Good afternoon and welcome. Thank you for joining us. We're here to we're happy to have you. This is our uh first public uh budget public hearing for our budget for the fiscal year 2025 2026.
Uh, please join me for a moment of silence followed by the pledge of allegiance. Thank you. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. If there are no additional items, is there a motion to approve the agenda? Um, Madam Chair, I'll move to approve the agenda. Second. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor?
I opposed. That motion passes unanimously. We will now hear uh from the public. I have three request to speak forms. The first is David Britt, followed by J. Paul Moore. If you would like to speak to us, please
fill out a request to speak form and hand it to the baiff. Tell me have three minutes. And you have three minutes to address us. Uh my name is David Britt. I live in Jensen Beach and there's three things I want to touch on real quick. One, Bright Line. Don't do it, please. With their
budget and their problems they're having and with the government, state government not sending giving money to the cities and counties, we can't afford it. Indian River Park, it needs a lot of work done down there. The lakes are getting algae filled. It's not a big
deal, I guess, but when you got kids want to play close to the water and all that stuff, it's aggravating. Uh, two, some of the land that has been empty for years down there since I've been here. Uh, can we do something with it? Make it some kind of exercise park for people,
seniors, and or whatever. And third, uh, the driving on, uh, Jensen Boulevard is really, really getting ridiculous. People are speeding unbelievable. And uh that's about it really. Uh we just just don't do the Bright Line. We
don't need that that that problem. And down the road the taxpayers going to have to pay more and more money for it. So they can't make it now. They're going broke. We don't need Bright Line. So that's it for me. Thank you. Thank you.
J Paul Moore is next followed by Chuckw. Good evening, commissioners. Good to see you all and everyone. Uh my name is J. Paul Moore and I'm a real estate broker and home owner from Palm City. I stand before you today to respectfully urge
you to reject the proposed increase in the millillage rate for property taxes. Everyone understands our county requires funding to provide essential services, schools, law enforcement, parks, infrastructure. The proposed 10.69% 69%
property tax increase places an undue and fair unfair burden on the very people who have invested their lives and livelihoods into our community, the homeowners. The core of my concern and the concern of many residents that I
work with um dealing in real estate is the justification for everinccreasing property taxes. We are being asked to pay more not because we have earned more but because the on paper market value of
our homes has increased. This is a tax on unrealized gain. A gain that exists only on paper. Until a homeowner sells their home, they don't receive a dollar of the on paper market valuation. Yet they are taxed as if they received a
windfall. This is particularly debilitating for homeowners who are on fixed incomes. Uh they may have lived in their houses for decades, but an increase in property value can become an everinccreasing
financial burden. In reality, it's sometimes forcing them to choose between paying increased property taxes or covering other essential living costs. A property tax on unrealized gain is really a tax on stability. It's a tax on
long-term residency and on the very idea of American home ownership. It's a punitive measure that punishes residents for a market trend that they have no control over. I ask you to consider the real world impact of this proposal. seek
alternative solutions that do not penalize loyal residents uh based on the value of their homes, reject the tax increase, and protect the financial stability of Martin County homeowners. Thank you. Thank you.
Chuck Winn is next, followed by Sarah Jessia Hernandez. Good afternoon. Good evening uh ladies and gentlemen. For the record, my name is Chuck Wyn. I live at 1520 Northwest Lakeside Trail in
North River Shores, which abuts North Stewart. I urge you this evening to closely scrutinize any final agreement for a Bright Line station before making your funding decision. The original plan cleverly camouflaged
the excessively leveraged financial condition of Bright Line, who would be your partner. The transitorient oriented development pieces were also very well hidden. Bright Line consistently has
failed to profitably run its core function of providing rail transportation service. First, Bright Line must pay for half the cost of the station and any other costs required for pedestrian aerial bridges
over the tracks or an alternative ground crossing if they're required and 1 million towards safety fencing requirements that were determined by a hazardous hazard analysis. Second, any and all land linked to a
final station agreement must be limited to not more than the minimum essential service surface area required for parking. Bright Line's only profitable operations have been related to developing parcels of land they have gained control of in
similar agreements. The two and a half acres in the mixeduse areas in the original agreement must be excluded. Their ideal development targets for he for heavily subsidized HUD affordable
housing grants that carry very long strings. Third, clearly defined and measurable provisions for management and oversight control have to be included. Fourth, all items like the hazard analysis for this
station must be made public. This was never done in the original agreement. Any train station must not become the cornerstone of a long range sustainable development plan for transforming Martin County into a heavily urbanized transit
oriented development community. Any project resembling the original would be the corner cornerstone of a sustainable community development that the US Housing and Urban Development Department and the
Department of Transportation have been promoting for decades. Always remember, federal grants may look very attractive, but they have strings attached that can gut home rule and obligate local budgets. Please let me pick my own
losers in the market. Don't do it for me. Thank you. Sarah Jessia Hernandez is next, followed by Karen Wells. Good evening. Good afternoon. This time because I was cut off last time, so hope it's impactful. My name is
Sarah Jessica Hernandez. I was formerly black. I have lived in Martin County my entire life. Um, I am here as a Martin County resident myself own on my own home. Last year, you lowered the millage rate and I do thank you because I do see it. Um, I saw the relief on my trim
notice, but raising it now erases that progress. With growth like we're seeing, there's no need for an increase. If anything, you could lower it again. I know you're going to say inflation. I work in insurance. I see inflation every day, and I get it. But that's not what's happening here. Our taxable property
values jumped 12.7% to 39.2 billion and more than 1300 new residents came last year. Entire communities like Newfield have already started and are already being inhab like inhabited. Story is on the brink um and
bringing in new revenue. I know Story isn't, but Newfield has started. That growth should offset costs, not be pushed onto longtime residents like myself and everyone else that might be here sitting in this room. On my 5acre property, my taxes are already a over
$8,000 a year, which I'm finding I'm very lucky because I did buy my house much lower than other people that don't have a families like mine can't keep absorbing more. Martin County is our hometown. It's always been a hometown. Everyone here is speaking up to keep it
a hometown. Please do not let rising taxes push out the very people who have built it and who have continued and have chosen to stay here and grow their families here. Please hold the line and consider another decrease, not increase. Thank you.
