[Music] Heat. Heat. [Music]
Good evening and welcome to the Bord of County Commission budget hearing. The date is September 23, 2025. Welcome everyone. I would ask you check your phones or any other electronic devices you may have. Make sure they're on silent.
If you are here to speak on this item tonight, if you'd be kind enough to grab a speaker form in the lobby, bring it up front, give it to Miss Dominique so we make sure we've got you in line to come up and speak. Thank you all for being here tonight. We
sincerely appreciate it. The purpose of tonight's hearing is to present the final millage rates and budget for fiscal year 2526 and to allow for public comments. Before we begin, the public should be reminded that the board of county commissioners does not have control over the tax
levies or budgets of the school board, the water management district, the property appraiser, tax collector, or any of the seven cities in in Semino County. Any questions regarding assessed property valuations should be addressed to our property appraiser, David
Johnson. And there's folks from his office here this tonight. There we are. Good to see you. Thank you very much. Uh before I turn it over to the county manager, I just want to take a moment and thank our staff. Uh county manager,
uh in my opinion, you've risen to the occasion. We we gave you a task almost 18 months ago to go find cuts. Uh each one of your departments dug in deep, made cuts. You brought it back to us for a work session. We ask you to go look again, make additional cuts. Um some of
our constitutional officers have done the same thing. So we sincerely appreciate, you know, this is not the normal that we typically, you know, spend 18 months digging around trying to find all the cuts that we can and asking everybody to take a serious haircut. Uh that said, of course, we know there's a
lot of things that, you know, have escalated in price and so I I imagine we'll have that discussion tonight. So, thank you all for your your due diligence, your work on that, including our clerk of the courts, our sheriff, uh property appraiser, tax collector, and
so forth. So, Mr. County Manager, the floor is yours. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and commissioners and the public. Uh the purpose of the meeting uh tonight is to present to the public the final budget for all funds and the final
millage rates for the uh countywide district fire MSTU and roads MSTU as well as the roll back rates. By the state definition, the roll back rate is a millage rate when applied to next year's tax base excluding the new
construction that will generate the same revenue as we raised in the previous year. The budget and millage rates before you tonight are a result of nearly a year of collaborative work. As many of you have indicated, we knew this budget year was
going to be a challenging one. Due to the rising costs for public safety, transportation, and statemandated services, this year's budget process began earlier than usual. We developed budget guidelines that focused on essential services and discouraged
discretionary increases. For the first time, these guidelines were also shared with our constitutional offices, creating consistency and transparency across all participants. In the months that followed, the board and staff engaged in a series of
workshops and retreats, including a full day session where department directors developed over 40 efficiency initiatives to cut costs, streamline operations, and improve service delivery. By May and June, commissioners had reviewed every
constitutional office, department, and service area, ensuring a comprehensive and transparent approach to balancing the fiscal responsibilities with maintaining the essential services our growing community relies on. And at this
point, uh, Mr. Chairman, I'd like to turn it over to Mr. Jex, who will make a staff presentation, and then if you would like, we could open up for public comment. We'll do. Mr. Jex, floor is yours. Thank you, Commissioner. I'm Timothy Jex with the Office of Management and Budget. In accordance with Florida statute, Truth
and Mill requirements, this is the second public hearing to adopt the final mill rates and budget. The budget before you is balanced for all funds with no changes from the tentative budget approved at the first public hearing. I will now present the final mill rates.
The first column shows the current FY25 adopted rates. The second column shows the rollback rate which would generate the same amount of advorum tax revenue as the current year excluding new construction. The next column shows the FY26 millage rates and the last column shows the
percentage of the final millage rates over the roll back rate. As you can see, the FY26 final rate for the countywide millillage is 0.5 mills higher than the FY25 adopted rate. The increase in millillage will be used to maintain public safety services, offset rising cost of
transportation, meet statemandated regulations, and remove the existing budget deficit. The the fire and road district millage rates will remain unchanged from FY25. The general countywide millage of 5.3751
mills is 16.42% above the roll back rate of 4.6168 mills. The fire rescue MSTU millillage of 2.7649 mills is 5.43% above the roll back rate of 2.6226
mills. The unincorporated road MSTU millage of 0.1107 mills is 5.33% above the roll back rate of 0.1051 1051 mills and the and the aggregate millage rate for all BCC
taxing districts is 7.3663 mills which is 12.7% over the current aggregate roll back rate of 6.5363 mills. I will now present the budget.
