeply about the future of our county. So MSTU was talked about, you mentioned
[4:25:11] goats.
[4:25:14] Maybe that's not a bad idea. I did that for the kids.
[4:25:21] So the government center
[4:25:23] purchase so many mentioned that the Brooksville site I think that's a huge
[4:25:28] win for our native county I appreciate your concerns but we're currently
[4:25:32] leasing those buildings so like the supervisor elections is leasing two
[4:25:38] buildings their warehouse where they keep their stuff is not air condition where
[4:25:44] they keep their equipment the tax collectors outgrown her space here and a lot of
[4:25:51] people come here and they have to park at the bottom of the hill. There's no parking here.
[4:25:55] And if you do find parking, it's at the bottom of the hill and they have to walk up.
[4:25:58] And it's just not a good scenario. They also need to do renovations of their space,
[4:26:03] you know, so we'd rather renovate space we own. So, and then that space, we're not, we have current
[4:26:10] leases of businesses like chopped blocks and really good restaurants and other businesses,
[4:26:15] locally owned businesses in that plaza. They're going to stay as long as they their leases.
[4:26:21] And so that's going to give us some additional revenue, the taxpayers.
[4:26:26] And really it's a wash or a net gain to the taxpayers over time, that's to hope.
[4:26:33] But I appreciate you bringing that up, that's what we want, people digging into things.
[4:26:40] I did not know, I know a lot of people use their phones for things now, you know, we all have
[4:26:47] these computers in our pocket.
[4:26:48] one sometimes two and I did not realize that the outside of maybe a county
[4:26:57] office that the only place to get a physical bus pass was a library so I'm
[4:27:02] going to verify if that's true that's an important thing to consider as well. I
[4:27:07] love love love the idea although there's some maybe unintended consequences of
[4:27:13] having a coffee shop or the smoothie bar I think it's a great idea but then you
[4:27:17] You have the books and you have the carpet cleaning because it's going to get spilled everywhere on that ongoing upkeep.
[4:27:23] But wonderful, wonderful idea of having a coffee shop.
[4:27:28] And it doesn't even have to necessarily be inside the taken up space inside the library.
[4:27:36] It can be a food truck, you know, that pays us rent, you know, for the parking lot, for the opportunity to be there.
[4:27:43] there. So I love those ideas. I love the idea of the vending machine. Somebody mentioned
[4:27:50] meeting rooms and I'm not coming out and suggesting this, but I would rather find other ways to
[4:27:56] offset costs than to close it down completely. But we could charge a small fee for people
[4:28:02] that want to rent the meeting rooms, use the meeting rooms because I know, you know, some
[4:28:08] businesses for profit businesses are using them as well. So maybe that's an opportunity
[4:28:13] if it came to the, hey, do this or close it?
[4:28:16] Well, obviously we want to do that.
[4:28:19] I appreciate the individual that brought up
[4:28:22] the electric cars.
[4:28:25] And I have nothing against electric cars.
[4:28:27] Commissioner Champion has an awesome fast, super fast.
[4:28:31] I think one of the fastest electric cars you can have, right?
[4:28:35] Advocated for the stacks.
[4:28:36] No, no, you're not.
[4:28:37] All right, I want it to be fixed.
[4:28:39] No, no, no, and that is very true.
[4:28:41] So I'm not a fan, we've talked about this with our legislation in Tallahassee a lot.
[4:28:47] We haven't got it done, hopefully we're going to get it done this year.
[4:28:51] I know Senator Mizzoulo is an advocate of this.
[4:28:55] I'm not a fan of charging it per mileage because I don't think it's the government, any of
[4:29:01] the government's business, how many miles I drive my car, right?
[4:29:05] But I think there's other ways to do it, figure out what it costs and put it on the registration.
[4:29:13] So when they renew their registration tag, they're paying the $250 extra that they're not
[4:29:19] paying at the gas pump for maintain air roads because that is what's paying to maintain
[4:29:24] our roads.
[4:29:25] I'm in favor of finding a way, Commissioner Ampler, if we can, finding a way to put some more
[4:29:32] money towards, you know, the upkeep of our roads because anybody that drives around here
[4:29:38] knows that that's an opportunity for sure.
[4:29:42] Ma'am, thank you for being here, again, sir, thank you for being here.
[4:29:46] You spoke very eloquently, so I want to appreciate that.
[4:29:50] Keep reading, keep studying, keep doing the right thing, you know, every, your future depends
[4:29:56] depends on every next decision you make.
[4:30:00] All right, so you've got to make good decisions. And don't just do, you know, you are who you hang out with as well. So don't, don't just go with the crowd, you know, be a leader. And, and make those next good choices. And you're going to, you know, grow up to be an amazing, an adult. So I have no doubt of that. But, ma'am, I wanted to give you a quick update. I told you I was going to immediately get to work on the greater issue.
[4:30:26] and I immediately contacted the Sheriff's Office for working with their team now on what we can do if there's a state task force that will help us with that.
[4:30:35] If there's an ordinance that we could enact on this board, I'm going to work with the Sheriff's Office and our county attorney to move forward with that.
[4:30:44] So right to work on that, I'll continue to work on that. So hopefully there'll be some good information coming soon on that.
[4:30:53] Ms. Greenwell, thank you for the information on the budget book and the page 10 on the
[4:31:04] budget book as well.
[4:31:05] You had a question that maybe somebody can answer at the end about, you know, the funding
[4:31:11] And why is the funding gone down to $500,000?
[4:31:17] So I appreciate if we get the answer to that.
[4:31:25] So I heard loud and clear the concern about the current books in the library.
[4:31:30] So we will get right to work on that and Mr. Haringson will come to this update on the air conditioner.
[4:31:36] That is a concern in Florida for sure, so thank you for bringing that up.
[4:31:40] Mr. Morgan, thank you for being here.
[4:31:42] Mayor, thank you for your thought out responses.
[4:31:48] We can get you the debt level information, for sure.
[4:31:54] Appreciate your feedback on the MSBUs for
[4:31:57] cattering in lock-art as well.
[4:31:59] As it comes to the Sheriff's Office, I think maybe our memory is a little off, or maybe
[4:32:05] we remember it a little differently, but what I remember is it was more direction from
[4:32:11] Two specific county commissioners that said we want body worn cameras because that's what the people want
[4:32:17] So it wasn't the sheriff in here asking for body worn cameras. Yes in the end it was but it was more direction
[4:32:25] And I would not be in favor of quote-unquote
[4:32:31] Penalizing or I'm not sure what there are you either
[4:32:35] What's that?
[4:32:37] Pay as payback time. I'm not a fan of the payback time
[4:32:41] and I would not be supporting that in any way, shape or form.
[4:32:46] So as far as the private public partnership,
[4:32:52] maybe that's an opportunity.
[4:32:54] I love that idea as well.
[4:32:57] I love the idea of the nonprofit as well.
[4:33:00] If there's some way to do a partnership with that.
[4:33:06] I'm going to end with this.
[4:33:08] I did this at the last conversation, but I told you my story and I told you how the library's impacted my life.
[4:33:15] Here's my Hernando County Library card.
[4:33:18] And for all of you that like to travel and love history, I love history specifically history.
[4:33:24] I'm a history nerd.
[4:33:26] And so when we had the opportunity to visit DC recently, been there several times.
[4:33:31] so when we had the opportunity to attend again
[4:33:35] and visit a couple of years ago, I took my daughters
[4:33:39] and my wife and we went to the Library of Congress.
[4:33:43] And if you have the opportunity to do that,
[4:33:45] super cool, you can actually get the Library
[4:33:47] of Congress Library card.
[4:33:50] It's completely free.
[4:33:51] You got to stand the line a little bit,
[4:33:53] but then you have access to all of these really,
[4:33:55] really spectacular reading rooms.
[4:33:58] just amazing architecture, so I would encourage you, especially families, when you're going
[4:34:05] there with your kids. Stop by the Library of Congress and get your Library of Congress
[4:34:11] Library card. Fantastic experience, one that I'll remember for a very long time. Administrator
[4:34:18] Rodgers. Thank you. What has the comments done? I think
[4:34:23] I think you covered, I was going back through all the comments, the only thing, debt levels, debt level, Mr. Morgan, if you want, we will send us email and get you exactly what you want.
[4:34:35] I think we can send it to you if that's okay.
[4:34:38] We have in the budget book, there is the debt policies in there and our debts, we haven't divided out for the accounts, but we can, I think maybe you want all of it together, possibly, we can speak about our system, we can get you exactly what you need, sir.
[4:34:52] The other thing I didn't see, I think you covered all the electric course, I want to bring up a couple of staff.
[4:34:58] There was a question, a couple of times people said, why?
[4:35:00] This library was selected. I think I tried to explain it again in the beginning. Obviously, this is in a situation where we're looking at trying to reduce, reoccurring the expenses in the county. We're looking across the county and we've got a lot of operations to all the county departments. If you look through the budget book and I told you before, the wow, this is a significant impact to the community. I will tell you the same is probably all the services we provide is going to impact somebody in that part of government.
[4:35:29] the day use, right? And so this one while I understand the local community there, we
[4:35:36] just have a potential opportunity of maybe a less impact to the community because no matter
[4:35:40] what department I reduce expenses on, this is going to be impacting somebody because
[4:35:46] everybody uses a different part of the government. So that's why this library is spoke to the library
[4:35:52] Director and Chris Lensbeck part of their discussion and I said the issue here is really it's a funding issue
[4:36:00] If it goes forward which I don't
[4:36:01] Sounds to me like it's not
[4:36:04] Well, I'll talk about that in a second
[4:36:06] We would speak with the library director, and I mentioned I've had meeting with her and maybe it wasn't a lot of library
[4:36:11] It happens to be closed and so why what I close when it's not open, right?
[4:36:16] And so if it's a different one and then I would let that it's a library staff
[4:36:20] but the amount of money has to be the same, right?
[4:36:22] So in the day, this isn't a decision that we own like libraries.
[4:36:27] A lot of times we measure and I had a sheet that shows you what all the
[4:36:30] millages are, they're called the other counties and what tax rates are, right?
[4:36:34] And I always go back, there's not a good way to measure the level of government,
[4:36:38] because it's not about the money we solve, it's about the service we provide to citizens, right?
[4:36:42] And so that's what you really measure government on because it's what you're serving the citizens on.
[4:36:48] Unfortunately, we end up all the time measuring it based on the tax rate and what we're taxing citizens on
[4:36:53] Right, and so you hear a lot of people today you look at your tax bills and you're like wow
[4:36:57] That's a lot of money on paying, but what services are you providing right and so I mean you're leaving here
[4:37:01] And you're gonna go through a lot of light signals
[4:37:03] I mean I got a lot of staff that worked 24 out of the day keeping them on right and putting the batteries at them, right
[4:37:07] This kid who controls out their surfacing. You're sending things to my landfill every day, right and so we have employees up there right now
[4:37:14] putting trash in the landfill, throwing the service right.
[4:37:17] So, and the most important thing we do is you water waste water, right?
[4:37:19] So, we do all kind of services, right?
[4:37:21] And so, if I took out a water plant, I'd be really bad, right?
[4:37:23] And so, because we all rely on, that's probably the most critical
[4:37:27] reliability I have every day is making sure the drinking water you have is safe.
[4:37:32] And so, we, and besides the ambulance has come, I can go on on about the services
[4:37:36] that the county provides people every day.
[4:37:38] And so, we look at that tax bill, I would tell you to look at what services you use, right?
[4:37:43] And we take it for granted because it provides it there every day, right?
[4:37:46] And so it should be 100%, you should get the service.
[4:37:49] 100% all the time and if we're not, we should do better.
[4:37:53] That's why it closed it because it's maybe less of an impact, but
[4:37:56] obviously to you, it's a huge impact.
[4:37:59] If I did something else, somebody else is going to be allowed to have a big impact to me because they use that service, right?
[4:38:05] The board, I would like to bring a couple people up to answer a couple questions that I'd like to bring up.
[4:38:08] there are facilities to talk about.
[4:38:11] Scott Herring or Juan about existing air conditioning system and West Side Library and I know we are in process of getting that fixed.
[4:38:19] It is budgeted, it's not a funding issue, it's you can explain to me what the process is and then maybe I have a solution for the board if you want to, I have a solution for you today.
[4:38:28] Thank you Mr. Rogers, Mr. Chairman, commissioners for the records, Scott Herring Public Works Director, I've got one white toe here.
[4:38:36] The cost to repair the system at the library is approximately 148,000 and that's for half of it.
[4:38:42] One of the reasons the cost is so high is because it takes specialized air handware to replace the one that's in there.
[4:38:49] Right now we're looking at a October, November timeframe for completion of the repair.
[4:38:55] In terms of the books that are in there, only half the system is down, so half the system is still running,
[4:39:00] which is still keeping the temperatures down,
[4:39:03] not to where it could be open to the public,
[4:39:05] but it's not like it was at Chin Hill.
[4:39:07] And on a positive note on Chin Hill,
[4:39:09] we do have temporary air conditioners in there now
[4:39:11] until we get that fixed.
[4:39:13] If you want more specifics on either one of those,
[4:39:15] I do have one here.
[4:39:16] Any other questions?
[4:39:17] We'll be happy to answer.
[4:39:19] Thank you, sir.
[4:39:20] Appreciate it, thank you.
[4:39:21] Thank you.
[4:39:21] And the next question is on the Library State Grant.
[4:39:27] That was a question I don't know if you're
[4:39:28] bringing up sender Lambert Jekyll or Chris, both of you, you can explain.
[4:39:33] We have county ass funding, and we also get state-grant aid for our library systems
[4:39:38] that we fund the majority of it, and I guess the question is that it goes down a little
[4:39:44] bit, a couple of years or something.
[4:39:45] Chris Lensberg, community services director.
[4:39:48] Since approximately around 2020, we've been taking steps to reduce the amount of dependency
[4:39:54] on state aid for operational functions.
[4:39:57] So, we've slowly reduced the...
[4:40:00] In fact, they had, in the early stages, almost majority of, some of the operations was on state aid, so over the years, we've actually started to remove components that were fully dependent on state aid and have them under the county function. So we can be a little more resilient in case the state aid was to halt for some reason. Thank you, sir. That's good.
[4:40:26] And, of course, and that's what you want. But we have to go forward. I mean, if you want any solutions, I have ideas for you.
[4:40:31] but I understand that you know my way to stay open but we can talk while I do that so just a quick
[4:40:37] a couple quick things so I have a I have feedback on the the heart the physical bus pass you
[4:40:46] correct majority 90s 90s or so percent of the physical bus passes are purchased out our libraries
[4:40:53] you can get them from our transit bus transit in in Brooksville but 90% of them are
[4:41:01] or actually purchase that library,
[4:41:03] so thank you for bringing that up.
[4:41:05] Just to go back to recap,
[4:41:08] because it gets a little confusing even for us
[4:41:10] that live this every day.
[4:41:12] Government, the Commissioner of Champions
[4:41:13] says it all the time,
[4:41:15] Government of Math is crazy, you know, and it is.
[4:41:20] But if the proposals that were proposed
[4:41:24] in the beginning weren't for rollback, right?
[4:41:28] Those are cuts to just get to where we are now.
[4:41:31] If we go to a rollback, it's those cuts plus an additional 1.7 million.
[4:41:37] I just want to make sure everybody remembers that.
[4:41:41] So, those, what was being proposed today was cuts to get us where we need to be, you know.
[4:41:48] And then if we go to a rollback, that would be an additional 1.7 million dollars in cuts.
[4:41:54] All right.
[4:41:55] What is the pleasure of the board?
[4:42:01] Mr. Jehovah?
[4:42:02] But I'll just say that the, you remember the, sorry, I bet that John Jobman, Flew record.
[4:42:08] The issue here is whether or not you want to amend the proposed budget by submitted by the budget official.
[4:42:15] Perrin, it takes three votes to do that.
[4:42:18] If you don't make any changes, or if you just move on through the process,
[4:42:24] if you want to make any changes, then she has to recompute.
[4:42:26] This is the amount we list on the form is what takes the fund, the general fund portion of the budget in the proposed tentative budget, then she'd have to recalculate.
[4:42:39] But the motion would be to amend any particular part of the general fund budget.
[4:42:45] So we have to identify the cuts?
[4:42:47] Yeah, okay, because remember, by statute, the proposed budget always must be in balance.
[4:42:54] Right. Okay. So, if there's a motion to go to a rollback, we can't move to what?
[4:43:05] The board doesn't pick the, give it back. As I said, someone will win the bingo.
[4:43:12] The proposed budget drives the proposed military at this hearing. So, you'd vote for
[4:43:18] the budget and whatever that vote is is what determines the military for
[4:43:22] your trim purposes. Okay, so if we're going to cut the budget, we've got to identify the
[4:43:29] specific line items that is going to be cut. If not, we could could adopt the budget
[4:43:36] as now and that would translate to the the millage rate that was proposed and that doesn't
[4:43:43] mean that we can't cut it in the future, right? That would be the maximum millage that would
[4:43:50] would be considered in the two future budget hearings.
[4:43:54] Commissioner Champagne.
[4:43:55] Thank you.
[4:43:56] So maybe this question for Jobin.
[4:43:59] I think I know the answer to it,
[4:44:00] just for the public to say the no.
[4:44:02] So the constitutional budgets that are out there,
[4:44:05] I have no intention of voting for a 10% increase
[4:44:08] out of the Jerusalem.
[4:44:10] As much as I support law enforcement,
[4:44:11] I'm not supporting a double digit increase again
[4:44:13] when we're strongly so bad.
[4:44:14] So Jobin, the question is can we make that determination now
[4:44:18] or does that have to be left alone?
[4:44:20] That has to be left alone today, because by statute, you can only change those in one of the two budget hearings.
[4:44:26] Which is ridiculous, because that's where the increase is.
[4:44:30] I mean, let's just face it, where it's smoking mirrors again, that's where the increase is,
[4:44:34] that's where it always is, and that's where it keeps going up and up and up.
[4:44:37] And I gave you the stats on where crime is going, not to say that it don't need more.
[4:44:41] And maybe that, if you cut one point seven million, it's still going to have six million more or whatever it is.
[4:44:45] It's a large number, you know?
[4:44:46] But maybe that that comes out, but for it's time being you're going to have to look at the biggest increase
[4:44:51] Departments and I have to leave that up to this man that runs the county and he's going to have to determine okay
[4:44:55] What is the highest increase from 2019 now to simply use math whatever that big
[4:45:00] I think this increase is, those need to be dropped back. The library, and I said before, it's 54% increase this 2019. So until all those departments are at 54% increase, then there should be no cut to that, right? Because that's where that falls in line, because it's much lower than all the other departments. And I know he's got a lot already. You cut quite a bit. I mean, you showed, you know, a good chunk. It's on there, but we're going to have to look at some of that. And that might be some capital projects. That may be some things that we have to look at, even though I'm not a big fan because I think this capital projects are important.
[4:45:29] But the bottom line is, there is no single reason you can responsibly send out a tax form
[4:45:36] that says we propose an increase over last year when there's a constitutional referendum
[4:45:40] on the ballot.
[4:45:42] It is not responsible.
[4:45:43] You would never do it in your business.
[4:45:44] If you knew your income was going down 30%, would you go buy a new car?
[4:45:48] You absolutely would not, right?
[4:45:50] So there is no reason to increase anything over last year.
[4:45:55] It has to be the same.
[4:45:56] And what's wrong with that?
[4:45:57] Yeah, if that's going to be tough because, hey, you got some mandates and stuff and maybe you don't replace some people that you lost, maybe you have to cut a capital capital project and you're going to have to do something, right?
[4:46:06] And we can't cut the Constitutional's budgets just like you just heard from our attorney, but I have every intention of challenging some of those budgets to come down because we can't responsibly increase 10%.
[4:46:18] And I told you already with the new law, once we adopt the Sheriff's budget with that 10% increase, we cannot go under that.
[4:46:25] So we're actually setting up our future on how much money we could spend there by approving this budget and that's not for today
[4:46:32] We can't do that today, but for now. I would instruct staff in at least my opinion
[4:46:36] I am all about the rollback. It really should be less than rollback
[4:46:40] It really should but is that is that something to be determined right now because we don't move the outcome
[4:46:44] We don't know the outcome maybe it fails the councilor's amendment if it does then you know
[4:46:48] It's not going to be a big issue next year, but if it does pass it's going to be a huge issue
[4:46:53] and I just told you two reliable polls show it passing.
[4:46:57] Some people aren't even talking about it,
[4:46:58] but yet they're gonna be selfish
[4:47:00] because what do we really vote for?
[4:47:02] I mean, do you think about it?
[4:47:03] What you really, really are passionate about
[4:47:04] is the money in your pocket most of them.
[4:47:06] Most people are, they're passionate about their own money.
[4:47:09] So when they go in, they're selfish,
[4:47:11] they're gonna say, I'm gonna vote myself
[4:47:12] a $2,000 increase.
[4:47:14] They're gonna do that.
[4:47:15] And unless you have blinders on, that's what's gonna happen.
[4:47:19] You know, I predict 67%.
[4:47:21] I wouldn't be surprised by 70%.
[4:47:23] Because I just think that you have a chance to directly affect your income and your taxes.
[4:47:27] So basically, I'm saying I want the rollback because I think that's responsible thing to do.
[4:47:31] I don't know if I could sit there and say there's a cut we could do right now, responsibly.
[4:47:35] But 1.7 million considering this large budget is pretty small.
[4:47:39] So I would say you spread it across the departments.
[4:47:41] Anything that's had a huge increase over seven years, that's the thing that's got to be cut.
[4:47:45] You spread it over the departments, you come in line.
[4:47:47] That doesn't mean that he's going to come in with those numbers because we may have to challenge some of the constitutional budgets.
[4:47:51] it's wherever possible, some we can't.
[4:47:54] Like, supervisor elections, you can't go and say,
[4:47:55] well, I want you to run on half to do an election.
[4:47:57] You can't do that.
[4:47:58] That's not mandated.
[4:47:59] So you have to have a jail.
[4:48:01] But that doesn't mean you have to spend 24 million on a jail.
[4:48:03] Maybe there's something that you can challenge on that.
[4:48:05] I don't know.
[4:48:06] And so we get into the weeds on it.
[4:48:07] But I hope our constitutions, because they're living
[4:48:09] there having the same issues we do.
[4:48:11] And they're elected by you.
[4:48:12] And they know what you want.
[4:48:13] So if it passes, then you're sending a message to them too.
[4:48:16] Hey, we got to live within our means,
[4:48:17] just like we have to at home.
[4:48:19] So to me, for now, that would be the way
[4:48:21] to go to cut the 1.7 million. Thank you.
[4:48:22] Thank you, sir.
[4:48:24] And I appreciate that.
[4:48:26] I am not going to, I'll entertain the discussion, obviously, about a rollback.
[4:48:37] But I am not going to cast a vote to favor a rollback unless I know where the specific cuts are, line by line.
[4:48:45] It's not going to be cut every department by 10%, that's not a reasonable suggestion.
[4:48:51] It sounds good, but it's not a reasonable suggestion because every department is unique
[4:48:57] and have their own unique challenges, and I'm not going to do that.
[4:49:03] So just for the board's sake, you know, you know where I'm at there, I'm all for going through
[4:49:11] that exercise.
[4:49:13] If that's the direction we're going today, and I'll be happy to sit here and engage in that exercise.
[4:49:21] But I need to know where the specific cuts are if I'm going to cast a vote for rollback today.
[4:49:29] So let's be clear about the sheriff's budget.
[4:49:33] I did sit down with the constitutional, sit down with the sheriff, and I understand the budget.
[4:49:39] I don't have a problem with anybody questioning anybody's budget, that's our job, right?
[4:49:47] But the facts are, if you include the increase that this board put in for body warm cameras,
[4:49:54] This budget is an increasing by 10%, it's increasing by 7%, right?
[4:50:00] And then if you take the unfunded mandates that I've already discussed today of 6% and then another 2% of the ongoing cost of the bodyworn cameras. You can do the math yourself 6 plus 8. He's going up 7. Okay. He's actually coming in, quote unquote, flat or in the rears. So that's a real numbers. I'm not going to vote to defund the police. It's not going to happen.
[4:50:29] So, just for the record, when September 22nd comes and we need four votes, you know, my vote is not going to be to defund the police.
[4:50:43] So, you can count on that.
[4:50:47] As far as the body-worn cameras and the decision that is forward, move forward with by the direction of two commissioners,
[4:51:00] commissioner, commissioner, and commissioner champion, and we said, well, we can do this.
[4:51:07] Let's get, let's seek some grants, let's go to grants, potentially available, let's seek some grants.
[4:51:15] They refused to consider that, and because of that, and because we moved forward with funding it,
[4:51:21] we were disallowed from applying for the grants because it would be considered subletting.
[4:51:29] So we couldn't as against the law to do that, apply for our grant that you have funding for already.
[4:51:34] So we could have got potentially grant funding, but because the direction was not to consider that we eliminated the ability for us to do that.
[4:51:48] So that is the facts. That is the facts of what happened.
[4:51:52] So I take great offense to this language of pay back the sheriff for decision he made.
[4:51:59] that decision was forced by this board and it was forced to not consider grants and
[4:52:07] matter of fact tied his hands for considering grants because of the law on
[4:52:12] subletting. So I just want you to understand that that is the facts. That's
[4:52:18] exactly what happened. All of those meetings are public record. I would encourage
[4:52:23] you to go back and watch them. You will see exactly what happened. Commissioner
[4:52:29] Just want to go over this dollar amount and with the budget that's currently presented, it would be another 1.7 to get to roll back, correct?
[4:52:42] So what we're actually looking for is $2.2 million, because $500,000 of that budget was in Westside closing.
[4:52:57] We have to buy 2.2 million, it will be actually a little bit less than that because the reserves
[4:53:04] will go down, you know, compared to really, but we'll be slightly over 2.2, probably 2.25.
[4:53:14] So that's why I'm getting 2.2.
[4:53:16] Let's go there.
[4:53:17] Right?
[4:53:17] No, Tony.
[4:53:18] Okay, I'm going to add to that.
[4:53:19] 2.3.
[4:53:20] So for can you I'm sorry can you turn the microphones on just so it's on the recording
[4:53:26] please.
[4:53:27] Loud.
[4:53:29] That's one moment but it's red still.
[4:53:32] There you go.
[4:53:33] Okay.
[4:53:33] We're ready.
[4:53:37] So 1.793103 is to get to roll back with the current cuts.
[4:53:44] And then you would take that and you would add another 500 is $12,000 for the library.
[4:53:51] All right, it would be $2,305,103 dollars.
[4:53:55] But then the reserve number would decrease.
[4:53:59] Because the overall budget would be decreased.
[4:54:02] It would decrease slightly.
[4:54:11] All right, we go to that direction,
[4:54:12] we can get to actual numbers.
[4:54:14] Are you sure?
[4:54:15] I just want to make sure that was doing close to the,
[4:54:18] you know, back of the napkin math on that one,
[4:54:20] so we can figure out what we are.
[4:54:22] Yes, sir. Okay, thank you.
[4:54:23] Commissioner champion.
[4:54:25] Yeah, I just want to create, clarify some facts, is he likes to say facts, but not facts, right?
[4:54:31] So the meeting, when this was, or first of all, let me, let's regress, 10 years.
[4:54:36] The community has been insisting on body 1 cameras for 10 years, they refused to get them, right?
[4:54:42] So over and over again, I was outvoted every single time, over and over and over again, right?
[4:54:47] Finally, the public stepped up, like you guys, you stepped up, you came out, you talked about libraries.
[4:54:52] Well, they stepped up in that pressure was too high.
[4:54:54] Guess what?
[4:54:55] Everybody had to bend.
[4:54:56] And you had to get these.
[4:54:57] Because not always protect the public.
[4:54:59] It protects.
[4:55:00] I have a law enforcement. I have these cameras. And you know what? I think they're enjoying them. The people I talked to, the law enforcement, they enjoy them. But the, the real problem was, is this share of had to have the MAC daddy of MAC daddy cameras. We had people come up here and said they can get them done for 500,000. I pulled stuff up. I found other things, but it wasn't good enough. Just like some buildings for the county are not good enough at 9 million, you know, or two million. We have to spend 9 million on them. I've been advocating, we don't need to toss them holes. I like the fact that we're buying that,
[4:55:29] That a that a ship center over there and Brooksville to sit empty all the time because we can consolidate
[4:55:33] They showed us the numbers that we could actually save money in then great if we can save money in the end
[4:55:37] Because the Constitutional's supervisor of elections a property preser task like I we could put them all there
[4:55:42] Right, and we can utilize something to sit in empty anyway. I don't know about 5.5 million
[4:55:46] I'm not expert when it comes to commercial rules that always work
[4:55:48] But you know, there's an argument there like the lady that came up earlier
[4:55:51] But there was a better way a cheaper way to do the cameras and it was ignored, right?