[Applause] Karen Wells is next, followed by Maria Wadd. afternoon. Hi. Um, I also believe that you should reconsider raising the taxes. I did a
little bit of research and just in my community, there's $238 homes and it's an average of about $9,000 a year per lot. That brings $2,142,000. And what I have learned over this time,
hello, Miss Elder, is that um those of us in an HOA, not only do we pay taxes, but we pay HOA fees, which negate any anything that the county feels that, you know, they should
do for us. It's always call your HOA. So when you want to raise our taxes and the HOA fees are raised and we're not getting even the enforcement of the ordinances that you already have on the books, what am I going to get for these
raised taxes? The Hob Sound property that's going to be built with the golf course, the developer said it's going to bring 40 to50 million a year to the county with zero cost. So basically, HOAs are
subsidizing. So we're already being double taxed. We don't need a raise in taxes. What we need is to keep the taxes low because we pay double taxes, but we need what we are paying for to be
enforced as well. When I call about an ordinance and I'm told, call my HOA. My HOA didn't write the ordinance. You guys wrote the ordinance. The word shall, we can agree, is an
obligation. I have 10 ordinances that have been destroying my family's ability to even use our own swimming pool because you guys won't enforce your own ordinance. So, on top of taxes
and HOA fees, I'm $42,000 into a lawsuit to try to get a nuisance stopped that you guys could have stopped with a letter if you enforced your ordinances. But now you want me to pay more taxes. And you know, Mr. Campy,
with all due respect, I contacted your office in October last year and I finally got a call back in April because I happened to know Brian Mast who reached out. Stacy said, "We're going to stay on top of it." I've never heard
back from Stacy again. So, you know, when I come out and I have voted for you twice, okay? Because we have a mutual friend and I've told you who that is. I came out and I voted for you. But you know what? You don't represent me. Why
am I voting? We in HOAs are not represented and it's not right and we shouldn't pay anything, let alone more. Thank you. Thank you. Maria Wadd is next followed by Dana Staley.
Good afternoon. Hi. How are you? My name is Maria Wadell. Um, the only reason I'm here is because um, I've been working 36 years as in the in the medical field as an X-ray tech and as an ultrasound tech. I
just retired um because I was forced to for an illness and I did a budget before I decide to retire and of course my social security is low as you all know and the only reason why I come here is
to ask you not to increase this tax because that's going to me that for me is going to be a shortage of money because it's a a big chunk that you guys want to increase it. So I just
decided just to come and do this. So you know some of us leave over a budget and we're not going to make it if this keeps increasing. Thank you. Thank you. Dana Staley is next followed by Charlie Duro.
Hi my name is Dana Staley. Um my question I don't know maybe you answered it in the budget hearings back in or the workshops back in July hidden in the constitutional officers um
increase budget request I assume is some costs for the 287G program for the sheriff's office and are we the Martin County taxpayers getting reimbursed from the federal government for any of that
would be for Martin County taxpayers or or how much are we spending to help ICE meet their quotas for probably a few actual criminals and a lot of hardworking landscapers and other
people. I I I just I I'm sure it's in the budget somewhere, but I can't find where. We don't get a line item budget from the sheriff. Okay. Thank you. Charlie Doro is next. And Mr. Deto Toro is the last request to speak for him. I
have Hi, my name is Charlie. I'm a 40-year resident of Martin County. I just want to say that this county is pricing out the young people. I just spent nine weeks driving around this country and
everywhere I look, it seems to me that Martin County is higher in gas, higher insurance, high enormously higher in restaurant costs. Everywhere I look, whether I was in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati,
Nashville, Canton, Ohio, Troy, Illinois, I feel sorry for the young people here. I don't understand how I'm lucky. Years ago, I bought two houses for my kids, so they're good. I don't know how a 28-year-old or 30-year-old can afford
living in Martin County anymore. Property taxes are crazy. Here's a case of mine. My, for some reason, my property value went down. I live in Jensen, which I was happy about. My value went down 12,000 but my
portability went down 32,000. So you would think in property taxes it goes down I should pay less but then there's this hidden little shell game called portability and you guys are just pricing people out
of this county. That's all I got to say. Thank you. [Applause] We will move on to commissioner comments. Commissioner Vargas. Will we have comments after or is this the only time? Uh, this is the only time.
Okay. You know, I thought I thought long and hard about this meeting and I believe all of us on this dice are like-minded politically. We believe in smaller government. We
want more community involvement and we are for the people and I believe that we are or should be working towards the same goal. You know these are hard decisions but somebody needs to make these decisions.
Um this is why we were elected and why the voters give us a report card every four years. Um, we I believe that we need to come to common ground and save taxpayers money
and get them in a better financial position. This is what I've heard this evening. This is what I've heard before. I'm a taxpayer in Martin County also. So the people have elected us to be put or to remain
which is precarious now in a safe financial position. We all can stop the progression of taxes being raised. The trajectory from all the departments
it every year is more and more. And I believe and I hope that you do also this commission that we must be more stable economically and the financial future must be more stable
instead of garnering collecting more debt or taking on more debt. So I think with the less debt we're in stronger position for the county and I think tonight is the right time to start
this process. You know, it's important when we do leave office, we can all be proud of what we've strived to better to make stronger the financial future for all of our hardworking taxpayers.
We all must learn, all must learn to live within our means. This is what we do in our homes. We should do likewise in our government spending. The millage must be lowered to taxpayers
income streams. If we don't take a hard look now, our glide path is precarious and not being well thought out. Money is not being printed anymore. This is not 2022 with stimulus funds and paycheck
protection. The status quo that we have been talking about over the last several months has us on a trajectory of an more debt and more spending. Is that how we want
to be? Is this what we're delivering to our taxpayers? The kind of budget that I would support cuts spending and the millage rate. But people don't pay in millillage, they pay in dollars. And that means tax dollar
reduction. Our taxpayers are entitled to and must get the benefit from how we govern this county. We should put the windfall or I guess known as a large s but the windfall
that we receive from this year's advaloran income into reserves and pay down debt. We have a lot of projects that people want. Other departments want to hire more people. Maybe we should look at that very carefully.
