9:30. Um, we're calling the Bradford County Board of County Commissioner meeting to order. If you would all stand, Commissioner Re is going to lead us in the invitation and pledge of allegiance. >> Let's pray. Our father in heaven and father, we just thank you so much for another day of life. Thank you, Father,
for having your hand upon each and every one of us in this room. And Father, I just pray for today. Dear Lord, I just pray you'll be with us, lead and guide and direct us. Help us, dear Lord, to make good decisions that will help all the citizens of Bradford County. Father, we lift up the firefighters to you that
was involved in that fire last night. I just pray you'll be with each and every one of them, have your hand upon that entire situation, Father. And father I just again we thank you so much for everything you do. Please lead and guide and direct us. Jesus name I pray. Amen.
I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Um, let the record show that
Commissioner Thompson is absent today and we continue to lift uh his family and our prayers for the loss of his um his mother-in-law um this past week. Okay. And we do have a quorum. All right. Um at this time, we will hear our
public comments. again uh as you approach the podium just make sure that you speak into the mic so that we can hear you and get recorded. Okay. And the first one we have um is Mr. Paul Steel.
Paul Steel 14167 Southwest 101st Avenue Store. Uh my focus this morning is primarily budget items, but I want to start with Cypress Run uh boat ramp. Uh I noted in the capital improvement uh handout that came with your budget uh
workshop uh under parks and recreation cypress run boat ramp uh seeking funding from FWC that's Florida wildlife conservation or commission and
then it's the value is $1,296,000 and that's for uh 2026 27 that uh grant does not appear on the agenda that will be uh evaluating boat
ramp grants. So that number possibly or probably should be moved to uh the fiscal year 2027 2028. Uh I believe that application has some fairly serious uh engineering design
problems and permitting problems. I think before it's resubmitted uh next year, uh the county should have another engineering firm look at it. I don't think you can uh get that funded or per the the current plans funded and
permitted. I emailed you uh before uh your last meeting some suggestions about the county budget. I think one of the real concerns is the cost of vehicle fuel and
I think uh I noted in your the handouts that you received some departments increased their fuel estimates other part other uh departments did not. I think it's real important to have try to get a pretty good handle on what those
fuel costs may be. You can do that by looking at what your fuel costs have been since uh gas prices and fuel and diesel prices have gone up. Clearly, the sheriff's department, the public works, and uh fire and rescue are the really
ones that are going to be hit the hardest without increase in fuel. A big thing I think you should consider is uh selling the conference center. Uh, and unless that conference center is making you more money than you would get
if you invested the re uh proceeds, I think it's a source of income for you. And quite frankly, if I were a business outside of the state of Florida and was looking at Bradford County and saw that you had a conference center named the Charlie John's Conference Center, I'd
cross you off that list immediately. If you're not aware of the the history of Charlie Jones, I think you should be uh be informed about that. The other thing that you could do, I think, would be to uh look at the uh solid waste collection centers, a
reduced hour, reduce some hours, and possibly even uh consider reducing uh one or two of those centers. And then also looking at uh having an in-house engineer. I think you can probably save money if you had a in-house engineer. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Next, we have Bo Hast. >> Good morning, commissioners. U the last meeting we were at with Miss Linda Dietrich, she was talking about a lot of stuff and I noticed uh cuz I left a few minutes early, but I did go home and finish the meeting. And it was stated uh
I've heard from Mr. Cornnegay stated several times that there's no funding for road connectivity out there at the Keystone Heights airport. But here's my thing. I understand that there hasn't been any funding this year in the 2526 budget which started October
the 1st. But last year, July 1st, as you see this picture right here of all you commissioners in it with Representative Brandon, you got funding for the connectivity out there at Keystone. And in the thing, it says
Keystone Heights Airport Road connectivity. Y'all received $744,588 for that connectivity. And yes, I realize that was last July 1st, but it was only two months before the new budget. So, where is that money at? If there's no money for connectivity, where
did that money go to? I understand you're wanting more money this year from Representative Brandon for this. But I just want to know where that $744,588 went because even on his Facebook page, Representative Bran's Facebook page, it states connectivity to the airport. The
four things on the bottom of that check in this picture that I had blowed up, it all adds up to the check amount. The JRE, almost a million dollars, you know, school renovations, the Keystone Heights airport connectivity, the sheriff's radio upgrade system and
the courthouse renovations. Uh, have we already used that $744,000 or is it just sitting somewhere? because we keep hollering, uh, there's no funding for that. There's no funding for that. So, where is that 744,000?
