[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.]

[3:30] Good evening, everyone. Please turn off your phones or put them on silent.
[3:35] And I will start the budget meeting at 6.30. Please stand for the pledge.
[3:51] Thank
[4:03] you.
[4:08] Roll call, please.
[4:09] Commissioner Brocky.
[4:10] Here.
[4:11] Commissioner Dharminio.
[4:12] Here.
[4:12] Commissioner Roli.
[4:13] Here.
[4:14] Vice Mayor Caputo.
[4:15] Here.
[4:15] Mayor Newton.
[4:16] Here.
[4:17] City manager.
[4:30] Thank you, Mr. Mayor and members of the commission. This is a follow-up to the last budget workshop
[4:37] where the commission thoroughly reviewed all of the funds in the city budget as well as
[4:43] gave direction on the tentative milligrate. At that commission meeting, the proposed operating
[4:48] milligrate was flat from the current fiscal year at 6.2270. The commission authorized
[4:54] tentative millidrate of $6.000 resulting in an overall budget reduction of $500 and about
[5:06] $542,000. Within the backup of this evening's agenda is a summary of the budget changes
[5:13] that were made to balance that the primarily were I'm sorry it's about
[5:20] five hundred and sixty thousand. There was a negotiation of our fire
[5:26] agreement and we were able to lower the cost of the general fund portion of that
[5:30] agreement by one hundred thirty two thousand as well as reduce the city's
[5:36] contribution for exempt organizations for fire services of about seven thousand
[5:41] and other operational reductions were made.
[5:45] The city commission provided direction
[5:47] to reduce capital expenditure by $100,000,
[5:52] and that was related specifically to one project.
[5:55] There's also an appropriation of fund balance.
[5:57] There was a discussion about that at the budget workshop
[6:00] and trying to bring that down
[6:02] as an overall percentage of the general fund operating.
[6:06] So at this meeting, our intention is to
[6:11] see if there's consensus on the recommended changes and to understand your direction on the final millage rate because we have our
[6:20] public hearings and
[6:22] Need to publish our advertisements in September
[6:28] All right. Thank you now. We'll ask anybody from the public like to speak to
[6:32] Come up. You get three minutes. Just state your name
[6:35] If you would and address
[6:47] Mary all two eight one nine Northwest 12th Avenue. Good evening
[6:53] Last week you were emailed a petition from 75 Wilton Manors residents who are seniors
[7:00] in response to Mayor Newton's request for input into the 26-27 budget.
[7:07] Programs offered through leisure services such as brains and balance, chair volleyball, library
[7:14] activities, music, and movie events in our parks play a vital role in supporting the health
[7:21] and well-being of older residents.
[7:24] These activities help us stay socially connected,
[7:27] physically engaged, and mentally stimulated.
[7:34] Social isolation among seniors is a huge issue
[7:39] as supported by scientific research.
[7:42] It is particularly damning for older adults who are less able
[7:47] to cope with its negative effects
[7:50] and it significantly increases the risk of death, heart disease, stroke, and dementia.
[7:56] As of June 2025, residents of Wilton Manors age 65 and older comprise 23% of the population.
[8:08] As you consider budget priorities, we respectfully ask that you recognize the importance of
[8:15] programs to maintaining a healthy, connected, and thriving senior community and ensure that
[8:22] they remain supportive and accessible. Thank you.
[8:25] Thank you. Anyone else like to come up?
[8:31] Come on up.
[8:38] Somebody can't hear? What?
[8:40] You can come up. Okay. That's okay. Anybody else for budget? Seeing none. I'll close
[8:50] the public hearing, and if we could turn up when we have ComMess during the
[8:56] River City Commission meeting so people can hear. And if you just pull the
[8:58] microphone closer to your to your mouth it's better so you can hear more. You
[9:03] are talking about there whoever said they couldn't hear, right? It's everything.
[9:08] Sit closer.
[9:11] All right there's only one comment and I'd just like to make
[9:15] comment for it not a comment but City Manager, has there any of those
[9:20] progress been cut from our budget?