[4:55:56] So we all support law enforcement and we're not defunding anything and a year after year
[4:56:02] I've to sit here and defend myself, especially against him to sit there and talk about
[4:56:06] I'm talking about the tens of millions of increase. I'm not talking about decrease in anything
[4:56:12] We've never said to fund anything fire of our mint police none of it
[4:56:16] We've never project never in my life. If I said they need to use spend less money than last year never
[4:56:23] But a 10% increase is that reasonable
[4:56:26] And it's climbing. I don't think it is. That doesn't mean I'm anti-long force. It doesn't mean that I'm anti-everythings about and we're talking about 2.2 million dollars, which is only a portion of what he's increasing.
[4:56:36] Now, we can't do anything about that today. It doesn't matter anyway.
[4:56:38] And, you know, we don't need a three-one vote to get rollback knowledge.
[4:56:44] Anything, yes. Anything above rollback knowledge, and he'll explain it to you.
[4:56:47] If it's flat, it's a majority vote. If there's no increase. If it's a zero to 10%, it's a four out of five.
[4:56:55] If it's more than 10 percent, it's five out of five. Mr. Jobin, am I correct?
[4:57:00] In the second, the two budget hearings in September, that will apply.
[4:57:03] Okay, so today you need four out of four to get rollback villas right now?
[4:57:08] No, right now, get some majority.
[4:57:11] Simple majority to make changes to her proposed budget.
[4:57:14] And September, what is it?
[4:57:15] In September, it will be whatever the statutory thresholds were.
[4:57:20] But we have.
[4:57:21] If it's rollback, it's simple.
[4:57:25] So my point was rollback rate only requires a simple majority.
[4:57:30] You know why?
[4:57:31] Because your taxes aren't going up.
[4:57:32] It's really Governor Santos and our CFO blazingolia put this in place on purpose.
[4:57:36] They did this on purpose to protect you because if it's such a good idea and I was saying this for 10 years,
[4:57:41] if it's such a good idea, we should be all unanimous.
[4:57:44] It has to be done.
[4:57:46] We have to reach taxes.
[4:57:48] We should be unanimous.
[4:57:49] And you know what?
[4:57:50] You know what that does?
[4:57:50] protects you. That protects you because otherwise if you have a little click and you have three members
[4:57:56] that get the vote every time which has been happening pretty much 8 out 10 years here you know
[4:58:00] your taxes are going up because I can't stop it. With the good news is the governor and he's
[4:58:05] a great governor by the way he's done a great job. He put these things into place to make sure
[4:58:10] that we do not have the power with just three votes to raise your taxes. We need to have a majority
[4:58:16] or unanimous to raise your taxes, because it's got to be such a great idea.
[4:58:20] So I just want to clarify that, thank you.
[4:58:22] Thank you.
[4:58:23] I appreciate clarification.
[4:58:24] I misspoke because I didn't really misspoke, I thought that was true.
[4:58:29] But we just need three votes in September to pass a rollback.
[4:58:34] Correct.
[4:58:35] Okay.
[4:58:36] Understood.
[4:58:36] Thank you for that clarification.
[4:58:37] Commissioner, champion.
[4:58:40] So as it comes to the sheriff, since it was brought up and again we can't do anything
[4:58:46] about it today, but I just want this board to know where I stand moving forward because
[4:58:51] we do need those three votes.
[4:58:53] So the sheriff is a duly elected constitutional officer of the state of Florida.
[4:58:59] You elected him.
[4:59:01] My opinion is we have no business telling him how to run his sheriff's office.
[4:59:07] That's his job to do that.
[4:59:09] He's the law enforcement professional and you gave him the job.
[4:59:14] And so that's where I stand on that.
[4:59:18] Body-worn cameras, I don't have any issue with body-worn cameras as you wrote.
[4:59:23] The question, the fundamental question for me came down to,
[4:59:27] would you rather a body-worn camera, or would you rather a deputy, right?
[4:59:33] You can ask, and I spoke to the deputies and your correct commissioner of champion.
[4:59:36] They love them.
[4:59:37] Matter of fact, they write their reports for them.
[4:59:39] They don't dictate and write the reports for them.
[4:59:41] they think they're thick, they're best things in sliced bread, and so they really enjoy
[4:59:47] them. But I would encourage you to go on the Hernando County Sheriff's Facebook page and
[4:59:56] and there's a recent body warm camera video of a depth.
[5:00:00] Committee that was doing a meeting patrol out on the east side of the county. And I was going to say a gentleman, but gentlemen don't hit women. An individual was beating his significant other. And be here to the point that she passed out. I think he choked her to the point passed out. He beat her so much and so hard that he broke both of his wrist. Right.
[5:00:27] state, a neighbor and concerned resident flagged down the Hernando County Sheriff's
[5:00:35] Officer.
[5:00:36] Now again, this is at night and this is a rich manor, but there's not a lot of backup
[5:00:40] there.
[5:00:41] You know, because if you look at deputies per thousand in Hernando County, so for every
[5:00:48] thousand residents in Hernando County, we have 1.48 deputies.
[5:00:53] Statewide average is closer to two, and that's not including, we do not have, think about
[5:01:00] where your friends and family live, right?
[5:01:02] Think about any county to our south.
[5:01:07] Let's look at Pasco County.
[5:01:09] Pasco County has Port Ritchie Police Department.
[5:01:11] They have New Port Ritchie Police Department.
[5:01:13] They have Zephyr Hills Police Department.
[5:01:14] They have Dade City Police Department.
[5:01:16] None of that is included, right?
[5:01:18] They have all of that back up, plus they have more sheriff deputies per thousand than her name to county, right?
[5:01:24] So you ask every man and woman that serves with great honor for our her name to county sheriff's office.
[5:01:32] If you had to choose, if there was no other choice to fund this budget or close the library, right?
[5:01:41] And you ask them, if you had to choose, there's no other way.
[5:01:45] you have to pick one or the other. You're either going to want another deputy back up or you would
[5:01:51] you rather a body warm camera every day of the week they're going to tell you a deputy. And I
[5:01:57] promise you when you watch that video and you had to discharge 10 taser cartridges, I would have
[5:02:05] shot it. By the time I get to 10 taser cartridges, you know, but 10 taser cartridges that aren't
[5:02:13] affected him in any way, shape, or form, and this guy's still coming.
[5:02:18] You know, I promise you he would have been thrilled to have somebody there to assist him in the way of another deputy.
[5:02:27] So for me, that's always what the conversation has been.
[5:02:31] I would rather add a deputy until we get to the point where we're fully staffed than the body-worn cameras.
[5:02:38] But I support the decision of the board that moved forward with that.
[5:02:47] If you look at the other constitutional's, were prohibited by state statute to say or do anything about property appraisers budget, nothing, nothing can control it at all.
[5:03:02] The tax collector's budget to Commissioner Champions point that you have revenue, they always give money back to us and we have great partners or bars, but we can't say or do anything about their budget.
[5:03:14] We're prohibited by state statute to do that. Supervised elections, you want fair and free elections, right? And so we, you know, we want to fund that.
[5:03:23] You know, so it always comes back to the sheriff's office. There's a lot of emotion and personal opinions that are lumped into that.
[5:03:33] I don't operate on emotion and personal opinion. I operate on data and facts and what is going to be the best thing for her and Andrew County now and for her future.
[5:03:45] Right. And the fundamental question for me and the fundamental answer was very easy.
[5:03:51] Body warm cameras or additional deputies until we're to the point where you have substantial amount of deputies and
[5:03:58] That's that's an easy answer to me every day of the week. Commissioner champions
[5:04:03] Thank you. Good point. I'm glad you brought up some of that stuff
[5:04:05] And I wouldn't want to tell the sheriff what what he what he can do to he's he's elected by the people
[5:04:09] But our job is 100% to control his budget and every other budget now
[5:04:15] Some of what he said is true the Constitutional stuff you can't go say you got to cut the supervisor elections
[5:04:19] I'm gonna do an election, I get that, right?
[5:04:21] But there's a solution to all this, a separate line item,
[5:04:25] MSTU for the Sheriff's Office.
[5:04:27] And I guess what, hand on a Bible or my heart,
[5:04:30] I'll vote for any increase he wants, right?
[5:04:32] Straight through to you.
[5:04:34] And he could be accountable to you.
[5:04:36] If he increases it, you can choose to forgive him or not.
[5:04:39] It's up to you.
[5:04:41] That's the way to do it.
[5:04:42] And you know what, there's no consequence anymore.
[5:04:44] They said there was a consequence.
[5:04:45] All the city may bow out, they don't have a police department.
[5:04:48] All right, guess what?
[5:04:48] All of their taxes paid for the Sheriff's Office too.
[5:04:51] Senate camp battle out.
[5:04:51] They have no sheriff's up.
[5:04:52] They have no police department.
[5:04:53] All right, so that argument is done.
[5:04:55] All right?
[5:04:56] Put it.
[5:04:56] Go on in and see you next year.
[5:04:58] If he wants to double it, he can answer.
[5:05:00] I'll pass every budget there is. Checkmark. Now you won't even ask about it. I put it on there, because the problem is, and if you know if you've watched any meetings, we're the bad guys no matter what. We have to mention this before, because like it or not, we signed up for this job to get beat up. A lot of people talk all the time. Why do you do it? I'd be much better off in my business and doing other stuff than doing this, right? But I'm from here, six generations. I love this county. My family is going to stay here, I grant children right here. I want to see a bright future for it, right?
[5:05:27] So, we have to make these decisions and when we do make these decisions, there's consequences either way.
[5:05:34] You know, then you have little rhetoric set out there, defund the police.
[5:05:37] I have never, I have an advocate for first responders, no doubt about it.
[5:05:40] I'm not asking to defund anything.
[5:05:43] You know, I'm saying there's a huge increases and we have no money.
[5:05:47] So, what do we do?
[5:05:48] You know, where do we go with it?
[5:05:50] You know, that's it.
[5:05:51] You know, listen, I'm entertaining the fact.
[5:05:53] In fact, there's a candidate out there running for sheriff in 28.
[5:05:55] I'm not going to miss his name because I don't know if that fights at late's rules. He's okay with MSQ. Let's do it
[5:06:00] He's totally transparent put it out there. There's a separate line right under tax bill that says sheriff's office
[5:06:06] Fantastic I'll check market right through rubber stamp right through the thing. You know because otherwise
[5:06:10] You're holding me accountable for the budget. You say this commission has to agree to increase your taxes or not
[5:06:19] I'm not voting to increase your taxes
[5:06:21] period, not going to do it. You know, so especially with a constitutional
[5:06:25] amendment coming up, there is times where we may all have to agree and have to do
[5:06:29] it. There may be a time with that. Maybe when this constitutional thing goes
[5:06:31] through and and you guys let's say you have a referendum and you want to put
[5:06:35] libraries on the on the on the valid and you want people to vote for it and to vote
[5:06:38] through. Obviously, you know, I think Mr. Locke said, well, you know, that would be
[5:06:42] a tax increase. It would be that's why we never make it. I'm not because I
[5:06:46] committed to you that I would not raise taxes. So if it is going to be raised
[5:06:50] You should initiate it. We should have it on the ballot and you should vote for it. And if it passes
[5:06:56] Fantastic, then I go with it with the public years ago. We were sitting on this board. Mr. Lacko and I were here. Everybody else wasn't here
[5:07:01] You know medical marijuana past you guys know when it passed in the state it passed and it was a commissioner
[5:07:07] The trying to come back now that wanted to have a moratorium on them
[5:07:11] But it passed. What was it 70 something percent? It passed by I go even I don't agree with it
[5:07:16] I'm not gonna sit there and vote against it. The people voted for it
[5:07:20] So why am I going to be the one to say, well, you can't open up medical marijuana, you know,
[5:07:25] clinics and stuff.
[5:07:26] And now they're popping up all over the place.
[5:07:27] They're all over the state.
[5:07:28] Who knows?
[5:07:28] But that's an example of, listen, I don't necessarily have to agree with it.
[5:07:31] I don't have to agree with raising taxes, but if the public, like for example, there's a
[5:07:35] lot to talk about this up to, the citizens, and I'll say you, because I don't know if you
[5:07:39] voted for or not, but it was an 18.18 something percent increase for a 1 mil to support the
[5:07:45] teachers.
[5:07:46] You voted for it.
[5:07:47] Guess what?
[5:07:47] We have to accept it.
[5:07:48] We don't have any choice because the public voted for it.
[5:07:51] You know, so that's where I stand on all this stuff.
[5:07:53] I'm not going to vote for an increase and I can't touch this buzzer right now.
[5:07:56] So the only direction I would give the staff is you've got to cut that out now.
[5:08:01] Now if I have to sit there and go through, I'm just going to sit there each line.
[5:08:05] I'll just eliminate some departments like economic development.
[5:08:08] Do we have to have that for many dollars?
[5:08:10] We can eliminate the whole department.
[5:08:12] If it comes down to raising taxes or eliminating something this increase,
[5:08:19] I don't know what else to say, you know, people aren't a big fan of it anyway.
[5:08:23] They're not a big fan of even though we've changed the process and we get the money after,
[5:08:28] as a tax remade, after they create the jobs, which I do agree with that the money's there.
[5:08:32] We can do that if we can, but we can look at that and see.
[5:08:35] I don't think taking a hatchet to the whole thing is the right answer.
[5:08:38] I would prefer the administrator to go back and say, look, we can take that $2.2 million.
[5:08:42] We can see which departments have increased the most.
[5:08:45] take the per capita amount of that $2.2 million dollars it was to share when you do per capita right share of the
[5:08:51] Let's say this department this went up over a hundred percent is 5% 5% of that $2.2 million we take it from that fund
[5:08:58] It's simple math if you're in business right simple math. I don't want to take a hatchet to it
[5:09:02] We can but then we have something like what's happening to you a hatchet is closing the library. You're not happy with it, right?
[5:09:08] Right, so that's a hatchet
[5:09:09] Right, but if you trimmed off something
[5:09:12] Let's say even libraries, we said look, we increase 54%, we need to cut 10%.
[5:09:15] Can we keep all of them open to cut 10%, we can find 10% almost anywhere.
[5:09:20] We're really good, you know, so why couldn't we do that?
[5:09:22] That could be an option.
[5:09:23] But until these other departments are where the libraries are at, to me I think that's fair.
[5:09:27] They'll look at it that way.
[5:09:30] What do we have to do to get this thing done because we have to do something today?
[5:09:33] Because we have to communicate to you what your task bill will look like.
[5:09:36] And my vision is rollback, it should be rollback, it should be the same amount that you had last year.
[5:09:42] And that's the only responsible thing to do when looking at a constitutional amendment that could potentially cut 30%.
[5:09:48] Thank you.
[5:09:49] Thank you, we're going to take a break, just a second, because the clerk needs a break.
[5:09:54] And we want to make sure that we honor that.
[5:09:57] And I hope you stay around, but I'm going to say-
[5:09:59] I'm going to say
[5:10:00] One quick thing, to the point, none of us want to raise taxes, right? And you hear a lot of people out there saying as person voted, do they increase your taxes or that person increase your taxes? And, you know, that's true to a point, you know, sometimes to commissioner a lot of champions point, sometimes you're up against something so hard that you don't have a choice. If you want to, if you want to continue to move forward, but fire an EMS, that's the position that they
[5:10:29] were in, they had to fund it, right?
[5:10:32] And so they raised taxes to fund it, you know.
[5:10:35] Some people voted no against that,
[5:10:37] so they could say they didn't vote for it.
[5:10:40] But it's the same people.
[5:10:41] Commissioner champion has been here for 11 years.
[5:10:44] And I appreciate the dialogue today.
[5:10:46] I appreciate the respectful dialogue.
[5:10:50] And then, by the way, Tim.
[5:10:52] 10 years.
[5:10:52] 10 years.
[5:10:54] And, you know, I learned things from him.
[5:10:59] I see things differently, sometimes when he talks, I don't agree with a lot of things
[5:11:06] that he says, I don't agree definitely with the way he says a lot of things, but you
[5:11:11] know what, we each are our own, right, and I guess that's what makes this world great.
[5:11:17] Because if everybody was me, it'd be a poor pre-boring place, you know, so thank God for each
[5:11:25] But go back and watch these videos and I've asked Commissioner Champion this before because he says he never voted to increase attacks for a tax increase, but he did it for 10 years in a row.
[5:11:38] And maybe, maybe not, maybe the one year he didn't vote for it, you know, he voted no because it was really going up and to be able to say on the radio that he didn't vote for that tax.
[5:11:48] You know, but every other year, I ask him even last year, you know, we could instead of
[5:11:54] Instead of taking money from from the reserves, we could have cut the budget last year
[5:11:58] We could have cut the budget the year before and we could have cut the budget the year before that
[5:12:02] Go back and watch the videos and you will hear Commissioner champion over and over and over again say all you can vote for it
[5:12:10] I'm not voting for it
[5:12:12] But yet he voted nine years at least maybe ten to increase your taxes
[5:12:17] But it'll sit up here and say he didn't do that, but he did.
[5:12:20] He could have easily said, I'm a novo.
[5:12:23] Just like I did the first year I was on the board.
[5:12:25] I was a novo, right?
[5:12:27] He could have done that, but he didn't.
[5:12:29] So it's not accurate what he's saying that he's never increased it,
[5:12:33] because every budget he's voted for, he's increased it.
[5:12:37] Mr. Champion.
[5:12:38] Thank you, I just want to clarify something.
[5:12:40] I actually said on the record that we are increasing taxes that we don't do rollback.
[5:12:44] So I never said, I said I've never increased millage.
[5:12:46] I did not vote for Miller's now granted, is it a tax increase when you adopt the same
[5:12:51] millage?
[5:12:51] Yes.
[5:12:52] And I've said that on the record several times.
[5:12:54] So I knew very well your increase in taxes if you don't adopt the rollback rate, right.
[5:12:59] You know, I said that on the record.
[5:13:00] So I'll clarify right now, yes, I have voted for not the rollback because that was the compromise
[5:13:07] we have.
[5:13:07] Well, we're sitting here and we're compromising because we have to compromise.
[5:13:10] We're not the compromise today, somehow you get it done, right?
[5:13:13] You have to do what you got to do.
[5:13:14] But I could take up what six or eight years of a millage decrease, I've always been
[5:13:19] an advocate of more than that, you know, but we have to compromise in the end to get it done.
[5:13:22] Last year was the actual first time engineers were actually cut taxes.
[5:13:25] Thank you.
[5:13:26] Thank you.
[5:13:27] us to 218, thank you.
[5:24:23] Maybe we can start eating that elephant one bite at a time. Can we talk about the other four rates that we have to hit for today and then work back to the general fund? Okay. I'm down with that. We can see we can make maybe we can at least cut a couple, cut a couple of those out of the way and. All right. Let me clear, let me clear our lights and we can come back to that and stray Rogers.
[5:24:51] Yeah. I wasn't going to talk about that. I was going to, but let me all just say we're quick. Well, I want to say that.
[5:24:56] And then you do talk about these military.
[5:25:00] I just, I think I want to go on a record and say, I think, you know, we last year, you know, in the last two years, we've opened up this, talking about this, right? We get down the in here, looking for how we're going to set what the budget is going to be, you know, we get here by using reserves, and that reserve last year, and this meeting last year, we sat here, we cut $2.4 million in capital projects, and then, and then that was rolled back to get their fuel back.
[5:25:29] And I mentioned, I'm able to speak to you last year, and I'll tell you again because I think I need to make sure that you understand, I'm sure you do, the commissioners understand, but going to roll back, you're going to have other reductions in your operating expenses in your county because there are expenses that are going to go up, right?
[5:25:46] So expenses ever as goes up insurance goes up this call electric bills go up right so then when you set the rollback rate
[5:25:54] The operations will decrease right and so I will make
[5:26:00] reductions right in operations
[5:26:04] To meet the rollback rate right so it was really unexpected like a month ago when I was an employee that I didn't let that left and I held the position
[5:26:11] right? And that's what I do in rollback, is when people leave, I stop, we fill into positions.
[5:26:16] I've done this, I'm under a 16 years of something in government services.
[5:26:20] I've done a couple of this year every year, and so it didn't happen, and then I change operations,
[5:26:25] because if I don't change the level of the operation, this, all it does is, this employees gets more work on it.
[5:26:30] And I know that's not, I care a lot about it, because I think the service is from the community,
[5:26:35] you all buy this, fly your team members, right?
[5:26:37] and how much work our team members are doing every day.
[5:26:41] And like Pine Island, it was a big, small thing I know.
[5:26:44] But my team members were really excited about not having
[5:26:48] people show up at their park that they take care of
[5:26:50] and be all trashed every morning, right?
[5:26:52] And so that was the person at night time.
[5:26:54] We had to go out there and clean the park.
[5:26:55] It was really beautiful in the morning.
[5:26:57] We don't do that now.
[5:26:58] I went there a Saturday night.
[5:26:58] I stayed up to closing and I wanted to look.
[5:27:00] I walked around to see what looked like.
[5:27:02] And it was trash there in the cans and everything.
[5:27:04] There was some flip-flop on the beach.
[5:27:05] There was a piece of room full
[5:27:06] and a half-eat and hot dog in the gross, right?
[5:27:09] So offer us wonderful staff members
[5:27:10] in the morning, eight, 30, we'll take care of that, right?
[5:27:12] So when you start, you know, continuing now
[5:27:18] to fix the budget to go to rollback,
[5:27:20] let me just say the other situation is different
[5:27:22] than last year, is I open up with,
[5:27:24] and I just wanna say I think I disagree with you,
[5:27:26] Mr. Champion, you know, we're going into
[5:27:28] a big financial problem next year, right?
[5:27:31] And so what's gonna happen is whatever that millage rate is,
[5:27:34] you have is gonna, that's gonna be,
[5:27:36] That's part of the equation, right?
[5:27:37] The equation is millage, valuation of the property, right?
[5:27:41] Equals the cost of the tax payer incentives.
[5:27:44] The valuation of the property is going to go down, right?
[5:27:47] And so, if you're going to decrease the mill,
[5:27:50] you're going to basically do what you're going to do is,
[5:27:51] we're going to decrease the millage rate
[5:27:53] and we're going to decrease the valuation rate,
[5:27:55] which is going to bring a less revenue,
[5:27:56] which is fine, right?
[5:27:57] Except that you're responsible for funding the law enforcement
[5:28:00] and the Constitution officers.
[5:28:02] And I've already told you today that the revenue
[5:28:05] new that you get is today, even if you don't have the existing military, it's not going
[5:28:08] to be enough.
[5:28:10] I want we've already discussed that, that revenue will not fund next year, law enforcement
[5:28:14] here.
[5:28:15] So, decreasing the military back to CPI means that we will make operational charges again,
[5:28:21] right?
[5:28:22] And so it shouldn't really be today, to me, it's not unexpected that I close a library,
[5:28:30] right?
[5:28:30] Right? Everybody thinks why I picked a library? Well, last year we went to CPI, which means when you go to CPI,
[5:28:39] when you go to, when you go to roll back, and I see that you're roll back, it means you have to make operational changes to take on the cost of the libraries.
[5:28:46] So the parts of the library system, the subscription for the book service, the electric bills, the cleaning services, the maintenance, the air conditioning systems, that goes up.
[5:28:55] I have to cut the other cost and what happens is I had enough to the library.
[5:29:01] So it shouldn't really be an example because the boy directed me that to you.
[5:29:05] That's how I feel last year.
[5:29:06] We went to rollback.
[5:29:07] Then we went 3% lower to rollback.
[5:29:10] And I know we had reserves, but what you did was use the reserves to fund the systems.
[5:29:14] The reserves aren't there this year.
[5:29:15] So I do a go on record.
[5:29:16] I think going to rollback again this year, before we're going to have a big financial
[5:29:21] upon next year, it puts you in a worst financial system next year, then you are this year,
[5:29:26] right?
[5:29:27] And so you're going to have a tougher situation next September than you will now.
[5:29:32] And so my suggestion is you're right.
[5:29:35] I suggest you close departments if you're going to go, start going to roll back again because
[5:29:41] you're going to have to close, you're going to have to cut expenses, because expenses are going to go up.
[5:29:46] go up, unless the bills are going to go up, the lawn service is going to go up. All those
[5:29:50] things are going to go up to the county, and we have to make it equal. I have to cut the
[5:29:54] expenses the other way to make it equal. So that's going for that way.
[5:30:00] The last thing if you did want to go to roll back, we talked about this a lot for roll back, you know, roll back maybe and see, I don't like CPIs because there's CPIs for, they're really for every industry, if you know a little bit about them, that they haven't for all of you having health care and construction kind of CPI, construction cost go up different than medical cost go up, right? And so, but see there is one for government, I think you have to think like ten of them, mix them up, but there's one CPI that we kind of use 3.5 or something.
[5:30:28] in the upper region and everything, you take out food and groceries out of them.
[5:30:33] But if you went to CPI, if you went to rollback plus your CPI because your government's
[5:30:37] going to have those expenses to make it in that way, you're going to take care of the
[5:30:41] expenses that come in and maybe then the operation of flat, there's no new additions,
[5:30:45] no new programs, and like that, that way you would end up with rollback plus CPI.
[5:30:50] Maybe that's a way to go forward in the future.
[5:30:53] I just know if you did that this year, if you did rollback plus CPI,
[5:30:57] It would fund enough and it would basically fund it out going forward and you could probably
[5:31:02] keep the library open this year.
[5:31:03] And you went the low back end and all you did was the inflation because the inflation
[5:31:07] as we know they didn't drop interest rates yesterday right out and he walked up track
[5:31:10] to limit that stuff.
[5:31:11] And so that's how you control.
[5:31:13] If you want to go to roll back, I think lowering knowledge going into this next year, actually
[5:31:20] lowering knowledge on a year, your existing revenues don't equal your expenses.
[5:31:25] So the first thing we'll do is we'll reduce the revenues and make it harder to even have
[5:31:31] the revenues equal the expenses.
[5:31:33] I just think it's wrong.
[5:31:35] I think you should keep your revenues the same and cut your expenses if you don't.
[5:31:38] Or personally, in my opinion, I know that I'm weighing more than this is I ought to increase
[5:31:43] the revenues like the .1 and fund it because that sets you up even better next year.
[5:31:48] And if it doesn't pass next year, then drop the millions next year, that .1 next year.
[5:31:52] But you might I would set myself up for like about a big expense coming up
[5:31:56] I would probably save a little bit more money
[5:31:58] I would not cut my revenue when I had a big expense next year
[5:32:02] So I would actually that's why I said my first proposal was point one
[5:32:06] Increase and I didn't bring it because I didn't think the board would do it
[5:32:10] And I'm sure you won't but I would do that that we set yourself up even either next year and wait for the seeing the pass
[5:32:16] Don't stop spending a lot of money. We've done that. We've stopped. We've delayed every construction project
[5:32:21] that until after the November vote, we've delayed a lot of positions that waiting to see if they're going to held or not, and then go forward in November and December and make a decision, but that would be my recommendation.
[5:32:33] The last thing we do have is that past practice, there is a, we cut most of the capital projects.
[5:32:44] I think I have $900,000 in general fund capital projects that you could, I mean, we went through them and prioritized them, yes, know which ones and we have the line 100,000 left for some reason, these ones are the ones that we thought maybe we should try to do still.
[5:33:01] I think there's an end-to-beach boat ramp resurfacing, PEC sync parking light, ABDA,
[5:33:06] there's a Cypress Reserve boardwalk there.
[5:33:13] There's a maintenance contract for the water plant match and see if we got to do that.
[5:33:19] Eventually that water plant, we can bother you later year.
[5:33:21] So there's 900,000 there, that would basically keep the library open and you can keep your millage the same as it is and wait for November.
[5:33:28] But that would be my recommendations, but thank you, sir.
[5:33:30] Thank you, sir.
[5:33:31] Commissioner Trambe.
[5:33:32] Thank you.
[5:33:33] So, a couple things.
[5:33:34] First off, the $2.2 million that we're talking about, right?
[5:33:37] There's 18.5% reserves.
[5:33:38] I mean, it's $407,000 would not have to be cut from the budget.