That was 2 months before the new budget started. I don't think y'all paid anything out there in that 2 months. And then another thing I noticed that uh I've spoken to a lady, she come to me. She was at the county manager's office back in December because some of you commissioners have rental property, but
yet your rental property didn't have a trash tax and a fire tax on it. So she came up here and raised came got sent to the county manager's office and you had to pay that fire tax and trash tax, but yet from 2012 to 2024, there was no
trash tax on your rental property. So, I would just think that should be addressed because if you're saying that property was unlivable because that's what was stated, but when she drove by there, she took a picture of people living in your rental property, I think you should have to retroact that trash
tax and have to pay that because you shouldn't if we have to pay it and you vote on us to pay these taxes, then you should be liable as well to pay your taxes. And I understand most of your rental properties are in the city, but that one wasn't. And so I think you need
to retrograde and pay that back trash. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next we'll have Sonia Jones. Hi. Uh good morning. My name is Sonia Jones. I'm a property owner at 2177 Southeast State Road 100 in Stark,
Florida. I'm here today to address the commissioners regarding the loss of access to my property upon the completion of the rails to trails crosswalk over state road 100 at the year end of 2023 the beginning of 2024. The loss of assets assets is
specifically metal stakes along the eastward rightway of state road 100 and a ditch that prevents the use of what has always been our driveway. My dad, Gary Stone, purchased this property 40 years ago in 1986. And up until the crosswalk was completed, there
was driveway access from State Road 100. We never had an issue in how we accessed our property from any private or government entity until the landlock took place. I had communications with FDOT, the party responsible for placing
these restrictions. despite the property description reading to a point where said westernly boundary intersects with the easternly boundary of State Road 100 and that on other land entities existing survey documents that are recorded what
is or was my driveway is depicted. FDOT states I have no legal access to my property that the surveys that are recorded with this old driveway indicate that not all of the property it lies on is owned by me. There is no recorded easement on file and I have no property
survey recorded as of this point. Thus, FDOT has stated that I do not own frontage that gives me direct access to State Road 100. I have contacted Mr. Patrick Welsh with Welsh Land Surveying who contacted Mr. Jason Dods who is your public works
director for Bradford County. And so for the past several months, I have been in conversation and met with he and Mr. dods in an attempt to survey my land and establish legal easement. Jason indicated on December of 2025 that he had the county manager's approval and
could obtain an easement over Bradford County land for me. But as of today, no easement has been established. In addition, during this time, Mr. Dods has presented to me that the county may be interested in purchasing my land to
expand the Bradford County dump. Per his request, I emailed him on April 1st of 2026 with what my asking price would be for my property as I would entertain any reasonable offer. At this time, no offer has been extended
by the county. In short, it has been a lot of exchange with no resolution thus far. And after what has now been 2 years since I have lost access to my private property through no intentional fault of my own, I am here before you seeking due
diligence from the board first and foremost on the matter of reestablishing access to my property as indicated by Mr. Dods. I do appreciate you hearing my grievance today and thank you. >> Thank you.
Next we have um Jenna Telada Talita. I'll get it right. All right this down. All right. My name is Jenna Toita. I live at 22186 Northwest 70 Avenue in
Stark. Um I wanted to take this time to um announce my candidacy for County Commissioner District 2. Um and I'm running because I believe the government should work for the people who live here, not just for the people who
already know how to navigate the system. I'm a native Floridaian, a serve resident, a single working mom, and a healthc care provider. In my work, I've learned how important it is to listen first, treat people with dignity, and
focus on real solutions. That is exactly the approach I want to bring to county government. Right now, too many residents feel decisions are made before they ever have a chance to be heard. People have questions about fire assessments, county buildings, zoning
decisions, growth, roads, emergency services, how our tax dollars are being used, potential data centers, the uses of our our environment and resources in that way. Those are not partisan issues.
Those are everyday issues that affect our homes, our safety, and our future. My platform is simple. open government, responsible growth, fair zoning, better roads, stronger emergency services, and
real transparency about how public money is spent, as well as not having a data center or a detention center, I should. Um, I want residents to be able to understand what is happening. I ask
questions without ask questions without being dis dismissed and trust that their commissioner is working for them. I'm running because um I'm running because I believe that Bradford County deserves representation,
visibility, and a voice. Um this campaign is about showing up, listening, and building trust one conversation at a time. I'm asking for your support, guidance, and your help uh reaching voters across District 2.
Together, we can build a campaign that gives people hope and reminds them that local government belongs to all of us. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um next, we'll have Anna Dods. >> Good morning. >> Morning. My name is Anna Dods, 455088
Muscle White Road, Callahan, Florida. Um, good morning to the board. I'm here I've been a previous resident of Baker County and now currently Nassau County and I'm here today as a director of nursing at Wellenu. We are a multipety outpatient practice that provides wound
care, podiatry, interventional pain, interventional vascular care to patients all across Northeast Florida. We are a rapidly growing company. We have two major hubs. One in North Jacksonville where we have a ambulatory surgery center and one in Klay County at Fleming
Island where we have a hyperbaric oxygen chamber as well. We have observed that 25% of our current population resides in rural northeast Florida and they have to travel from Jackson to Jacksonville for their treatment. We do try to support them by providing transportation.