[9:24] No was the answer just so you I don't think any
[9:28] of us here wanted to cut that part of our budget. No. All right let's start
[9:32] anybody want to have any comments on tonight? Go ahead Don. Sure so at the
[9:39] last budget workshop we reduced the we agreed to reduce the millage rate from
[9:46] from 6.2270 to 6.0.
[9:50] We are almost at the rollback rate, which is 5.9835.
[9:57] And we've cut the taxes for next year by $542,000 already.
[10:04] It's only an additional $40,000 or so
[10:07] to adopt the rollback rate, which would mean no new taxes.
[10:12] is it would be the same taxes last year.
[10:16] So I really think I don't ever recall our city adopting
[10:20] the rollback rate.
[10:21] And I think that we have an opportunity to do that.
[10:25] So I would like to recommend that we
[10:28] adopt the rollback millage rate of 5.9835.
[10:33] Where would you suggest you take it from?
[10:35] It would come out of the unassigned balance.
[10:37] OK.
[10:39] anybody has any comments about that so I got my my trim notice and it was based
[10:45] on though what we had set here the highest limit and my taxes only went up
[10:49] $8 which I was pretty excited because that was the lowest increase of any of
[10:52] the things on that bill and that was knowing that we were still going to
[10:54] take it down lower from there so as much as all the taxes are all too high
[10:58] everywhere it was encouraging that ours were sort of the the lowest of
[11:02] them in that way as far as supporting the world-back rate for
[11:05] $42,000 I I mean I think it's a it shows good financial stewardship to do that
[11:10] and it doesn't matter to me if it comes from the fund balance or I continue to
[11:13] argue that some of our stress revenue like the fine revenue is a little bit
[11:19] low if we took $42,000 under that that's fine too it doesn't matter to
[11:23] me which where you want to play with it from okay anybody down here yeah I
[11:28] would support the rollback rate I would support the rollback rate but I
[11:31] I wouldn't take it out of the fund balance.
[11:34] I would suggest that we raise our revenue estimate for code
[11:38] fines.
[11:44] I do.
[11:45] Thank you.
[11:48] Mr. Terminio, I appreciate you coming back
[11:51] and proposing that I've been talking
[11:53] about the rollback rating since the first budget meeting
[11:56] that we've had.
[11:57] So I appreciate, finally, somebody
[11:58] or more people now agreeing with me.
[12:00] I don't necessarily agree where we get those funds from.
[12:04] I believe we should be pulling these from recurring costs.
[12:07] I don't believe we should be using the unassigned balance fund to pay for that.
[12:12] Nor do I think we should just artificially raise revenue to make up for that.
[12:19] In that 542,000, there's already 194,000 from the fund balance.
[12:25] Correct.
[12:27] And again, I don't think that's the right way to do it, right?
[12:29] When we talked about going back to the rollback rate of previous meetings,
[12:33] that 542,000, it's about a 2% reduction in the general fund.
[12:37] That's, again, two pennies people.
[12:39] We're talking about two cents in efficiencies.
[12:41] And it's up to the city manager to find them.
[12:44] I had conversations with her.
[12:45] She said we may need to discuss potential services
[12:48] that may need to be adjusted.
[12:50] Times, I think that's the way to go.
[12:52] I don't think it should be increasing
[12:55] a revenue artificially or from the unassigned balance
[12:59] fund.
[12:59] And then I also just want to make a comment.
[13:03] Again, people will not be paying the same taxes as last year.
[13:06] Although we are reducing the millitrate,
[13:10] all the other fees, except for the fire fee, are going up.
[13:14] So city manager, what was the average cost increase?
[13:18] I think it was $230 or $230 from the fees.
[13:25] Yes and for anybody that would like to see a reference to the numbers that you're
[13:31] speaking about we do have in the backup an overall household change to fees and
[13:40] taxes for an average taxpayer and an average utility rate customer for I
[13:47] I think our house would save our homes
[13:51] with a taxable value of 400,000.
[13:54] We'll have a reduction in taxes of 27 per year
[13:57] and the fire assessment of 19 per year.
[13:59] However, utility rates will be increasing.
[14:03] And so for a typical single family household
[14:05] with an average consumption,
[14:07] they will see a $264 per year increase
[14:12] in water, stormwater, sewer, garbage, fees.
[14:17] And so again, can you say that number again?