[5:33:41] Because by cutting this, you're reducing the amount of reserves.
[5:33:46] Right, correct?
[5:33:47] So, there's a 1.8 million.
[5:33:48] It has to be taken out.
[5:33:50] Now, according to the administrator, what are you saying about the budget and
[5:33:54] stuff about leaving it?
[5:33:55] You know, leaving as is and going from there.
[5:33:57] I argue what I respectfully disagree, and again, here's why math is a math here.
[5:34:02] Let me talk about math, right?
[5:34:04] So, the homestead properties, the first, say it passes, the very first one 40% will have nothing on their side.
[5:34:11] You know, the second one, the second year when it goes to 250, 90% of the properties will have no tax on our side, right?
[5:34:18] So, if you increase 1.7% right now, then that 1.7% is an additional amount you need to cut
[5:34:26] When you go into these cuts, because you remember, evaluations is what's going to be cut.
[5:34:30] So the value of your home is, if it's worth 100 grand, that first year cut, that means you pay no tax
[5:34:36] out into school tax, and they be you that goes to the fire department, and there's some TUs in there too and stuff.
[5:34:42] That'll still be, well, if the TUs, I don't know about that, I don't know if that was going to be the way to do it.
[5:34:46] There's a hundred percent effective to say that the TUs would be to say, but the point is, is that why would
[5:34:51] you increase anything when you know this is looming?
[5:34:54] You know, you can't increase knowing you're going to have to cut even more work when the taxi goes served.
[5:35:00] That's my position on it. And I tell you, I think it's very reasonable to say rollback at this point. Last year we did rollback plus 3%, I get it, the argument saying, hey, you know, we use the reserves, whatever I get. I understand you want to get 18.5 now. There is no room to cut that. Of course, we're going to have to go through it. I'm going through it. I'm going through it. Right. I'm writing a few departments down. That's what we have to do. But it's not responsible. And more importantly, it's not with the majority of this community once majority of this community wants this tax to go down. That's what it is. Like it or not.
[5:35:29] That's the truth and you'll see it in the ballot box and if you look at the polls now, this county's more like 80% going to vote for it
[5:35:36] Like yeah, the state might be at 50 at 64% but this county and the counties around us trust me
[5:35:42] They're going to come out and droves about this tax cut and so to me
[5:35:46] Responsible member I vote I I'm here because of you. I've represented citizens. You may not agree with me and everything
[5:35:52] But you know what you do. I do represent the citizens. I don't represent him. I don't represent any of these any of these
[5:35:58] But as an administrator, I don't represent him.
[5:36:01] I represent you and what the public is saying, cut my taxes.
[5:36:06] And I'm not taking a hatchet to it and saying, cut it 20%.
[5:36:10] That would be a lot.
[5:36:12] But to say that we live on the same amount we had this year,
[5:36:16] is that the end of the world?
[5:36:17] I don't think it is.
[5:36:19] But you know, when you get all these presentations,
[5:36:21] you got to look at it and you say, okay, well, where's the increase?
[5:36:23] And I'm looking at these budgets and I'm going to go,
[5:36:25] Okay, how much did he spend in 25?
[5:36:27] How much did he spend in 26?
[5:36:29] That's where I'm looking.
[5:36:30] So if there's a big number, like PIO,
[5:36:33] like the PIO, 100 grams got to come from that.
[5:36:36] It's more than doubled.
[5:36:37] So guess what?
[5:36:38] We'll shift some people around, move down to the department.
[5:36:40] Maybe that's one.
[5:36:41] Economic development.
[5:36:42] Do we have to have it?
[5:36:43] Absolutely not.
[5:36:44] We can cut the whole program.
[5:36:45] Do I want to do that?
[5:36:47] No.
[5:36:47] I'd rather him go back and take this one point eight things.
[5:36:50] That's really what's got to be cut.
[5:36:52] Look at them per capita and take that from it.
[5:36:54] That doesn't mean I'm going to leave that way because when we come back to the other
[5:36:57] bunch of meetings, we know that the maximum that we can do for you is rollback.
[5:37:02] That means if we set maximum a rollback, they've all committed to a tax cut for you.
[5:37:07] You know, if we don't, let's say we adopt it, we can easily do that.
[5:37:10] We can easily say right now, go along to get along 1.2% wherever it is, go ahead and
[5:37:14] go with it, even though we have intention to leave it flat.
[5:37:17] But then by sending a misleading message, I think the statement that comes out to you in
[5:37:21] mail in September it should say rollback on it because the new law says that's what we're supposed to start
[5:37:28] we're supposed to start with rollback and it was supposed to justify that's why you need four votes for any
[5:37:33] increase you need four of us all four of us agree for one dollar increase and I'm voting no no
[5:37:40] increase to your taxes I didn't say cut it no increase so if we have to sit her all night sit her all
[5:37:45] night oh we won't get a decision at all but I guarantee you the public's on my side that's all I
[5:37:49] I guess they, thank you.
[5:37:50] Thank you.
[5:37:51] All right, let's go for the sake of trying to move forward.
[5:37:57] Let's go down the line and get justice on if we have consensus for rollback.
[5:38:02] We know what Commissioner Champion is.
[5:38:04] He's on rollback.
[5:38:06] Commissioner Lacko.
[5:38:10] I'm concerned at rollback.
[5:38:13] Okay, I'm concerned about that, but unfortunately that's where we're at.
[5:38:17] I'm concerned about the fact that if we go to, and I was going to say, rollback.
[5:38:22] The whole back would be awesome if we had zero inflation in new mandates because we would be in the exact same spot on September 1st, I mean on October 1st.
[5:38:34] But because we have inflation and we cause we have increased expenses that were added through mandates and just the cost of everything going up, we can't provide the same level of service by going to roll back.
[5:38:48] We already know we have the money that we took out of reserves, which is a we've already
[5:38:53] have to reduce where we're at, so that's where my concern is, just being straight up,
[5:39:00] I guess I said, if we were in a neutral situation or a recession, we'd be in a better spot,
[5:39:07] right, but we're not, we're still in inflation.
[5:39:10] Okay, so do you want to do the exercise with the rollback or do you want to set the rate
[5:39:16] I want to go through the other for rates, and let's get something going on there where we can actually, and then come back to general funders, what I would like to do.
[5:39:27] Attorney Joe.
[5:39:27] Just once again, you have to make cuts to the individual line items in the budget, and that will determine what the rate is.
[5:39:34] Those are out.
[5:39:35] We understand.
[5:39:36] No, those rates are separate items.
[5:39:38] We have rates on each one of them.
[5:39:39] No, no, no, no, no.
[5:39:40] We have, we have.
[5:39:41] Your vote is theoretically on the budget now.
[5:39:43] No, we understand.
[5:39:50] That's what I want to go through, right?
[5:39:54] Okay.
[5:39:55] I understand.
[5:39:55] Uh,
[5:39:58] give us your hand, sir.
[5:39:59] I'll look.
[5:40:00] Okay. Yeah.
[5:40:03] Well, that didn't work. All right. Let me see. Can we get that up here? That? Either on the, uh, I'm out. All that. All the military. Yeah. The rates, I guess. And then we'll just go. We'll just ask about the budget. That's associated with that.
[5:40:36] Can we switch to computer please
[5:40:52] that's
[5:41:13] why
[5:41:47] But
[5:41:50] I'll just make comment on not depends, just the county, you know, the county, you know, is our budget is
[5:42:03] reduced a lot over this year, right?
[5:42:05] So the fact that the general fund budget, you know, new mayor, that's the past few years, I've been three or five or seven percent up every year.
[5:42:14] We're way negative this year, like 9.7% I think it's the last number, so you're not that I believe our costumes are supposed to do a great job also, you're going to go ahead and continue because we remember we're up, we forgot the whole process right, we started earlier this year, I got the county budgets in, I got the constitutional budgets in, and the county was up 6%.
[5:42:38] So I'm down 9.7%, so I don't know what, 6 and 9 is a 15% reduction that has happened to this year's
[5:42:46] VOCC
[5:42:47] General and VOCC Departments budgets have been reduced that much already, right?
[5:42:52] And so that's a lot of
[5:42:55] held operations cut
[5:42:57] Fiscities found solutions and reduction, so we're going to go reduce it more on this side and there's nothing
[5:43:03] I mean, not that I look at other constant losses, but this really should happen in September, I'll tell you that when you
[5:43:08] to see if there's any savings from your constitution author that they might have $500,000, $300,000, I'm sure that if the county goes and cuts millions and millions that cut in the last two months, I'll show you 3.5 million on one screen today that I cut and there's another couple of million beyond that.
[5:43:27] I mean, your cost resolution might, but it helped you get this other million advice you go in, but you, that you have
[5:43:33] decision about what you're going to affect the level of services and I'll put you on notice that you're not in the end as you figure out
[5:43:40] some way to cut something that doesn't affect anybody, but there's going to be some way not to have not it's not happy when I change operations.
[5:43:48] All right, Commissioner Ockerman, I'm going to let you start this conversation.
[5:43:51] I just want to I want to go over and make sure each one of those the EMS are we looking at
[5:43:59] If I 26 rate are we looking and we're looking at where we're going right right so rollback is there
[5:44:07] We're good. We have any issues with rollback at that level for EMS. No, we're good. I'm something we're just
[5:44:15] Everything's good with
[5:44:18] Fire an EMS with the rollback
[5:44:19] That's what I'm so we would have to have a chief the budget as presented has the current rates that we have to go and cut right. That's what I'm talking about. So if we're going rollback, I've got no, oh, but if we go to rollback, we're talking about rollback, right?
[5:44:36] Right.
[5:44:36] Right. So that's why we're having a conversation.
[5:44:43] What does what does that mean to EMS?
[5:44:47] Well, how far far should the public say to director so about $300,000 what does it mean to service levels is it going to affect service levels?
[5:45:04] Reserves, I mean, when we have the in reserves, we can use reserves to pay for when you. That's what we will have to do, right? I'm just want to walk through this. Or I'm cutting something out of the proposed closure. Was that or I'm cutting 300,000 out of the proposed. Thank you. And the last I'm using.
[5:45:32] I can use some other reserves because we're talking about rollback rollback is rollback, right?
[5:45:40] Well, that's why I was trying to understand before we before we start talking about rollback, do we have
[5:45:46] consensus to go to rollback? Well, that's well, that's that's why this is how and how and how
[5:45:50] the conversation we talk. We can roll about rollback, help the part and we're talking rolling back,
[5:45:55] stormwater, talk about rolling back transportation, we're talking about rolling back ENS.
[5:45:59] Right because we came in flat on fire, but this would be a reduction for EMS.
[5:46:08] That's the conversation I want to have, because that's what we're talking about.
[5:46:11] Okay.
[5:46:14] Yeah, you see, you see I, okay, yeah, is the reduction value.
[5:46:21] Commissioner champion, it's going to say that it's not a reduction, it's the same.
[5:46:25] I understand that it's going to reduce his budget, but it's the same as what we spent my share.
[5:46:31] I agree with that, but it doesn't mean the same level of service because the costs
[5:46:36] went up to provide the same service.
[5:46:38] I mean, it depends on what you look at.
[5:46:39] You know, like everybody's talking about insurance, insurance went down millions.
[5:46:44] Billions went down.
[5:46:45] But everybody's talking, look at the budget book.
[5:46:47] The insurance is plummeting down.
[5:46:49] It's coming down.
[5:46:50] But we like to talk about how it went up.
[5:46:52] I can show you on here that it went way down.
[5:46:55] But there are things that you got listed when this constitutional amendment passes, these will be affected too.
[5:47:02] I'm not disagreeing with you.
[5:47:06] I have to vote on this one and I want to make sure that if we go to real back,
[5:47:10] are we going to see a reduction in service level from EMS with this or is it,
[5:47:15] is it going to be absorbed because of insurance cost difference?
[5:47:20] or I mean, obviously fuel didn't go down for your rigs, so that's not going to be a benefit there.
[5:47:26] That's where I'm going, and I just want to make sure we're being open, transparent, what this means.
[5:47:38] Is there, will there be a change in level of service, or will we absorb it through cost savings or whatever else available?
[5:47:47] something I'll be affected by $300 or $300,000 reduction if I'm allowed to use reserves
[5:47:57] and that solves that problem. If not, then I got to go look and see where I'm going
[5:48:02] to take $300,000.
[5:48:06] I'll figure it out. Give me a couple of minutes. I'll go look at it.
[5:48:10] But if I got to take $300,000 out of it, I'll go look at it, figure it out. I don't know
[5:48:18] that people, but some sort of service-level capability, whether it's equipment, there's a lot
[5:48:28] of all the maintenance stuff, the EMS supplies, a lot of stuff I've got to do too.
[5:48:34] And I recognize that's why I'm asking the question.
[5:48:37] I don't want to just pretend that it's negligible.
[5:48:42] The remind me chief your reserves. You have reserves on both sides or just total reserves both sides, okay, because the reserves on the fireside it was baked into those numbers that we all talked about we kept it flat reserves was baked into that we were using a reserve over time did the MSP rate yes, yes, okay.
[5:49:10] Thank you, Mr. Sherman, so am I reading this correctly that the 0.8957 would be the 27 rollback rate instead of the 0.91 difference of 0143, 278,000.
[5:49:30] Okay, so you'd have to find 278,000
[5:49:38] what do you think you can define those now I mean I know that but I will be some good reserves there most likely but is there what does
[5:49:47] that look like and in spending for the budget that 278 is that quantified
[5:49:57] to potentially in operations?
[5:50:03] I have to give me a minute to go look at my health. If you want. I'll try to figure out what I cut for $207,000.
[5:50:16] I can measure a champion. Just want to clarify something. So we all voted, I think it was unanimous, to keep the fire fee the same. That does not mean that the new revenue coming in from the new homes was cut, it wasn't.
[5:50:29] So let them fool you, there's money, extra money coming in because all the new homes that were built and you do not have to wait as soon as the CEO happens, it's per rated and the money comes into the government.
[5:50:39] So let's say there's 2,000 homes, down to $360,000, that's how much they're collecting extra on top of the rate.
[5:50:47] So I just want to clarify that, that's what was voted on, so there will be more revenue coming into the fire department than this year.
[5:50:55] Thank you, sir.
[5:50:58] Chief or administrator, one of the budget experts can answer this.
[5:51:06] When we were looking at the fire numbers, wasn't the new growth used to get those numbers?
[5:51:18] Yeah, we have an estimated growth rate.
[5:51:20] So it's in that rest of me did that study twice last year.
[5:51:23] So we estimate a wall of the new house.
[5:51:24] So we plan on the revenue from the thousands into the study.
[5:51:28] Yeah, right.
[5:51:29] I agree with you, Commissioner Champion,
[5:51:32] that there's money there.
[5:51:33] But that money was already baked into the numbers.
[5:51:36] I've just seen it in general.
[5:51:38] I wonder if that number is a separate category anyway.
[5:51:40] I understand.
[5:51:41] Yeah.
[5:51:43] OK.
[5:51:47] I need some kind of a direction if
[5:51:54] heading
[5:51:55] towards the point of cutting a total of $2.4 million from our budget.
[5:52:03] So if we're going through that exercise, we can, or whatever the direction of the board is.
[5:52:10] Commissioner Alaka.
[5:52:11] Okay, so if we go, if we're waiting on chief right now, just looking at that, we go to transportation.
[5:52:15] Earlier today, this board was talking about the issues with roads and transportation and that.
[5:52:21] And that, in fact, we had a clear thing he wanted to increase the money that was being collected from this transportation trust, this would be a reduction.
[5:52:31] I just want, this is all I'm saying, I just want to go through this process and see what this looks like.
[5:52:36] So that would be a reduction in transportation, not in addition to transportation because it'll be a reduction of $250,000 basically.
[5:52:50] I just wanted to clarify that the cut we would be needing to look for in the fire budget would be from EMS only.
[5:52:57] Understood.
[5:52:58] Thank you, sir.
[5:53:00] Commissioner champion.
[5:53:01] Thank you.
[5:53:01] It's going to clarify, okay, it's a 2.4 million, it's over 400,000 that comes out reserves, you've got to cut 2 million.
[5:53:08] And remember, these things from rollback is an increase, they're cutting the increase, not cutting what they spent last year.
[5:53:14] the increase above last year, or this year we're in now.
[5:53:19] So when they say cut, it's not cutting, it's cutting to increase.
[5:53:24] So I just want to clarify to you, because it's government math again.
[5:53:27] You would never run your business this way, that's all I can tell you.
[5:53:29] Thank you, sir.
[5:53:35] Teri, do you have one?
[5:53:36] I like it.
[5:53:37] Oh.
[5:53:38] Commissioner Alaco.
[5:53:39] Yeah, just so again.
[5:53:40] I'm not disagreeing with Commissioner Champeon saying what I'm saying is we're talking about
[5:53:45] growth, we're talking about more people being here.
[5:53:48] So we're going to have this same amount of money to do what we did last year with more people and higher expenses.
[5:53:58] That's why we're just talking about roads.
[5:54:00] Again, that's why I want to come up to this, right?
[5:54:04] We also have had lots of people coming into us with issues about storm water.
[5:54:10] We've heard it almost every single meeting.
[5:54:13] It's the only reason why I'm bringing up with this.
[5:54:15] I don't want the public to think that they're going to get exactly the same as they got last year.
[5:54:21] If we have more people and we have higher expenses, it's not going to provide the same amount of service.
[5:54:28] That's all I want to do is be transparent about that.
[5:54:32] Thank you, sir.
[5:54:33] Can I share any more?
[5:54:34] I mean, we don't have to next to each one of them.
[5:54:39] And we can shape however we want to, you know, if we transportation the roads are important
[5:54:45] to us, we can raise that, and we can cut other ones.
[5:54:48] You can cut other ones, yeah.
[5:54:51] So, I mean, we can raise that to .02 on transportation, stormwater issues, I don't usually hear
[5:54:58] that we don't have enough money usually.
[5:55:00] I hear that the issue is with a lot, where there are neighbors a lot, and we can't fix it. I haven't heard that we have money issues with it.
[5:55:09] Oh, it's 99% of the time. It's money issues because I get a lot of complaints that we just, you know, they have an issue with their yard or something that's wrong. There are some of those.
[5:55:20] I'm a majority of them are money issues.
[5:55:24] My other question is, I know we got presented a budget, but I'm sure staff probably has
[5:55:33] like, one option sadly looked at previously that we kicked out, because we probably went
[5:55:40] through like 20, 30 ideas before we got to the idea of like closing Western Andrew library,
[5:55:46] right?
[5:55:47] So I mean, what ideas do we have thus far?
[5:55:51] Sure, I have three options that obviously went through a lot of things that didn't work out.
[5:55:57] So there's three options I have on the table that I chose this one because of the board line of some knowledge, right?
[5:56:06] And so, and I prefer if we're going to cut stuff, I think we need to learn a little less in the last couple years.
[5:56:15] We keep cutting one time expenses, right?
[5:56:18] And so if that was a good solution, we should be okay in revenues and expenses today, right?
[5:56:25] But it hasn't worked because we keep using reserves and cutting one time cattle projects.
[5:56:29] Now, private projects don't go away, they just get delayed, right?
[5:56:32] And so I just move out air conditioners and parking lots and CIP projects, I just move them, right?
[5:56:38] And so the county really did this in 2017, we kept doing this and we didn't fund any facility projects.
[5:56:44] And then we kept using reserves, and next year we got letter from the state,
[5:56:47] 8% reserves, and we're in trouble, then I had to raise a milligent, one mill to get us back, and we've come down, right?
[5:56:54] And so that's just kind of history repeating itself.
[5:56:56] So, just so I'm telling you, why my logic of what I presented you today is because I just,
[5:57:03] I think what we're doing here again now is repeating the same cycle.
[5:57:11] Now, it probably should have been louder last year to tell you that you're just going
[5:57:15] to cut one time expenses here and get, and then pump for another year, but what I want
[5:57:20] to do though.
[5:57:21] I know.
[5:57:22] Well.
[5:57:23] You have to inform my other option on this.
[5:57:24] I'll finish my statement though, so, so what, so option one,
[5:57:32] I would never close library
[5:57:33] ought to raise the millage, trant out of these millage point one mill, they would have kept
[5:57:40] the website library operating and that's because we went to rollback last year and then beyond it
[5:57:45] and so and then what we didn't do was we didn't cut enough expenses all year and some of
[5:57:50] that's maybe that's my fault for not not getting rid of enough expenses that year but it's a lot
[5:57:54] of millions of expenses to get rid of right and then we added body cameras in and everything a bit
[5:57:59] dissent but you know don't upset about body cameras the citizens wanted them right so I agree that
[5:58:03] the citizens wanted the body cameras so the citizen unfortunate citizens had to pay for the body
[5:58:07] So we added 2.3 million on body cameras and there's no revenue to come with it.
[5:58:12] The revenue is unfortunately taxes, right?
[5:58:15] And so, I would say you raised Millage 0.1 this year.
[5:58:19] You're going into a big financial storm.
[5:58:21] You set yourself up a little better.
[5:58:23] You keep the library open.
[5:58:24] You put the rest in road.
[5:58:25] You're surfacing, which is your next critical issue.
[5:58:27] If that doesn't work, option 2.05 just keeps the library open and everything else stays the same.
[5:58:34] Option three was what I presented.
[5:58:37] Option four, keep library open.
[5:58:42] I've cut $3.5 million of capital projects.
[5:58:45] I say it's option four because I don't like to keep cutting capital projects.
[5:58:48] I have 800 and some thousand left in general fund.
[5:58:52] Some projects that somehow made it across the shopping board.
[5:58:55] And because we're just debating which ones to cut and there was no,
[5:58:59] if the end it wasn't a good reason on which projects better because they're all
[5:59:02] All important, there's $850,000 in some projects that I could delay to an extra year.
[5:59:07] And you could cut those, and you could keep the library open, and you could move forward today.
[5:59:12] But the military needs to stay at is not rollback, because that's another 1.7, I looked at that.
[5:59:18] I can't get to 1.7 without a significant change in operations, or a change in something else in the county.
[5:59:28] And so that's why I picked a library I would have told you about.
[5:59:31] Now we, you got code enforcement, I mean you can take out, I think you only need one code enforcement officer in the county.
[5:59:37] So I mean, that's a big issue, but in the end, all of the effects people that you know your neighbor or something, right?
[5:59:45] And so, I mean, you can minimize code enforcement, right?
[5:59:49] And so people could just be nicer neighbors and cut the grass form or something, right?
[5:59:52] But I just feel like that's my solution, sir, is that I do have to capital projects
[5:59:57] that that cut to gives the library open and
[6:00:00] We can move forward. But cutting the one time expenses versus recurring costs is not a great plan when we're looking at what we're currently in for an environment. So, I feel like we're kind of having an adversarial conversation, and I don't want it to be that way.
[6:00:20] As a county administrator, you work for the Board of County commissioners, and it feels like we're pushing back on each other to try to work together.
[6:00:29] other. So how do you feel about that? I apologize. I guess that's my fault. Can you kind of be
[6:00:38] down sorry? That was my fault. He asked me a question. Yeah, absolutely.
[6:00:44] So obviously when you're
[6:00:47] looking at a budget reform and you're looking at this type of climate we're looking at right now,
[6:00:52] we can't just look at one time occurring expenses. We have to look at recurring costs.
[6:00:58] So, I'm trying to do the math and see the ideas of what the services would look like on
[6:01:07] a substantial detailed level on what they're extremely smart individuals, so there must
[6:01:12] be tons of ideas.
[6:01:15] So, I'm trying to work with you, but it seems like there's quite a bit of pushback from
[6:01:19] our feedback as a board, and I don't understand what that is.
[6:01:24] Well, I think my feedback, if it's a pushback, it's not.
[6:01:28] I think my job, your board, your job is to send the policy direction in the budget levels and the job.
[6:01:35] My job as county administrator is to advise you and then take direction from you, right?
[6:01:39] And so I'm advising you that continuing to decrease the revenue in a county that is significantly growing without
[6:01:50] about diversification of revenue and bringing in other revenue sales taxes or other things we try and then to credit to this board I think you weren't here but the board is trying really hard to diversify its revenue the citizens that said they don't want other revenue so therefore those things can't happen right but it does create problems because you still have to buy some of that service without a diversification of revenue so my job is not to push back my job is though. I'm going to tell you that when I think you're going you're going down and have a new that's going to
[6:02:20] That creates significant financial hardships in the county.
[6:02:23] I mean, if you've read my budget letter, it's a lot different than last year's.
[6:02:27] Even though last year's letter said, you should keep the millage the same because you went through a storm event.
[6:02:31] Not our fault, but we went through a storm event and spent $22 million, right?
[6:02:36] Luckily, this board, Mr. Champion, you championed him, you championed it.
[6:02:41] Getting the reserves really high, right?
[6:02:43] And 18.5% is not enough, right?
[6:02:45] 25% should be the goal.
[6:02:47] And so, luckily, we had done that many years when the growth was here and the revenues were over the expenses, right?
[6:02:56] And there's been a huge increase in inflation, and we put all the money aside, and we weathered that storm.
[6:03:02] However, we haven't put that money back.
[6:03:03] I got Spain last year back, remember?
[6:03:05] And then what we did was we didn't put it back in the same use account, my opinion.
[6:03:09] I didn't put it back, I just gave the citizens back, which is fine, the citizens needed
[6:03:15] the money, the $120 tax cut last year, great.
[6:03:20] But then we had to cut them cut more, more revenues, we used the revenues for operations,
[6:03:26] and then we did more of that, and then this year, the revenues not there to pay the guy,
[6:03:31] I don't have to set them in.
[6:03:33] We've been calling FEMA, I'm trying to get it, if it came in, we'd have a little different
[6:03:36] story to date.
[6:03:37] that I can pay for that revenue that we need to pay last year, right?
[6:03:40] I can pay for all the expenses I paid last year, that's what I mean.
[6:03:43] I can pay for it again, and it'll be a little easier.
[6:03:45] I don't have it this year.
[6:03:46] And so I'm not pushing back, but you asked me for operational things.
[6:03:49] I continue to make them.
[6:03:51] I mean, the reason why the library's here is because that's a reoccurring expense, right?
[6:03:57] That's a low hanging fruit.
[6:03:58] It's a low, painful, low hanging fruit.
[6:04:01] No, no, it's a very, I think it's all laid in all out.
[6:04:04] So we can keep the library coming up for this next.
[6:04:07] We would have never closed the library.
[6:04:09] Oh, I would close the library, sir.
[6:04:11] I'm just, I'm not, this is not me pandering.
[6:04:14] I love the library.
[6:04:15] I sat there on a Saturday for like two hours
[6:04:18] in Spring Hill Library, two weeks ago, and I made this decision.
[6:04:21] Figuring out what I was going to cut to balance the budget.
[6:04:24] Watching the families, my kids grew up in the library,
[6:04:26] or as take them there.
[6:04:28] I don't, I love this community.
[6:04:29] I think, I think we, I continue to say,
[6:04:31] were judging things by a spreadsheet, by the millage rate in the spreadsheet, and whether
[6:04:36] that's the value of our community is the tax rate. I've given you a sheet that I go
[6:04:41] personally making so about what our tax rate is compared to all these other counties.
[6:04:46] I always think that Handel County has one mill less than Citrus County. We have so many
[6:04:52] more services now they have, and they have a separate library millage. We're less than
[6:04:57] one mill and they have a separate
[6:04:59] Let's do it.
[6:05:00] Library, millage, and they have a whole mosquito control district by themselves, not even in their county funding. How is it that Hernando County's millage is one mill less than citrus, who's way smaller world than we are? I know it'll work different seven years, and we are millages lower than theirs, a lot. And they have additional revenue sources and everything, so I really caution you that the revenues you're not going to make it, so I'm passionate about it.
[6:05:27] I use more residents in such a county, huh?
[6:05:29] We have 60,000 more.
[6:05:30] I think 60 miles and more service could cause.
[6:05:33] And 60,000 more domestic violence calls in the middle of the night for your deputies.
[6:05:36] I'm not trying to defend the sheriff, but you know, you have what residents end up service calls, right?
[6:05:42] And that more permits, I got a process, you know I'm working six days a week and
[6:05:45] per minute, trying to keep up with the growth in the county.
[6:05:47] And so, and all these things, the beaches and the parks, right?
[6:05:50] We added a splash park, the citizens wanted that splash park, right?
[6:05:54] Huge cost to the county.
[6:05:55] We didn't want it. They raised $100,000 and they came here and they petitioned this board, right?