The total countywide budget is 1 bill215,87,959 for all governmental funds, special revenue funds, enterprise funds, and internal service funds. The chart on the right shows a breakdown of the countywide expenditure budget, and there are no adjustments from the tenative budget approved at the first public
hearing. That concludes my presentation. Thank you very much. Any questions for staff at this juncture? Seeing none, we will go to public comment. Miss Dominique, if you will list the first three slowly so everybody catches
the names. Raphael Carmano. Carmono. Pete Buis and Yan Bartlink. Say the last one again. Again. Yan Bartlink. Bartling. Yes, sir. Thank you.
If you folks, when you come up, if you would give us your name and address for the record, you'll have three minutes. We would only ask due to efficiency and respect for all the speakers. We try not to be redundant in what others say. If you like what's being said, give us a thumbs up. If you don't like it, give us
a thumbs down. Proper decorum is expected. We won't tolerate screaming out and yelling at each other and those kinds of things. So, please, sir, proceed. Uh, for the record, my name is Raphael Kmano, 3551, Hollow Oak Run, Oto, Florida 32766.
Good evening, Mr. Chairman. Good evening commissioners. Uh good evening uh county manager. In 1999 after serving uh serving in the US Army, my family and I decided to move to Semino County. And it was only basically
for three reasons. The quality of life, the natural resources, and the school system. Reasons are values that are envy among other counties and municipalities. values that are not only attracting working families but that have
positively contributed to the local economy and outside investments such as Mitsubishi, JP Morgan, Chase, Triple AAA, Verizon, Deote among others. So it is understandable, practical and prudent
when the place that I live, Seino County, when the commissioners are asking for us to help out. The last time you asked for a raise was about 16 years ago. I'm a longtime resident of Semino County for over 26 years and I value this
county and willing to contribute not only not only what you're asking but even more to sustain the quality of life, the natural resources and our infrastructure. Thank you for all you do. Thank you for your hard work and God bless you and God bless EL County.
Thank you. Right. Next. [Music] Uh, my name is Yan Bartlink, 539 Tibberon Cove Road, Longwood, Florida, 32750. I'm here to support the millillage
increase. Uh, I've been fortunate enough to live in Semino County since 1994, pretty much my entire life. Uh, and I want to ensure our standard of living doesn't change. similar to the gentleman before me. I understand that no one wants to pay more, but I believe our standard of living in the county is
worth the increase. These funds are essential uh for essential services, infrastructure, and things that keep my family and our residents safe. Uh I I appreciate all your hard work and everything you guys do for us, and uh I trust that you guys uh know what you're doing and are going to make sure everyone's good in Sino County. Thank
you. Thank you. Next, please. Joe Humphre, Fred Piering, and John Horvath. Good evening, Pete Buis. I've been here many times before. You probably know me better as the goat farmer up in
How are the goats doing, by the way? Are the goats good? Well, that's why I'm here. You know, I know you We really don't want to talk about goats. I know you want to increase our taxes. You just can't do it this much. you're
you're going to hit me with a 10% increase in my in my tax. Yes, the value of my house has gone up, but it doesn't cost me any less to own it and operate it. A 10% tax so quickly hitting us is
just too much. Many people are on fixed incomes and the two guys before me obviously they're they're they're well off. they they must have a pretty good income because they don't mind spending another three, four, five, six, $700, you know, on their on their taxes. But I
speak for those of us who who are on a fixed income at a 10% in increase is just too much all at once. I please ask that you would consider pairing it down a little bit, please. Thanks, guys. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Yes, Mr. Buis. Mr. View us. Sir, sorry. I I didn't catch your address. 53 5376 Ohio Avenue. I'm sorry. It's okay. Thank you. Stop by and see the goats. Okay. All right. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Horvath. Is that Who's next? John Horvath Bradford Drive, Winter Park, Florida. That's a Winter Park address, but I live in Semol County. I've born and raised here. My family's
in the grove business before the freeze of 81 put us out. So I remember when a lot of these places are subdivisions and apartments were orange groves and you didn't have the traffic back then. But once you sold the groves or the farm, they became they brought traffic. Of
course you have UCF that came in here. You've got other businesses that have come in here. You know, I'm I'm a senior citizen. I thank goodness I drive a Kia that gets 50 miles to the gallon. So when your tax that gas tax goes up, it won't hurt me as bad. But I've been
following this budget for over 50 years. And I remember when it was $250 million and fire trucks at that time were around $100,000. Now one cost a million. That's just for the truck, not the equipment that goes on it. There are 31 21 stations in this
county. So the chief wants to get all new trucks for one year. That'd be $21 million. But he doesn't do that. He gets two or three a year because of time to break produce these trucks or two three years now versus a year back years ago.