However, to further address their mobility and travel needs, we are aiming to open a satellite clinic here in Bradford County so patients of Bradford County can have closer care and specialty care closer to home. Coming from a rural background myself, I
realize how vital it is to have access to good health care, especially specialty care, which is often lacking in the rural areas. Our purpose today is just to introduce well and you outline our hopes and our initiatives for Bradford County. We also need help in facilitating documentation for the rural
health transformation program. We would like to request from the board a warm introduction to the department of health. We are required to have a brief acknowledgement or letter of support from the state. I'm also attempting to establish a connection independently,
but a warm introduction would be greatly appreciated. The co-founder, Dr. Dr. Ragu Murphy would like to attend but he's unable to due to performing surgeries at our outpatient based lab. We're fully committed to this project and we would just like to your support
and just wanted to say thank you for all you do and say hello. >> Thank you. >> Okay. And let's see. Next we have um Christopher Amos. this thing. So, good morning. My name is
Christopher Amos, 7155 Southeast Second Place, Stark, Florida. Um, I might be running a little bit slow right now. My ninth child, fourth son, was born less than 4 hours ago. I was up all night. No, I I appreciate that, but that leads
kind of directly into what I want to talk about. Also, uh Danny, thank you for the prayer this morning. I I appreciate that we start these meetings with prayer. Um it's extremely important that, you know, we uh we give credit to
our maker where it's due. Maybe one day we can get rid of that atheist monument out there. But we we are a Christian nation. We were founded as a Christian Christian nation. And I want to live as as much as our nation has fallen away, I want to live
in a Christian nation, a Christian state, and a Christian county. Um, and uh, I've made Bradford County my home. I live down in South Bradford County. And the one thing I wanted to I wanted to talk uh, briefly about or some of the concerns I have with um, a lot of the u
development ideas in the uh, in the immediate vicinity of including the airport. Uh last meeting uh Laura Dietrich was giving her brief about the strategic development plan and one of their major focal areas is the 42 Juliet
Keystone Heights airport and the main part of her talk in that development plan which has also been mentioned other places. is the Keystone Heights Airport Authority and the Northeast Florida Economic Development Corporation have talked about this as well. And that's
flirting with the Raina Group and uh and their plans. So, I love airports, by the way. Uh I'm a I'm a pilot. That's how I've made my living. That's how I served in the military before. And uh the Keystone Heights airport is a genuine treasure. We need to make sure that we preserve it as such. So is our rural
culture here. Um, but right there in the backyard, we've got Crystal Lake, Crystal Lake home sites. You got Camp Montgomery, Camp Crystal, the folks in Teresa, and many, many others. And it concerns me, this project for two reasons. The cultural impact, and for
lack of a better word, I'm not a tree hugger, but the environmental impact, cuz we're talking about a 700 acre industrial area with ultimately $10 billion of investment funneling in this. I've got some articles here. I don't have time to read them, but basically,
you know, 700 acres is a lot of territory and $10 billion, that's a lot of money. You could buy yourself an aircraft carrier for that nuclearpowered. Um, you could pay the Bradford County budget over a hundred times annually for everybody in District 4. You cut them a
check for over $2 million. So we're inviting Muslims, I'm sorry, Muslims, we're inviting foreigners potentially with Muslim and Hindu culture and a lot of other things that'll be very powerful with a big big wallet and deep pockets that'll influence our culture in Brenford County. >> Thank you.
>> Ask that you take that into your >> Thank you. >> in your thoughts. Thank you. >> All right. Behind us strong. Thanks. Good morning. Today I come before the board with uh a couple requests.
Um all of the counties around us um seem to be um thinking um ahead of what Bradford County is thinking because I didn't see anything
on our uh uh agenda and that's about the uh what could happen if we could have a data center and there's nothing that
the citizens don't want a data center in our county. Um, and that's a uh a possibility that that could happen. Um, Nassau County is taking it up. Uh, Duval
County is is taking it up, but Bradford County is always late. Um, we're always and I don't know if if you know we think that that's a wonderful thing, but if our county officials think that that's
wonderful, the citizens don't want it. Um, you have the lakes out there, uh, Crosby Lake, um, the other lakes, and that would be a wonderful pl that would be
the best place for them to decide that they want to put it. And, um, that would be where they would go into the woods. Um, and they would be there before you
knew it because that's where the that's where that's where they would go. Um, you would want to put a moratorum on them building and I think that that would be something
that this county needs to do just like the other counties are putting a moratorum on data centers being built in this county. just like you have done with some other
things is to place a moratorum on it as soon as possible. But we're always behind and we don't forink things. We react after the fact.
And I think that we need to be proactive instead of reactive. That's my thoughts. >> Thank you. At this time, um, we have action, uh, for the approval of our
consent agenda. >> I a motion. >> I make a motion to approve the consent agenda. >> Motion by Commissioner Re. >> Second. >> Second by Commissioner Andrews. Um, is there any further discussion or questions?
Give Commissioner Dory just a second. Can we just um receive a motion from Commissioner Revro the consent agenda with second by Commissioner Andrews? >> Questions, discussion? All in favor by the sign. I
>> I Any opposed? It's full of next action item. Um the recommendation for the bidder for the DOT. Um if county manager want to say anything regarding that I know Mr. Dawson here.