[6:06:01] So the growth has come because we serve the citizens. That thing cost, it's like $250,000 a year, a contract,
[6:06:07] we just to keep the water clean out there. And then I got staff members out there all the time. We're
[6:06:12] placing the sale shades, I punted that project this year out of the budget. And so that, and then homelessness
[6:06:17] into situation in the county, the citizens wanted homelessness taken care of, right? We hire, we spend
[6:06:23] money now on a homeless coordinate of great job, we know every homeless and we're connecting
[6:06:27] people to resources, connecting families at a homeless to the homeless programs in the school system.
[6:06:32] It's not about the money spread to me, it's about the community. So I didn't cut a library
[6:06:36] just to think it's only holding in fruit. I cut a library to balance the budget.
[6:06:41] If we got something else that can cut great, but I would just go down to the list for you.
[6:06:45] I mean code, not my favorite thing. I did do a great job of coding,
[6:06:49] They're current officers doing an amazing job, but I just say be nice to your neighbor and if we don't have a lot less code enforcement
[6:06:54] In this world. I believe your intentions are good and you do. I don't know what you're saying
[6:07:00] If we say hey, we don't love the couple of options we have, but we still want to make some adjustments
[6:07:06] Do I've given you 40? I haven't given us I got four options on the table today
[6:07:11] You knew we weren't going to cut out shut down a library. It's been there for since I was a child. Okay, we didn't fund it
[6:07:19] We sit policy, right?
[6:07:21] And you sit budget level, sir.
[6:07:22] And you strongly advise us on how to keep things on the rails.
[6:07:27] Yep.
[6:07:27] So if we're going to cut things, you would be the first person to say,
[6:07:31] hey, I think these ten things we should talk about those
[6:07:34] if you're going to even think about it.
[6:07:36] So I give you a head.
[6:07:37] Excuse me.
[6:07:38] Yeah.
[6:07:38] Instead, you just stonewall us today.
[6:07:42] And you're like, you guys figure it out.
[6:07:45] Or am I wrong?
[6:07:45] Am I assuming that wrong?
[6:07:46] No, I don't think I'm trying to spend a lot of time still, if you feel I'm still working together.
[6:07:50] I'll give you another option.
[6:07:51] I'll give you my fifth option.
[6:07:53] I'll wait for your first.
[6:07:54] I'll give you my fifth option.
[6:07:56] Fifth option is you keep moving forward.
[6:07:58] And we can leave the budget as it is.
[6:07:59] I have a $560,000 reduction in library expenses.
[6:08:04] And I'll make it work and I'll keep the library open if that's what you want to do.
[6:08:07] And what I'll do is I'll find the other cuts within the other staff and the departments.
[6:08:12] But I'll make sure the library is open enough.
[6:08:13] And well maybe my work with the library director and we'll spread it out maybe there's one per library is only four libraries
[6:08:21] That's four people and we'll find the other three somehow
[6:08:25] Maybe it's another department. I mean I have a maybe the HR. You know, maybe you'll be in HR position
[6:08:31] But I can if you if it's that's this you as I I'll give you another solution. I'll find a seven and
[6:08:39] Then you can in a move forward as it is. I'll find is I'll find a thousand six thousand if it's a library
[6:08:43] But I did that because it's, I mean, I just had to make a decision on the level of service operation, stop cutting capital, I cut the 3.5 main, you can just cut some more capital and then like within or I could, you want to direct me to do it, I'll find it, but I'm not going to stonewall, yeah, I have solutions, but
[6:08:59] But if it was me, I would change military, but I know that's not advisable to the board.
[6:09:07] So there's three other solutions that don't have our residents would say we're going into
[6:09:13] November and the state thinks that my local government can survive a drastic cut to taxes.
[6:09:19] But my local government is so disconnected that they want to raise my taxes before that.
[6:09:23] So you can understand the position and puts the board in.
[6:09:27] I would say that, I would say, I'm not, I'm not dissert, so you ran your office, so I would tell you that it's my responsibility.
[6:09:35] Yeah, it is your, I mean, huh, that's on me, absolutely.
[6:09:38] And so, I would tell you that, you know, I would, it's a represented democracy, right?
[6:09:46] And so, the way I believe the government works is you get represented and you get to vote for that.
[6:09:52] I'm going to spend, so you understand, but I would expect my leaders to make what they believe was the best decisions for me, and then even up there.
[6:10:00] The citizens might not understand the complete finances of the county, right? They might not understand that the tax equation next year, and this has two parts in as a praise value and a military, right? The only thing we can change in our whole life is the military. You can't change any of the other economics in your life. Your account, your, your, whether it costs for food, shopping, gas, your mortgage, your interest rate, none of that's, you just told you, right, the only thing you get to change in the whole world is your military. That's why people go after it, right? You can't affect the praise value.
[6:10:29] somebody the property appraisal tells you what it is your neighbor sells or house a lot more you just goes up right so you're
[6:10:35] You're in the mortgage business. You understand how houses get sold and and that mortgage happens right so that but
[6:10:42] You want to change so it's the praise value of more military so next year
[6:10:47] Your job next year will be to set the budget and figure out the revenues and next July next June
[6:10:53] You're going to determine that and if you're going to you know the praise values going to go down
[6:10:58] I personally wouldn't go drop the millage also to make sure that I get less revenue next
[6:11:03] year.
[6:11:04] I mean, if your goal is to have less revenue next year, if your goal is to run the government,
[6:11:08] you need at least a revenue to make it work.
[6:11:11] I wouldn't want more extra revenue.
[6:11:13] Let's cut that.
[6:11:13] We cut it for many years, right?
[6:11:15] But you should want revenue to make, to at least fund critical things that senior pride,
[6:11:19] but if there's something you don't want, then water, you know what, waterways, you're going
[6:11:23] to waterways.
[6:11:23] I mean, just...
[6:11:25] When you look at organizations and how they operate, you don't look immediately like oh, we need to cut that department or we need to cut that public facing service in any organization, you're going to look at ways to improve how you operate like in and out and upside down.
[6:11:44] I haven't heard any of that today.
[6:11:46] And then when we start to get into the details, it's like, well, what do you guys want to do?
[6:11:52] You know better than anyone, however, that works.
[6:11:55] Better way better than us, because I have a list of some things here we can go over.
[6:12:00] I think fair enough, I can show you detail.
[6:12:02] So we can, I mean, I can go detail by, I can go detail by department and
[6:12:06] discuss what we're doing with each department.
[6:12:09] And so in talk about, you know, there's departments are challenging and
[6:12:13] the efficiencies are working on between departments.
[6:12:15] So I'm more successful than others but I'll tell you everything I mean I do I do have that whole page that I send out right
[6:12:22] I have with me if you
[6:12:24] I don't love it right because I have a hold that my whole
[6:12:31] It's only what's that on a gay chanando. You know that this is kind of cool
[6:12:35] So on a gay chanando of all my departments every month send me all they work that they're doing every much highlights and everything
[6:12:41] It's right because I it's a lot of like 22 departments or something right and so I can see what they're all doing at all time
[6:12:47] So this is on reghernando.com for every citizen to read, and I send it to the commissioners so that you know
[6:12:53] Everything that everybody's working on every month, right? And so I mean, I do have it
[6:12:58] But if I could do a better job at that, I will I'm telling you the
[6:13:02] efficiencies and how we're trying to save money different areas
[6:13:06] The I'll be guilty of that. I guess if I I could do better at that. Oh, I'm not trying to pay anyone as guilty
[6:13:11] I understand I'm wrong. I'm sure I have something
[6:13:14] Can I just, would you mind if I say something real quick?
[6:13:16] Absolutely, go ahead.
[6:13:17] OK, thank you.
[6:13:18] And then I'll come right back to you.
[6:13:20] So what I thought I heard you say earlier
[6:13:22] is that you, and I understand, you're probably
[6:13:24] the same place I am.
[6:13:26] You're trying to understand where everybody's at,
[6:13:29] understand where we're headed, and all of that.
[6:13:30] But what I heard you say earlier is that you
[6:13:32] wanted to be at 5.891 on the board millage rate.
[6:13:38] You weren't considering going the rollback at that point.
[6:13:41] Right, maybe you've changed a little bit of the thinking and you know, I have no issue with that and I respect that but that's
[6:13:51] With all of those cuts that we've already talked about so that money it doesn't have to be a library
[6:13:57] But it has to be something all of that cuts are already been
[6:14:01] Take a place to get to that milled rate of 5.8891
[6:14:06] If we want to go above and beyond that, then we have additional cuts that need to be made.
[6:14:13] He said he wanted a rollback.
[6:14:14] Where did that come from?
[6:14:14] He didn't say he wanted a rollback.
[6:14:16] He actually wanted a 10% cut before.
[6:14:17] And now he said, earlier today, he said he wanted 5.888.
[6:14:21] Well, I also stated in what I read earlier that I wanted to see a real 10% exercise, because
[6:14:29] I don't like the governor would have made that law so that you could just back out all your
[6:14:33] I see IP projects and say, okay, the budget's balanced, there's a 10% cut.
[6:14:39] That's not the intention the governor wanted on this.
[6:14:41] I understand, I understand.
[6:14:42] One other thing, and then I'm going to give the floor back to you.
[6:14:45] Is there any new revenue in these numbers, any new revenue?
[6:14:51] I'm sorry, what do you mean new revenue?
[6:14:54] Because this is just advalor.
[6:14:56] These are just your advalor and rates.
[6:15:00] How do you tell my whole total budget, right? So we have the peel off as additional revenue source this year. And that's included in the 5.8891. It's included in the budget, but the 5.889 on your seeing on the screen in the total. That is just add one. Right. It's paying for expenses, instead of reserves. Basically, it's peel off. So you got to make sure you understand that too, as well. Commissioner Amther, I think you already do, but I just wanted to make sure I'm going to turn it back to you.
[6:15:29] So, natural resources, we have improvements, it looks like prior year was 325K increasing to 675K, is that 350K truly needed?
[6:15:44] What's it for?
[6:15:51] We can staff up.
[6:15:52] And I apologize to staff too.
[6:15:54] No, I'm not good.
[6:15:55] So, if I don't have a list of alternatives, I just have to start going through things.
[6:15:59] There's a brother here.
[6:16:00] I love the staff here, does it mean so all questions?
[6:16:06] I know I can answer this question.
[6:16:07] Okay.
[6:16:08] Paul, the line-up need to go up.
[6:16:09] Yeah, what's the Christmas back community services director?
[6:16:12] The 350K was directly to the Hernando Beach boat ramp
[6:16:15] resurfacing project.
[6:16:17] Oh, yeah.
[6:16:18] So that's for next year's school year?
[6:16:20] Yes.
[6:16:24] What's wrong with the Hernando Beach boat ramp?
[6:16:27] Paul, why do we have to do that?
[6:16:29] Yeah, I don't know.
[6:16:30] I don't know if I can answer this for some managers.
[6:16:31] So it's just wear and tear.
[6:16:32] So the surface out there right now,
[6:16:36] It's like even when we clean it so it's a safety hazard and then it's starting to have
[6:16:39] potholes and cracking in it so it just needs some TLC on it is one of our heavily utilized
[6:16:46] butt ramps.
[6:16:47] So we had put that on there for this year.
[6:16:49] You talked about it before and I believe it's not too long ago.
[6:16:52] Is there an issue with the drop off a member, you have a brief on this so that's a different
[6:16:55] issue or what?
[6:16:56] No, we did have a lot of under I'm washing from it just from there but staff have gone
[6:17:00] in there and put in rip wrap so we stabilize the end of the butt ramp for right now.
[6:17:04] Okay.
[6:17:05] It's really just the surface.
[6:17:06] So you did that part of it?
[6:17:07] Yeah, we did go in like that.
[6:17:09] All right, then what is the regular 325K4?
[6:17:15] That brings it to the total of-
[6:17:17] So we had other projects listed,
[6:17:19] Cyberslakes Boardwalk, and we have an agreement
[6:17:22] with the Florida community's trust with DEP
[6:17:26] to do projects out there,
[6:17:28] and we haven't done a project at Cyberslakes
[6:17:29] for a couple years, so we had put that back on
[6:17:32] to try to get a project this year,
[6:17:34] and that was, I think, 150, I didn't bring my budget up.
[6:17:39] 150, you're 175.
[6:17:40] 175.
[6:17:42] And then we also have Peck-Sync parking lot and ADA spots
[6:17:46] to hopefully get that reserve open.
[6:17:49] And we are doing some projects out there.
[6:17:51] And so it was just to establish a parking lot area for public.
[6:17:55] Okay.
[6:17:56] Do we think those projects are actually going to come together
[6:17:58] in this fiscal year?
[6:18:00] So Peck-Sync, we're working on right now.
[6:18:02] it's closed that preserves been closed for years but we're working right now out there but there's
[6:18:09] no parking area for vehicles it's all grass area and it's not level so we would have to improve
[6:18:15] a parking lot for citizens to come in and then we would have to do an ADA spot and it's required.
[6:18:22] Cypress lake sounds like it might be a while. Yeah we would have to be designed
[6:18:27] of the boardwalk, but it's something that is in our agreement with the state to do.
[6:18:33] We have to do a feature like that. It was going to be a kayak launch from the river
[6:18:38] and we showed them how that was not going to be easily possible.
[6:18:41] So they allowed us to change that to a boardwalk to one of our cypersomes on the property
[6:18:45] and so we were just trying to get that project going.
[6:18:49] That's good. Do you think if we left it off the budget for now
[6:18:54] that you could present it and bring it back if things go and we can see if we can find the money on that time.
[6:18:59] I do and I think the state will also hopefully be okay with that as well pushing that because we did do a large renovation of our security residents this year on that property.
[6:19:09] So we're hoping that they accept that as our project this year and allow us to push it.
[6:19:13] Okay, so 175.
[6:19:14] So what was that, 325?
[6:19:17] I think the boardwalk was 175 pegs equals 150 and then our boat ramp was going to be 350, so we're around 725 and CIP men.
[6:19:28] Okay, so if we put cypress likes in the budget, but you could bring it back, what was the cypress likes number?
[6:19:37] 175, 175,000.
[6:19:40] For design, yes, just design.
[6:19:44] Okay, and it was a guesstimate, you know, because we, you know, just kind of got to do everything.
[6:19:50] So, I mean, that's a potential. I know the board thinks.
[6:19:52] It's a good project. It's a good idea.
[6:19:53] I mean, I like the project, but if it's, if we're still waiting to get there, and we're doing some other good.
[6:20:00] All right. We're going to have a good project sign, that department that we're funding. What do we think of that? 175?
[6:20:10] I'll make a motion to remove that 175 from the proposed budget for now.
[6:20:22] We need a motion to make a list. I think we're just going to make a list. I think we're just going to make a list. We need a motion.
[6:20:29] I know but why don't we do it's not going to get us a rollback so why don't we accumulate them accumulate them first
[6:20:39] That's what I think we should do
[6:20:44] Yeah
[6:20:44] We're going to have a list. Yeah. Yeah, I met your amp there.
[6:20:50] No mind. I'm just taking mine. I've worked them on. Okay, so one.
[6:20:54] Maybe this one's right now. Good. May I say something first?
[6:20:58] Like one of my. I don't mind. Okay, I just I just want to remind us again that we're
[6:21:05] doing. This is what we did last time. This is what we do. These are one-on's they're
[6:21:09] not operating. They're not going to change things moving forward. They're okay to
[6:21:14] get little chips here and there, but it's not changing operating, which is our issue.
[6:21:18] And the other thing I just want to say, and this isn't to be a confrontative.
[6:21:24] I can just say that every year that I've been here with Jeff as our administrator,
[6:21:29] every year he's been working on ways and operations to become more efficient.
[6:21:34] And so we're at a point where I think it's going to be very difficult to increase efficiencies,
[6:21:40] because this has been an annual thing.
[6:21:42] It's not like we sit here and try to build up departments, right?
[6:21:45] And so now we're at a point where we're like, again, that's why I brought up the percentages in each department.
[6:21:51] We're at a point where we're going to have to change the actual level of service because it's going to be very hard to get any more efficient.
[6:22:00] Because it's people, that's where we're at.
[6:22:03] We can do these one-off and CIPs here and there, here and there and put them off down the road.
[6:22:08] But operationally we have to change the level of service to make it function operationally next year and the year after and the year after.
[6:22:17] That's all I just want to say.
[6:22:18] I said, I believe that he's worked very hard.
[6:22:20] The reason why the clerk is doing all our IT is because we have what three or four IT departments across the county.
[6:22:26] We had all these redundancies that we've worked out already.
[6:22:31] And I don't want, I don't want it to turn into that we don't appreciate or
[6:22:35] or even recognize those efficiencies that have already been done over previous years.
[6:22:39] That's all I wanted to say.
[6:22:40] No, I said I appreciate it.
[6:22:42] Yep.
[6:22:42] I think you make a good point, Mr. Alco.
[6:22:50] So looking back at recurrent expenses.
[6:22:55] I got a couple of ideas and apartments that do you want to talk about it?
[6:23:01] We do have, we could look at vacancies, long vacant, long term vacancies,
[6:23:07] is non-front line positions, delayed hiring,
[6:23:12] the administrative priori, did that.
[6:23:15] What vacancy, where are you saying?
[6:23:17] Tell me.
[6:23:18] Is there any...
[6:23:19] And delaying hiring doesn't automatically mean
[6:23:21] you take it out of the budget, so.
[6:23:23] Oh.
[6:23:24] Yeah, do we have to remove the position?
[6:23:27] Oh, delaying vacancies.
[6:23:29] We have to remove them, third change budget.
[6:23:31] Yeah.
[6:23:31] You have to remove the position for change budget.
[6:23:34] Correct.
[6:23:34] Yeah, I mean, so yes.
[6:23:35] We delay, I mean, I think I have one hell
[6:23:39] I have one held in the admin right now, and we had a temporary person at the front.
[6:23:43] I think we should probably keep that position, but I put it temporary because it's the person left, and we've done a temporary agency, it's done a great job.
[6:23:52] But these are the positions we haven't filled for like four months or more, because I think that might be, if we can operate for four months without a position, we probably should consider just holding it out for now.
[6:24:03] And that will talk my general fund only, right?
[6:24:07] So I know it has engineers that are tough to find in utility fund, right?
[6:24:11] General fund, four months open, no, we have a really low turnover rate.
[6:24:18] The only thing I was holding was HR position, the Parks and
[6:24:22] Rec one, which I removed that from the budget now that we talked about for
[6:24:26] finally, I got to remove that Parks and Rec's position, and
[6:24:29] And that's it, the attorney's office is full.
[6:24:34] They always have some return things, but they've backed staff now, and now
[6:24:44] I don't have
[6:24:44] any of the openings.
[6:24:49] Commissioner Ambuler.
[6:24:49] And the one's the planning and zoning I recommend we keep them, because I'm giving them
[6:24:53] a loan there.
[6:24:54] I agree.
[6:24:58] Yeah.
[6:24:58] so... if... if...
[6:25:00] Staff can review for other recurring expenses that the board can review. I think that's a great direction. I can definitely bring back another solution for you. I mean, I can't do it today. I mean, you want to move forward, but I can bring back. I mean, I can find. I'll bring back some more things for you. I mean, I feel like we were getting to the point where it's very difficult, right? You have a really hard job, probably much harder job than we have, right?
[6:25:27] But you've got to look at, yeah, so I mean, can we be able to do that today through this?
[6:25:39] We have to have a maximum of this.
[6:25:42] I mean, I'll go back.
[6:25:43] I know the process.
[6:25:44] I know it's, I know it.
[6:25:46] And you like, I'm going to let you go back to the way the government's work.
[6:25:52] The reason why this is, the way the process is set up that the state law says that the
[6:26:00] county minister actually, the state law should mention the budget director creates the
[6:26:05] budget and presents it to the board of county commissioners and then at that way it transmits
[6:26:10] that maximum millage because that's the maximum it can be because that's the proposed budget
[6:26:15] and then when you get to the hearings, we have all the costusals and all the citizens there
[6:26:19] at a 501 hearing, you've cut the knowledge there.
[6:26:22] So, I mean, today you have the ability
[6:26:24] to keep the knowledge the same and move forward
[6:26:26] and then, and then in your direction,
[6:26:28] you say you want to see more efficiency operations,
[6:26:32] opportunities from me to bring forward to you
[6:26:35] for reductions in giving that direction, right?
[6:26:37] So, or if you need, you say, you want the library,
[6:26:40] you don't want the library,
[6:26:41] you want to let the seven positions in the budget,
[6:26:43] then, I mean, today you can make a change,
[6:26:45] you can make you found some money right there
[6:26:47] if you want to move any of those other ones I've mentioned that both ramp you could put that out a little bit or something if you wanted but
[6:26:53] We can maintain it until or I could
[6:26:56] mentioned that I would find the money and then you can keep it the same and then you can
[6:27:01] Find what reductions you can be 1.7 May and to go to rollback at September 10th
[6:27:07] I'll bring you 1.7 May and then I'm just trying to give you multiple options, too
[6:27:12] I appreciate that they had to bring one off.
[6:27:13] By law, I've got to bring a budget, not, and it's hard to, I'd be honest to you, I've
[6:27:17] got to do whatever I can to turn me to bring multiple budgets.
[6:27:20] It was tough this year, and then in the other years, it's a little easier.
[6:27:23] This year is really tough because the revenues were less than the expenses, so we were around
[6:27:28] around trying to figure out how to make this work, and I, I mean, I didn't do a library
[6:27:33] just for fun.
[6:27:35] It's not happening, it's not happening for me.
[6:27:38] I appreciate that, and Commissioner Lacko, I appreciate your input.
[6:27:42] But we were presented pretty much a majority of one-time savings and delays of capital improvement projects.
[6:27:49] So I'm definitely trying to find the things that are recurring and you make a good point.
[6:27:54] I mean, thank you, sir, Mr. Chair.
[6:27:58] Thank you, sir.
[6:27:59] Commissioner Champion.
[6:28:00] It's going to be fine.
[6:28:00] Okay, I got a bunch of stuff for you, so we'll see if we get to this one.
[6:28:03] So, first off, I just want to say that I think that the county employees do a fantastic job.
[6:28:10] 90 plus percent of them, I think they all have good intentions.
[6:28:12] I think this administrator has good intentions overall.
[6:28:15] But to say that we're efficient, when we're over 100% increase in seven years,
[6:28:20] it's just irresponsible to say that's not efficient.
[6:28:23] And you know what, the government itself will never cut itself citizens.
[6:28:27] It won't happen.
[6:28:28] That's why you elect representation.
[6:28:30] You know where your representatives and we got to make the tough decisions because this is what's happening out there
[6:28:35] And when you look at such a county, you brought up such a county, right? So such as County you think this is bad
[6:28:40] You used to see what's going on political there. Oh my goodness. That was borderline somebody attacked in the in the room
[6:28:45] And they're they're going after blood for these these incumbents that are raised taxes
[6:28:48] They're going after them and odds look like they're all going to be replaced. It looks really bad, right?
[6:28:53] And here's Blaze just last two weeks ago, went in and audited Sacha's county and he says that $39 million is being wasted in Sacha's county.
[6:29:04] So that's an example that our administrator wants to give about Sacha's county.
[6:29:07] That is not a good example, sir, about what's going on in Sacha's county.
[6:29:10] And I respect Blaze and Golia.
[6:29:12] I think you guys are all friends with him.
[6:29:14] He said they're wasting $39 million.
[6:29:16] Is he lying?
[6:29:18] I don't think he is.
[6:29:19] So when I look at it, I sit there and go, we can't find, and we're talking about rollback.
[6:29:25] What happens when this thing passes?
[6:29:27] It's going to be a disaster.
[6:29:28] If we can't figure out too many dollars, this is nothing.
[6:29:30] So I have some questions, and I may be, some of this I know the answers to, but I appreciate
[6:29:34] if you would be able to tell us whether we have general fund money going into or not, right?
[6:29:38] So I have a few categories that I want to talk about.
[6:29:41] In general, I'm just going to say it all, and you hopefully can keep track of when you go
[6:29:43] from there.
[6:29:44] So when you look at things like the ship, ship account, and social services, affordable
[6:29:48] housing, welfare services, things like that, do we have any general fund money going
[6:29:53] to that?
[6:29:53] That's one question.
[6:29:55] Do we have to fund IFIS, just 582,000, is that all on, on, on, on, on?
[6:30:00] Great funding. Could be. I don't know. You know, when it comes to economic development, there is a big cut in there, by the way. It looks like on there maybe capital. I don't know what it is, but it's about 1.4 million. It was like 2.7 million last year. I'm sure you can answer that afterwards, right? So there is a big cut there. You look at natural resources. Was that there's only been an account two years and it's 772,000. I know that's some of that's waterways, et cetera. Where was that account before? Where was that money at? I know there's an environment that says it lands.
[6:30:29] which we cut years ago, it was very minimal.
[6:30:34] Library services is 400 down, but that's
[6:30:36] probably because you were closing the library. I would imagine, right? But that is, that
[6:30:39] even with the library staying open, it looks pretty flat. I mean, it doesn't look like there's
[6:30:44] a lot extra money unless there's more than 400,000 to keep that one open. So we're not seeing
[6:30:47] a lot of fat there when it comes to that. But anyway, is there any of these programs, but
[6:30:52] and I know some of them have grants and then we have to match funds and stuff. I'm not
[6:30:56] I'm not sure about these, especially to social programs.
[6:30:59] But, you know, is there any leeway in that?
[6:31:01] Is there any, how much money's tied to a general fund wise?
[6:31:03] Or if there's any money tied to a general fund?
[6:31:05] Thank you.
[6:31:06] Thank you, sir.
[6:31:08] All right.
[6:31:09] Who wants to take a stab at that, Mr. Orr?
[6:31:12] Yeah, I can pull it up and look at it.
[6:31:15] I don't know about Eiffis.
[6:31:17] I don't know what your agreement is with Eiffis.
[6:31:19] It's a contract.
[6:31:20] Yeah.
[6:31:21] And it's-
[6:31:21] I don't know where it's going to be.
[6:31:24] We'll have a crystal inspect come up and try to answer that.
[6:31:27] I'll take a smater toward it.
[6:31:29] Crystalensbeck, your service director.
[6:31:31] IFAIS is a split funded part with University of Florida.
[6:31:35] And we pay an MOU agreement for a portion of that for the operation.
[6:31:39] It's called Zive.
[6:31:40] Do we have to do it?
[6:31:42] Fun?
[6:31:42] That's serious?
[6:31:44] I don't think you have to do a IFAIS in every county.
[6:31:47] Every county has an extension agent that provides food.
[6:31:51] I'm sorry, and we county has extension that provides services to the citizens and so that is a I don't think it's mandated
[6:31:58] It's an optional thing that whether or not you keep eye for senior community or not, but they do a lot of services
[6:32:03] But you don't have to have it no sir
[6:32:05] That's 600 ring. I mean not to say you only cut all of it. Maybe a hundred or two. I don't know you know
[6:32:11] I mean it might be it might be I
[6:32:12] Listen if you're gonna look at stuff is that is that absolutely necessary for survival in Hernando County it is not
[6:32:19] I get it they provide they provide a lot of stuff. They do a lot of research to stuff like that
[6:32:23] I get it, you know, but is it if you're going to cut police officers you're going to cut that I would be willing to
[6:32:28] I'll be look at that.
[6:32:30] I mean you can
[6:32:32] Yeah, we have that's only one piece and I'm not saying I'm for that. I'm just saying the general
[6:32:36] But the engagement pages you just reached had June's numbers for what they do and I can give you a real
[6:32:43] Oh, yeah, they do like you show the whole list of what they do
[6:32:47] If you can talk about a type that's cool, introduce yourself and meet my life as soon as possible.
[6:32:52] Sorry, I missed some of it. I was coming from the other room. I am Dr. Brittany Scharfe. I am your county extension director.
[6:32:59] Can you repeat the question?
[6:33:01] My question was, what's necessary and how much money we're putting into this thing? So, $580,000 Chris answered that. I guess it's split funding.
[6:33:08] Correct. So, what's necessary and what's not?