So he's got a plan better and those trucks I know I got a new truck in my station and I've talked to the chief and couple of you commissioners 23. I worked at that when I was in my 20s back in the 70s and that's the oldest station in the county and I can't wait till you build a
new station across the street so the people have decent quarters in there and uh everything. You know, I'm retired, but I still have doctor's appointments. I go to church. I got to drive the roads. I got to I got a daughter that lives with
me. I have to take her to work. I mean, it's not as if you sit home and you're a senior citizen that you don't need stuff. You got to buy groceries. I mean, you know, you still have to use these facilities. So, I teach people, they talk about traffic. When I was in high school back in the 60s, Redbug Road was
so isolated. In high school, that used to be our drag strip. And I know guys that we used to run it. Yes. People. And their orange groves along Redbug Road at that time. And the sheriffs would chase us. And we most of us knew how to drive through the groves. So, we take off through the groves and the sheriff could
never catch us. So, uh, shows you how it changed. And I ride Red Bug Road pretty regularly. As in fact, I was on it yesterday. And uh it amazes me all the traffic. And uh when I learned to drive, I learned to drive at age 14. I'm almost
80 now. And my and my mother at that time told my dad not to teach my sister and me to to drive in Orange in Orlando area because we might get killed in a car wreck. Well, my career here in in Orlando, I drove for Triple A for nine
years. I drove for a funeral home for years and my sister and her husband they they live in North Carolina and they go to antique shows so they're on the road so you know you learn to adjust and adapt and uh I don't like to see costs go up but uh I've told this board that
you need to make sure you maintain stuff and double check and I like to see you work with the other cities more. Uh one of you mentioned consolidation of the fire departments. I would like to see that and other services so we can stretch these dollars out not to have so many people here and there and
everywhere. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, sir. Next three, please. Fred Peering, Joe Humphre, and Harold Morgan. Good evening, Mr. Chairman. Good afternoon, Commissioners.
Uh you slide this way. Oh, okay. All right. Um anyway, as I mentioned the last time, I don't envy your jobs. It's not easy. Um there's a you got to project into the
future and that isn't again very easy especially these days. But I've heard and having run businesses, we all know that there's cash in, there's cash out. I've heard a lot of conversations about how much money we need. Having grown up in a government household, I learned at
a very young age, there's a big difference between what I want and what I need. So, I've done some analysis and this is a breakdown of Seino County median household income from 2010 to
2023 is adjusted. I was a little shocked actually with some of the information that I got, but basically it shows the years that our income actually went down. Well, given COVID the great recession, you know, that's not a
surprise. But net net from 2010 to 2023, the median household income for Semino County increased by, wait for it, $179. That's a 22% increase. Now, again, there's years
up, years down. But comparing that nationally, nationally for the entire country in that same time period the increase was $5,62 which again was up 7.68%. So, and the other thing is again in the
county you have households that are not family households and I was a little actually surprised at at the disparity of incomes for h family household households. The median income in 2023 adjusted was
$101,999. For non-family households, we know that that's a growing percentage of the population. it was actually 52,614. So again, I know that this is not an easy task, but what I'm asking you to do
is think about where the money's coming from. We understand what the expenses are and I understand where the big amounts of dollars are. You know, $500 million bond funds. I've done bonds. I know how they work. I know how the interest can compound. So, all I'm
saying is it's not the sidewalks, it's where are we really spending the big amounts of money. So, again, thank you. Good luck, guys. Thank you. Can I ask for that document to be put back up there? I just want to read the top header. Yeah. And I got
the commissioner. Commissioner would like it put Yeah, there we go. That what you needed, Commissioner? What's above it? It's in 2023 inflation adjusted dollars. Ah, there you go. So, the dollars from the earlier years
were inflation adjusted the whole way. Understood. I'm I just want to make sure we understand the analysis. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner. All right. Our next speaker, please. Yeah. Fred Piering uh 2585 Tuscaloosa Trail, Matland, Florida. I'm in
unincorporated Seino County. And uh presentation is Alia Ayakaest. The die is cast. Huh? The dye is cast. It means the dye is cast. That is the dye is cast.