>> Uh no ma'am. I don't have anything to add. We've uh >> All right. >> We've covered all this. >> All right. This recommendation for the developer of the DOT for project 445571-1. This is in park um off Park Street and and the Loy area. Do I have a motion for
approval? >> I commission that we approve it as read. There's a motion approval for um this bidder uh Miss Andrews. M Andrews um made the motion. Is there a second to the motion?
>> Second. Second by Commissioner Reik. Any further discussion or questions regarding this? Not all by the sign. I >> Any oppos? Okay. Next, we'll have our clerk report. >> We're good. Nothing report this week.
>> Okay, >> Madam Chair, without anything else to vote on, I'm going excuse myself. >> Okay. Hope you get feeling better. meant uh the record could show that um committee commission uh commissioner Dory won't be here but the rep remains
for the meeting. Um he apparently is not well um anything from the sheriff's department. Okay. Next, the um county manager report. >> Yes, ma'am. Thank you, Madam Chair. I do have a couple of things this morning.
Uh, first of all, I would like to remind everyone that this Thursday, June 4th, is the ribbon cutting for the new pavilion at Little Lake Santa Fe Boat Ramp. This was a public private partnership between, uh, Bradford County, the Rotary Club of Stark, and
the TDC. So, uh, just want to invite everyone to join us, um, on Thursday afternoon at, I believe it's 5:00. Um, we'll have a uh, like I said, a ribbon cutting ceremony and I believe there will be refreshments there. So, we hope everyone can attend. The next thing
I want to talk about is uh, a little bit of an update, legislative update on the uh, tax reform special sess session that is underway in Tallahassee. As you know, I was at the Florida City and County Managers Association annual conference
last week, and of course, as you might expect, it was a uh it was an issue that was talked about for most of the week. Um, unfortunately, we don't know a whole lot more now than than we did then. Um, Senator Bradley is going to weigh in and
he has a better understanding of of what has happened yesterday and what may happen today. and I'd just like for him to to bring us up to speed on that. >> I'm I'm happy to happy to tell you what I what I know. Um and I think it's
probably best to describe it um by way of a timeline. Um last week uh Governor DeSantis um called a special session of the legislature
which began uh yesterday. Today's Tuesday uh and it will it is scheduled to it is scheduled to conclude tomorrow. Um in the call he asked them to consider what has been talked about for a long
time which is this um idea of putting an amend the constitutional amendment on the ballot for the voters's consideration in November dealing with abolum taxation. The governor then presented a proposal
um and the proposal was filed in both the house and the senate. Um and that proposal yesterday was amended fairly significantly uh in both the House and the Senate and
amended in the same way which uh while they are still meeting is in my experience a sign that that is going to be the position that the legislature is going to take on the matter. So, we don't know um where uh things will end
for sure, but I think we have a good idea where things are headed based on what you see is the amended product uh that uh was uh presented uh out of committee in both
the House and the Senate yesterday. they will go it will will go to the floor in its new amended form today in both the house and the senate and if those two match then that becomes the valid initiative that the voters would consider in November right let me
begin with um what the governor's proposal was and then because I think it is the best way to sort of describe what has happened and where we are right now uh the governor the governor's
proposal. Uh right now, uh in the state of Florida, um we have a homestead exemption. Uh the homestead exemption, um covers the first $25,000 of value. Uh and then it covers a second
$25,000 of value, but that second $25,000 does not in include school taxes. In other words, you pay uh school taxes on that second 25,000 of value under current law. So that's a
total of 50,000 of exemption assuming that your the value of your homestead is $75,000 or more. Um is that everybody with me there? Um, there's also in current law uh a 3%
cap on how much the valuation of your house can go up from year to year. Uh, even how much you can be taxed on the your the valuation of your home increase. So, the property appraiser may
say your home increased 10,000 I mean increase 10%. But in a given year, it would only go up 3%. Even though the valuation's higher, right? That's how it works in today's world. Nothing that has been proposed
would change that 3% cap that I just described. All right? Um, if you own a non-homestead of property, whether it be a rental property, apartment complexes, commercial property, any property that's not exempt from
taxation cuz it's government owned or not for profofit or church or something like that. Um, then the constitution has a similar restriction on how much the valuation can be an increase in
valuation can be taxed and that is 10%. right now. In other words, if if I own an apartment complex and the property appraiser decides that it increase in value by 20% from year to year, my taxes won't go up 20%, they would go
up 10%. Because of that 10% cap, that's how it is under current law. Right? Okay. So now I've now discovered now I've discussed what the rules are for homesteaded property which includes the 50% homestead
exemption and the 3%. 3%'s portable by the way. In other words, if you have if you change homes, if you sell your home and buy a new home in Florida in a given period of time, the savings that you've accumulated by
living in that first home can be transferred to your new homestead as long as you claim homestead in the new homestead. That's just an aside. that portability hasn't been discussed or messed with and that 3% hasn't been discussed or messed with in any of the
proposals whether it be from the governor or from the legislature. Right? All right. So, let's fast forward. The governor says in his proposal that instead of it being 50,000, it would be 250,000
of a homestead exemption, which is uh five times the amount of the homestead exemption if it were to become law um on homestead property alone. On homestead property alone, okay, remember the 10% cap that I discussed uh with
regards to non-homestead property, right? that would be reduced under the governor's proposal from 10% to 5%. So you would have uh only a 5% potential gain in uh tax liability from year to
year rather than the current 10% if this were to pass in the governor's proposal and in the legislaturator's changes that 10 to five is retained. that's likely going to be in the bill that is presented to the people to
everyone, right? The 10% to the 5%. Now, let's talk about the changes that the legislature made to the homestead proposal that the governor presented because the governor talked about going from 50,000 to 250,000 and he t that's a $200,000
delta between 50 and 250, right? Um in the governor's proposal that included all taxes. That included not only taxes that the county assesses, that includes taxes that the water management district assesses, that includes taxes the school
district assesses. So if the governor's proposed award would become law, there would be not only the losses and abdorum revenue to the counties, it would be to the school districts as well. All right.