[14:20] Just so everyone can increase.
[14:29] 264.
[14:30] So although, Commissioner, I appreciate your bill going
[14:33] down $8, just specifically based on the millage rate.
[14:40] With this budget, everyone's taxes are going up.
[14:44] And that's an average.
[14:45] Europe is an average of people who would save our homes.
[14:48] Do we have an estimate of what the change in the millage
[14:52] rate will do to people without saving our homes. You may be saving $1 and people
[14:56] always say $40 depending on the value of your house if you're homesteaded.
[15:01] No, that actually was difficult to calculate. A house would save our homes. It's based upon
[15:08] the taxable value of the property. A property would save our homes taxable value increased
[15:13] across the board uniformly 2.7%. And that's based on a state statute formula. For a property
[15:20] that doesn't have save our homes, and we're talking about commercial and residential properties,
[15:25] properties, it's not uniform. There are properties that decreased in taxable value and some properties
[15:32] that increased as much as 10%. The average taxable value of a non-homesteaded property
[15:39] between 26 and 25 actually decreased when we look at just the averages. And I don't
[15:47] think that that's, it's not consistent for every property. So looking at overall
[15:53] It's a decrease in Avalorum, but we know that's not the case for many non-homestead properties.
[16:00] So for a non-homestead second homeowner that has a million-dollar house here supporting
[16:05] our community coming down during the winter, potentially their taxes are going up 10%.
[16:09] If their taxable value increased by 10%.
[16:12] So potentially their taxes are going up $1,000 while yours may be going down $8.
[16:16] In addition to the $265 that's going up.
[16:21] So it's hard for me to talk about here
[16:26] how we're reducing, reducing the budget, reducing the budget.
[16:28] Folks, just be clear, this budget
[16:30] raises every single one of your taxes, OK?
[16:34] I'm not a mathematician.
[16:35] I'm not an accountant.
[16:36] All I know is if I'm paying more next year
[16:39] than I'm paying more this year, it's a tax increase.
[16:42] Ultimately, that's what it comes down to.
[16:44] And I struggle because people on this commission
[16:47] will talk about, we need workforce housing.
[16:49] people on bartenders should be able to live on Bolton Drive right close to
[16:54] where they work. It's already unaffordable they can't do that and by
[16:58] increasing taxes on non homesteaded properties you think landlords are going
[17:02] to eat that cost? No they're gonna pass that cost right off to the tenants just
[17:06] to make the city more and more unaffordable. Again my point is with
[17:10] this budget your taxes are going up no matter how much you hear the word
[17:13] reduce reduction rollback rate. Your taxes are going up unless we continue to
[17:18] fine recurrent savings and it may be a form of another $500,000. I don't think
[17:23] the city manager we talked about it yesterday was able to get to a number
[17:27] of where your taxes will be zero increase with those assessments.
[17:32] Ultimately that's where I want to be. We all shop in publics, we know how
[17:37] things cost and I think it's our duty to the public to try to help just a
[17:42] little bit with this affordability crisis.
[17:46] Well you're right about one thing everybody's water bill and electric bill
[17:50] or water bill and screw bills going up. Check every city in Broward County.
[17:54] They all have the same problem. Pipes are getting old. They have to redo their
[17:59] pipes, stations, everything that we do they're doing. So it's not uncommon right
[18:03] now to do that. I think we're ahead of the curve compared of a lot of cities
[18:08] in Broward County on doing that. It's going to cost a lot of other cities a
[18:11] lot more money is costing us because we've been doing it for quite a few years now.
[18:17] But get down brass tax. If the city has not charged you any more money in taxes this year,
[18:23] the city of Wilton Manors and the city commission up here is doing a good service done. It's
[18:27] just for ourselves because we all live here, of course, but for all of you. How many of
[18:30] your homesteaded homes? Just curious. How many live in Wilton Manors? I'm just curious
[18:36] because I mean there aren't people I know come in not from Wilton Manors. So most
[18:39] Most of you are home-setted, so most of you will not see an increase in the city part
[18:43] of the taxes.
[18:45] And yes, the rest will be school board and others that are going to be raised.
[18:49] But I think we've done a really good job here this year, especially when we don't know what's
[18:55] going to happen because of Amendment 3 coming up.