Correct. Correct. Three years of high school. There's a long story behind that. Long story behind that, but I won't I can't get it in three minutes. So, but Julius Caesar was uh we had to study him in school. Yes, we do. In Latin transportation, you drop links,
fine. Now, it's time to drop Sunreil. $11 million. It doesn't run on weekends. It doesn't run in the evening. Um the stations aren't convenient. And you've got around 5,000 riders a month. That's 20 days
people are riding it. I'm assuming that someone that gets on the train, goes somewhere, comes back. So, it's 250 trips a day, which is $125 people, which is to the tune of about
$250 per person per trip that you're subsidizing. Now there's there's no public transportation system that pays for itself even in Europe. It's always subsidized by the government and that's
fact of life I guess. Um so I think that's one thing that you should really look at and consider uh whether or not you really want to support it development. Uh I hopefully you remember your mom standing there with her hands on her
hips saying your eyes are bigger than than your stomach. Well, you know, you've got a new sports arena that you're talking about. I thought it was 65 million, but there was an article in the paper, I think in August, that was like 100 million in indoor soccer.
You've already got boom ba and of course my favorite of your development is the Oxford because I happen to live close to that and that's a mess and it's 20 million already shot and another 50 probably coming. So, you know, um it it
just doesn't really um it brings in money, but it doesn't help the taxpayer. And I think you need to consider your approach to development and what it does to the residents, the people that have been living here all the time when you change everything from a casual area to
all of a sudden 820 people, narrowed roads and and all the effects that you really have. you know, as as far as development, the ROI on my investment is zero. Okay. In summary, of course, we talked
about this the last time, 2022, you've had a 3% raise. 2023, a 3% raise. 2024, a 3% raise, and now this year, uh, 13.16. Uh, thank you very much. Thank you, sir.
Next. Harold Morgan and then after that Cindy Holler, Raul Visa and Richard Ceden. I'm Harold Morgan, 526 East Highland Street, Altoont Springs,
Florida. Moved here July the 4th, 1989. So, does that make me a Fidian in my book? No. Well, I'm a rookie then. I'm a native. I uh I'm coming in supporting specifically
budgeting for the parks and recreation. I'd like to see it a little bigger, but need to tell you a story. I was riding some an old trail. First of all, who is who here has walked or ridden on any of our trails? Stand up. Raise your hand.
I know you have Lee. Get your hand up cuz I saw you on. We walked really. Somebody stole him. I uh was riding Simol Trail. I ride You see my jersey? I'm a member of the crabs. Crusty retired auto recumbent society.
We ride the We ride the uh trikes, the two wheels in the front, one in the back. It's called a tadpole. I was riding on it and a guy asked me said, "You're riding on that? Why don't you join us? Now these budgets are about people.
So I joined them. I was a stranger, became an acquaintance, I became a friend. Then we became people because of this budget and these facilities. There's nothing that we won't do for
each other. On the way up here, one of our residents in Ovido that rides with us, he had had a stroke. I stopped in Lake Mary to see him. I doubt if he remembers that I came by.