The legislature yesterday uh amended the bill to remove schools So, schools would the the things the the bill that the legislature will consider today does not include the school um raising the exemption on school taxes to
250 from what is 25,000 right now. If you recall earlier, I said those two were decoupled schools and the rest uh under current on the current state of affairs. So, um, assuming that the legislature
moves forward and votes on what I just described, schools would be unaffected by, um, the actions, uh, that the voters may take in November. If that, in fact, is what the legislature passes.
The rest of the taxing authorities, including this one, would be affected if um, the legislature approves the amendment today and the voters approved the amendment in November, they would be affected in a manner that y'all
have discussed, but not quite like you've discussed. You've discussed full elimination of Avalor. What I'm describing is not full elimination of Avalor. It is um a full elimination of Homestead Avalor. What I'm describing is
not that. It is something that's a lot particularly in counties like Bradford which is going from 50 to 250 in terms of homestead exemption. All right. So that's going to be the question. That's the basic question the voters are going to need to consider is what would be the
um savings you would have and what would be the potential impact on the revenues of the government uh from taking that from 50 to 250. the homestead. All right. And the impacts of going from 10 to 5% lowering the cap on
non-homestead properties. Okay. Um there was discussion in the governor's proposal and it was included in the governor's proposal this idea that a trust fund
would be created to deal with the state paying to people who had shortfalls or something like that. That has been removed by the legislature. The legislature removed that because the
legislature said in its comments yesterday uh that they felt that that was misleading because that implied to the the vote that implied to the people uh who were considering the ballot
measure that there was not going to be an impact on what the government services could be provided because of this trust fund that will just fill in the gaps with extra money from the state. In other words, they felt like that was not
you can't guarantee that. And that was implying that perhaps you could that I'm not saying that's true or not true. I'm just saying what happened yesterday and why it was removed. They they removed it because they felt like it was uh it would be more a more
fair representation of the question by that not having the trust fund language in there. That doesn't mean that the legislature couldn't develop its own trust fund and do whatever it wants to do to help counties or anything like that. It just means that that won't be a
part of the constitutional ballot question or the constitution itself, which probably makes sense in that there was no funding mechanism for said trust fund. So saying that something exists and not having a funding mechanism probably there's probably good argument to make
that that's not that is a bit misleading. Um so I I don't disagree with the legislaturator's logic in the matter for whatever it's worth. um in and taking that out. There was some language uh in the
governor's proposal, not in in a in a um a um a bill that was a general law bill, a general bill that was going along with the constitutional amendment dealing with um uh
having notices being sent out through the trim notice process about the the thing and then having five a little over $5 million to do advertising. The legislature stroked that out because they felt like that would be improper
advocacy one way or the other. Uh and I think there's been some discussion about whether advocacy or was proper two years ago and some of these other and that's been that's been heavily discussed in the legislature and
the legislature decided to avoid all of that by taking out that part of it. There is still some discussion about in that in that bill that no longer includes the the advocacy piece for I don't want to
call the advocacy but I'm not trying I'm trying the uh part about the trim notices that's been removed but that bill also includes something something regarding if you recall there's some limitations on how you can
raise your millage and count by supermajorities and So they I think they made that more difficult to raise your millage. I'm not sure that's a lot relevant to Bradford County because y'all are, you know, pretty
maxed out. Um so I but that will be relevant to other places. I think they may have to have a unanimous or something uh to raise their millage um if that were to become law. I don't have the specifics of that,
but that's not going to be a part of the ballot amendment. All right? That would be just a general law that the legislature would consider uh today. That's where we are right now. Um, I told the man uh the county manager
that um now that you have an idea of what it looks like, it probably is good to sharpen the pencil and and discuss um what it would look like if it were to pass with the raising of 50 to 250. Um there's nothing um I'm not suggesting
you would do or not do or consider or not consider the following things but there's nothing in there talking about for instance the fire assessment doesn't affect that doesn't affect um utility taxes doesn't affect
solid waste assessments these are all things that are ways in which the local governments not just rather county may receive revenue and none of them are affected by the matters I'm just describing. The only manner of revenue
and taxation that is affected is what I just described. So just to add before I'm sure you got questions for the senator, but just to add a couple of things. When we did our initial analysis, we asked the tax collector to calculate what the
financial impact would be based upon a total elimination of abalorum tax as it related to homestead properties. Now, we know that there's going to be a cap of 250,000. That number will change slightly. I would not imagine that it
will change significantly. It'll be a little bit lower. we will conduct another analysis just to be uh so we can be more precise in our estimates. Um, but I I don't I don't anticipate there being a significant difference between
what we presented uh 2 months ago or however long it's been um and and now. Um the the senator did mention about just for additional information, the first 25,000
is exempt and then the amount from 50,000 to 75,000 is exempt. That's where you get your $50,000 exemption. that donut hole between 25,000 and 50,000 is currently taxed and that donut
hole will go away. Correct. >> Yes. Um that's a great clarification. The other clarification that um Thank you. Um it would not affect next year's budget because you're
um going to approve that in October. Uh and the thing won't be voted on until November. There is a a bit of a phase in and this needs to be um put into your numbers too. It would
be with the removal of the donut hole you just described uh 50 to 150 the first year. So that would be 0708.