[18:58] Sorry, you pushed the button.
[18:59] Go ahead and turn it.
[19:00] I think it's the red one.
[19:01] No?
[19:02] No?
[19:04] No?
[19:04] All right.
[19:05] Meeting's over.
[19:06] No.
[19:07] It's alright. It's alright. It didn't hurt anything. You're okay. But we can take it
[19:17] out of the, you know, add fines for code and put it in there. If we come up short, it's
[19:22] going to come out of unfunded balance. We can take it out of unfunded balance and,
[19:27] you know, if it doesn't meet, we can average that way. So it doesn't really matter where
[19:30] we take it out of. So I don't care. Whoever wants to make a motion and put in either
[19:34] one let's do that but I think we're on the same page here. There's additional points I just wanted to
[19:39] finish this conversation. Yeah no I wanted to finish up this part of the conversation so
[19:43] I don't know if you all want to come to an agreement on where the money's going to come from
[19:47] or well first of all are we agreeing upon the fact that we're going to lower it down to the
[19:51] rollback rate? I am. Everybody in favor say aye. Yeah I am. All right now. Can we just can
[19:58] can we just ask the city manager to explain to everyone what that means the rollback rate?
[20:03] The rollback rate? Sure. The rollback rate is the millage rate that would need to be assessed
[20:09] for the city to receive, collect the exact same dollars from property taxes as the prior fiscal
[20:16] year. It doesn't translate to each property paying the same amount because there's changes
[20:21] individually from property sales and homestead versus non-homestead, but it's the rate that
[20:26] would result in the city collecting the exact same amount.
[20:30] So from property taxes, it would be no, a zero tax increase to the city from the property
[20:38] tax perspective.
[20:38] From a collection, yes.
[20:40] From a property tax collection.
[20:41] And the aggregate.
[20:42] Okay.
[20:43] Thank you.
[20:44] So you, anybody want to make a motion to, I will make a motion that we.
[20:50] This is workshop.
[20:52] Oh, that's right.
[20:53] That's right.
[20:54] We're just giving you direction.
[20:55] That's right.
[20:55] Thank you.
[20:56] All right.
[20:57] I have additional questions for that for this part not for necessarily for this
[21:02] part now okay I mean it's about where I couldn't take it from oh yeah no you
[21:06] could all decide that where the money's gonna come from yeah well we got to get
[21:10] the city manager direction or you come from recurring some type of recurring
[21:14] cost otherwise next year we're in the same position of here we are now we
[21:18] need to find additional dollars because we took it from the unassigned balance
[21:21] balance funds from the revenue perspective.
[21:25] On a recurring basis, we have understated some revenues,
[21:29] including code, which is why the fund balance continues to grow.
[21:33] Let's not make up revenue and just say arbitrarily it's going to come from there, but consistently
[21:37] we have understated the code compliance revenue over the last three years
[21:41] and we have pending foreclosures, a growing list of pending foreclosures.
[21:47] I'm confident that we can get from the
[21:48] one million to the one million forty thousand.
[21:52] I just I think it doesn't make
[21:53] sense to do that otherwise. I agree with that. Can the city managers just
[22:00] remind us of what the current code revenue is in the budget? I know for the
[22:05] last three years we've had a million dollars or so of money coming in
[22:10] consistently every year for the last three years. I just don't recall what
[22:14] we budgeted for code fines. The proposed budget includes one million
[22:18] dollars in revenue okay all right so I'm for taking it out of a fun balance yeah
[22:27] so or we can increase it by the forty thousand dollars and if we don't meet
[22:31] that target to your point mayor it would come out of the unassigned fund
[22:34] balance that's fine for me I didn't understand how you I suggested that we
[22:47] Let me increase the code, find revenue, but I think it's $40,902 is the amount.
[22:53] And I said, if we don't meet that target, it would ultimately come out of the undersigned fund balance.
[22:58] Just like any other expense.
[23:00] Right, I agree.
[23:01] All right, so you have place four, I don't know where you're at.
[23:04] It's just bad accounting for us.
[23:06] It's four.
[23:08] Okay, anything else for the budget?
[23:10] Yeah, so I talked to the city manager.