[6:33:10] Because you know what we're talking about now is difficult decisions that we had to figure out what's what we cut to get this two million dollars gone
[6:33:17] And I just brought this up not that I'm advocating to cut it. I'm just we have to bring it all out in the open to talk about it
[6:33:23] That's so how valuable is it how necessary is every dollar that's going to go into this this program because we're going to analyze every one of them until we get to the number that we need to get to
[6:33:32] Okay, so I can give you an estimate that about 45% of our budget comes from the county about 5% of it comes from federal
[6:33:40] 50% come from state. So there's a breakdown. As far as what we offer, we offer a lot of
[6:33:47] things for the community. We have our Dr. Stacy Strickland. It was our ag agent. He's constantly
[6:33:52] out there working with our cattlemen, our cattle women. We have Dr. Nancy Morris. She's, you
[6:33:59] know, our 4-8 agent. All your youth that are, well not all of them, but a good chunk of them
[6:34:07] that you saw earlier a few months ago that are raising livestock for F-A-W-E, they do a lot
[6:34:15] of other programs too. We've been teaching our youth this summer on how to do cooking camps,
[6:34:23] things of that nature, eye-cover marine science, and so a big effort is we work with our recreational
[6:34:29] commercial government. So we've been out there distributing scallops orders to all of our fishermen
[6:34:35] and to make sure that we are sustainable harvest.
[6:34:39] Some of these programs are not even part of the budget that you see.
[6:34:44] So the Scout Sorter effort, I have three paid staff that are all fully grant funded.
[6:34:49] All of these Scout Sorters that are being distributed are fully grant funded.
[6:34:54] We charge very minimal for camps.
[6:34:57] We're talking 10 bucks a day.
[6:34:59] And that's it.
[6:35:04] I'm sorry. I'm not talking about any grant funding. If you got grant funding, we're not, we're, we're trying to get to a bottom line budget. So we're specifically, I'm asking about what dollars come from, from Avellorum that goes to you and according to the budget is $582,000. You know, that's what I'm looking at. So that's why I, so I need to know that. I know the other stuff. Great. That's fine. We can talk about that later. You know, but if we got grant funding on it, we're not cutting that. We're not touching it. That's there.
[6:35:28] I was just giving you an overview of what our office offers when you're asking about services.
[6:35:33] As far as majority of our budget, we have a lot of it for salary, but again, that is split,
[6:35:40] like I mentioned before, and then the other big component of it is we all ate of a Sherry
[6:35:45] County vehicle.
[6:35:46] Those are our two biggest costs when you're asking about our budget.
[6:35:51] Okay.
[6:35:52] Thank you.
[6:35:54] Thank you, ma'am.
[6:36:02] I want to talk about the social services, what's going on there, beta,
[6:36:09] beta, yes, beta.
[6:36:11] Speak about it and then tell you about the part of the general fund that funds it.
[6:36:16] Yes, ship is all grant funded, but she has a lot of state mandates that we have to do,
[6:36:23] like the Indian Carels and the jail medicals and all that.
[6:36:26] And that's general and I would those would be yeah those would be sorry those would be the points that were at the state mandated
[6:36:31] You just simply say the state mandated if it's a grant not worried about it
[6:36:35] We're talking about money that we actually spend that's the stress of no discretionary that we can actually make a decision on whether to use or not
[6:36:43] You're part of your budget. Yeah, the parts of your budget that are description area. I mean you can list them on no couple
[6:36:49] But yeah part of my budget that is description area
[6:36:51] I think we use $500 for prescription assistance for those, so they maintain medical, so we won't spend that extra and our medical expenses, so that's $500 there.
[6:37:05] When it comes to, when my budget's not up, when it comes to-
[6:37:09] You're going to go program like ship program, like ship program.
[6:37:12] Ship program is completely funded by ship.
[6:37:16] I actually have full employees that I-
[6:37:19] Do you do cast circle?
[6:37:21] Yes.
[6:37:22] So cast circle has a budget of 900,000 is all grant funded.
[6:37:26] It's utilized through CDBG.
[6:37:28] It says 2027 to 900,000, 690.
[6:37:32] Well, I'm utilizing CDBG funds to do some of the projects in there.
[6:37:37] Okay.
[6:37:37] But as for anything else, that's funding that we receive from other funding sources.
[6:37:44] So now that's available.
[6:37:45] I believe that 900,000 this year is coming from gas tax.
[6:37:48] Okay, our project. Okay, the projects in there are funded via
[6:37:55] Castags Landscape Fund. I'm just checking off the link. We have a staff member. No, we have staff member. We have a staff member
[6:38:00] I believe that I believe that staff member is paid by general fund most likely. That would be hidey average. Yeah, we have we have we have one staff member that runs that program and the South Brooks or CRA
[6:38:10] We kind of one person does the same thing. She does one person with him and she does the community development project. The next thing we have is homeless initiative
[6:38:17] We have that and I think that's funded by General Fund, right?
[6:38:20] Homeless individual is not.
[6:38:21] Homeless individual is funded by the community development block band.
[6:38:24] Okay, thank you, correct, thank you.
[6:38:26] Okay, affordable housing, social services, welfare services.
[6:38:29] Well-fair services, I think that falls under the Injident Barrier Program, that's funded, that's state mandate.
[6:38:36] If you're talking about a registered person, that's state mandate.
[6:38:39] If you're talking about child protection, that's state mandate.
[6:38:42] If you're talking about uninsured medical expenses, crisis stabilization, 75% is played by the state.
[6:38:52] We're mandated to do that, 25% is paid by us.
[6:38:56] We have not increased that in over 10 years.
[6:38:58] How about the inmate medical billing?
[6:39:02] Do we, I mean, we state mandate.
[6:39:03] And then the dental we pay for that, too, is that mandated also?
[6:39:06] We always do that option, you know, we need to provide.
[6:39:08] That actually is coming out of the funding that we receive through the Health Department, so this Health Department funded.
[6:39:16] Okay.
[6:39:17] So social services, right?
[6:39:19] It may be a combination of a bunch of departments, but I mean it's a big number there.
[6:39:24] Which one?
[6:39:25] Which one?
[6:39:25] That is not all mandates.
[6:39:28] When it comes to Medicaid, Medicaid is the 4.0 million dollars.
[6:39:32] So that is completely statement.
[6:39:33] It's not showing this.
[6:39:35] Juvenile justice is 1.3 that state mandate.
[6:39:38] This was said 817,132 under social services.
[6:39:41] Social services, my department, those employees that manage those state mandates, they are paid on the social services.
[6:40:02] Let's put the budget book on a screen here. Health care, health, health unit, trust fund, is that what you're talking about before? Health unit trust fund, that's fine. One, one, four, well, it's the new title fund now, but yes. Do you want to book every detail? I would put the book up there. It's got a summary of each department in it, right? That's probably the public. I put this put the health unit up there. Hey, this is not, this is not saying I want to cut it. We just ask questions because we're getting educated
[6:40:29] that's all about what's what's mandated because if we don't know how do we how do we know what the cut
[6:40:37] on the health trust fund you're speaking of that's one of our milleges
[6:40:41] I'm sorry yeah that's one that has a milleged
[6:40:44] that's a milleged it helps if we use it for the health department contract and then also any health
[6:40:48] improvements at that health department I told him when we rolled that back last year and we
[6:40:52] met in that back a little bit over here maybe nice to have more of it that's definitely got to be a rollback
[6:40:56] I mean, it's like, it is what it is, that's what we're going to have, you know, we agree with that.
[6:41:04] Question, next one you need.
[6:41:06] I mean, there's a, there's a, well, I gave it a few there, but there was a natural reason.
[6:41:10] I mean, I don't think anything unfolds out of your umbrella.
[6:41:13] I want to know what's discretionary.
[6:41:15] What's discretionary?
[6:41:16] What is an option, whether we have to do it or not?
[6:41:19] If we have to, then we have to.
[6:41:21] That would be my staff salary and what's used to operate that department.
[6:41:25] and then that would also be $500.00 in prescriptions on the citizens within our
[6:41:31] campus to take them out of the emergency room and to cut back on our man-data
[6:41:37] costs. That's an annual expense, $500.00. Annual expense. We actually use other
[6:41:41] programs to find some of
[6:41:47] it together.
[6:41:54] Yeah, if you want to tell us which items are the
[6:41:57] discretionary ones on there.
[6:42:00] Do you want all of them individual?
[6:42:02] Yeah, if you can do all of them individual.
[6:42:11] I don't think that's probably worse.
[6:42:26] Yeah, we're trying to put those for
[6:42:33] the sampling.
[6:42:44] Yeah, those are the safe mansions.
[6:42:48] There you go.
[6:42:50] Because they're all behind that.
[6:42:53] If that's them, they'll build up.
[6:42:54] And then these are the individual ones.
[6:43:00] Do you want me to make a bigger?
[6:43:17] Can you close that sidebar?
[6:43:19] OK.
[6:43:20] Please.
[6:43:21] Can I say something real quick?
[6:43:22] Yes, Eric.
[6:43:25] Administrator, that's why, I mean, this is going to be a painful process and I'll stay
[6:43:28] here until 10 o'clock at night and do it if we actually want to do, but if the simple
[6:43:33] solution would be to take the two million dollars, I told you, I asked you, actually, to go
[6:43:38] and just look per capita and cut this and then until we get to the final budget.
[6:43:42] It would be much easier for you because you are the expert and these are experts out there.
[6:43:46] Otherwise, I'm going to sit here and I'm just going to take hatches to wherever I find,
[6:43:49] which is not fair. That's what I'm going to say. I'm going to say I'm going to vote, but that's what I'm going to do.
[6:43:53] You know, to me, it would be better off for you to go back and look at it.
[6:43:56] That's my opinion. I don't know about you guys.
[6:43:58] Because otherwise, I'm just going to say I'm going to do whatever you've paid, and I'm going to find something.
[6:44:02] I'm not going to vote for a hatchet, but I'm all for looking at this objectively.
[6:44:09] So you don't agree that the administrators can go back and look and see if you can find this, where you know, you can say look we could cut per capita.
[6:44:19] I don't think you have the votes for, I don't know, that's what I was trying to understand.
[6:44:24] I don't think you have the votes for rollback.
[6:44:29] I mean, is everybody saying they're not going to vote for rollback?
[6:44:31] I don't think you have, I'm not going to vote for rollback unless I know what specific line items going.
[6:44:38] I think that's a very responsible, so you don't trust the administrator to make that decision.
[6:44:43] I didn't say that.
[6:44:44] I mean, I tried asking for them.
[6:44:45] I asked him to get, because it's really a minimal percentage.
[6:44:48] It's 1%.
[6:44:49] Literally, I mean, it's 1% and then it's what we're over.
[6:44:52] Yeah.
[6:44:52] You know, a less than 1% access.
[6:44:54] You know, if you look at 2 million base entry,
[6:44:55] when you take out the reserves, if he got 1% from every single
[6:44:58] department, it really would...
[6:45:03] I would rather him choose because he knows what's important and what's the most important and what's the least important. And, of course, every one of these directors out here, they all think their department and rightfully so, is very important. But otherwise, we're going to sit here and we're going to go through every one of them and go from there. I believe this man, at least he should, as the administrator, have the expertise to make that decision.
[6:45:22] So if you just raise it when you want to move on.
[6:45:24] All right.
[6:45:25] I will answer.
[6:45:27] So.
[6:45:27] I will ask our Services Department, again, that's a disposition of their bodies as a state
[6:45:32] mandate.
[6:45:35] Just tell us about the ones that aren't.
[6:45:38] The only one that isn't would probably be, again, the prescription program and the employees
[6:45:45] that fund it under me.
[6:45:48] Just that, we pay the staff, we pay for the general fund of the staff that runs all the
[6:45:51] The program is where they get the federal grant money in for the services for the community.
[6:45:57] So, the exemptions in that department would be peat personnel, so if we do this personnel
[6:46:02] we could we just staff member something and then that's where you could do that department.
[6:46:12] Are we good? We're now, can we come in?
[6:46:16] I mean, it's on you. I mean, there was multiple categories. I'm just saying, I asked for, you know,
[6:46:20] anything that's not, is only $500 or you say now under, you're telling me that it's only $500
[6:46:25] that we have discretionary over in our whole department.
[6:46:27] No, staff and personnel costs, and then there's also mental health that we provide.
[6:46:35] We're mandated to do 25% and the state does 75%.
[6:46:39] So the 25% that we do, it's a mandate though.
[6:46:43] It's a match, but it's a mandate.
[6:46:46] It's a whole amount of mandate or is that, because that tool is 75% to 25%.
[6:46:53] So basically you put in 525 and the state's putting in 1.5 million or is that your total budget 500 and it's only 25% that is ours.
[6:47:02] So 125 is the total.
[6:47:04] 130 maybe whatever the total amount is 525 and 75% of that is mandated.
[6:47:13] 25% is the rest of hours.
[6:47:16] Okay, nothing else.
[6:47:18] Anything else is good?
[6:47:20] If that's the answer, and there's nothing else, and there's nothing else to talk about.
[6:47:23] I was just asking questions, so I'd like to grab it out and open it.
[6:47:25] Thank you.
[6:47:26] You're welcome.
[6:47:27] Anything else from Commissioner Champeon to us?
[6:47:31] The natural list.
[6:47:32] The natural resources?
[6:47:34] I'm going to go through natural resources, sir.
[6:47:36] Okay.
[6:47:40] So, speaking of them, it was waterways and sensitive liens, where the two departments that
[6:47:45] that we're put together as one
[6:47:47] under natural resource.
[6:47:49] And that goal was we did that last year really
[6:47:51] so we can use the employees in both departments
[6:47:53] and minimize the amount of staff we had
[6:47:54] and so we put those together last year
[6:47:57] to get a good recognition by staff
[6:47:59] to do that, to be a more low-fishing.
[6:48:01] This worked out pretty well.
[6:48:03] The employees can walk away staff
[6:48:04] and go do things to land things,
[6:48:06] the fire burns, maintaining that by preserve you have.
[6:48:09] That's why they put together.
[6:48:10] That's why there's only budget for one year.
[6:48:11] We said that they were two separate departments, so.
[6:48:16] And I think they just went over their capital outlay, but if you want to speak to them, I can't about that.
[6:48:24] Is that $770,000? I have a lot of capital outlay in it.
[6:48:28] Is this capital has $675?
[6:48:33] I had $770,000. I got to find a way to inspect again.
[6:48:36] The $770,000 is a personal services.
[6:48:38] Okay, this is personnel. Yeah, so the capital outweigh 675 and we just talked about the three projects
[6:48:44] Right, but it's those are the three projects that we just cut
[6:48:47] Or the herd made a beach boat ramp restoration the cypress lakes boardwalk and the pex sink ADA parking lot
[6:48:53] I don't know if we cut all of that. No, we just cut cypress lakes boardwalk. So okay, so that that's 675 comprised all
[6:49:00] Yeah, good
[6:49:05] with that right now
[6:49:06] Well, this is almost 400 is 300 something over last year
[6:49:09] I mean, we gotta talk about that too.
[6:49:11] Okay, I gotta talk about waiting to that.
[6:49:12] So that's where it was not, you know what I mean?
[6:49:14] Am I looking at total budget at 2.4 million?
[6:49:17] Is that right?
[6:49:19] Yeah, so the increase was the Hernandez Beach boat ramp project,
[6:49:22] the 350 coming in.
[6:49:26] So it was our CIPs that made our budget go up this year.
[6:49:29] Again, it's a one-time cost, but yeah.
[6:49:32] Right, and we had three CIPs that were over 100,000 so.
[6:49:35] Not to say we cut the whole apartment,
[6:49:37] But it's it is not mandated any other script
[6:49:41] Now, and I don't want to cut the whole department, but I'm saying it's an option
[6:49:43] It's a chunk of it. This is again why I would want the administrator to go back and look at it
[6:49:48] I'll just say again, and I don't want to I don't want to suggest this but of course, too
[6:49:52] I'm gonna go through each one
[6:49:53] We're gonna figure out where we get it because another book for anything on the rollback and they can't get anything
[6:49:58] That without me so doesn't really matter
[6:50:00] So I'm voting roll back. So unless somebody tells me something, I'm not doing it. Actually, I'm sorry, it is 3-1. For roll back only, but anything more than roll back to school. I understand.
[6:50:11] Okay. I don't want to do that, but that's what we want to look at everyone. Let's see. I think we need to stay here. I think it's the right thing to do. What I would like to do is maybe we can reduce the, where we're looking. Let's imagine it's next year.
[6:50:31] what is not required. And let's start from that. Okay. What what departments? What what
[6:50:42] sections of apartments are basically not required because if we're going to cut out 30 something
[6:50:47] million dollars, we're going to be doing that anyway. So let's start at the places that we don't
[6:50:53] have to have money spent. That's why I started looking at these. Right. No, I get it. And so so let's start
[6:50:58] looking at those I mean I hate this but this is what we're going to have to do
[6:51:01] because if we're going to cut from someplace that might as well come from a
[6:51:04] place that's going to be gone anyway.
[6:51:09] I know it's South terrible but this is
[6:51:11] a reality. I know 100 percent of that's where it gets that's the
[6:51:14] direction where I mean I would tell you that the other goal is we've given you the
[6:51:17] lot of times today you know and you I don't I'm
[6:51:19] claiming again but the process starts today right and so
[6:51:23] if there's reductions to be made right you set a max
[6:51:26] millage and then you say okay we're going to go to roll back at the first
[6:51:30] hearing, then we know we got to find 1.7 million, everybody has line items, we can talk
[6:51:35] about them all the next month. Have you meeting, you can bring four and say, what are these
[6:51:38] Jeff? How can we find 1.79 million or whatever it is to go to roll back at the public hearing,
[6:51:45] and then you know you're going to go to roll back to the hearing because you have to vote
[6:51:49] and move it up, right? So I mean, so the goal is to put in your budget and it's not satisfactory
[6:51:55] If you had a line on it, you're supposed to take this next month and go and view it.
[6:52:01] Now the citizens have it and they're all going to review it and send you comments and say,
[6:52:04] hey, this is wrong or I want this funded and then you can ask people if they want,
[6:52:08] I fish or not one, I fish, right?
[6:52:09] And so I fish is a great discussion point and you know, you don't have to have a night
[6:52:13] this contract.
[6:52:14] And so I will tell you that, but that's why I think my purpose is the max mill is number
[6:52:22] And then you take this and you have another month to go through all this and you cost two channels, right?
[6:52:26] And you have their budgets now and you can find out if there's savings there, so we're doing all the lifting and I know Doug sitting there and, you know, he might be able to help you get $300,000, right?
[6:52:37] He can do that September 10th, right?
[6:52:39] He can come in there and say, you know what, I can find you to bring $1,000 of them efficiency he does.
[6:52:43] And so, and then you can, it's just hopes of that's how the pluses I should work not to do night and good to others, but we can.
[6:52:52] Well, so that's my, and I agree, but I'm going to say it a little differently.
[6:52:57] So if we're going to roll back and that's, that's the direction of the board.
[6:53:04] We're sitting here because I'm not voting for it.
[6:53:07] If you have the other three to vote for roll back, then so be it.
[6:53:10] I don't know. That's a question you have to ask yourself. But I'm not voting for rollback today until I know where it's coming from.
[6:53:18] So you tell me where it's coming from and I can get comfortable with that. Then I'll place a vote outside of that.
[6:53:26] I'm not voting for it. So that's what I'm trying to say earlier.
[6:53:31] there. So, we could all vote to set the max millage and then reduce it, come September 10th or 22nd whatever final day is.
[6:53:47] Commissioner Alaka, thank you.
[6:53:49] We know in September it has to be rolled back, right? I mean, that's because of the numbers, right?
[6:53:56] So my I'm and if we're gonna set it at rollback today
[6:54:00] That's why I feel like we need to sit here and go through this if we know it's gonna be rollback anyway
[6:54:06] Well, I don't know so so we just filed out today. It's three. It's we need three votes
[6:54:12] To not do rollback, right?
[6:54:15] No, no, we need unanimous. So that's not gonna happen.
[6:54:18] Today we only need to
[6:54:22] But on September 10, September 10, it needs to be unanimous to do anything above rollback.
[6:54:32] So it's going to be rollback is my point.
[6:54:35] So if we want to set it at rollback today, we're going to have to go through and figure it out.
[6:54:40] It's going to be rollback anyway.
[6:54:42] And so we can spend a month and a week trying to figure this out how we're going to get there.
[6:54:47] But if we're going to set it today, we're going to have to figure out where it's coming from.
[6:54:51] I'm going to put the line items on the screen, and we'll just go general fine line items.
[6:54:56] All right, let me try to clear the light.
[6:54:58] Are you good?
[6:54:58] Commissioner Otto?
[6:54:59] Yes, sir.
[6:55:00] I want to say one thing.
[6:55:04] Yeah, wait, the general fund departments with the three years. Yeah, but we do it this way. You see the increases and they can start that way to go. I mean, I was going to go through every general fund department with a lot of times and school. We'll get through it in a little bit time. We're going to do something real quick. All right, go ahead. So we've already agreed on 175.
[6:55:32] You have the other capital things and I know that's not the right place to take it wrong, but it's still an option if you want to get there.
[6:55:39] You know, I think when you're looking at natural resources and even looking at IFS, I mean, I don't know if I'm going to cut IFS out altogether, but those are not necessary.
[6:55:47] You know, so right now, if you were to ask me if we can eliminate some of those capital projects or go from there, we take the rest from natural resources.
[6:55:54] and then with the with the explanation that if the the administrator wants to
[6:56:01] shift around some things to get there still the same number by the time you
[6:56:06] get to September 10th I'm good with that if not it comes from those
[6:56:09] apartments and that's where it comes from so if there's no weatherbikes to go you
[6:56:12] take them for now to resources you take them once somebody five on the project now
[6:56:15] if you'd like to you may decide to cut the boat ramp resurfacing you may decide
[6:56:19] that and maybe that's another interview thousand you may look at that stuff and
[6:56:22] And that's where you come in to say, and we shift the numbers, but to get to a zero number today, we say take it from there, because I don't think you're going to find other, you're not going to go kind of from human resources.
[6:56:32] You're not going to go cut it from the rest of the parks, even though every year we do that.
[6:56:37] We could do that. But again, what benefit is there more benefit to the community for those things versus what we're talking about right here?
[6:56:45] And I think when you look at that, when you look at waterways, we're not even really responsible for the water anyway, not my opinion.
[6:56:49] And I think it's a state, you know, and we went back and forth on this a bunch of times.
[6:56:53] So if you're going to take something from something, you take it from there.
[6:56:55] You know, that's right.
[6:56:56] That's where I would say.
[6:56:57] And you can get the whole white budget balance that way, and it doesn't strip it all out.
[6:57:01] It takes a lot of it out.
[6:57:02] But then you go back and shift the numbers around and say, look, I shift the numbers around.
[6:57:05] You guys agree?
[6:57:06] I'm still at your same number.
[6:57:07] Okay.
[6:57:08] And that would solve our problem at least temporarily.
[6:57:11] On the 10th, we may not agree where he moved numbers around.
[6:57:13] We default back to this and say, okay, we're taking it from there.
[6:57:16] Well, we still have the other problem of we haven't agreed if we're comfortable with
[6:57:21] the other rollback rate.
[6:57:23] I said we have to start there.
[6:57:25] Right.
[6:57:25] No, I understand.
[6:57:26] So we still have that problem just so you know.
[6:57:30] Can we?
[6:57:31] Can we?
[6:57:31] You want to go back to the rollback rates?
[6:57:34] Well, since he mentioned the, well, let me ask this, is there any other one of the one time
[6:57:44] charges of the capital expenses of that list that he gave us.
[6:57:49] Is the data screen?
[6:57:50] Change.
[6:57:52] There you go.
[6:57:53] Yeah.
[6:57:54] That's great.
[6:57:54] All right.
[6:57:55] So that's how far we've eliminated Cypress Lakes Observation Boardwalk.
[6:58:00] Can you talk about the ERP?
[6:58:01] No.
[6:58:04] ERP is going to be reoccurring staff like our subscription.
[6:58:08] So that's really known.
[6:58:09] That's an error.
[6:58:10] It shouldn't be a CIP project anymore.
[6:58:12] That's a main.
[6:58:12] And we know we do see an implementing.
[6:58:14] That's a maintenance.
[6:58:15] Okay.
[6:58:15] that's required software yeah okay all right so that really shouldn't be up
[6:58:20] there okay yep all right is there anything else on the list that you guys want
[6:58:25] to cut
[6:58:30] you know I recommend pet so pet sink for them and I'll just start with that
[6:58:35] is a pet sink was done a long time ago when we revised it right we got a new
[6:58:41] project now is there a grant funding if that it is it's just to start with this
[6:58:45] stuff I've started designing that project it's been sitting there for years and we
[6:58:49] We can wait another year on that.
[6:58:50] The parking lot is a new one for us altogether.
[6:58:53] We haven't had anything that would be for design.
[6:58:54] There's no access to that thing today.
[6:58:56] It's only by imitationally, right?
[6:58:58] We're going to eventually open it up.
[6:58:59] But it's the more we want to add a parking lot
[6:59:02] that's actually compliant.
[6:59:03] So right now it's just grass.
[6:59:04] That's kind of a growth of the government
[6:59:05] that can open up pet sink.
[6:59:07] So I mean, let's cut that.
[6:59:08] I would agree as much as I would like to cut that at this point.
[6:59:12] It's not.
[6:59:13] So I'll give it a pet sink there for that, Mr. Chairman.
[6:59:15] Yeah, which is net water plant renovation, you know, we, I mean, I've already talked a lot. I mean, we can do that here
[6:59:22] I think I've talked them out and it is you know, we do have to
[6:59:26] At least the house and the book barn up there we can wait another year and that and I'm like I'm meeting with
[6:59:30] Fam you in a couple of weeks. I can
[6:59:33] Squeeze them for some more money. Make them do it. I don't think we should be replacing plants. No, that's a no, it's a water plant
[6:59:38] We have a water plan and to seek it. Oh, is it okay?
[6:59:41] I guess we've got a tank.
[6:59:42] I apologize, but I want this to work.
[6:59:49] That's our expensive finance.
[6:59:50] We might get a government finance though, you know, but no.
[6:59:52] So you can move that one too easily.
[6:59:55] Which one is it?
[6:59:56] The Tunisic at Hill.
[6:59:57] That's $50,000.
[6:59:58] There are any weaver shots.
[7:00:00] Copy placement. He's been done, but we can delay. This is a terrible looking building up there, but that works out of the, but you know, that's just design costs and it's just an old building. If you guys are doing it, we're not building it. So we can design that too. Okay. So are you guys on board with Ernie Weaver shop replacement, removing that should see get water plant renovation, removing that in vaccine, ADA parking sidewalk and chaos, removing that. Yeah, 475. Yeah.
[7:00:28] So that's, yeah, that's 150,
[7:00:33] yeah, 200, again, none of these are operating costs.
[7:00:37] They're just, yeah, $475,000, I'll find $100,000 in library sales.
[7:00:45] The other thing to think about is if the thing doesn't pass, it's going to be a big change.
[7:00:49] Oh, I mean, it will be, it will be, this is not going to be a change, because it won't
[7:00:53] still let's cut.
[7:00:53] I think so.
[7:00:54] We'll see.
[7:00:55] This won't matter, yeah.
[7:00:57] Okay, so we have 475 there, one time, one time for fees, but a time cost.
[7:01:04] All right, so now we want to go back to the budget, Aaron, please.
[7:01:11] And where are you suggesting we start?
[7:01:14] Natural resources.
[7:01:15] Natural resources.
[7:01:17] Two.
[7:01:18] Oh, the whole department is cutting.
[7:01:20] Well, you don't need to cut.
[7:01:21] You just cut 475 and then with the reserves you're talking, it's like 600.
[7:01:25] So you've got you still got like one point like five million or so. I don't you have to do numbers
[7:01:30] We need to cut the get to zero
[7:01:37] Better for the budget book. I think to start with this list. It shows are pretty easy. Oh, what are you having this list? Okay
[7:01:46] We're gonna need a tax collector put on the taxes
[7:01:50] So this just shows the joke was a joke. I hope she's not listening
[7:01:57] It shows the current budget and then the budget requests and the increase or I can pull it in the budget book.
[7:02:06] Yeah, let's let's see it line by line. He wants budget books.
[7:02:14] How are we going to have to go?
[7:02:16] Well, let's ask Chris.
[7:02:21] I mean, you see what direction this conversation is going.
[7:02:25] Do you have any recommendations as a leader of that department?
[7:02:28] Yeah,
[7:02:33] we have more CIP left on here, which is the cypress lakes boardwalk. And so that's a very good. We got rid of that
[7:02:40] So the three that are the two that you're talking about were in addition to because we got rid of cypress lakes boardwalk
[7:02:46] Pex sake. Okay. The one that you had just said
[7:02:49] The phone ramp is still there to see it and what was the last one?