And then in 0809 it would go from 150 to 250 cuz we're in 0607 right now. I'm sorry. Let me back up. Let me back up. >> I'm one year off. >> 20 years.
>> Oh, we're in We're in 26 27 right now. We're in that >> budget year in No, no, no. I take that back. We're in 25 26 right now and and I apologize in October you're
going to do the budget for 26 27 right >> this everything I described does not affect the revenues in that budget obviously you need to be planning and such depending on what happens but it would not right in in 2728
it would go from 50 to 150 and 2829 it would go from 150 to 250 50. That's the only caveat to everything I just described earlier. So, when you do your numbers, bake that into the cake as well. Um, but again, all this is
contingent on 60% of the people adopting it and it's contingent on the legislature actually doing what I just described, which it appears that's what they're on the way to doing based on my experience. Okay. So, Madam Chair, I would uh I would encourage you to ask questions um if you
have any while Senator Bradley is here and he has a much uh much closer view to what's going on there than I do. And um now' be a good time if if we wanted to ask questions. >> Okay. >> Any questions from the board? >> So, like you said, there's no no donut
donut hole. Basically, once they do the 250, if your house is valued less than 250, you don't pay any property taxes. Is that correct? >> If you own it and you're homesteading. >> If you're home Yes. Yes. If you're home. >> And that would be in two years or three
years. >> Right. Yeah. 150 to Okay. Okay. Whereas now, everybody pays a little bit on that. everybody pays that middle of the donut that um the county manager was describing that would go away. Okay. >> And and I think they said that I think
the data is somewhere around half the homes a little less maybe around that >> little less than half um are 250 or less in the state of Florida. So those people would no longer pay when when it's fully implemented would no longer pay um
property taxes on the county part. They would continue on the school part. So they would it would not all go away. I when we say all go away, I'm talking about for your purposes on the revenue side. And to add to add
to that, um, last week I saw >> again assuming the legislaturator's proposal that stripped the schools out of the is is the proposal that carries the day. >> I saw a presentation that um that showed
the top five municipalities in the state of Florida that would be adversely impacted by this as way. They did it in two ways. by way of percentage and by way of dollar amount. The number one municipality in the state of Florida
adversely impacted by percentage is Keystone Heights in Klay County. It would lose over 52% of its revenue, which I don't know how you maintain a local government with that
kind of loss. Uh, >> one of the questions I was going to ask >> before you one more one more quick thing. Number five on that list in the state of Florida is the town of Brooker. >> Um,
>> I know that that they understand I mean clearly they understand the impact. I mean is there do they have any plan to help the people I mean help these areas that will cease to exist? I mean is there any discussion about that?