We're seniors. We stay active. Fortunately or unfortunately, I was asked to do the obituary and memorial for two of our guys,
acquaintances or strangers, acquaintances, friends. Then there's nothing that we won't do to help one another. keep supporting, generously supporting
our parks and recreation because we're about people. We're about people. We're about making good people. Thank you. Thank you. Next, please. Good evening. Cindy Holler, 1731 Beacon
Drive, Sanford. Let's see. So, that was a really nice, um, so thank you for that. Touch me. Um, so anyway, um, county manager, commissioners, um, as Pete said, difficult for those on fix
fixed income. I can't disagree with that. I don't want to be redundant. Um, I mentioned this before to the county commissioner about developer fee increase needed and I hope that's something still that the commissioners are looking at and the county. Um, so
some reduction in the increase please. I asked for that as Pete did and a couple other people and I like the brochure that you all put together. Um, I didn't get a chance to read it all but it looks very nice. So I I I look forward to
analyzing that. In myth number nine where it talks about seminal county has the highest tax burden in the region. I recall at the last meeting on the 10th um Commissioner her brought up Lake County and Lake County was lower than
us. I see that they're not in myth number nine. So I would love it if maybe the county you could have a discussion or maybe share why Lake County was lower and how we could you know get there. Okay, that's all I have. Thank you.
Thank you. You don't want to live in Lake County. Good evening. My name is Richard Ceden. I live at 1172 Apache Drive, Geneva, Florida. I am the president of the Geneva Citizens Association.
Ladies and gentlemen, that dreaded day has now arrived. You must decide if you are with your constituents or against them. Finalizing your proposed large millage tax increase would show that you are against most of
the citizens of this county. Seol County has two kinds of problems. One is short-term and the other is long-term. The short term can be softened if you do not increase our taxes to put the money as extra reserves into your piggy bank
and then break that bank and spend the money next year, which just conveniently happens to be an election year. The long-term pain can be alleviated by your learning to spend within your wants and our available resources. Your eyes are bigger than your stomachs
and our wallets. Please put the proposed new administration building at five points and the large indoor venue projects on hold until you see if your constituents want them. I would suggest two separate
referendums for the 2026 ballot, one for each project, whether they should be constructed or indefinitely shelved. This would be a benefit to you commissioners because if the votes are yes, you have the political cover to proceed. If the votes are no, you can
gracefully back away from the projects and rightfully be able to blame us for the cancellation. If you refuse to authorize these two referendums, you are basically telling your constituents to go to Hades.
Jesus said, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice." Semol County taxpayers have already been forced to sacrifice a lot to help balance your budget. How about showing them a little mercy? Thank you.
Thank you. You'll call the next three, please. And if there's anyone here that desires to speak, you need to fill out a form. It's now 6:00, so we can get those to the clerk and we'll cut it off at that point.
The next are Austin Kode, Eve Feedler, and Ron Lightheart. All right. Welcome, sir. Good evening, commissioners, county manager, county attorney, clerk, and deputy clerk. My name is Rahul Vzaga and I live in 2724 Nighthawk Court, Longwood, Florida
32779. I'm here in support of the proposed millage increase in Sino County. The increase will allow us to continue funding the services that make Sino County the best place to live in. Strong law enforcement, fire rescue, safe roads, great schools, and a well-maintained parks and neighborhoods.
Strong schools are what keeps families moving here. Safe communities protect our homes and property values, and our parks and services make make every day everyday life better for all of us. Most importantly, the increase spreads the responsibility fairly so that everyone who owns property contributes their fair
share towards keeping our county safe, strong, and thriving. By supporting the million increase, we are not only protecting our quality of life today, but we are investing in making sure Semino County remains the best place to live in for generations to come. Thank you. Thank you, sir.
Next, please call the name one more time. Good evening, commissioners, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Eric Feedler. I live in Altimont Springs. I'm going to put this thing that you guys handed out at the front up here.