[7:02:55] No, we got rid of Pex sake. We got rid of cypress lakes boardwalk
[7:03:05] We can push it, we can just continue to maintain what's out there, we're patching, yeah, when there's 50, right?
[7:03:16] If there's something that can't be done, we ask for assistance with DPW whatever if it's asphalt or whatnot.
[7:03:21] So we can continue to try our best to maintain it and keep it as functional.
[7:03:25] Make sure to call on the road and make public works take it over.
[7:03:28] I mean, it'll be to go ramp road.
[7:03:30] Okay.
[7:03:31] That's a one time expats again.
[7:03:33] Yeah.
[7:03:33] That's what we do every year.
[7:03:35] Yes.
[7:03:35] Yeah.
[7:03:36] And that's the old proverbial kick in the can, right?
[7:03:39] Yeah.
[7:03:40] So if you remove all my CFP's issue, you're pretty much saying the same as last year.
[7:03:45] All right.
[7:03:45] Aaron, I have a question for you.
[7:03:48] Economic development reserves.
[7:03:50] Don't we?
[7:03:51] What about them?
[7:03:52] Don't we have some extra money?
[7:03:54] I mean, we have so much money in equilibrium going.
[7:03:56] Wait, before we go there, I know you're trying to sneak away.
[7:03:59] That was good, but I'm trying to keep going.
[7:04:02] What is there anything else anybody wants to talk about
[7:04:05] with natural resources?
[7:04:06] We get, so that puts us at $8.25 with reserves, that's $9.77.
[7:04:10] If you have reserves on that, I think you do, right?
[7:04:13] Yeah.
[7:04:15] 18.5% of $8.25 would be, it would be $9.77.
[7:04:19] Yeah, the reserves, $10,000 for that, right?
[7:04:25] It's just cutting to get back to roll
[7:04:31] back. You're fine. It's then talking about moving the funds for the library.
[7:04:36] That would be a problem if you're cutting.
[7:04:40] Well, if you're cutting an ECIP projects.
[7:04:44] This year reducing the revenue altogether, which is fine. But if you move money from the CIP projects over to library.
[7:04:51] And it's going from capital to an operating, you're actually going to add reserves because
[7:04:56] is yet last year you all decided capital would not be included.
[7:05:00] Okay. So we need to cut something not in a capital. We're going to try to get within striking distance, and then we'll figure it out from there. So, to your point, the 1.7 that we're trying to make up does that include the library being open or not. So really that. That's just to get to roll back. That's what 2.1 million. Okay. Okay. Any other questions on that to resources? Well, yeah, you can. I mean,
[7:05:30] We haven't touched the operating and it's not necessary, and I know it's unfortunate, and I know that we think it's very important, but at the same time, it's something we can revisit after we look at other stuff, because we already cut their capital, so we can look at other departments and come back to it, but it's a default where you can go and cut that because it's not mandated.
[7:05:49] okay let's have let's have a recommendation if you have a recommendation we
[7:05:54] can hear mark a number not saying we're gonna cut it so just know that it
[7:05:59] would possibly be on the cut so don't say anything that you can't afford to
[7:06:03] lose what do you what do you have that you could do you have anything you potentially
[7:06:09] cut do you have the line items so you do you want to keep this on the screen and
[7:06:19] how do you put line items on another computer so they can see their line items or do you all want to see the line items?
[7:06:24] I think we've always wanted to see them too.
[7:06:26] Okay.
[7:06:26] I mean, we have them but
[7:06:30] Carla, when you're getting that, you have a $100,000 increase in your professional services.
[7:06:35] Do you remember what that's for?
[7:06:49] That was for, so I have my cyberslates boardwalk is under my professional services line item.
[7:06:55] Do you want me to do that?
[7:06:57] Well, that's the one that we have to actually put in.
[7:07:00] Right. So that's what was in that. So that will go away.
[7:07:05] Okay. Make sure to catch that with one of those content.
[7:07:08] Can we take out one of these?
[7:07:13] I don't know.
[7:07:14] Looking
[7:07:37] for a specific number?
[7:07:38] So professional and service is, again, like I said,
[7:07:41] the type of support offer is in that. So that will drop once we take that out.
[7:07:47] So if we're looking at any other one that's increased dramatically.
[7:07:59] I mean, repair maintenance is 40% that went up $10,000.
[7:08:01] again, that's to address any kind of issues we have with our boats, vessel any kind of equipment
[7:08:06] that we have, we have a lot of equipment, kind of specialized equipment. So we just bumped
[7:08:12] that up because, you know, they're getting older and we wouldn't make sure if we get into a pickle
[7:08:16] with any kind of motors going down or anything that we could cover that. So can I do one thing,
[7:08:23] what, the last she's going to do that? Can you read some of this real quick? I just want to
[7:08:26] to understand some of the things that they're doing.
[7:08:28] This is from their list of that they might just call you.
[7:08:31] Yep, you're on a microphone, Chris.
[7:08:32] Is through that a little bit.
[7:08:33] Yeah, so I guess in regards to waterways
[7:08:36] and potentially disfaining that division,
[7:08:38] that's part of now to resources.
[7:08:39] So what waterways does is essentially,
[7:08:41] we keep all of your navigable waters functioning correctly.
[7:08:44] There's any kind of blockage out there.
[7:08:46] Where the department that responds.
[7:08:49] So making that go away.
[7:08:51] So now when you have trees down in the Wiki,
[7:08:52] Washington River, they're going to stay down.
[7:08:55] The Sheriff's Department, FWC, will not respond to removing any of that.
[7:08:58] So, it's going to be whoever lives on the river can do it or contracting it out.
[7:09:04] All the A-tons, the ACE and navigations out in our channels in our Gulf of America, all
[7:09:10] that.
[7:09:10] If that goes down, it's essentially our department that handles that.
[7:09:13] So, if you look at Citrus and Paso County now, they still have a ton of their markers
[7:09:17] down since Helene because they contract them out.
[7:09:20] And so I actually asked them if I could have copies of their contract this year and I pulled our numbers
[7:09:27] So for us to remove a repair assign one piling
[7:09:31] With a sign is about
[7:09:33] $770 that's with four staff to vote and the equipment to do it
[7:09:39] Citrus County right now is around
[7:09:43] $2,700 for just one and then Pasco is around that to
[7:09:49] 27 to 3000. So that's what you would have to essentially budget to replace those signs if you haven't go down again.
[7:09:57] So I just kind of want to put that out as well. Huge cross-saving.
[7:10:00] If, you know, navigation of your waterways is important, that's the role that this part of the department feels. So, just kind of a heads up of what we've done since July of 2025. So we have replaced 64 signs. And again, if you're going to do the contracted number, you can see how much that would cost the county. That included 22 pilings. And we installed two buoys this year because of the type of state. We've done 34 calls with notifications for public received and reviewed.
[7:10:29] The average response time at resolution for our staff is two hours.
[7:10:35] The max time is 36 hours depending on the weather and conditions, because again, we can't put staff into
[7:10:40] Inclimate weather if we need to go out to do stuff.
[7:10:43] 15 waterways blockages were resolved on the wiki, the mud, the hb canals, and including Jenkins Creek.
[7:10:50] We harvest when we have water levels available.
[7:10:53] I know that's been a point of attention.
[7:10:55] And once we get water levels back, we will be doing that, but we do harvest when we have the availability.
[7:11:02] We maintain all fresh water and salt water boot ramps that are county accessible.
[7:11:07] So that's your noon of each, Jenkins, Linda Patterson, Rogers, Bayport, and then all of our fresh water lakes,
[7:11:14] including Mountain, Bister, Hunters.
[7:11:19] So we also have other things that we do that you may not be aware of.
[7:11:24] So, we do water sampling and data collection for IFIS, and that's to assist them because
[7:11:29] we have the vessels that can do that, we do reef monitoring, we do repairs to our peers
[7:11:33] of floating docks and gangways.
[7:11:36] My staff now, since we've combined the departments, the waterway signatures have a lot of experience.
[7:11:45] The majority of them are wild land firefighter certified, if we have EMTs, we have a fire
[7:11:50] rescue that we're there.
[7:11:52] So, they bring a lot to the table and so now we have the ability to pull them in to assist
[7:11:56] with our county preserves as well in regards to tree work doing our fire line maintenance
[7:12:03] because if we do have a wildfire in our preserves, we want to make sure that it doesn't traverse
[7:12:07] into other properties.
[7:12:08] So, they assist with that.
[7:12:10] We do coordination efforts with FWC and DEP, right now we have activities with both of them
[7:12:15] on Jenkins Creek, the river, and we can watch the river Lake Lindsay and Hunter's Lake.
[7:12:19] Again, we do channel marker inspections and replacements as needed.
[7:12:24] We are assisting parts of our men as we can, we're doing the relocation of the floating
[7:12:29] dock that's at Linda Patterson, kind of a coordinated effort in regards to that project.
[7:12:34] And we also do the majority of our own maintenance on all of our vessels and our equipment because
[7:12:39] they are specialized.
[7:12:41] So just a little bit of what the waterway staff and division does, just to show you the
[7:12:49] the need and what we provide to the county in this one.
[7:12:52] Thank you, Commissioner Oca.
[7:12:53] Just curious.
[7:12:55] Again, we're on a fishing expedition in waterways.
[7:13:00] You have maintenance tax and then you have a maintenance
[7:13:03] tech harvester, so there's a three in a one.
[7:13:08] And so I'm just, help me understand what the,
[7:13:11] and don't even know, I'm sorry, I know who you are,
[7:13:14] whatever, you know, it's not, I just want to understand.
[7:13:16] and they said, if we're not harvesting, like you said,
[7:13:18] would that mean it's tech doing this?
[7:13:20] What could be the harvesting?
[7:13:21] Right, so that position was acquired
[7:13:24] when we got the harvest here
[7:13:26] because we were hopeful that we would have
[7:13:28] somebody on that boat a lot more than we do.
[7:13:31] And so that person is on there as best we can
[7:13:35] when you know what else there.
[7:13:36] But now they are just essentially assimilated
[7:13:38] in their another technician.
[7:13:40] So when we take boats out,
[7:13:42] we have to have two on for safety purposes on each vessel.
[7:13:45] So that person is helping us when we need waterways cleared or if we have true work in our reserve.
[7:13:53] So they do the job of the waterways technician.
[7:13:56] Follow-up, yes, sir.
[7:13:58] I'm just when I'm looking at it in here, it almost seems like it shouldn't be the position that it is that.
[7:14:03] It almost seems like it should be two maintenance techs versus the maintenance tech listed with the harvester.
[7:14:10] Does that make sense?
[7:14:12] It was probably the title that was given during the time we acquired it.
[7:14:15] I get it.
[7:14:16] But over time it's changed, but it's still in our budget.
[7:14:21] But the title is just the title of the Act.
[7:14:23] But if you look at the job responsibilities for that person, it's the same as the water
[7:14:28] with signation.
[7:14:30] And I think they added that to it so we could justify why we were getting that extra position
[7:14:34] because, again, our hope was that we would have somebody on that boat.
[7:14:38] May I follow up again, sir?
[7:14:39] My concern is, and I'm understanding what you're saying, but the other situation here is that it's kind of like, you know, fire services, they have to have a certain number of people is what you're telling me right to do to do a certain task.
[7:14:53] So, odd numbers wouldn't work in this position, is that what I'm hearing?
[7:14:57] So, if we had the ability.
[7:14:59] You said you have to.
[7:15:00] We have two on a boat if they're going to ever go on a boat. Except for the harvesting vessel, you can only fit one person out on there, but we have somebody on shore at all times to make sure in case they have some kind of health issue or they fall off or whatever that it's, again, a safety. What do they do? Swim to them. I mean, no, there's a problem. Just try not to say. You have somebody on shore. Yeah, another pair of somebody there, you have somebody who's in that vicinity in case you have an issue on the boat. When you're harvesting, you're not miles out into water.
[7:15:29] So you're always on these fresh water lakes. You have a visual sight line at them at all times
[7:15:33] So and then basically regardless we need two people whenever they're doing anything
[7:15:38] For the harvesting. Yeah, there's one on the bit and we have one on short and they're on a boat doing another thing
[7:15:42] You still have to have to yes because you have to have a captain and one on the boat
[7:15:45] So back to what I was saying so we have to have them in pairs basically. Yes for safety. Okay, so
[7:15:51] You know, I say so so I'm just again, I know it's a title. It just makes more sense to me if they were
[7:15:58] four of them and we knew that they have to work in pairs to do their job.
[7:16:01] We have four technicians and we have a supervisor out there so we do we
[7:16:05] pair them up. We have fair enough repairs out there, yes.
[7:16:09] If there wasn't one, the supervisor would be the second person.
[7:16:13] Yeah, or we would have an odd number and the supervisor would assess so whenever
[7:16:18] they're like if somebody called out sick or whatnot, then our supervisor steps in and
[7:16:22] fills in that role. Okay, I get just trying to understand how it works,
[7:16:25] Just trying to understand, we're looking at everything here.
[7:16:27] Sure.
[7:16:28] Thank you.
[7:16:30] Director or champion?
[7:16:31] Just a quick question.
[7:16:32] Where does the boat ramp parking fees, what once you collect it, and do you get any
[7:16:36] portion from the membership, you know, the one where they buy the pass for the year?
[7:16:42] I guess.
[7:16:42] Yeah.
[7:16:43] So that's Parks and Recreation.
[7:16:44] That wouldn't be under natural resources.
[7:16:46] Parks and Recreation.
[7:16:47] It's a revenue source for Parks and Recreation, it's a park mobile where the daily fees come
[7:16:52] in, goes to our revenue, with the annual fees coming in that goes to us, any enforcement
[7:16:57] efforts actually get paid to code enforcement as a revenue. So if they write parking tickets
[7:17:01] for anybody, it goes to the Department of Code Enforcement because they run the special
[7:17:05] magistrate program where you can appeal and contest, so that's where that revenue source
[7:17:10] goes.
[7:17:10] So you probably should have had this department under your department then if we're collecting fee because I mean they are there aren't they aren't
[7:17:16] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's actually
[7:17:17] Park is ready to raise fees on the boat parking
[7:17:21] Told that reason to bring in revenue, you know for that they're on the post to I mean it needs to be right
[7:17:27] Right size because you know, not everybody is about
[7:17:30] There's so many week we talked about that for yeah, so that's another option to down the road
[7:17:36] Raise the fees yeah, and we talked about that
[7:17:41] All right, thank you.
[7:17:43] All right.
[7:17:44] One.
[7:17:45] Commissioner Anzer.
[7:17:46] Let's go up.
[7:17:48] Did we look at 560, 6301?
[7:17:53] So it looks like improvement greater than 10,000.
[7:17:58] And if we only look at that.
[7:18:02] 560.
[7:18:06] It's 6301.
[7:18:09] 6301.
[7:18:10] Yeah, that's 6301.
[7:18:12] I can't say that.
[7:18:13] Yeah, that's the project.
[7:18:15] It's going to be the project that you just
[7:18:16] got.
[7:18:18] That was going.
[7:18:19] And then I had just one other question
[7:18:21] if I may.
[7:18:22] Yes, sir.
[7:18:25] Did we look at professional services already?
[7:18:28] That's the other project.
[7:18:29] Okay.
[7:18:31] Thank you, sir.
[7:18:33] And Sherry Rogers.
[7:18:35] Oh, I think.
[7:18:36] Oh, that's a question.
[7:18:37] I mean, there's no savings.
[7:18:38] I mean, I have the preserves.
[7:18:39] I know that we maintain them and everything.
[7:18:44] Plants and then the fire lines.
[7:18:45] I know that we do a lot of that.
[7:18:48] They are accessible to all the citizens currently.
[7:18:51] By the before, whether they all have to be accessible
[7:18:53] or not has any rules, but I'm just trying
[7:18:56] to save you a lot of your work.
[7:18:57] I didn't know if you could get whatever person
[7:18:58] by not having them open to the public.
[7:19:00] I know that's a level of service change,
[7:19:01] but we've asked about that before.
[7:19:03] I don't know what your thoughts are on that,
[7:19:04] but I know your thoughts, they should be open,
[7:19:07] but my thoughts is I was trying to say money.
[7:19:09] What if they just won't open,
[7:19:10] but they were just preserved for the conservation, you know?
[7:19:12] But some of them have management plans too that we are okay. I think the citizens bottom that way right
[7:19:18] VSL money a bottom and
[7:19:19] We'll be open. Yeah, I remember the conversation. It was all new since plans. We have to handle
[7:19:25] They brought that up when we were at we were doing all the trail heads and everything I was like
[7:19:28] What if we just didn't do all the trail heads in this thing?
[7:19:30] We've been trying to fix it. I remember now you can't do it. Yeah, because the citizens bottom is ESL money
[7:19:37] And they said they have right access to them. So that's right. Yeah, all right. So one final question for me and then
[7:19:42] I'll seek directions from the board on this particular line item and then we'll move to the next one
[7:19:49] Did we add the
[7:19:52] Environmental Land Technician last year yes, that would be a potential opportunity
[7:20:14] So, I mean, we have almost 1200 acres of reserves for one person. It was becoming a lot. We were having a lot of issues in regards to maintenance for that. This second person that we brought has been essentially a rock star. And so we've
[7:20:30] been able to do a lot of maintenance in our reserves with TVble. Can I? We would just go back
[7:20:37] to the way it was and potentially we would not be maintaining them quite as well as we are right now.
[7:20:43] And that's it and I'll just say this we've all said it and hopefully you guys understand this.
[7:20:50] They're all rock stars. They're all they are. All of my stuff are yes.
[7:20:54] And we don't want to cut anybody, but we have cuts that are required today, you know,
[7:21:05] because that's the direction we're headed.
[7:21:10] And if this passes in November, you know this is going to be, you know.
[7:21:16] I would definitely rather find something within one of my line items to remove enough money to save a personnel.
[7:21:22] Okay. Absolutely. Okay. You want to work on that? Do you want to work on that? I can do that. I mean the contract
[7:21:28] of services I can take on it. I can take a hit in order to keep a person in that one. I'm completely fine with that. How much? How much can we take?
[7:21:38] Yeah, so I have 300 in there right now. I mean to cover personnel talking
[7:21:49] about
[7:21:51] salary benefits.
[7:21:51] It's so the environmental lane's technician.
[7:21:56] She's got what you're talking to?
[7:21:58] Yeah, a technician.
[7:21:59] Yeah, okay, that's what I heard about.
[7:22:00] Yeah, that's a big one where we're doing fires.
[7:22:02] No, you're talking about it.
[7:22:03] What would you say that would need that?
[7:22:06] 85,000.
[7:22:06] 85.
[7:22:07] Yeah?
[7:22:08] Oh, what is it?
[7:22:10] Yeah, sure.
[7:22:11] So vapor restoration plantings I can take that off
[7:22:14] and invasive plant management.
[7:22:17] So that way there's 100,000 that I can take off
[7:22:19] but contract to services in order to.
[7:22:21] Okay, thank you.
[7:22:23] Okay, you guys good with that?
[7:22:25] Well, we have to.
[7:22:26] We're up to 925.
[7:22:28] What is it?
[7:22:29] 925.
[7:22:29] 925 without without preserver, yes.
[7:22:32] 900 to go.
[7:22:33] Thank you, guys.
[7:22:34] Thank you.
[7:22:35] And I bring up one thing from my experience in this again.
[7:22:39] Yes, sir.
[7:22:40] And when Aaron's figuring out the number
[7:22:41] because I'm talking about how this is working.
[7:22:44] Between here and September, a lot of things
[7:22:49] change. And so what happens a lot of times is the state really sharing numbers come in.
[7:22:57] We get advances on juvenile justice thing, always changes every year. And so we anticipate
[7:23:05] normally by the time I get to September, I have a sheet that says here's all the changes
[7:23:08] right. And normally it's increased. Just sometimes if something's a decrease, I'm just saying
[7:23:15] that you're going to have to do more because we know what we think we know already today is coming
[7:23:22] because the deadlines and things that are coming in and we get notified I know I didn't
[7:23:25] know if I yesterday about something in those services there that's increasing. Medicaid.
[7:23:31] What do you know it's coming already? Well no I know Vita had mentioned that I believe the
[7:23:36] Medicaid share is going to increase. I have reached out regarding the medical examiner to get their
[7:23:41] final budget. They said it's still not quite final yet. So the number that's in there is the number
[7:23:45] from this year. I imagine that will go up. We are still waiting for the state to come out with
[7:23:51] their revenue sharing estimates. Obviously, we always hope that's more than the previous year,
[7:23:56] but there's no guarantee. And then there will just be little things that come in like maybe a new
[7:24:03] registration. They updated like golf consortium cost more or some other type of membership that
[7:24:09] we have to be a part of. So right now the list is short, but I'm sure before September
[7:24:14] there will be more on there.
[7:24:17] Yes, there'll be an exhibit in September of all of those things that have changed.
[7:24:21] It's a requirement.
[7:24:22] Understood.
[7:24:23] Good.
[7:24:23] Commit your champion.
[7:24:24] I've got another department that I want to look at.
[7:24:26] And I know it's been sensitive before in Scott.
[7:24:28] Forgive me.
[7:24:29] I think you do a great job of mass transit, which required was not.
[7:24:34] Okay.
[7:24:34] If you'll pull up mass transit, please.
[7:24:38] I know some of it's operating on grants and center of it, I don't know where we stand.
[7:24:49] Do you want the book or the line items?
[7:24:51] Of the line item.
[7:24:52] I believe that.
[7:24:53] I'm looking at the recap, so like some of the questions I had, 25 to 26, you had a personnel
[7:24:59] Now, I'll call a strap.
[7:25:04] The budget in general is a large budget. You know, but you got, I don't know where all this is. A lot of this money comes to the state, right, Scott?
[7:25:11] The majority of the money comes to the state. I want to want to talk about your paying for. So is there anything that, is there anything discretionary, anything that we're paying for that could be looked at?
[7:25:21] No, because the majority of the funds we use, there may be some, but the majority of the funds are used to match either the state grants or the federal grants.
[7:25:29] Okay. Now, is it 50-50-50-50-50-75-25?
[7:25:35] Some are 100% grants we get from the state or the feds.
[7:25:38] Obviously, 100% grants and 75% grants will be the priority to keep.
[7:25:41] You know, the 50-50, maybe we look at that and see, I mean, there's large numbers here.
[7:25:45] You know, so I don't know what's required.
[7:25:48] I mean, is there anything we can do here, or is it all, in your opinion, it's just not touchable?
[7:25:56] It's all what we need to do, unless you want to start cutting routes.
[7:25:59] I mean, this mass transit requires, I do not believe we're required to have mass transit.
[7:26:03] We have to have the transportation disadvantage, but that's not part of this budget.
[7:26:11] That's a separate budget. When previous boards went to the citizens and said,
[7:26:16] that we're going to increase your gas taxes.
[7:26:18] They told citizens at that time,
[7:26:20] one set of that gas tax increase would be for mass transit.
[7:26:24] So that's basically where their funds come.
[7:26:26] I think they did have $20,000.
[7:26:29] They got from general fund.
[7:26:30] They cut that in half or we're recommending it,
[7:26:32] be cut in half to 10,000.
[7:26:35] But like I said, the majority of this
[7:26:36] is either gas tax or state or federal funds.
[7:26:38] Okay, so there's like 7.7 million, right?
[7:26:41] So it's a 2027 is what I'm seeing.
[7:26:43] I mean, it's a decrease.
[7:26:43] I don't know if it's been cappal or something there if it went from 11 to 70.
[7:26:46] Yeah, it's a decrease in cappal or operating expenses and sometimes they'll come back
[7:26:50] like I know we're in the process because there's so many of them, I can't remember whether we brought it to the board already or not.
[7:26:55] But somebody, some other area in the state, some other county, some other transit authority didn't spend their money.
[7:27:01] So we're actually able to get some of that to get some of the cappal buses we need.
[7:27:06] So the thing is if we cut something, if we cut what we're getting for either from a match or from the state or the Fed,
[7:27:12] But that money's going to go someplace else to Florida.
[7:27:15] This is money we've either set to Tallahassee or DC.
[7:27:18] And I think we should do the best to keep it coming back to our citizens here in
[7:27:20] Hernandez.
[7:27:21] And I'm with you on that.
[7:27:22] I mean, I want to get as much our money back as possible.
[7:27:24] We're just looking at everything.
[7:27:25] So when I look at the reserves on that, it says budget reserves, $735,000, it's mostly grants and stuff.
[7:27:30] Why do we need reserves there if the money's coming from the state and stuff?
[7:27:36] I'm not sure I could answer that question.
[7:27:38] I would defer to that.
[7:27:39] Is that something you could answer?
[7:27:40] I mean I don't I don't see why that would be necessary. I guess you would need to still operate away with not taxes, right?
[7:27:45] I mean, I guess I would be there. Part of what's in there is also
[7:27:50] You have mass transit and I believe that's the MPO together.
[7:27:56] So
[7:27:57] Yeah, so it's mass transit in the MPO so the MPO has the reserves of
[7:28:03] Yeah, it's really
[7:28:10] It could be.
[7:28:10] We have to put on the agenda.
[7:28:11] It should be written or passed transit like a few paragraphs down.
[7:28:15] The only thing transit has that's local money is $20,000.
[7:28:19] Yeah, the rest of it is gas tax, right?
[7:28:21] I thought mentioned earlier about if we can reduce some bus routes and we're looking at that
[7:28:25] to bring it back to the board for a view of the bus routes we have.
[7:28:29] We've added some more and we'll see if they're efficient or not and they have to board the
[7:28:32] side that they want.
[7:28:33] And you might be able to say, well, I mentioned my presentation that said it's about $150,000.
[7:28:36] I'm looking at trying to bring back potentially but it's gas tax and so I could we can change ordinance to be able to get it out of mass transit
[7:28:44] The possible to put it but they all get only really go into well-resurfing or if we can get the roll back
[7:28:49] We're less than two million dollars a cut. What are we going to do when we got a cut?
[7:28:53] We're going to get their heads of millions. It's just good
[7:28:54] But what happens when next guy be cut? What's going to happen here? We cut and hold the part of it.
[7:28:58] It's trash, right? I mean it's trash when you're talking about stuff like this or firemen a sense of lands and you're talking about
[7:29:03] I mean you're talking about eye-fist stuff all of that's going to have to go
[7:29:06] No, I think that's good. Like a hundred percent.
[7:29:09] No, I mean, so like this shouldn't be that difficult to get the roll back here.
[7:29:14] It really shouldn't. Well, we're working. Uh, Ms. Brady. Oh, I like going out.
[7:29:19] Yeah, it was the $20,000. All right. Uh, so there's $20,000 there.
[7:29:24] Yes, they went from $10,000 last year to $20,000 this year. So that's usually just
[7:29:28] an alien, something that the grant won't cover between the federal and state.
[7:29:34] You all got it to 10,000. My statement amount is last year. You got it? You guys good?
[7:29:39] Okay, I have the 7.7 million is only $10,000. I was going to use that's it.
[7:29:43] But that's not because generally it's a hundred hundred hundred hundred hundred hundred.
[7:29:45] Generally, yes.
[7:29:45] General for money. Right.
[7:29:47] No, no, no.
[7:29:47] His gas tax is the rest.
[7:29:48] Yes. Okay. All right. That's fine. Thank you.
[7:29:50] All right. So we're going to cut it in.
[7:29:52] Okay. Ladies have that. Thank you.
[7:29:55] Okay. Watch an axe.
[7:29:59] What do you guys want to look at?
[7:30:03] I'm going to ask a question, and again, I just want to understand the department. I know they're awesome. They're all awesome. But we have to go through these EM is funded completely through general or where are we getting it all?
[7:30:36] I just want to make sure that so all those partials are all coming from working with our fire in EMS.
[7:30:49] Yes, just point.
[7:30:51] Okay.
[7:30:51] Yes, yes.
[7:30:52] Paul Haas, Fire Department Chief.
[7:30:54] Yes.
[7:30:54] Some of those minor adjustments are for like part of me, part of our logistics manager,
[7:31:00] part of deputy chief, all those types of things.
[7:31:04] No, we double check them every year.
[7:31:05] I just want to make sure because there's a very few full-time FTEs, lots of partials.
[7:31:10] Yes.
[7:31:11] Thank you.
[7:31:12] Yeah, there's a 970,000 in their general fund.
[7:31:17] Thank you, I just want a clarification on it.
[7:31:22] Okay.