>> There is um and there's discussion about um that very thing. Um, I uh I would encourage um as I always have for people to share
with their representatives their concerns. Number one, ultimately it's going to be in the voters's hands. And if that is if that is a concern that one has, then they probably should vote no. you know, if it
something they think can be overcome or is suitable, they should vote yes. Um I think that um if it does pass, there is going to be just away from
information. you know, we're going to have a new governor next year, and the governor and the speaker of the house, and the um senate president will appoint what is convened every 30 years in the state of Florida under our constitution, which
is the budget and taxation commission. And no one probably remembers the last thing they were together. It's been 30 years. Uh but it's um it convenes every 30 years and we're here. And I think over that time period you're
going to see a lot of consideration discussion amongst that commission about how to deal with that issue which is whether it's not whether it's revenue sources unrelated
to have aum to fill in that gap. um or whether it's a recommendation that a trust fund that the legislature consider a trust fund uh that has recurring revenue that's dedicated revenue or whatever whatever options are
there in the legislature itself if this passes I suspect we'll spend the next few years grappling with that that issue more than any other if the voters go in that direction >> and Senator appears to me the greatest
impact would be for a small rural community such as ours. And so for us as a as a board from a financial perspective then I summize um that in our pre-planning making the assumption
that this will probably pass uh and assuming the the voters will probably you know move it forward that then we have to look at what would that reduction mean for our county based on the current um u revenue that we receive
from from the property taxes because you know the average persons here don't have the over the 250,000 or greater um amount in their housing. So it's it's going to
have um a a greater impact on the small rural communities. And so in going forward and looking at um when we're looking at our budget, how much of an impact that would have based on our current um income that we take in from
that. >> I think I think you owe it to the um to your point, I think you owe it to the people of Bradford County um who you represent to give them just whatever the numbers are. >> Yeah. without you know without
this is this is the numbers and um yeah and y'all can figure out what your savings would be and y'all decide what what you want to do >> one way or the other and then um but I and I think it's good to plan now. I I
would the polling does not the polling's close. I wouldn't assume it's going to pass or not pass. you know, it's it it's yeah, this is going to be a pretty robust discussion amongst people in the state of Florida between now and and
November, you know, and um the polling does not provide a clear picture about whether it's going to pass or not. So, who knows? >> You guys have any other questions? >> I think that and I I talked to Mr. Carnegie. That's one one thing that we
really need to do is get it out to our constituents. Get it put it in the newspaper, the social media, um forms they can pick up from maybe the county manager's office with the information on it so that they're aware of what they're
voting on and what it will do to the county. I mean, um we owe it to them and I think we need to do that as quickly as we can. >> Yeah, there's two there's two sides of the equation. If this becomes a proposal, then people need to look at
what it would be their impact on their their bottom line, right? And then what and people they care about bottom line, family members, friends, whatever. And then what would be the cost of that savings and just weigh that? That's the
question. >> Any other just one question? So before they were talking about maybe increasing the sales tax to to make up so there's no talk about that at all either. >> No >> I I I don't know that anybody seriously
talked about that. I think other people in this there's noise out there that perhaps said that, but I I had never I've never heard any public official um and leadership in Tallahassee ever
utter those words. >> Okay. Thanks. >> Okay. So, I have a I don't mean to put you on the spot, Senator, but um I did have I did have a question about constitutionals. How does this impact the constitutional officer's budget or
does it at all? >> To the extent that um this doesn't preclude constitutionals getting money from the county in the same manner that they do right now in terms of the mechanism
as far as the amounts that are available to fund those efforts. Um I mean yeah it's a it's in effect. >> Okay so that answers my questions just because the >> nobody's held harmless. >> Okay that is
>> anybody who is funded through u a taxing authority that isn't the school district uh would be impacted by whatever this you know the revenue impacts are if this were to come off.
>> Okay. Any further questions from the board or from for the manager? >> Can I say something? >> Chair. >> Um, I never thought $15 minimum wage would pass and it passed by 70%. I believe that's
great. I'm almost fainted because I had all these girls working. I had people working at the office and that was a big strain. You remember we got hit with that first thing when I got here. So just you know keep in your mind good chance it's going to happen.
>> Yeah. >> I think you need to prepare as if it is going to happen just like you do with any like when you have your >> emergency operations you know I mean you yeah you prepare as if it's going to happen and uh if it doesn't happen then but you you're not going to be caught
flatfooted if if it happens. Yeah. So that's why we have to look at what that will look like if our budget is reduced. >> Stopping just sort of of speculating and guessing. You know, our original number was 5.4 million. That's what we're going
to lose based upon total elimination of homesteaded properties. Um and as I mentioned earlier, I don't believe that number is going to change a whole lot. I mean, we might get down to around 5 million if we're lucky.
But as I demonstrated in the presentation a couple of months ago, even at 5 million, there's there's no way to get to 5 million in terms of cuts without eliminating services to a level that no
one's going to be happy with. >> We have our challenges before us. >> Any further comments or questions? Okay. >> Um, >> Miss Conne, any other things? Um, >> yes. Um, there's one last thing that
I've put off for just about as long as I can. Um, first of all, I want to introduce Lisa Bratch. She is my new executive assistant. Um, this is her second week here. She's, uh, in day two of week two.
Um, and the reason she is here is because, uh, my former executive assistant, Amanda Brown, has accepted a position with the city of Waldo as city manager. So, um, we are very, very excited for Amanda. Uh, we're
heartbroken at our loss. Um, but we expect great things from her. And, uh, I told her earlier, I said, I'm going to keep this seat warm for you because I know you'll be back. But um thank you Amanda for everything. It's been uh
amazing work that you've done and um we couldn't have had the success that we've had here over the last 3 years without without Amanda's help. So uh Madam Chairman, >> yes. Um I will ask Amanda if she would come forward. Um but I just wanted to
express publicly to her of her importance um to us as a board and to our county. She has just done a marvelous job. you know, um when you have to deal with five different board members
and do that with um objectivity, but also at the same time being sensitive that each person has certain needs or or they're different and getting to know us individually and being able to take care of all of
those needs. That's a big task. But she has done that. Uh she has been loyal. she follows the instruction from her supervisor, but at the same time, she deals with all of the individual board members and address our needs. And she's
done that in a a fantastic way. And so, I'm going to come down and I'll ask our board members to um to join us. But, uh I just wanted to read this so it can be into the record.
um for Bradford County, Florida. It's Veteran Bradford. We present to Amanda Brown in recognition of your dedication and service to the board of county commissioners from May 2023
to May 2026. on behalf of the board and our constituents and in sincere appreciation for your outstanding leadership and tireless dedication to this community. We thank you for your contribution to Bradford County and its
residents and it's presented to you and we're going to come down and ask Mark if you can get a picture. get next year. But I also just want um to say she's going to do a fantastic job for the city of Waldo and it's their
gain and our lost. >> This No, I I'll step up there. >> Congratulations. And if that wasn't enough, I'm done. Thank you. Thank you. And u go ahead, Commissioner Andrews.