We only have so many dollars to go around. I've heard the comments tonight. I've heard them before. People email me. We respond right away from my district. Again, I said that we have to learn to
live within our means. I cannot support raising taxes for the hardworking Martin County taxpayers. We need to cut them now. And I think we
need to find a beneficial way to implement what we're doing in this county, which is to provide services and safety and a quality of life that each of those fine individuals that
have chosen Martin County over every other place to live should be given unconditionally. I think we need to do some math here and we need to be looking at last year's
rollup rate and we need to even go further. We can do this. We can do this and this is the night to do this right now. We need to cut taxes. Let's get healthy.
[Applause] Commissioner Caps, good evening. U, you know, there were a couple of folks who mentioned uh that maybe we were
raising the millage rates. And one thing we need to clear up a little bit, we're not raising the millage rates. We're lowering the millage rates modestly, but we are lowering them in this budget. Let's all let's all kind of get that
cleared up. The the amount of taxes is tax revenue is going up, but the millage rate is going down. So, let's uh let's get clear on that. And then I thought I would mention a few other things
um that we mentioned in the budget workshop. Um all of the increases that we experience personally and have experienced in recent years like insurance, food, fuel, electric,
all the expenses of life also apply to the county government. their costs have gone up enormously as well in virtually everything. Uh it's staggering to see
how much more you have to pay for things in recent years. What we all tend to forget is during the Joe Biden years uh inflation was eight and 9% you know and we're feeling the effects
of that today. All that has to be paid for. You know, uh the cost of things in recent years have been dramatically climbing. You know, to to pave a mile of asphalt now is enormously more expensive
than it was just a few years ago. So, we have to keep that in mind. Um there are so we live in an inflationary economy. Um also the county is growing in population.
uh not massively but it does grow and uh you need a local government that that uh adjusts to meet the demands of a growing community. So the idea
of a roll back tax rate that brings in the exact same amount of revenue this year as last year is unreasonable because you're you have a growing population that is almost impossible
to run a local government with a roll back rate. It never happens. uh look at the history of taxes in any local government in the state of Florida and you will find that roll back rates are not feasible because we live in an
inflationary economy and the costs of things continue to rise all of the time. My thinking about this particular budget is that we're holding the millillage steady. Uh we're dropping it a little bit, but
this is a year when we can get some things done. And we have to remember what happens in recessions. And we're not we're not immune from another great recession of 2008. And that was a very
memorable thing for all of us. And it wasn't too long ago when there was a three or four year period where there was basically an economic collapse. Property values were chopped in half in this community and the local
government here was running on fumes for several years and and there was no option at that time. You couldn't get anything done. Not all the projects stopped. That could happen again. My thinking is this is a
year when we have some extra revenue because of some high-end projects that were brought to bear uh in our community like Discovery Lands and Apogee Golf Courses and they they're bringing in extra money. This is a year to get some things done because we have
the money to do it without raising the millage rate. This is a year when we can get some things done in anticipation that three or four years from now or maybe just two years from now, we could slide into recession where we don't
we're not getting anything done uh for an extended period of time. That that could easily happen to us. Um so that's my thinking on it. I have supported the budget or I did support the budget in the workshop and I intend to hold study
on that this evening. Thank you, Commissioner Campy. You know, I've had the opportunity, the honor actually to be up here for lots of budgets. I started my political career in 2008 and n when everyone remembers at
the time we didn't realize what it was but looking back in history was the great recession where we slashed and burned uh wherever we could like everybody else did. Um these processes are interesting and I appreciate that you would come out to participate.
Uh it's a multimonth thousands of hours go into this budget across every single department. You're going to hear from a couple of our folks, Miss Merley in particular that runs our office of budget, from Mr.
Donaldson, our county administrator. Um I see the emails, the social media, and the rest of it and and I get uh frustrated as you would for coming in. But there are a couple of opportunities throughout the year um for you to
participate in the internal workings of your government. The first and most easy is a is a program called CARES. It happens a couple of times a year. It used to be twice and we added to it because we have had thousands of folks
just like you go through the CARES program. you meet for free uh on Thursday mornings for four weeks in a row and you go through every department. You literally travel around and go to the departments, the sheriff's office and everything else. Uh I think you
know, look, we're not going to change your opinions necessarily today and we can agree on certain things and disagree on others. Um, but if you are genuinely interested in seeing really how does this work and where does the money go
and why am I paying what I'm paying, I really encourage you to do that program. It starts up again. So, that's the first thing because otherwise you're just listening to five elected officials speak. Now, to my new colleague, uh, I appreciate
um her passion for let's lower it, let's cut it, we can do it. But this process started months ago with workshops and our staff was told prior to that from Mr. Donaldson that 90% of our departments came in with no
increases with decreases. If you were looking for even a single additional employee, you had to really state your case on why that was. First, you had to get through the budget office. And then if you were fortunate enough as a department to get through the budget office, then you ended up in Mr.
Donaldson's office. So, I don't want you to think that we're just, you know, write rolling out checks here. It you can look, I'm as frustrated with the cost of living as everybody else. I have a 29year-old who just purchased a home.
Uh, it's I tell people it's a handyman special and I'm the handyman. We had to gut the entire home and we were lucky to get it and they used all of their savings to just purchase it and had no money left to fix it up. So, I'm
living that in real time. But that being said, coming and looking at the budget, there are certain things that are important, maybe not to you. Uh I always say we had a commissioner uh who said every dollar has a constituency group.