[7:31:22] I mean, the board, I mean, I think a lot of, obviously, if there's any position in the county, we don't exist out of you, right?
[7:31:29] So, but if you're available, it's only, you know, they do a lot of stuff going to here, but probably
[7:31:40] less impact there.
[7:31:41] If you have to remove position, less impact there is another part of the county.
[7:31:45] We need 100% I mean I mean for the citizen's sake, but I mean it's going to be you know
[7:31:55] Will be less preferable be less prepared. I can say that that's the only issue. If you want you move there
[7:31:59] No, that's the level of service cut
[7:32:01] You can remove
[7:32:04] Okay watch the ex
[7:32:07] Department you will look at
[7:32:21] I'm sorry Ms.
[7:32:23] Yatta.
[7:32:25] I just know we do have some complaints, she can explain the funding we have for, um,
[7:32:33] but you're doing me.
[7:32:47] Chairman, before she starts going to say something quick, sir, the only thing I wanted to say,
[7:32:51] and we used to do this as a corporate exercise, we used to have, when I worked for a big corporation,
[7:32:56] they would ask the employees, they would say look, I want you to look at,
[7:32:59] Two or three things you can cut and I want you to dig deep and what you're looking say look
[7:33:03] I'm going to volunteer I'm going to be a leader and I'm going to tell you that I can cut this kind of like scot
[7:33:07] Just it would 10,000 like cut it back 10,000 something right so the only thing I would ask the leaders
[7:33:12] Why you're sitting out there and there's something that you could do to help this budget please step forward and tell tell me what you can do
[7:33:18] Yeah, you know, that would be very beneficial for us. Great. Thank you
[7:33:24] All right. Good. Good afternoon, Valencia
[7:33:26] on to the government director, Mr. Champion, just so you know, we did go through that exercise
[7:33:33] with the administrator. So we did do that.
[7:33:38] The, I would say you just wanted to roll through.
[7:33:42] You want to ask questions, you want me to just tell you where I think we might go on that
[7:33:48] with this department.
[7:33:49] We have. What we could potentially cut from your department. We're general fund. Okay. So,
[7:33:56] I would say what we could look at is we have a reserve line item budget reserves that we have
[7:34:03] consistently set aside for a few years. I need to keep my incentive number if you look at
[7:34:09] the economic incentive 1551. We have money budgeted in 27 for incentives that come from the out of
[7:34:17] that law tax is incentives that you've approved, right?
[7:34:19] That money will come from that, but we have to budget it.
[7:34:22] But we do have money in the reserves.
[7:34:25] That money is in there for potential infrastructure projects,
[7:34:28] some other types of things you might want to utilize those funds for
[7:34:33] for an incentive of some sort to try to win a deal.
[7:34:36] I would say that would be the first thing that I would look at.
[7:34:41] In the line, can I continue?
[7:34:43] Keep going.
[7:34:44] We good?
[7:34:47] It's a screen. Are you not? I think you're going to be looking at it.
[7:34:54] You were just talking about one zero one five five one.
[7:35:00] Put the line items up. I can pull it online and detail this one. Does it have numbers on it? Yes, we do. Yeah, that'd be great. All right.
[7:35:08] You know the total and
[7:35:13] the reserve is 438,000.
[7:35:19] So what if we get 200 from that left to 38.
[7:35:24] Thank you. Sorry. It doesn't cut it completely. All right. All right. All right. All your, you know, business incentives are paid for that we've come contracts to pay for it. We have. Yes, we have are in one line on it. We do have that.
[7:35:40] And the reserves we were not planning to use that money unless we needed it for an additional project that might come in, right?
[7:35:47] Previously, we had set aside this came from your idea last year, the Board approved from the TPP, from the tangible property, right?
[7:35:56] So that's where those funds came from.
[7:36:01] Yeah, so we can certainly use some of that and 50% would be acceptable because the money is there, you know, in the event that we needed, I fully believe that if we, if I came to you with some of the great projects that we're working, we would find a way to win that deal.
[7:36:20] Right. But in the meantime, we have to get to this point.
[7:36:22] So we have 200,000 there.
[7:36:24] Yes.
[7:36:25] OK, thank you.
[7:36:26] So within my line items of operating expenses, where are they?
[7:36:32] Can you help me with that, Aaron?
[7:36:34] I don't know much too far.
[7:36:38] Just operating expenses, 1,771.
[7:36:40] For which one?
[7:36:41] For economic development.
[7:36:43] Isn't that so far?
[7:36:44] I think it might be a tour or something.
[7:36:46] It's not here.
[7:36:49] I said I could do it, but I guess not.
[7:36:59] We just did that one. That's the one we're just talking about. Okay, there we go.
[7:37:03] Businesses. Okay, yes.
[7:37:07] Okay, this is, these are just our operating expenses here.
[7:37:12] So there, I think overall it was up 5%. If you look at the total line items,
[7:37:17] some of the reasons that some items are smaller than others and, you know,
[7:37:22] some are very insignificant costs, but some of the reason that the line-on is put up
[7:37:29] like for promotional or marketing activities is because we have a grant of $13.6 million
[7:37:38] to improve the airport.
[7:37:40] We were looking at additional improvements, in my opinion, it's time to double down on economic
[7:37:48] economic development and business recruitment and business retention and expansion.
[7:37:52] At a time when we're investing so much in the airport and when we're looking at reducing residential
[7:37:59] tax or out of the alarm taxes coming in, we need to find ways to have additional revenue streams.
[7:38:06] So we put some additional travel, additional marketing, additional funds to participate with the state to leverage those dollars.
[7:38:14] So we're there with the state at these events.
[7:38:16] Can we reduce some of those?
[7:38:18] Yes.
[7:38:19] You know, that is obviously at your discretion, your support.
[7:38:23] I will point out that under contracted services,
[7:38:27] there's $118,000 in that line item.
[7:38:31] $50,000 of that is for so many street.
[7:38:34] About $35,000 of that is the small business development center.
[7:38:40] Very important, small business development center.
[7:38:43] answers a lot of questions for us. They're a partner of ours for entrepreneurs in particular.
[7:38:50] And we do have some fines in there for as far as Casco, Hernando, to continue to promote
[7:38:56] education and continuing education for all and in great jobs for our residents.
[7:39:02] So that would be one line item where I would say that some low hanging fruit that is not a requirement.
[7:39:08] And obviously, to your point earlier, none of it is a requirement, right?
[7:39:15] It's not required.
[7:39:17] But on the back end of what you get, what you get for the investment that you're making,
[7:39:24] I'll just remind you all while I'm here because that's the job.
[7:39:28] You know, the airport, $141 million of assessed property value, $52 million assessed changeable property outside the county are our primary
[7:39:48] industries, $172 million, that's outside of the airport, $172 million in assessed value, $576 million in property and cabit.
[7:40:00] $106 million of assessed property value, $4.3 million in assessed tangible. Those are the projects that we work, those are the customers we work with everyday. And that's why we want to keep increasing those. So that's why I say more business recruitment, more efforts on those. Thank you, ma'am.
[7:40:24] I hate to say it, but Main Street is one, not a need.
[7:40:29] There's already a lot of controversy about it.
[7:40:31] I mean, you scrap the $50,000, they do fundraising that make it work.
[7:40:35] That's my opinion.
[7:40:36] I don't know what you guys think.
[7:40:41] It's not my favorite idea.
[7:40:46] Yeah, I do.
[7:40:47] Can I sleep about it?
[7:40:49] No, ma'am.
[7:40:50] I'm sorry.
[7:40:51] No, ma'am.
[7:40:52] Because they got to speak for the library, so now I wasn't here.
[7:40:55] Sorry.
[7:40:56] I love tremendous jobs.
[7:40:57] Thank you, ma'am.
[7:40:58] And it's needed.
[7:40:59] Thank you, ma'am.
[7:40:59] County. The only thing our kids have that can have better jobs that make better money.
[7:41:05] Thank you, ma'am. Just say no, ma'am. We've already talked about keeping the library. That's why we're
[7:41:12] having a discussion.
[7:41:15] I think it's a library.
[7:41:18] Okay, so thank you. So we have a 200,000. Is there anything else you
[7:41:27] I just wanted to discuss there, so you don't want to touch the $50,000 per main street?
[7:41:33] I've said my opinion, that your opinion, but I don't know what the other cues are.
[7:41:38] I think they did a fantastic job for us this year helping out for nothing, pretty much.
[7:41:46] I think the parade and the Christmas tree and all that, this is solid.
[7:41:50] But, you know, so, could we visit it later?
[7:41:54] Yeah, thank you.
[7:41:55] Thank you.
[7:41:56] We really appreciate that.
[7:41:59] Okay, we're going to park on the car.
[7:42:02] Got to go on the talk.
[7:42:08] Do you need?
[7:42:09] No, I don't need it.
[7:42:10] So, I'm good.
[7:42:10] So, Jeff and I had already discussed and we, you know,
[7:42:14] some positions that were added in my budget request.
[7:42:17] I heard the, as you saw, the business analyst,
[7:42:20] there's another position in there that I can,
[7:42:23] we'll figure out working around.
[7:42:25] so that's about another 100,000 removed.
[7:42:27] I don't think the business analyst,
[7:42:30] I think we've not taken that out,
[7:42:31] because that was in your service budget.
[7:42:34] I have not given you a revised request
[7:42:36] because I anticipated this happening.
[7:42:39] I'll give you a revised request
[7:42:40] and we get them all final.
[7:42:42] So you're starting to hire Jeff the same, so I'm sorry.
[7:42:45] Yeah, so the business hand is money still in your budget.
[7:42:49] So we can, which is obviously that we have to do that request.
[7:42:53] Yes, I thought it was your mean earlier. Sorry. I didn't take it out. You have to send to me a budget
[7:42:59] I
[7:43:00] Prove the constitutional budget. I'm not a cookie. Yep. So what's the total sir?
[7:43:04] 200
[7:43:05] Thank you sir. Yep. Appreciate that very much. Thank you
[7:43:12] Thank you. All right ladies, where were what's the total so far? I think you've all numbers and they can just
[7:43:20] $1,581,975 and that includes the reduction and reserves.
[7:43:27] I'll just hold it again.
[7:43:30] $1,581,975.
[7:43:34] The total before the reserves is 1335-000.
[7:43:39] And we need to get to 2.1.
[7:43:42] Yeah, for the library and rollback. Yes
[7:43:47] I mean we're keeping all the other village
[7:43:52] They would have to be cut from a different budget. Like a different. What was it? What was the number?
[7:43:58] We're at a total cut is one million five hundred and eighty nine thousand nine hundred seventy-five
[7:44:04] 81. Oh, I'm sorry. 81. I can't read my own hand right?
[7:44:08] One five eight one one five eight one nine seven five and we need to get to a two point one
[7:44:15] Fish yeah
[7:44:18] We'll keep adding yes, hopefully we'll keep adding okay
[7:44:23] What's next? I think we should probably start something even do you want to go to add mail in the BOTC and then we can sit down good on the list or something?
[7:44:30] Okay, now
[7:44:37] What do you want do you want budget book do you want my name detail?
[7:44:41] Which one do you buy in detail administration?
[7:45:05] I'm going past the ones that are not general one. Yeah, okay. Yeah, yeah, I was just going to. Okay. Yeah. And then this starts strong. Okay. Give me a little bit. Yeah. I mean, all they got to board in here that's a extremely discretionary. I've 70,000 professional services, but that's for a consultant. I mean, a lot of us like keep on my side that I use for negotiating contracts and legislative things, but I know the board has a lot of issues.
[7:45:36] So that would be, we have saying it doesn't budget that it contracts less than that, but, you know,
[7:45:45] do you use it? Oh, yeah, I use it. Yeah, yeah, use it a lot of things.
[7:45:50] I use a lot. I use a lot, but yeah, it's the same.
[7:45:55] The things you don't have to have, you go down here, things you don't, you can survive without them.
[7:45:59] and then I'll
[7:46:04] let him listen to you.
[7:46:05] And I
[7:46:10] think we increased education training,
[7:46:13] probably decreased that by $4,000, $4,000, $5,000,
[7:46:19] probably, but it's good to know that we don't have to.
[7:46:25] OK, so I'll do whatever's pleasure of the board,
[7:46:29] but my recommendation is that we write down this admin $70,000,
[7:46:37] but we don't include it in the number.
[7:46:38] So we can come back to it.
[7:46:41] You guys okay with that?
[7:46:42] Okay, all right.
[7:46:47] You ready for the next one?
[7:46:49] Yes, you can.
[7:46:49] Okay.
[7:46:55] This is the PIO budget.
[7:46:58] Is it, are you checking your email to see
[7:47:00] if there's any other constitutions coming in
[7:47:01] or would you surprise us?
[7:47:03] No.
[7:47:04] I'm trying to find the medical examiner.
[7:47:06] I'm hoping there's a Easter egg there.
[7:47:09] If you're not interested in the increase
[7:47:14] or decrease percentage, I can make this larger.
[7:47:17] it's up to you. I think I can get rid of that. No, I'm good with this. You're good. Okay. Yeah.
[7:47:33] Okay.
[7:47:41] I miss all of this behind you. If
[7:47:47] I don't stop, you know, so you know what we're looking for, we're looking
[7:47:49] for a general fund only. Is there anything that you can get from general fund? Dominic Holmes,
[7:47:58] Director of Communications and Government Affairs. We do have interoperating supplies. We have
[7:48:05] well it's actually a different category. I engaged her Nando, that's about $30,000. I know that we
[7:48:11] utilize that a lot more tornado happenings and and so distance academy and doge but a lot of our
[7:48:21] I don't have capital projects and a lot of our programs that we operate is going to be staff so
[7:48:26] So we need a county website, that's on there.
[7:48:29] Can't really cut the county website,
[7:48:31] but I was thinking, yeah, that's it.
[7:48:35] Yeah, professional services in there,
[7:48:36] I thought, I'm looking at my versions,
[7:48:38] they changed it a lot.
[7:48:44] Oh, we're overall down 2% for the budget.
[7:48:47] We cut that didn't, we did, okay.
[7:48:50] Yeah, and we didn't add any staff or anything like that.
[7:48:54] No, we're ahead with that.
[7:48:58] What do you guys think about?
[7:49:00] Engage or an endow?
[7:49:01] I
[7:49:05] mean, I don't know, I mean, I think the administrators put a lot of time into it, that's
[7:49:11] like a forward way of the county as part of the communications of the community.
[7:49:16] I mean, if we can do it ourselves, keep it up, try to fix it out, over, look at Doug
[7:49:23] for IT to see if we could, you know, that page allows, I just cut two positions, I can't
[7:49:32] I want you to take over the geese site.
[7:49:36] No good.
[7:49:36] I'm just going to finish.
[7:49:38] The chat box was awesome.
[7:49:41] But I cut it.
[7:49:42] We had a chat box and I cut it.
[7:49:44] It won't be on the website.
[7:49:46] I did a chat box.
[7:49:47] That's how it filled us.
[7:49:50] I think it's good.
[7:49:54] It is one of your strategic plans.
[7:49:56] If we're going to follow it, it is community engagement.
[7:49:59] That would face things.
[7:50:00] I think we're getting better, like we're doing this, we're trying to drive people to the site, right? How do people know what we're doing every, what, what your tax, what your tax dollars that work for you, right? That's kind of what we're trying to show people, and every day. So I think they're doing a good job on these videos and these, and I think it's getting more and more time. We have to give it time, I think. We, we may be needing a lot of that over the next year or so in engagement.
[7:50:28] it? Explaining what's going on.
[7:50:32] I don't know. I mean, I don't know. I mean, I think
[7:50:36] utilities is just going to do it. Is this going to be an end of county water and sewer
[7:50:39] district? And then we're going to work for them. Right.
[7:50:46] Do you want me to put it on the side list or we're not considering this at all? I think you
[7:50:52] have to consider it. Okay. Put it on the side list, please. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you.
[7:50:57] Yes.
[7:50:58] OK.
[7:50:58] What's next?
[7:51:00] Let's B-O-C-C.
[7:51:01] But we have that one there.
[7:51:03] You want the B-O-C-C?
[7:51:04] Yeah, because that's what we say.
[7:51:05] We're only on the floor.
[7:51:08] Hmm.
[7:51:11] That's a great question.
[7:51:12] Now you know it?
[7:51:13] Can we?
[7:51:14] Oh, I have a recommendation.
[7:51:18] It
[7:51:31] says money goes.
[7:51:33] Like we have vacancies, you know, that salary money helps out
[7:51:36] with things.
[7:51:39] Yeah, that one is sitting on the counter because we have it anyway, right? So okay, all right. So it doesn't we'll get to count that for next year. Let me do this. Yeah, it hasn't been going out.
[7:51:48] What happens with that money? It rolls.
[7:51:52] It's going to go into the fund mountain in the year right next year's true upright. So next year's true up you have that. It'll come back next year. The next year's true up.
[7:51:59] Yep, got it.
[7:52:03] The first general put him on his county attorney, thank you, bro. What's the next thing? County attorney. Oh, okay, okay. Good pressure, Joe.
[7:52:16] Blessing. He's got nothing.
[7:52:38] The
[7:52:43] only thing I think I have is an open position.
[7:52:49] That's the position since we gave animal services to the sheriff's office and the sheriff's
[7:52:54] office can't share case data with us because it's in their criminal system which we can't
[7:53:00] access to have to have someone to enter all the evidence they collect in their animal
[7:53:05] cases and to I guess we're going to be cool on Tyler we're good yeah that's the only
[7:53:11] position I would have it's gonna be that no what wouldn't happen just longer delays all the
[7:53:20] special master animal service yeah you don't want that yeah you don't want that okay what's next
[7:53:33] Board of County commissioners
[7:53:44] with the contract with services to remember.
[7:53:46] I can check that.
[7:53:48] What is the travel for DM?
[7:53:51] For the county commission.
[7:53:54] What's that?
[7:53:56] Right.
[7:53:56] I've never requested any travel or for DM.
[7:54:01] Get rid of balls of those.
[7:54:02] All right.
[7:54:03] Just get rid of it.
[7:54:04] It's part of our job.
[7:54:07] That's $10,250.
[7:54:09] Yeah.
[7:54:10] I would recommend keeping at least something in it though, because we're actually totally federal law required to pay you
[7:54:17] mileage as you claim it
[7:54:20] Can we just shame somebody if they claim it?
[7:54:32] We got two new commissioners next year. Oh, I don't know sometimes, but I don't know how to claim it. I don't ever claim it
[7:54:37] I don't claim that I drive all the way to the canal.
[7:54:40] I don't think so.
[7:54:41] I don't think so.
[7:54:42] I don't think so.
[7:54:43] You will.
[7:54:43] Do you want to do commission next year and you could go to the commissioner trainings and
[7:54:49] understand that they're commissioner and there's a good one but they might have a way to get
[7:54:52] yourself into.
[7:54:53] Okay.
[7:54:54] I know you're not my relationship.
[7:54:56] I hope we don't walk it tonight so they can start saving.
[7:54:58] All right.
[7:55:00] And then if I set the attorney, we're going to keep $350 in there. Okay, $250 to take the $10,000 out. Got it. Exactly, sir. Yeah, we're happy. We're happy. Okay. Let's next. Oh, wait, do I see that there are something else that somebody ask about professional services or something? That's what it was. That was that's the lobby.
[7:55:30] Well, there's actually a decrease.
[7:55:32] to increase from $1,800 to $4.
[7:55:36] Take it a lot.
[7:55:37] Oh, that's.
[7:55:38] Yeah.
[7:55:44] Okay.
[7:55:44] That's the answer.
[7:55:48] That's the $102,000.
[7:55:52] $100,000.
[7:55:53] $500,000.
[7:55:54] $500,000.
[7:55:55] $530,000.
[7:55:56] $030,000.
[7:55:57] $101.
[7:55:57] Professional Services.
[7:56:04] I'm sure the lobby, you know, the lobbyist contract is under that.
[7:56:06] But it's something else in here, too.
[7:56:08] Any
[7:56:12] number here?
[7:56:13] Uh, 5303.
[7:56:15] 303 101. Thank you.
[7:56:18] One of the
[7:56:29] 4 financial advisor retainer on disclosure.
[7:56:33] Compliance.
[7:56:34] Estimate for bond.
[7:56:36] Sunrise consultant group.
[7:56:39] And then you
[7:56:43] can use gold down.
[7:56:44] You can keep all that.
[7:56:45] Okay.
[7:56:46] Okay. What's the 78 contract is services?
[7:56:50] The 1,400.
[7:56:53] Yes.
[7:56:54] Or 140,000.
[7:56:57] Yeah.
[7:57:01] it's 530401. Thank you. Is it shot?
[7:57:15] 3401? Yes.
[7:57:20] Oh, great. So we have to pay that. That's 46.96. The
[7:57:25] other is the Brooksville C.I.A. stuff.
[7:57:31] We got to pay the Brooksville C.I.A. other consultant for
[7:57:34] that. No, we had last year. Yeah, it's 131,000. That's a consultant and then it looks like we
[7:57:44] We've got to increase them out of another 6,000, so.
[7:57:48] Do we need it?
[7:57:51] I don't remember having a new consultant.
[7:57:53] We haven't had ACES up in there.
[7:57:54] So last year, we had one, but.
[7:57:58] Beta, do you know if we have to do any other studies for the CRI?
[7:58:01] No, I don't think so.
[7:58:02] We're done.
[7:58:03] Yeah.
[7:58:04] All right.
[7:58:05] That was last year.
[7:58:06] Too good.
[7:58:06] Yeah.
[7:58:07] All right, so let's cut that.
[7:58:09] What's that number?
[7:58:11] 3, 4, 1.
[7:58:13] Oh, there's 131.45 and 6,120. Those two together.
[7:58:21] You have to find, you guys are awesome.
[7:58:25] What's our total so far?
[7:58:31] 1.736.025.
[7:58:33] Okay.
[7:58:45] What's next?
[7:59:11] So these are all ones that I've gone past that have to take place.
[7:59:16] The same here. This is the debt.
[7:59:18] And then these are the transfers over to mosquito control to run them.
[7:59:25] This
[7:59:34] is just your reserve that will adjust and
[7:59:40] then these are the constitutional
[7:59:42] of your property appraisers, tax collector, clerk of court, supervisor elections,
[7:59:48] sheriff.
[7:59:53] This is Geo Medical. This is also a state mandate. You have to cover
[7:59:58] of see.
[8:00:00] Local expenses of the inmates. So if it's something they can handle on their own, they handle it within the jail, with the nurses and whatever they have there, right? And then if it's an emergency, they take them where?
[8:00:15] We usually get hospital plans and then claims for doctors. I can say that most frequently I've seen them with claims for cancer treatment.
[8:00:30] Okay,
[8:00:33] can I treat him when you're in? Yeah, yeah.
[8:00:39] Okay, that is the VocC.
[8:00:45] What's the next one?
[8:00:49] I don't know that there are any left that have a general fund. Hold on.
[8:01:16] there are decreases here when it comes to personnel because one of our positions has been
[8:01:23] transfer to another department.
[8:01:27] At this time we are not getting a new position to replace that so
[8:01:33] that's why it looks that way. Thank you.
[8:01:38] Traveling per DM, I switched lines and needed to be in
[8:01:41] this line, not in this one.
[8:01:45] Contracted services, we have a cost allocation plan and it's usually $11,000
[8:01:51] $9,000 a year to update. They quoted us $20,000 a year to redo it. That is totally your choice.
[8:01:59] We can kick that out another year and just pay them the $11,000 to update it and keep the
[8:02:04] nine. Yeah, let's do that. You guys good with that? Yeah. Yeah. Okay, so $9,000. That is, can you tell us
[8:02:14] You guys have it.
[8:02:18] Anything else?
[8:02:20] So, oh, I went too fast.
[8:02:22] So down here, this is maintenance and software,
[8:02:26] and so that has increased.
[8:02:29] Hopefully it will go down after this year
[8:02:33] with Tyler and everything settles out.
[8:02:37] But you need that.
[8:02:38] We need it for this year.
[8:02:40] Okay.
[8:02:43] This year meaning next year.
[8:02:45] Yes.
[8:02:45] Yeah, you were looking at, yeah, the one we're looking at, and then the same with like books and publications, we just increased that to get a new blue book from GFOA.
[8:03:03] What's next? Thank you for that reduction.
[8:03:08] This is grants management.
[8:03:09] So
[8:03:21] for grants management, the only thing under grants management is contracted
[8:03:36] service.
[8:03:37] So under contracted services, you could take the 50,000 out.
[8:03:43] That's 60.
[8:03:45] I would recommend that you keep 10 and your reason being that you have ARPA coming due.
[8:03:50] All the ARPA reporting coming due in the next fiscal year.
[8:03:53] And I think that there's a consultant we need to have on staff for that.
[8:03:56] So I would not take the 10 for that.
[8:03:58] There were additional 50 put in for potentially another grant consulting services for grant writing if we want to go after more federal or state grants.
[8:04:07] That is what that $50,000 is there for.
[8:04:10] Yeah, I put that in as working with a grant manager company to help out getting federal grants.
[8:04:16] So we're not, it's in the budget, so I mean if it's in the budget, I think it's a good thing to do.
[8:04:23] But so I wouldn't have left something in the budget that I think is not to do so
[8:04:27] Yeah, but uh, because I think it's a worthwhile to go get federal grants to help some assistance to watch this
[8:04:33] But we don't but obviously with the I don't know with that whether you're out financially right now
[8:04:38] I'll obviously cut it because if you get the goal is I don't think we're going to spend a lot of time trying to be
[8:04:44] I mean negative that proactive. I mean if I'm just trying to maintain I was trying to go get money in town
[8:04:49] I'm trying to get enough presence of Washington DC, keep not winning Tiger of
[8:04:56] Rance, and the only way they're going to widen that road is for me to get a 50-man
[8:05:01] And so this is a company that I researched and met. We actually interviewed two or three companies that we're going to try to bring forward. See if you want to hire me next year, but I'm going to come back to. I think it's for itself. But I can bring it back. And rewriting all the grants. What's the CRF 200 and they're making huge changes with that and they give us like, what, less than a month. Oh, yeah, we have to comply. It's been my reason. I think you should keep it in there because we're not going to put it on the side. Please. Thank you.
[8:05:29] Thank you ma'am. Okay, so
[8:05:39] the next one is human resources and
[8:05:47] has a candy budget. So we
[8:05:55] cut out the salary study for this year.
[8:06:00] We did have the money here to do a salary study. We're going to try to do it internally or so, but we're not in the past. We won't need to do one.
[8:06:06] about the professional service of what's that?
[8:06:12] Professional services is for, I think that part of that is for care at HTC, if I'm not mistaken.
[8:06:25] We can definitely take employee recognition down to I'd like to keep about $5,000 employee
[8:06:31] recognition only because with the partnership with SIGNA, they've been such a game changer
[8:06:38] for us with incentives and the giveaways and things like that, that I could probably take
[8:06:44] about 20,000 off of that.
[8:06:46] Where's that?
[8:06:47] That is.
[8:06:48] I don't know.
[8:06:49] The monthly launches, Jan, I mean, we do like an employee appreciation month of the department.
[8:06:54] How are you paying for that?
[8:06:56] I have an employee recognition.
[8:06:57] I would disagree.
[8:06:58] I think I think employee, I appreciate an employee's for things you do every day.
[8:07:03] I think it's, you know, your employees are your biggest asset and I think it's a minor
[8:07:08] of course to ensure that we recognize the work we're doing every day. So I would I would
[8:07:15] not. We have a school recognition program. Okay. So professional services is for outside
[8:07:24] investigations and studies.
[8:07:29] We haven't. We can go ahead and get rid of that completely. Yep.
[8:07:35] I'll find it.
[8:07:37] 45,800.
[8:07:38] Yes.
[8:07:40] I agree
[8:07:48] with the administrator on the employee appreciation items, but I'm happy to put
[8:07:54] it on the side if somebody feels passionate about it.
[8:08:00] Thank you.
[8:08:10] Question.
[8:08:11] I'll go back to that.
[8:08:12] What is retirement contributions?
[8:08:18] What is retirement contributions?
[8:08:23] What is it?
[8:08:24] What is it?
[8:08:24] It's pretty retirement point.
[8:08:26] I know I get that, but I'll say that.
[8:08:28] Okay, it's just somehow, I thought I'd always hit FRS.
[8:08:31] So I might, yeah, I don't know, but you better do, too.
[8:08:34] All right.
[8:08:34] It might be the rest of them, but yeah, it should be retirement.
[8:08:36] All right, FRR, I just wanted to make sure
[8:08:39] it was the same thing.