>> Amanda, I just want to thank you also. I mean, you you came in and um like Miss Spooner said, you have a humble personality and dealing with five different personalities like up here on this board. I know that was quite a
quite a thing to have to deal with, but um you came in, you stepped right in and and started and there was a little piece of property that was donated. I think it was in 1979 um by I think it well it was my
husband's uncle that donated a piece of property for Cypress Run Boat Ramp and um somehow another since 1979 we've not been able to move that thing and you took it and ran with it and I thank you from the bottom of my heart hopefully
this spring we will get the uh grant and move forward and when we do and we cut the ribbon that day. I would really like for you to be there. But congratulations. I wish you the best, but we are definitely going to miss you,
but look forward to Miss Lisa, right? >> Um I'm sure that you two will talk a lot and we'll uh we'll keep things going, but thank you very very much. >> Yes. Yeah. I I too thank you so much and uh you're going to be greatly missed um
for your your wisdom um advice um and in your memory. Um I can call you and ask you about things that happened a couple years ago and you always can can remember and recall and uh I really do appreciate it all your help and keeping
me out of trouble. I really do appreciate it and I just um um uh I guess my prayer is that you know God will just lead and guide and direct your steps and wherever you're going I know you'll do great for sure. So thank you.
>> Thank you again and also we like to welcome Under Hill board and um we're we're going to take it easy on you. >> But thank you. All right. Um with that
um our attorney um anything else? >> I I have nothing further. >> Okay. Thank you. Um a commissioner's comment. You want to go first? >> Sure. I I do apologize for everyone. Um I meant to pray for for Kenny Thompson
and his family uh from the passing of his uh mother-in-law uh his wife Norah's mom. And um like I said, just keep that family in your prayers, please. And uh and also for the firefighters um that were involved in that fire last night,
keep them in your prayers. But um but and thank you everyone for being here today. >> Okay, >> I too would like I'd like to ask that you pray for the the families that were involved in that fire, the um firefighters. We had two that were injured. one was treated there and
>> one was treated on scene and one was treated at the hospital and was released. >> So, um it just pays tribute to the job that they do every time they go out there. So, please be in prayer for them and um thank you for being here today.
Um hopefully we can get some information out to everybody so everybody can make a really good um educated decision about this that we're facing with the taxes. We would all like to not pay property taxes, but we want to be educated enough
to understand what that will mean to our counties and the services that we provide. So, um thank you for that. And that's all I have. I'd like to thank everyone for being here today as well. And uh again, we
wish all the best uh to Amanda and her her new her new journey. Um I also wanted to um again acknowledge um the hard work um and the sacrifice our firefighters
um they give to us and what they encounter. and also pray that um for the family for their loss um and um that we keep them lifted up um to again to acknowledge um
Commissioner Thompson and his family and those who've lost loved ones recently. Um I also um wanted just to remind our our board your financial disclosures haven't done those are due by July 1 and that we have the Florida Association of
Col of um counties conference coming up in mid June. Um and I wanted to take the opportunity to um thank those who participated last weekend. It was a rainy weekend. Saturday we had the breast cancer award
in this walk an educational walk and we do it annually. This is our first uh third year and whatever proceeds are raised from that go to scholarships for our students. Um and I wanted to um let
you all know that uh one of the recipients of the Shirley Brown Vixston scholarship will be Miss Angela White. She's one of our um persons who works in the county jail. She's one of the nurses there. Um and also we have um um two
students from Rapid High School, Agape Vanji and um Tamisha Hwood. And there's a gentleman um Clifford Ivy. He's from Union County that will be one of the recipients. And also
one other from Mlay County. Um and that's Luke um Bacon. um and they will be um getting their picture taken today at um at the college. Most of these students um the majority of them attend
our local colleges um at Santa Fe. So out of the 30s something scholarships that we've awarded over the years, at least 20 or more of them have gone to the Santa Fe nursing um program. So we're excited and and proud of that. And
just to remind you as a community um that cancer is a devastating disease. So just remind your loved ones to get those mammograms done and take care of your health and take care of one another. Okay. Um
and just reminding the board that our next uh county commissioner meeting is on June the 18th and thereafter on the 7th of July and the 16th of July. And going forward, our financial department will be taking a look at what if um the
legislative um session that the property taxes passes, how that's going to impact us financially and going forward as a board, we have to look at what that would mean for our county. Okay. Anything else? If not, this meeting is
adjourned. Thank you.