If you don't go to our library system, you don't have much interest in the library or golf courses or beaches. You pick what you like. And then there's a group that would contact us and say there's no reason that the government should be involved in those things. Environmental issues are very, very
important for us here in Martin County and we spend a lot of money on our environment. Some people would look at that and say, I I don't see that as being areas that we should spend money on. Hopefully tonight if we get into a little of this,
our biggest expense for everyone is public safety. Fire rescue and the sheriff's office is a majority, a very large majority of the budget. No one really and and you know, we've had the sheriff here, both Snyder and now Bhutans. We've had the chief of the fire
department. They've had to come and, you know, explain themselves to the public. Some of you have probably been here in years past where they've come. No one wants to really give up on those things. So if there are suggestions for my colleagues, what I would say tonight is
as I have said many times, let's hear your suggestions to make a grand speech on that it needs to be lower. The staff has presented what they feel is their tightest budget. It then becomes our situation to make those determinations.
So short of just saying we should lower it, we need to actually hear those suggestions and vet them out. Certain categories cannot be touched. Some people say, "Well, take it from here and put it over there." And I know you're here. You're smart, educated group. Most
of you are business people. Certain governmental categories are not allowed to be shifted from one area to the other. They're just not allowed. So, when I reviewed the budget, as the five of us have, and you know, Commissioner Caps can hold it up. If you
do the printed version, it's multiple binders. There it is, thousands of pages front and back, or you can have the electronic version, which is what I use on my iPad. I see things that I would cut, but maybe a couple of my colleagues are not interested in cutting. So when
you look at it, the five of us and we hear what we hear in terms of the new things. New field has closed on a handful of homes that doesn't even really begin to blip on the radar screen. As well as the fact that most a lot of people were furious that we did
Newfield, but that is a revenue potential revenue generator. The three golf courses that we hear a lot about and some people were in favor of them even if you never step foot on them. What you need to understand about the three golf courses,
Atlantic Fields on Bridge Road is just beginning to build their first homes. They've just 2024 is the first year of some of those dollars being pushed into our our general revenue. But we primarily work a year behind.
So you won't see some of those advantages until next year. Atlantic Fields on Bridge Road, Apogee, and the Ranch. Those three. Here's some statistics to share. I thought when I heard them, I thought they were interesting. I'll share them. That's
nearly 9,000 acres of Martin County property with less than 500 homes on 9,000 acres. And it will potentially generate for us, not the school district, not find, not the children's
services council, $60 million. So there is a bright spot in the future for three projects. Now when people say, well, it won't cost anything. Of course it will cost something. But for most of those folks, Apogee is couple of
thousand acres, doesn't have a single home on it. They're not going to school. They're not going to the beach. They're not going to the library. Maybe they'll need some police. Maybe they'll need some fire rescue, but they'll pay. The other thing that really frustrates me as one of your
representatives is that Martin County, our economic picture is way lopsided. majority. If you've lived somewhere else and you go back or if you have family members that live somewhere else, ask them to find out what their percentages
are of their tax base. We are nearly 96 or 7% residentially funded. That means you and us residential taxpayers because we have a disproportionate
we don't have any industry. I just was at an event today where Ashley Capitol was speaking. They're the largest private land industrial land owner in Martin County. They're just getting started on their first 90 acres of of
potential business opportunity. Every dollar that an industrial or commercial taxpayer pays, if they pay if we pay one, they pay four. If if we have a 6% industrial base, the
burden of running our community and paying for it falls on the rest of us, the residents. So when you hear about a project out in western Palm City or down in Hob Sound or out on the way to Indian Town, that's an industrial project because remember they're not just paying
for the building and property taxes where a majority of the tax revenue is generated is on tangible personal property. You you heard it today. You're paying for the value of your home. You're not paying for the value of the items in your home,
but all of the businesses pay tangible personal property. They're paying you're business people. You probably paid that tax rate yourself. So we we have 90 let's say 95%. Bill is paid by residents only five. We
need to work on that. Now there's cutting that can be done. Our staff has done cutting our as commissioner caps mentioned and I and I don't know you know some people said this morning I mean this during public comment you know don't we hear you're raising the
millillage the proposed budget that we are to to tentatively approve today has a modest single point decrease that's does you don't have a parade for that but it's not an increase and there
was very little extra employees added to that list and there was very little additional big major projects added to that list. So, as we continue to run the county, there's a bit of a frustration on yes, it's easy to say, "Let's lower
our taxes." I like that, too. I looked at my trim sheet just like you did. My value of my home has gone up, which is, I guess, good news. But I liked what the person said, you know, J. Paul said about, you know, look, if I don't realize that value, but I'm still paying
for it. That's not our system. That's the system. And so I think, you know, I know three of us have been up here for several budgets. Two are new. I'm a fiscal conservative. I want to have a level of services that we all can
appreciate. And remember, most of them are public safety. I'm not going to sacrifice police and fire because those are catastrophic outcomes if something goes wrong. Now, God bless you if your life has never
required you to ever dial 911, but if you have to, I think I owe it. I always say our first dollar of taxes should go to public safety. Some of these other things, yeah, I I could cut them, but maybe they're things
that are very important to you. So, I think this is a reasonable budget. I think a lot of effort and time went into crafting it. Our phone is always available. Stephanie Merley is our new director of
OM, Office of Budget. Here she's sitting right here in the front. Uh Jennifer Manning had been there for 30 35 years here. Was our budget who was u Stephanie Merley's predecessor? Every year the state is it the statewide award
you guys win or is it a federal award? It's a national award. National award on how we conduct and construct our budget. Every single year they win it. They don't throw them out. They're not door prizes but we win that. She is available. I'm telling you right now in front of her and her staff, if
you have a specific question beyond lower the budget, she will you can come here and sit with them and ask your specific questions. I did it with the property appraiser. My wife and I me recently moved and we downsized, so we
thought, from a 3% uh interest rate to a 6.825% a 25% interest rate from a $4,500 uh insurance bill to a $10,500 insurance bill. I bought a wooden house that was 40 years old. Good for me. But
our staff is willing to answer any of your questions, any of them. Mr. Donaldelson, he runs the county. If you have questions that you want to specifically know about your house, ask our staff, but also sit down with the property appraiser, either Jenny Fields
herself or one of her deputies. I did it and found a lot of ways that I was overpaying after moving on techniques and savings options that she had that I didn't I who part of this didn't realize