Thank you. Uh, this is my second time being here at Seminal County Commission meeting. The first being two weeks ago and it's because I got my trim notice and I was getting 20% increases from my previous year to what was proposed and that drew me away from my family from a
nice dinner to be here with you and uh that increase is a 16% increase. So your proposed millage up here this is from your the thing that you passed out is 16% over the roll back rate. Now the roll back rate is the adjusted rate to
maintain the same level of real estate income from the previous year for the following year. And that's just to me that's a that's a horrific increase and that's can be difficult to to bear with tenants, small businesses um and even like my own homestead house
was a 6% increase. Um but what was interesting I just got this separating myths from truths for sure. Um it would have been nice. I missed it somehow, but there were some facts that you guys said two weeks ago that were interesting. One was
uh the general fund only accounts for 33% of the total county budget. Another one that was kind of driven into our ears was that the five of you are only control 1.1%
of the budget for Seminal County. That was not what was said. That's that's misrepresent. But go ahead. Commissioner Constantine was talking to the budget person saying that's only 1.1%. The increase was an increase. Okay.
It was an increase. It was an increase of 1.1%. I misspoke. Thank you for correcting me. But I would like to say that something that you guys do have 100% control over is whether you guys pass this millage rate. That lies on the votes of the five of you right here. And I would encourage you not to
pass the millage rate increase. Um that is something that you guys control. Um encourage your your constitutionals to live within their means just like us ordinary citizens have to do every day. Thank you. Thank you.
Next, please. Mr. Chairman, let's just I think it's important the constitutionals are not our constitutionals. They are their constitutionals. They're elected. That's right. Okay. Yes, sir. Okay. Ron Lift, 1036, Winding Water
Circle, Winter Springs, Florida. I I was here two weeks ago and I of course listen to all the speakers here and also listen to you. Right. So, but uh you know I hear the word fiscal conservative I believe by by chairman Zenower but you
know in today's world I don't know what that means regardless of party affiliation. So, but the one thing that is very very clear to me and this has been bothering me for for for many many years is yeah, we can get more money for
the police department, the fire department, all that good stuff. I I realize this is the police department on this village right here, but you're also increasing the pensions and I have a huge problem with the defined benefit pension plans. I realize it's state and you got other issues, but you got to
fight it. I can't believe that we still have defined benefit pension plans in today in the United States. It's a pension plan we cannot get in the private sector. Where in the world can you be in a higher risk job and collect
90% of your pay when you retire? We for our police department they can after 30 years because the multiplier is 3% they can get 90% of their base pay. Right? Uh this is after you work for 30 years, right? Okay. And of course, you can take
that number down based on how many years you work, but think about all the people that have fixed incomes. So, we're subsidizing you with a defined benefit pension plan, which is extremely generous, while they're on fixed incomes. It's just the silliest things
I've seen over the years. And it's amazing that we still have this. I realize again you got being pushed back from other, you know, the state and you name it. But when are we ever going to fix that? Cuz I see loopholes and loopholes into the system, too. I mean, I got a company
here in Lakeland, Florida makes airbag inflators. An airbag inflator 10,000 PSI. If you don't know what that is, that's a gun. Every car has a gun in their car. And sodium aid is a propellant. I got a guy splattered against the wall. I got another guy that lost his arms and his
limbs. And you name it. They make a fraction a fraction of what any high-risk job in comparison to police department. So that's always been a touchy point and I wish someone would take you know the initiative to change that because I don't see the changes you
know and you keep making the comparison okay well the city competing right this thing right uh you have to compete right but you have an open checkbook to checkbook to the taxpayer here's the thing I work for a2 billion company
right 600 million global 600 million is in the United States we have a 40% turnover rate in the last two years, 40%. I got a cut in vacation time. I got a cut in my 401k. Now, I'm
not jumping to the other side because it's not just about money. It's also about what I believe in the product and you name it. And I think that needs to be shared here as well. Appreciate your time. Thank you, sir. Next, please. Good evening.