[8:08:47] So for procurement, one of our big line item increases
[8:08:51] was, I say big, it was, you know, a couple thousand dollars
[8:08:55] was for replacement equipment.
[8:08:58] So, I can't cut that because we need the new computers.
[8:09:02] It's just time to refresh, basically, that's what it is.
[8:09:05] The only thing that is a potential is under a dos and membership.
[8:09:13] So, we do put like 4,000 in there for the prime membership every year.
[8:09:18] Typically, Amazon waves that.
[8:09:20] We don't pay it, but we budget for it anyway.
[8:09:25] So again, we anticipate that they will waive that this year and we would not have to pay it, but we do budget that 4,000, and then there's an additional 4,000 for something called Polco, it would work very closely with engaged hernando and basically what that system does is in line with your strategic plan allows for a little more transparency to the citizenry about how hernando county performs in comparison to nationally.
[8:09:51] So, when you talk about your KPIs, your benchmarks, all of those things, nationally at the state level and then to other counties.
[8:10:01] It may not be, I cannot see that, Commissioner Alonco. So it is, let me see, I think I have to scroll down, because I think it's on the second page. And it is 5305402. Do's in memberships.
[8:10:17] So roughly 8,000 from the two things that I just mentioned, you could pull out of there. All of the other do's in memberships that are in there are professional associations. I would not recommend that you pull those.
[8:10:29] there's offer a lot of free training for your procurement staff. I think it's important
[8:10:32] that they're engaged with the professional associations.
[8:10:36] So definitely remove the Amazon. Can we put the other 4,000 with engage? You know, like
[8:10:44] as a side car. Side car of the side car. Thank you. Appreciate it.
[8:10:55] Developing service to
[8:10:56] me. Okay, we could still or did anybody need it right? Okay, we're good.
[8:11:00] Okay.
[8:11:04] Never mind. You got it.
[8:11:13] So just let us know. St. Bingo or something. When we get the number, you know, you never yelled Bingo unless you've got Bingo.
[8:11:25] It'll get you a lot of troubles. That was a good try though.
[8:11:30] That's a good try. It's a good project.
[8:11:48] Yeah. Yeah. That's 2.1 to get the library back to you.
[8:11:59] even though this is animal services this is just recognizing funding that was
[8:12:04] returned by the sheriff's office okay this doesn't really we want that yes all
[8:12:20] right this is chance you get yes okay is
[8:12:25] everything been cut who could speak on
[8:12:28] this me but scroll down to the bottom I mean I can't even talk about it okay like
[8:12:36] 200,000. Yeah, cool back up so I can see where the cost are at. Um,
[8:12:42] there's a
[8:12:43] straight line cut or a straight line cut,
[8:12:51] professional services, 10,000, that's
[8:12:54] for sure. Okay. And then why let that in your professional services from
[8:12:59] Chinti. You get 5,000 was already cut. That
[8:13:05] was one of the city's we talked about
[8:13:06] earlier. So 5,000. That was a professional services. Okay, that was that was
[8:13:12] So you're going to take the other five.
[8:13:23] Insurance.
[8:13:25] Now we could get a goat up there instead of the moan.
[8:13:28] Have you a good place for a goat?
[8:13:30] Right next to family?
[8:13:31] Anything here?
[8:13:33] Two minutes.
[8:13:34] My question is,
[8:13:36] let's go back and look.
[8:13:37] Why is the insurance?
[8:13:39] That's the insurance on the house.
[8:13:42] I'm looking for value.
[8:13:43] One time we were paying for that with tourism dollars.
[8:13:46] It is.
[8:13:46] All right.
[8:13:46] It's coming towards us.
[8:13:48] Okay.
[8:13:49] Okay.
[8:13:49] And then we'll be back up.
[8:13:50] Great for you.
[8:13:52] Okay.
[8:13:52] Okay.
[8:13:52] Yeah.
[8:13:53] Covered.
[8:13:54] And that's the minor cost that we have.
[8:13:58] So, $263,000 budget and $56,000 from insurance.
[8:14:04] And the rest of it is maintenance on the house.
[8:14:06] Okay.
[8:14:06] So, we're good.
[8:14:08] I think you're good.
[8:14:08] All right.
[8:14:09] So, we gain $5,000.
[8:14:10] Yep.
[8:14:12] What had cut them out?
[8:14:18] And then next one is Veteran Services.
[8:14:21] All right.
[8:14:25] Next.
[8:14:28] How do you want to talk about it?
[8:14:32] Well, good.
[8:14:32] Thank you.
[8:14:33] Thank you.
[8:14:35] Appreciate it.
[8:14:39] Now, you have to be a Veteran.
[8:14:43] Does anybody...
[8:14:44] Seriously, does anybody want to speak about it?
[8:14:46] No.
[8:14:48] Okay, thank you.
[8:14:49] They need...
[8:14:50] They don't do enough for a Veteran Services.
[8:14:51] They don't want a good job, but they...
[8:14:53] They need to, of course, somebody.
[8:14:54] We can't do that right now.
[8:14:55] Yeah, they...
[8:14:55] We must wash it another first.
[8:14:57] We'll try that in the future.
[8:14:58] Yep, another way.
[8:14:59] Good.
[8:15:00] P-Pil. The next part for the creation. All you see this, right? You do a lot of
[8:15:20] moa. This is round two or round three of the cuts on this budget this year. So five, we're
[8:15:25] down 9% so what is this? Parks and Rec. Parks and Rec. We're going to show you in a week.
[8:15:33] I can go through down 9 already. We're down 9% so we cut all of our CIP, pretty much all of
[8:15:41] to do this here. Yeah. We got mowing contracts.
[8:15:47] There's that. There's that guy. I see one that we can do. Rob's not here so I can do some of this really quick, really easy.
[8:15:58] We should have shown all of that.
[8:15:59] So account 5305310 was material signs.
[8:16:08] We're going to replace some of our signage, that's $30,000.
[8:16:11] We can take that out.
[8:16:12] Perfect.
[8:16:14] We can do some public private partnerships on those.
[8:16:19] The other one was small, maybe the travel per day and we were going to try to send somebody
[8:16:23] to the conference.
[8:16:24] get a training so we can take out the travel pretty and it's $24,000.
[8:16:31] I think the three of you have to make out.
[8:16:34] You need to train people.
[8:16:41] So this is round three of cuts on this side.
[8:16:44] All right.
[8:16:45] Thank you, sir.
[8:16:46] Okay.
[8:16:56] Cut the title.
[8:16:57] Use GPS anyway.
[8:17:00] Okay, library.
[8:17:04] I'm going to try and add stuff there, right?
[8:17:08] That's a goal right now.
[8:17:10] I'm going to do this.
[8:17:14] That's in the master plan.
[8:17:16] That's in the master plan.
[8:17:25] I guess my question to you, Cindy,
[8:17:27] knowing your budget is, I know you,
[8:17:29] to your credit, you have presented me,
[8:17:32] we moved some of those things already.
[8:17:34] We got rid of some of your reductions you provided.
[8:17:37] a couple weeks ago or something when I
[8:17:40] face I told you I spoke to the library.
[8:17:42] But we removed the CIP projects.
[8:17:44] There were some discussions you had
[8:17:46] about moving things to state aid.
[8:17:49] I don't think we've done that yet, right?
[8:17:52] Karen and Tony, we didn't do it.
[8:17:54] No, we didn't do that.
[8:17:56] So there's any of those things you want
[8:17:57] to bring forward now that we discussed
[8:17:59] that one day.
[8:18:00] There's two things that I think we can
[8:18:02] take out that'll be full about $67,000.
[8:18:06] is the beauty public laptop computer replacements and our self checkout
[8:18:11] replacements. Delay those. Okay. I want to give them to the light to give this
[8:18:17] I think that's the same thing here.
[8:18:19] Oh crap.
[8:18:26] Uncapolytes equipment.
[8:18:28] Bear with me.
[8:18:29] I don't have a family.
[8:18:30] It's the person here.
[8:18:34] You might just scroll down.
[8:18:37] 67
[8:18:43] miles and probably repair maintenance.
[8:18:47] Uncapolytes.
[8:18:48] There's uncapolytes tech.
[8:18:52] 76.
[8:18:56] Yeah, the 76 800.
[8:18:59] Uncapolytes equipment tech.
[8:19:02] 5305274. Yes. 76,800. It would be 660.
[8:19:17] No, I'm taking 6700. I'm going to take it 67,000.
[8:19:23] 67,000 from my line-up. Thank you. You regularly have overtime? No, not. Well, typically no, we have because we've been doing outreach.
[8:19:35] Okay, we get rid of 10,000 and overtime and you manage your
[8:19:40] Okay, you guys okay with that
[8:19:43] And I've taken as Jeff stated some things and put them in state a okay, and that's probably what is it?
[8:19:51] 50 to 100,000 in state a
[8:20:00] I think we got a good start. So we took the 67,000. We just took the 10,000 and over time. Okay. Thank you, ma'am.
[8:20:25] Still like 400,000 away to get to get the rollback and to get the library was to like 400,000. Sometimes GPS recalculating. Yeah, we're at one nine three eight. Oh, yeah, so we're good. We're 200,000. There's. So from the money that's just movies for libraries.
[8:20:46] from one expense account to the other expense account is not going to always raise reserves so it'll be that that we're
[8:20:55] No, no, it won't be this way, there's, you're in the team.
[8:21:06] I don't know, none of your constitutions.
[8:21:10] How much we need left?
[8:21:11] Yes.
[8:21:11] Oh, you're figuring it out.
[8:21:12] Yeah.
[8:21:14] So please put this number back.
[8:21:20] Minus five to four.
[8:21:31] We're going to be on a 5 minute recess.
[8:33:46] No, I'm not agonizing. I'm sorry. Developmental services.
[8:33:57] Let's get to their area. There we go. Quorum,
[8:34:03] forced. Thank you. Computer, please.
[8:34:17] I'll make it bigger.
[8:34:37] Good evening. Onward of Public Development
[8:34:39] Services Director, with me is James Terry, Manager of Co-compliance.
[8:34:47] I think as we review, we've talked
[8:34:49] about the potential of one officer, I think I can let James speak to right now.
[8:34:58] We have two code.
[8:35:00] Office, officer position, open. We have one individual that moved into a different department and other one that just moved out of a state. There was one on your list for potential elimination, but right now, as a whole, if we will completely have the full amount of employees, we'd only have seven code officers for the entire county. So, that's item number one. The next big ticket item that's on your budget
[8:35:29] The exit list is the 240,000, which is essentially for contract cases involving trash and debris and mowing.
[8:35:38] We had exponentially increased that, the cost of some of the clean-ups.
[8:35:43] I've spoken, I think, here at the board and some of the commissioners.
[8:35:48] They're ranging from 60 to 80,000 per cleanup.
[8:35:50] We had one incident, which was 160,000.
[8:35:53] We did work with that individual to lower for him to assist us in cleaning the property.
[8:35:59] but that project could still cost us 60 to 80 to clean up.
[8:36:04] Revenue has, I would say, has maybe gone down a little bit, and we'll go down because of our new co-compliance process where we have the five steps with a pro-rated fees.
[8:36:15] So I'll let James speak to any other irons that might be on here that he may think might be a benefit removing, but just wanted to bring those two items up because the 240 seems like a big number on the road.
[8:36:27] Do we have to do that? I mean that's just like if somebody's house is like everyone we go in there and clean it all up
[8:36:32] And then but I guess that's the only way to do it is to be paying us on track to them and lean in properties, right?
[8:36:37] Yes, sir. I know there's like one or two of those a year. How many do you do it a year? I'm gonna do a lot of this, do you?
[8:36:45] Yes, sir. The issue with that is it's kind of unpredictable like we just had a big one that would have chewed up our entire budget
[8:36:52] But we're able to work with them. We're
[8:36:55] The other thing is for many years, they had depleted the budget, so there's some hanging out there that probably should have been done in the last ten years and just were ignored.
[8:37:06] The one in particular where we got the gentleman to cooperate, where we saved a lot of money by him working with us that would have been so expensive, was actually afforded to us by one of the commissioners.
[8:37:17] And at the time, the direction of the board was, you know, we didn't want to ignore these big cleanups any longer, so we made sure we prepared to put some funds in there to, you know, follow the wishes of the board and not take that position to ignore any more.
[8:37:32] There could be an opportunity to reduce that just knowing that if the priorities come up, we can't get the people to work. We may have to come back like we've done in the past with the board later.
[8:37:42] So, if that were reduced, that would be something just knowing that there's a potential we would need to come mass for more depending on the impact of certain massive cleanups and of course the urgency of those cleanups, if there's chemical related things or so forth that required a sense of urgency where we can't wait or we can't give them the amount of time then back and move the needle quite a bit on that.
[8:38:08] Speaking to the code officer position, just some numbers for that for consideration.
[8:38:14] If we do lose the one code position, as a 14% cut to our manpower.
[8:38:21] If you look at our 2025 cases, you're talking about having to find an additional 418 cases to cover, based on that percentage.
[8:38:34] a thousand inspections, because we had 3,000 cases, we had 7,000 inspections roughly.
[8:38:45] So that's another 1418 action items that would have to be split between six additional officers,
[8:38:53] which realistically is not possible.
[8:38:57] So the reality to make that up would be either overtime,
[8:39:00] which, of course, wouldn't make the benefit of cutting a position if you paid it an overtime or just simply a reduction in service of how long it takes us to respond to the complaints.
[8:39:12] So there would be a direct correlation, may not be the end of the world but as you know people get upset the longer it takes and that would be the direct impact of reducing staffing is the time in which we could be responsive to the citizen complaints.
[8:39:29] I think that the I'd be very comfortable moving that down to 200 I think we could pull 40,000 off of that
[8:39:39] to clean up and I think that's going to some room thank
[8:39:50] you we'll start there
[8:39:51] Mr. Champion so there's there's more to this than that so and I was talking to Omar about this we
[8:39:56] change the policy law back same thing with unsafe buildings where the
[8:40:00] Any money that we spend, any money we spend, not the fines, any money we spend is immediately put on the taxes the next year. When the money comes back, it goes back to the general fund. It does not go back to them. Now, in some cases, like the one you're cleaning up, the property may not be worth that. So there is some risk in it. You know, if the properties were 30 grand and it costs you 80 grand to clean up, well, guess what we're going to get stuck with the property and we're stuck with that, whatever. But that money doesn't come back. So it's almost like it could be a low number, and then James or Omar could be able to come forward and say, look,
[8:40:29] We need to pull from reserves in order to clean this up, but it's going immediately on the tax bill and it comes back in November.
[8:40:36] I mean, as long as the property is worth it, I mean, it's usually, most of the time it's worth it, right?
[8:40:39] Especially when you turn it on the building, if it's commercial property, or if it's property, I have to house on it, obviously the value's there.
[8:40:46] So we changed that policy, am I correct there Omar, that we changed that policy and that money is coming back on the taxes as long as they pay it, obviously.
[8:40:53] Correct, correct.
[8:40:55] So I mean, we could reduce that with the same understanding that as much as we reduce that we may have to come back on just one item alone, but we have changed the way we do the enforcement in our code compliance, we could have a case where somebody just doesn't want to cooperate, so we're not going to have that liberty, but we could reduce that number further with the board understanding that we might have to come back on a large ticket item.
[8:41:22] What if your recommendation commission or champion?
[8:41:25] Well, he said 140. I think that's a minimum cut 100 from it, and we're gonna have to do it's right if you come back in front of us
[8:41:31] That's what you said more you I think I think they leave a hundred thousand maybe a hundred thousand there
[8:41:36] And I like to do anything that if we have to come back to do a emergency
[8:41:39] That way it has to be and it will have to evaluate that one on one
[8:41:42] But the money is coming back and we're not we're not talking about that that money comes back and I say buildings
[8:41:46] And as a go back to building environment that money comes back from code
[8:41:49] It doesn't go to code. It comes back to the general fund, you know, and that money is coming back because we have very few properties
[8:41:56] So the county so it's coming back and some kind of revenue somewhere, you know, um, so I
[8:42:01] It's one hand washing the other, you know me. So I don't think it's necessary to have a quarter million dollars
[8:42:04] Sure
[8:42:05] Well, I'd rather see that in kind of position because I think you guys are good. You have some really good momentum. James
[8:42:10] You're doing a great job. That's far from it. That was good. That was a good move
[8:42:14] So I think you're doing a good job
[8:42:16] But I rather see that, and we were talking even about if you guys were listening to the short-term rental conversation, you know, nights and weekends.
[8:42:24] And so if we make a move there, which I think, you know, based on our decision, I think that's the option we have, that we're going to need that other additional revenue.
[8:42:37] So I think the, I think the kind of it from the what we're talking about it, I think it'd be the best idea, Commissioner Lacka.
[8:42:44] Yeah, so one of the questions that you were mentioning about potentially like chemicals or something like that.
[8:42:50] When we get into that situation, are we getting into like DEP and other state agencies?
[8:42:55] I mean, if we had one of those situations where they had some toxic materials or something, is that still going to be a county responsibility?
[8:43:02] Are we going to get state agencies in for that?
[8:43:04] Yeah.
[8:43:04] Turn it over.
[8:43:08] The Florida Department of Health is in charge of humiliating San Three landfills, which
[8:43:12] is a, you know, everything's just gross for lack of better term.
[8:43:17] Okay.
[8:43:18] So, if we were in one of those situations, we wouldn't, we would be okay because we would
[8:43:22] go to the Department of Health to deal with it at that point.
[8:43:25] Yes, but we would also, I mean, we have to have somebody there in case they don't.
[8:43:30] If I may, we have, it was a minor situation we had an individual who was dumping, he was
[8:43:37] working on his vehicles at his house and was dumping all the oil in the backyard.
[8:43:41] We rest out, it wasn't a case big enough for the EP to consider.
[8:43:45] And so, in some cases, we might run into an issue where it doesn't meet their threshold.
[8:43:51] I don't know what that is, and I don't want to speak out of the term.
[8:43:53] Help me, help me.
[8:43:54] So what are we going to do in that situation?
[8:43:56] We're going to get a judge to hell so he can go in and dig up the graph.
[8:43:58] Yes, they got the dirt.
[8:44:00] We would have to find a contractor or a service that would assist us in the clean-up, yes sir.
[8:44:06] Okay.
[8:44:06] All right, thank you.
[8:44:07] I just want to make sure I understood where we were going with that.
[8:44:09] Appreciate that.
[8:44:10] Thank you, sir.
[8:44:11] 30, gentlemen.
[8:44:12] Oh, I'm sorry.
[8:44:13] I have to start off.
[8:44:14] Ladies, you have the $140,000.
[8:44:16] I believe it's $140,000.
[8:44:19] Okay.
[8:44:21] And was that direction the, leave the co-position out, or do you say, I think we're leaving it in?
[8:44:27] So you're putting the code position back in
[8:44:33] There's a dish he off there was additional one of the one that I took out of the budget is that staying at that one
[8:44:38] Stay now. Okay. Yes. Yes. The other one you get to keep the other position
[8:44:40] Yeah, you offered up a position
[8:44:42] Okay, right just now it was on the list for potential cut. Yes. He was talking about the one that
[8:44:47] Administrator writers are he put on the list. Oh, it's already it was already took it out
[8:44:52] Okay
[8:44:53] That's the one that I'm talking about.
[8:45:00] How much are we talking about for that position? I would say probably it's $50,000, so that's been probably $85,000. $85,000, but you'll just get you take it out. I mean, you want to take it out of the rest of that fund. I mean, we're going to run into the same conversation that we just had. There's other incentives in the future of Airbnb's and we're going to be down to six officers for 640 square miles of Hernando County, which is a twire. I mean, I had a deck of the
[8:45:30] As I tried to re-cut the non-reoccurring revenue, I tried to distribute it to many different people that impact in the only library people that are here today.
[8:45:39] I mean, as far as I'm talking about it, I mean, to distribute the impact across the county.
[8:45:44] I mean, I'm not going to say it's gloom and doom, but if that position is cut, it certainly is going to affect the service and time we can respond.
[8:45:52] So I just ask the gentleman to be understanding that when the people call because they typically like to go to the commissioners and
[8:46:00] You know say they're not getting a quick response and everything and often it's true
[8:46:05] Unfortunately some of it's the system some of it's the workload
[8:46:08] But that was certainly worsen if we lose this spot and again not the end of the world
[8:46:14] But I just want to be clear on the reality of what it would be
[8:46:18] so you'd rather keep that 100,000 in
[8:46:22] in the fund. I think we have to have some degree of money in there or we're almost certainly
[8:46:27] going to be coming back to you. And I think that the 100,000 might get it done. But I think
[8:46:36] that I honestly think we're just moving the money at that point going lower than 100. Okay.
[8:46:44] Unfortunately, my opinion is I don't think we can add it back in at this point in the position
[8:46:49] where I are talking about adding the code officer back in, but I'll leave it up to you guys.
[8:47:00] Okay.
[8:47:01] Well, maybe we'll get amazing news from the Constitutionals in September.
[8:47:06] I think about it.
[8:47:06] Right.
[8:47:07] Understood.
[8:47:08] Oh, we
[8:47:12] got to be close with that.
[8:47:16] Tony, I think you should bring that up.
[8:47:19] Good to on.
[8:47:20] It's ready.
[8:47:22] You know, the troll thing.
[8:47:22] I was talking to chief earlier, and mosquito control, local mosquito control is transferred from general fund.
[8:47:30] We have some reserves sitting in their fund.
[8:47:35] We could probably take those reserves.
[8:47:37] We've got reserves in there for.
[8:47:39] All right.
[8:47:39] Can you tell me the amount?
[8:47:41] That's a good amount.
[8:47:42] Mark, and you tell us mosquito reserves.
[8:47:47] Not their grant, the local.
[8:47:57] We get great dollars and state funds in there for
[8:48:04] the number again before we need 249-367 the reserves are 302-34
[8:48:12] All right, there it is, we can go wipe it out
[8:48:18] Thank you, thank you
[8:48:25] Okay, I'm happy to keep going with this exercise at the department.
[8:48:31] Oh, we don't have a department.
[8:48:33] I have one.
[8:48:33] For a general fund.
[8:48:35] What other department do we have last?
[8:48:38] Well, there are the other rollback rates, the other villages.
[8:48:42] We have plenty of zoning, but I don't want you to.
[8:48:44] I mean, I don't want you to do any zoning.
[8:48:47] I need.
[8:48:49] Okay.
[8:48:50] So that's where we started off with EMS with chief, and I think he has the information
[8:48:57] you were looking for regarding that reduction.
[8:49:09] Paul Haasmire, Fire Chief.
[8:49:11] That was safety direction.
[8:49:12] Thank you.
[8:49:12] So I'm going to see you for EMS, about 278,000 change, you can do fiscally, fiscal sustainability
[8:49:25] for.
[8:49:25] we have the reserves to do it. So that's one option. I don't really want to
[8:49:32] recommend cutting any of the project, the infrastructure projects and things
[8:49:38] that we share between fire and EMI. Some of those things need really need to be
[8:49:43] done so we can maintain the infrastructure and some of the equipment. The other
[8:49:48] option is if to cut 300,000 essentially that's three positions, three FTEs. So that's an option.
[8:50:00] motion, not a great option, because we're busy. I think the bus recommendation is take that out of reserves to be at the rollback rate for. And your car, you would be comfortable with the remaining reserve balance. Yes. Okay. I say we do that. You guys good with that.
[8:50:23] Thank you, sir. Thank you for both of those, Mesquite, the money and all right, Paul.
[8:50:32] I spoke with Mr. Hearing earlier and he said for transportation that would be fine to remove from reserves or we can have him come up to discuss.
[8:50:45] Yes.
[8:50:45] I need some minor amount next hand.
[8:50:48] Okay.
[8:50:48] Okay.
[8:50:50] And then.
[8:50:52] How much are we over?
[8:50:53] How much are we over?
[8:50:55] 52.
[8:50:56] That was a nice amount.
[8:50:57] Okay.
[8:51:00] I think we're going to have changes in.
[8:51:02] We already told you this is going to be other.
[8:51:04] The state and the mandates continue to go up.
[8:51:07] So I would just.
[8:51:08] You only look.
[8:51:09] You're going to need some.
[8:51:11] We're going to need some.
[8:51:11] Okay.
[8:51:12] All right.
[8:51:13] So storm water.
[8:51:14] I don't have to be that.
[8:51:16] I guess.
[8:51:16] Yes, they also have reserves and I can pull that up if you want to look at it. Let's take it for
[8:51:22] Who is that that?
[8:51:24] Well, are you comfortable with taking that for reserves? Okay
[8:51:28] Okay, so now we're down to health's parliament. Yes
[8:51:33] I'm sure how much is it 33,000? Yes, and they have
[8:51:41] So good and then that will bring us down to the rollback rate
[8:51:46] for each of me. I have a alarm. Okay. Awesome. Keep that list out. Okay. Oh no. We have to have at least. All right. So tell us what we're cutting.
[8:51:59] So for CIP projects, you have from natural resources, the Cypress Lakes Observation Boardwalk that you can see at water plants.
[8:52:06] going to get into it in front of the speaker the way it's on or you can do it up there.
[8:52:12] Do you need to put it as loud when it needs to be loud recorded? Yes.
[8:52:16] That way because we'll get all by tomorrow morning. It's been a long day.
[8:52:19] We need to hear it again. I'm sure we get it all right. You don't have to play.
[8:52:25] So for CIP projects with natural resources is the Cypress Lakes Observation Boardwalk
[8:52:30] the JNC get water plant renovation and the hermando beach boat
[8:52:35] rambri surfacing as well as the Peck sink ADA parking sidewalk and kiosk.
[8:52:42] For our total of what?
[8:52:44] CIP?
[8:52:45] Total CIP at
[8:52:51] 725,000 from natural resources and 100,000 from Parks and Rec.
[8:52:59] And the Parks and Rec project is the Ernie Weaver shop replacement.
[8:53:04] Thank you, ma'am.
[8:53:05] And
[8:53:09] then also for natural resources, they're contracted services of 100,000.
[8:53:15] MASH Transit expenses not covered by grants for 10,000.
[8:53:20] Economic development reserves of 200,000.
[8:53:23] To clerk of the court positions for 200,000.
[8:53:27] The BOCC travel per DM for 10,000.
[8:53:30] The BOCC contracted services line of 120,000.
[8:53:34] OMB contracted services for 9,000.
[8:53:37] H.R. Professional Services for 45,800 procurement using
[8:53:43] memberships for the Amazon Prime is 4,000 additional
[8:53:47] chancee get professional services of 5,000 parks and rack
[8:53:51] materials and signs of 30,000 library uncap equipment
[8:53:55] tech 67,000 library over time for 10,000 and then code I took
[8:54:03] the name. It was like the special class assessments the
[8:54:06] $140,000 and then mosquito control reserves of $302,344.
[8:54:11] Awesome.
[8:54:12] Thank you.
[8:54:14] Senator Rogers.
[8:54:15] And if I can get clarification, those are the cuts,
[8:54:17] and then the other change to the budget
[8:54:20] would be the inclusion of the seven positions from the library
[8:54:25] that I had removed from the budget, correct?
[8:54:29] And that would be it.
[8:54:30] It's only a touch on the change.
[8:54:31] It's a pleasure
[8:54:35] as a board.
[8:54:35] or what do we, you need to make a motion to have those changes in the budget.
[8:54:39] Yes, you need to make a motion to amend it.
[8:54:42] That the budget, the budget, the budget, and the manager just described.
[8:54:45] I'll make the motion to amend the budget so that it's described.
[8:54:48] Thank you.
[8:54:49] I got a motion by Commissioner Alaco, a second by Commissioner Champion.
[8:54:54] Any further discussion?
[8:54:57] Do we have to go to?
[8:55:00] Public comment again. We've already had public comment once. I mean, we've very done public comment. So it's only one agenda item on the agenda. Okay.
[8:55:15] All in favor. Aye. Any opposed? Okay. Passes for zero. Any further business, Mr. Administrator? No. The first budget public hearing is on Thursday, September 10, at 501. These chambers. Thank you.
[8:55:32] Okay, I'll just say that, you know, this is a really proud day for this board.
[8:55:41] We worked together, appreciate all of your work, appreciate all of the work from staff.
[8:55:48] Again, we work together, we're in this together for a better Hernando.
[8:55:52] So I'm proud to be one of you as well.
[8:55:54] Thank you very much.
[8:55:56] We're adjourned. It's 551. You'll have a great night.