those two things can immediately affect what you're doing. Maybe you're overpaying your taxes and you don't even know it. I spoke to my insurance agent. I review that annually now. I never did that before, but the numbers get so high, you have no choice. So today,
you're going to hear about this budget. And I think a majority of us have felt comfortable enough with the process and what we've heard from our staff to feel that we could give you this budget with a straight face. And that's all I can say. Some of you will say, "Okay, that guy's full of nonsense. He's
an elected official. We don't agree with the word he says." But I'm telling you that I'm living in the real world with you and I have expenses just like you. I'm not a rich person and I've had the opportunity to be in
here and review this budget and I feel with a straight face I can tell you that it's a fair budget. Thank you. Commissioner Heatherington. Yes. Um I'm going to be brief so Miss Merley can get with her public hearing. So, um,
I wrote down a couple things and CARES, I think I I wholeheartedly agree that's probably the best learning experience and I've had an opportunity to talk to some residents recently that participated and one of the most enlightening thing in that process and
some of the state um the state committees that we sit on is that when you hand a different person five different you know bills and they have to allocate where that money spent. many people will spend it differently, but I
think many of us agree that um putting down the first dollar or two into public safety and and Miss Merly and I talked about that, but then you don't have, you know, you don't have choices because if you prioritize public safety, then you
have less flexibility when it comes to would you put your dollar down for storm water or road improvements or libraries and parks and, you know, additional facilities And those are the the difficult decisions that we have to do
every year. And um and everybody prioritizes differently. And I've been critical of the budget process in the past. But I will say that um I credit staff. They did a great job of of putting together the budget. And I think
that as a fiscal conservative, it's something that we could uh I can definitely get behind. And I like that a we prioritize public safety, which is the number one thing I think important to 95% of constituents, if not a hundred
in our um community. I like that we've really focused on, you know, improving our storm water, that we've focused on eliminating debt, and we've focused on putting some of our reserves for emergency expenditures. And that's even
what I heard my colleague um say at the beginning that that's the things that are important to many of us and we want to focus on. I also printed out this property because you know while we are having a modestly
decreasing millillage sometimes when people see a number and they look at other um counties and municipalities and try to compare apples to apples. I had a property that I've sold because it became, you know, I I too, you know,
live in the real world and the bottom line is the bottom line. When you're insurance is increasing, you know, 40%. Then you're feeling the burden of everything, inflation, gas, you know, taxes. So, even if your millage is increasing, you're feeling some of these
um impacts on raising insurance. But when I looked at the millillage on a property that I owned up in St. Lucy, I thought, "Wow, the millage is a little bit, you know, I've since sold that, but um it was a little bit um less than Martin County." And I look at the
quality of services we have in Martin County, but when I went through my trim notice and I looked at that property, well, the millage seemingly looked like it was less. However, there was an extra charge for a storm water. There was
extra charge for the fire district. fire wasn't included inside, you know, that millillage. Uh there was extra charges for, you know, shoreline restoration. Every, you know, the millillage seemingly looked like it was lower, but
I was being charged for every other service that was provided. So, you know, there one thing I say about Martin County, the millillage is the millillage. We don't separate all those different services out. And I think
overall that this has been a a tough, you know, it it's been a a well put together budget. So, and and I I concur that if you have questions and you need information that we have a very
responsive staff and commissioners that will gladly talk you, you know, talk to you and hear your concerns. And I'm actually glad to see people showing up at the public hearing. So, thank you for dedicating your time because I know it's
it's five o'clock on a Wednesday afternoon and you probably have other things. So, we appreciate hearing your input. Mr. Donaldson, thank you, commissioners. As a brief introduction, um, and, uh, as was stated
earlier, our departments start out with a budget. And the first thing that uh Miss Merley and I look at is the what is the base budget that they they have. And also we've been looking at the actual line items and how they're being spent. So we just for all those in the
audience, we don't take last year's budget and just say there was a 3% um uh inflation or an 8% whatever and apply to it. We actually look at um uh we have a specific line items for like contracted services and whether it was mowing or or
painting services or janitorial services and look at what the actual contract was for and does that total the amount within a specific line item. Then we look at if we bid those projects out during the year, did they go up? And so
the first thing we look at is the cost of doing business. And the only thing we approved for that is is a justification that the line item for electricity is X because it went up or in some cases it goes down. So we're going to reduce that particular line item. Uh and then each
department has to submit uh if there is some particular service they're looking to um enhance or improve and provide justification. Um and uh um I I will pick on one of my departments here, but
I I I uh really have a uh a lot of um uh pride in our library system and Jen Salace has for years um um basically always has a very thin budget. Um and uh one of the things we've been seeing in
theirs are actually usage is going up. they've had a lot of different programs. Um, and so, um, the participation in that, we have homeschool students that use our libraries a lot and moms come in. So, they the number of services they provide is significant. And I also know
that every time we have a hurricane or or threatened uh tropical event and we open up our AOC and a big number of their staff or volunteers, we have to close the library because we don't have enough staff to cover it. And so, um, uh, you know, they are very thin. and
they have been very thin for a long time. And so there are a couple of staff positions in there that I think were were justified and I appreciate the board including them because um they are providing uh um a great service and uh and the demand for that service has been
going up. So I use that as an example. Uh sorry Jen, I know you don't like to be in the limelight, but uh she does a great job. And um and so that is just an example of how the the budget was put together. I the focus on the um the the the the
the millage of of uh of those projects, if you will, or the the you know, certainly we are are cognizant of evaluation increases and um and and we're concerned about how that's being used and and in this year's budget, the
priorities uh as Commissioner Heather talked about was um was addressing our debt. You know, I think that's a uh an important thing that frees up revenue in the future or allows for greater millage rates reductions in the future. Um it's
a a very important uh I know from the state perspective too on looking at how your debt to ratio. We have a very low debt ratio, but this will help out. Um we also put in uh money into the reserves. Uh we know that the the federal government and FEMA and and its
relationships with the state is changing. Um and talking to my colleagues on the West Coast that have had significant damage. You know, it used to be we would think uh $20 million for debris pickup was a lot of money. Now over there, it's 80 to $100 million.