[23:12] We have two years left on the city hall bond.
[23:15] we have payments paying interest on and you know there's a debt millage rate that
[23:21] we have here. The interest that we collect on that is variable and it's
[23:29] extremely small so I want to just have the conversation maybe City Manager you
[23:33] could provide more edification to the residents of what I'm talking about
[23:39] here. This city hall construction was funded through a voter approved debt
[23:48] service millage rate meaning the city put on a referendum for voters to approve
[23:55] an additional millage rate which shows up on your tax bill each year that
[24:01] provides the exact amount of revenue to the city that's needed to make the
[24:05] annual debt service payment on the 2008 City Hall bond. Once that bond is paid off, that
[24:13] debt service millage rate would go away. We have two years left to pay for that. So for
[24:20] the next two tax years, our voters would be paying .1598 mills. The total amount that
[24:29] the city owes is $780,736 with an interest rate of 1.46%.
[24:39] There is no prepayment penalty if we make the payment in full.
[24:46] So I'm making the recommendation that we take the 740 to something
[24:50] thousand from the unassigned balance fund,
[24:52] pay down that loan, and then we
[24:55] could take that debt millage rate off of the books.
[24:58] Do we make any interest on our money?
[25:03] Yes.
[25:03] Our cash is part of a state investment pool called Florida Prime.
[25:08] The interest rate that we receive on those investments is 3.83%.
[25:14] There's a, obviously if we pre-pay the loan, there's an opportunity cost of revenue loss.
[25:20] $13,588 is the difference between estimated interest received versus the interest that
[25:28] would be paid. So just to be clear what would we save by paying this off instead
[25:34] of just leaving it alone and paying the two years like it is now since we're
[25:38] getting pay or getting interest on our money as it is now. Assuming the interest
[25:42] rate doesn't change over that period of time we would receive $13,588.
[25:48] That's what we would lose by pre-paying. So it would be that plus
[25:54] Because the interest paid 24,000, about 25,000 is the interest we would earn.
[26:02] Just want to make both sides of it, because we're earning money on that money, so.
[26:06] Anybody else have a feeling about this?
[26:09] You know, just with the interest that we're earning being higher than what we're saving,
[26:14] it's like, it's the opportunity cost, it doesn't make sense for me to do that.
[26:17] Because then it really means we need to figure out where that 25,000 revenue ultimately
[26:21] is going to come from because that is certainly playing into our overall budget as it is.
[26:24] It's a variable interest rate.
[26:27] Interest rates may not stay the same,
[26:28] and then you get to reduce the debt billage rate
[26:30] and just take it off the books.
[26:31] The money's sitting in the unassigned balance fund.
[26:35] Just an idea?
[26:36] Don?
[26:37] Yeah, no, no, I appreciate the thought.
[26:42] My only concern, of course, is that we have tax reform looming,
[26:46] and we will know the results of that November 3.
[26:50] But if we've already agreed to reduce the rollback
[26:55] to adopt the rollback rate, which reduces our taxes by $600,000 or so.
[27:01] We may need, part of that unassigned balance, if tax reform passes.
[27:07] This city will need to cut $4 million a year, it's a lot of money.
[27:12] And we do need some money to survive in the interim.
[27:15] So, while I would tend to agree with Commissioner Brocky just because of tax reform looming and
[27:26] the low interest rate, I'm just not sure that now is the time to do that.
[27:31] If tax reform doesn't pass, I would tend to agree with you to get rid of that portion
[27:36] of the debt-militrate.
[27:37] That's not through votes, we can move on.
[27:40] The other thing I wanted to bring up, I talked to the city manager, we have some
[27:44] line items in the budget for contractual services and professional fees. They're just
[27:49] listed. And the actual detail is not in the budget book. I would like for transparency
[27:54] purposes to the residents. I would like that to be published before part of the backup
[27:59] before the next meeting. This way everyone could see what those expenditures are.
[28:04] We'll do.
[28:04] Make sense.
[28:05] Thank you.
[28:06] Sounds good.
[28:07] Anything for the good of the budget? All right. There's a meeting at adjourn. We'll
[28:12] Well, it started at 7 o'clock for the regular sleeper.