And those funds are not coming in quick enough for them to do the work. So, they're having to borrow $60 million or so for their $80 million project. Uh, and they're paying interest on it. I know talking to uh Senator uh uh Scott's
office and what they're looking for is how do we get the money faster so you don't have to borrow money, but you're probably going to get less. uh and so I think there may be some positive things there but nonetheless having uh adequate reserves to deal with our own uh disasters uh immediately is is important
as we saw with the the tornadoes last year. Uh and then the other key areas as we talked about was uh is our maintaining what we already own. Uh you know for a long time uh and a lot of governments have struggled with fixing and repairing the facilities we own and
operate. We have had a number of areas in Martin County over the years with drainage problems. We've been catching up, but putting uh the are putting in funds for roads, uh bridges, and drainage is is the other area. And and then and then you'll see when Miss
Merley talks about the staffing increases, it's just really uh uh in our library and our um public buildings u management uh is it. So I think percentage- wise it's very low. I think
Martin County, we try to be staff lean um but having uh well-trained professionals provide the service that you that we do. So that's a the general snapshot and I appreciate Commissioner Heathering talking about you know how you compare one county to the other. You
know there's the state of Florida provided local governments with a lot of different tools on how they generate funds and development. You know the state of Florida has grown on development. You have uh community development districts to help developers p build roads. Uh and then you have all
these special districts. I think Martin County sort of has this truth in millillage. Uh all your services really are easy to identify in in your general fund principally. And so you'll find that when if you look in uh other areas where you have drainage districts uh uh
Fort Pierce Farms water control district or other if you live in other counties there's a whole myriad of mosquito control districts, separate elected officials, separate millage rates um uh that uh complicate how you compare one
community to another. But I think if you look at the bottom line of what you spend actually in Martin County for the same equivalent property is significantly less than our neighbors. And I think that's a testament to the fiscal guidance that our board has done. So with that, I'll turn it over to Miss
Merley who's going to go through the the formalities of our of our budget. Thank you. Please proceed. One second, please, before you begin. Please. One second. Uh I'm on my way to Georgia, so I got you. But that being said, if there are
any suggestions for my colleagues, now's the time to hear them. Otherwise, we're just we're moving ahead. I'm interested if there are suggestions. Okay. So, my question is, since I'm new on the board, um, but I do understand
money, I understand expenditures, and I do understand income. um how can we work together to find a reasonable amount that reduces the expenditures? You know, I I see that what we're doing is we're going to be failing our future
generations here in Martin County that have to bear the burden of our decisions today. So, I'm asking for suggestions from the seasoned colleagues. What do you want to cut? I leave that to you since you have this information.
No, no, no. Since you have this information and this is my first budget hearing, there's plenty to cut. If you really looked at individual projects, which ones? Just just prioritize. Tell us which ones
you want to cut and see if you can get gain consensus from four other commissioners. I think there are a number of CIP projects that need to be put on hold. Which ones are those? the ones that have the largest dollar amount. We could go through the book
again if you want, but I I don't think that's what we're here for. I think that's something that we can do. Well, we we approved the CIP back in April. Um, so we've had four months, five months in order to uh evaluate
uh the CIP projects. We we did not know what our income would be. We still really don't. There's so much unknown. May I? Sure. With all due respect to my new colleague, and I get it. This has been
an you came on board, you and Commissioner Caps came on board in November. The CIP, for those folks that are not familiar, that's the capital improvement plan. Those are the larger projects. They have a five-year budget. It's a it's a separate entity, and there are big projects and little projects. to
say let's cut the largest of the projects sounds like the easiest let's cut from the biggest ones but some of them are roads and bridges maintenance and things like that are not that easy to cut. The process of the budget began several months ago and then we had workshops where some of these things and
all due respect had come up where there were questions. our staff if there if our staff is available to you, you can certainly rest assured the staff is available to us. And what's happening is the f the five of us have had the same
private we're not allowed to speak outside of this meeting. Many of you might not realize in Florida there's a sunshine law. We are not allowed to speak to each other about anything we're going to vote on outside of a public a meeting just like this. I can't go into Commissioner Herd's office and say, "Hey, I got a great idea." That's
illegal. I can't say something to Miss Merly about a suggestion that I might have and she can't then go along and tell everybody else that's telegraphing. That's also illegal. So, what our staff has to do is speak to each of us five times.
And what I normally tell our staff is what number am I? Have you met with who have you met with? Not what did they say. Am I the third person you're meeting with? Am I the first person you're meeting with? Am I the last person you're meeting with? and then they can say well you know the budget
seems to be going along but I have given suggestions whether I'm here brand new or been here for two decades the process is the process we're this educated group up here we put ourselves out there for the public to pick us for a multitude of
reasons and the staff was listening to suggestions to be up here now we even had the workshops the workshop by definition was the workshop and I said the same thing then. If you have suggestions beyond saying we should cut
the budget, I said this to Commissioner Herd in the past. I've said it to Commissioner Smith in the past. If you have suggestions, you either should have given them to staff to be vetted because sometimes, like I said, it sounds like a great idea till you realize that if you cut $100,000, it comes with a million
dollar grant that we needed to put up $100,000 as the local match. you don't want to cut that 100,000 and you don't know all of those details, but this is the point where we're tentatively adopting it. We're following a legal time time frame. You got your
trim notice, x amount of days passed, and we have to approve this. I like the concept of let's hear from everybody, but I already had my 10 minutes or whatever it was with our staff. I pushed back on certain things
that I thought shouldn't be in the budget. And Mr. Donaldson could say, "I agree with you and we'll see if we can find two other people to support that decision or I don't agree with you because I've already heard from three commissioners." That's not on the table. We've done that. So, I don't want you to
feel like we're seeing this budget for the first time tonight. And and part of having new commissioners, new fresh perspectives of smart people is what do you know? What can you share with us? Not saying, "Okay, well, I
think we should lower the budget. Give me your cuts. I already did that." We're going to have the opportunity tonight to vote on separate budgets. So, if a commissioner wants to vote against a project or a budget, then he or she will
have the ability to vote against it. And there are four other commissioners who also have that ability. So without further ado, let's begin. Uh Miss Merley. Good afternoon, Commissioner. Stephanie Merley, director of the Office of Management Budget, here to present our
fiscal year 2026 tenative budget public hearing. As we mentioned before, um this is what is called our statutory trim timetable for local governments. Um, as part of the truth and millage process, the board is statutoily required to hold a first
public hearing on the proposed budget and millage rates between 65 and 80 days of the July 1 certification of taxable values provided by the property appraisers office and it's indicated here on that little arrow.
So, what is the purpose of us being here? Um the purpose is that the millage rates proposed today were discussed in length at the budget workshop that ended on July 21st, 2025, which is when we did all of the work evaluating all the
projects needs and budget requests that were contained within this budget. The mill rates proposed today have been advertised via the trim notices that property owners received as a result of the budget workshop which was held on July 21st of this year. So the board is
required to adopt a tenative budget via approval of resolutions for each taxing authorities millage rates and corresponding budgets. And as part of the trim process, the adoption of the budget requires the contemplation of the roll back rate, which is the millage rate that would
generate the same amount as the prior year's advorum tax revenues less any allowances for new construction in additions to the valuation. So pursuant to trim guidelines, the county is permitted to have a millage rate cap of a total of 10 mills for both
the countywide taxing authority as well as 10 mills for the cumulative municipal services taxing units or the MSTUs. So, as listed here, the proposed rates for fiscal year 2026 are all within the maximum allowable per Florida state
statutes with the countywide being proposed at 6.5614 and the total MSTU at 3.8332. Now, I'm not going to go over these one by one because they will be read with the budget resolutions, but these were all of the following millage rates that
were tenatively approved with the budget workshop back in July. Um, each specific millage rate, roll back rate, and corresponding increase or decrease over the roll back rate will be recited with each resolution adoption. So per trim guidelines, I'm required to
talk about the FY2026, the ad valorum impacts or the drivers of this um budget. As a reminder, um property tax only represents 44% of our total budget. So these are the impacts that are related strictly to property taxes. Um the two the total new advalor generated
if the millillage remained constant from last year would have given us approximately $40.2 million. But the actual advalorum need based on all of the budgeted expenditures that were vetted amounted to approximately $ 38.1 million which resulted in a reduction of
the total millage rate from last fiscal year. Um all the constitutional officers in 19 judicial circuit offices accounted for 30% of the new edorum request of 11.5 million. Um the capital improvement plan which was tenatively reviewed and
approved on April 22nd is included for and accounted for $5.1 million of new advalorum and this CIP prioritized maintaining our infrastructure, roads, bridges and jail facilities and public buildings. Additionally, various reserves were
allocated in the FY26 budget. Our general fund restricted reserves have been fully replenished based on the county's fiscal policy reserve requirement. Additionally, the FY26 tenative budget build strategic additional reserves to
support a strong long-term fiscal strategy in the event of a downturn or disaster. Um these include reserves for future capital projects that were identified and approved within RCIP. Additional funds are esta are being set
aside to establish recurring revenues for anticipated public private partnership projects for our public works facility. And finally, this budget includes reserves dedicated to the repayment of debt, helping to further improve the
county's already strong long-term debt ratio and reinforce its strong standing with credit rating agencies. Other advalorum impacts to the budget include mandatory obligations that are handed down to the county from the state including the Florida retirement system
contribution rates um the county and city of Steuart CRA payments and health insurance premiums and new advant requests related to technology needs to maintain current levels of services for Martin County and new position requests for our library and general services
complete the budget drivers from an advalorum perspective. for the FY26 proposed millage rates. Overall, the county's millage rate, the countywide millage rate decreased by.246% for countywide and 1.611%
for unincorpor incorporated Martin County with a total combined millage rate reduction of 713%. So this is the property tax rate that is being applied to your assessed value is decreasing. This marks the second consecutive budget
cycle that the Martin County BOCC has reduced both the countywide and overall uninccorporated overall millage rates. The changes from FY25 to FY26 are summarized in this table. The county's taxable base increased overall by 12.88%
and the greatest drivers for that budget increase are overall the greatest drivers of the overall budget increase are mostly nonadvalor including the halfsent conservation land sales tax that was approved by Martin County voters in November of 2024
and is enterprise funded operations such as our utilities and um airport department. This budget includes 11 additional positions for the BOCC, 11.5 positions cumulatively for the constitutional officers, which most went
for our sheriff. Um, and then finally, the total mill rate reflects a reduction from 9.9897 to 9.9185. So, there are tenative budget hearing requirements that are required per state statute. The board must adopt
resolutions for tenative budget adoption. The resolutions are not required to be read in full, but must state the taxing authority, the rolled back rate, the percentage increase or decrease over the rolled back rate, and the millage rate to be levied for FY26.
The board must also call for public com comment to comply with public hearing requirements. And with that, I have no additional information in my presentation. Any questions of Miss Merley? Well, shall we go to the resolutions?
I have them. Okay. Taxing authority roll back rate percentage or of increase over roll back rate and tentative millage rate. Yes. I move approval of to set the tentative millage rate for the taxing
authority of the board of county commissioners countywide with a roll back rate of 5.9159 percentage of increase over rolled back rate of 10.91
for tentative millage rate of 6.5614. Move approval. Wasn't that a second? Second. Didn't you make a motion? Oh yeah. I'm the I'm I made the motion. Oh, you're the motion maker. Second. There's a motion in a second. Any
objections? That motion passes unanimously. Move approval of tentative budget for taxing authority board of county commissioners countywide with a fund total of 318,825,362. Second.
There's a motion and a second. Any objections? Opposed. That motion passes 4 to one with Commissioner Vargas dissenting. Move approval to set tentative millage rate for the taxing of authority of District 1 MSTU with a roll back rate of
0.0671. Percentage of increase over roll back rate negative0.75 for a tentative mill rate of 0.0666. Second. There's a motion and a second. All the all those in favor
opposed. That motion passes unanimously. Move approval of a tentative budget for taxing authority district 1 MSTU with fund total of $372,99. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any objections? That motion passes unanimously.
Move approval to set tentative millage rate for district 2 MSTU with a roll back rate of 0.06, excuse me, 0.0762 0762 percentage of increase uh over roll back rate of -2.62
for a tentative millage rate of 0.0742. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any objections? That motion passes unanimously. Move approval of tentative budget for district 2 MSTU with a fund total of
$215,000. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any objections? That motion passes unanimously. Move approval to set tentative millillage for district 3 MSTU with a roll back rate of 0.0297
percentage of increase over roll back rate of 36.03 for tent for a tentative millage rate of 0.044. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any objections?
Opposed. That motion passes 4 to one with Commissioner Vargas dissenting. Move approval of tentative budget for district 3 MSTU with a fund total of $324,881. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any objections?
Opposed. That motion passes 4 to one with Commissioner Vargas dissenting. Move approval to set tentative millillage for district 4 MSTU with a roll back rate of 0.0485 0485 with a percentage of increase over
rolled back rate of negative 1.44 for a tentative millage rate of 0.0478. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any objections? That motion passes unanimously. Move approval of a tentative budget for district 4 MSTU with a fund total of
$214,390. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any objections? That motion passes unanimously. Move approval to set tentative millage rate for district 5 MSTU with a roll back rate of 0.0686
percentage of increase over roll back rate of -2.19 for a tentative mill rate of 0.0671. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any objections? That motion passes unanimously.
Move approval for a tentative budget for district 5 MSTU with a fund total of $370,000. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any objections? That motion passes unanimously. Move approval to set tentative millillage for special district A-61
Hutchinson Island MSTU with a roll back rate of 0.1682. percentage of increase over roll back rate of 6.96 for a tentative millage rate of 0.1799.
Second. There's a motion and a second. Any objections? Opposed? That motion passes 4 to one with Commissioner Vargas dissenting. Move approval of a tentative budget for special district A61 Hutchinson Island
MSTU with a fund total of $422,100. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any objections? Opposed. That motion passes 4 to one with Commissioner Vargas dissenting. Move approval to set tentative millage for fire rescue MSTU uninccorporated
with a roll back rate of 2.3732 percentage of increase over roll back rate of 11.14 for a tentative millage rate of 2.6376. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any objections? oppose.
That motion passes 4 to one with Commissioner Barus dissenting. Move approval for tentative budget for fire rescue MSTU uninccorporated with a fund total of $85,521,74. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any objections? Opposed.
That motion passes 4 to one with Commissioner Vargas dissenting. Move approval to set tentative millillage for MSTU parks and recreation with a roll back rate of 0.1397 percentage of increase over roll back rate of 5.51 for a tentative millillage
rate of 0.1474. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any objections? Opposed. That motion passes 4 to one with Commissioner Vargas dissenting. Move approval of tentative budget for taxing authority MSTU parks and recreation with
the fund total of 4,365,644. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any objections? Opposed. That motion passes 4 to1 with Commissioner Vargas dissenting. Move approval to set tentative millillage for countywide MSTU uninccorporated storm water and road
maintenance with a roll back rate of 0.5118 percentage of increase over roll back rate of 11.80 for a t tentative millage rate of 0.5722 second. There's a motion and a second. Any
objections? Poss. That motion passes 4 to one with commissioner Vargas desenting. Move approval of tentative budget for countywide MSTU unincorporated storm water and road maintenance with a fund total of 15,34,114.
Second. There's a motion and a second. Any objections? Oppose. That motion passes four to one with Commissioner Vargas dissenting. Move move approval of a tentative budget for general unincorporated fund with a fund total of 8,131,820.
Second. There's a motion and and a second. Any objections? Opposed? That motion passes 4 to1 with Commissioner Vargas dissenting. Move approval of a tentative budget for building and permitting with a fund total of 11,400,751.
Second. There's a motion and a second. Any objections? Opposed? That motion passes 4 to one with Commissioner Vargas dissenting. Move approval of tentative budget for impact fees 4,930963,984. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any
objections? Opposed. That motion passes 4 to1 with Commissioner Vargas desenting. Move approval of a tentative budget for special revenue with a fund total of 32,26,49. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any
objections? oppose. That motion passes four to one with Commissioner Vargas dissenting. Move approval of tentative budget for grants with a fund total of $2,396,333. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any objections? Opposed.
That motion passes 4 to one with Commissioner Vargas dissenting. Move approval for of a tentative budget for other debt service with a fund total of 8,324,667. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any objections? Oppose.
That motion passes 4 to one with Commissioner Vargas dissenting. Move approval of a tentative budget for other capital projects with a fund total of $34,21,127. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any objections? Opposed. That motion passes 4 to one with
Commissioner Vargas descenting. Move approval of a tentative budget for utilities enterprise with a fund total of 124,46,350. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any objections? Opposed. That motion passes 4 to one with
Commissioner Vargas descenting. Move approval of a tentative budget for Solid Waste Enterprise with a fund total of 48,72,621. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any objections? oppose. That motion passes 4 to one with
Commissioner Vargas dissenting. Move approval of a tentative budget for Airport Enterprise with a fund total of $3,32,863. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any objections? Opposed? That motion passes 4 to one with Commissioner Vargas dissenting.
Move approval of a tentative budget for Golf Course Enterprise with a fund total of $3,798,000. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any objections? That motion passes 4 to one with Commissioner Vargas dissenting. Move approval of a tentative budget for
internal service funds with a fund total of $46,428,736. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any objections? Opposed. That motion passes 41 with Commissioner Vargas desenting. Move approval of a tentative budget for
trust with a fund total of $80,000. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any objections? Opposed? That motion passes 4 to one with Commissioner Vargas dissenting. Move approval of a tentative budget for community redevelopment area trust with
a fund total of $9,93,972. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any objections? That motion passes 4 to one with Commissioner Vargas desenting. That is the end of my Do we have any further duties tonight?
Just want to remind you all that we'll be back here in less than two weeks for the final um reading on September 23rd at 5:05 p.m. Terrific. Thank you. Thank you. Anything else, commissioners? We are adjourned.