Good evening, guys. Uh, my name is Austin Canode, Sanford, Florida 32771. I'm going to abstain from giving my full address at at the moment, but uh, thank you for your guys' time. I'm here to oppose the milich tax increase. Um, I feel like I differ from a lot of
people in here. Um, I'm I'm pretty new to Semol County, so um you know, I lived in a couple other counties beforehand and as a new homeowner here. Um, you know, I I was attracted to to buying here because of its affordability. And I think just increasing the millage rate is going to decrease the uh
attractiveness of buying in this county. And, you know, I think if it's if more people want to move here, then you're going to get that revenue later on. I understand that a increase of the milit rate right now is going to give you that increase in revenue like right away, but
if you I think are just patient and and make it more attractive to to want to live here in Semino County and Sanford and you know, wherever, I think, you know, you'll see that revenue later down the road. Um, you know, I know it wasn't mentioned a lot today, but I I did listen to the September 10th meeting.
Um, and a lot of people did come up and talk about people on fixed income. Um, you know, there are a lot of people within Semino County on fixed income and I think you really need to look at it as a whole and not just this one increase. There's been a lot of increases, you
know, to the the gas, the utilities, um, to property value increasing. And so, I think if you look at it as a whole, you know, $12 um, a month, like you said, is maybe not a lot to everybody, but if you look at everything that has increased, that $12, this $12, you know, compiles
to everything else. And it it is a lot. Um, you know, and I think I think politically just looking at it too, like the trend right now is to lower taxes. I understand that, you know, everyone wants lower taxes. I'm sure you guys do, too. But, um, you know, even our own
governor is is, you know, flirting with the idea of getting rid of property tax. Um, and, you know, as personally, as a libertarian, I I love that. But, um, you know, I know some things are are easier said than done. So, I just encourage you guys to, you know, continue to look at the budget and hopefully, you know, I I
encourage you to vote, um, you know, to not raise this tax. Thank you. Thank you. Next three, please. Melanie Cross, Austin Steiner, and Win Adams. Cross, Steiner, and Adams. Yes, sir.
I'm Melanie Cross. I live uh in Lakewood at the crossings in uh Lake Mary 32746. I'm against the tax increase. I think a lot of the people that spoke before me have said it better than I ever could. I
am a native Floridaian as well. Fantastic. Not a lot of us left. I know. I know. But they're going to put us on display at the zoo or something. The native Floridaian exhibit. There'll only be like 10 people in there, right? Um, but you know, I've lived in Florida
for 58 years and I've lived in Semino County for 20 years and I lived here also back in the 90s. Um, and I've just seen all the changes that have been rapid in the past couple of years. And I think that, you know, the we I think
this thinking about raising taxes, there should be further study on that to see where the the money can otherwise come from. I don't know if anybody considered like impact fees when somebody moves here from out of state or something like
that that the community is increasing so that the you know it's shifted a little bit but I think I don't think you have to go to that at at the beginning of it because the man who brought up the public transportation and the sun railing things like that I think that needs to be re-examined
to see where these funds can come from otherwise without tax burdening us even further because I think a couple years years ago, you know, our garbage fees went up 20%. Our gas taxes just went up. Everything is going up up and wages are stagnant. You know, I haven't made any more money
in seven years. And so, it just keeps going up and up and up. And I think that that's the easy thing to do is just increase. But I think if every you know if all of you with your expertise can look at these other and other people have commented on that and have given
you very good information on that. I think that that would be the way to go is to not do this now and do some further study about where this could come from because everybody is having to tighten their belt right now. And maybe there's some things in, you know, public
things that can be that that really aren't paying for themselves or that nobody's really using that much that can be, you know, trimmed down or whatever. The money has got to be in some of these things. And the guy with the Latin phrase, he he said it way better than I
could. I would just like to second what he said. Thank you. Thank you. Next, please. Be Mr. Steiner. Yes. Yes, sir. And then Mr. Adams. Hello, everyone.
I'm not going to beat a dead horse here on uh name and address for the record, please. Austin Steiner, 4747 Ohio Avenue, Sanford, Florida. I've been born and raised here. Been here 28 years. Natural Flidian.
I can see the growth. You guys are not you guys specifically, but people are moving here from across the woodwork. Every farm pasture that I ever saw when I was a kid, when I was outdoors, it's almost all gone. The we we call
ourselves the natural choice. It's becoming the natural choice of concrete out there and basically I oppose it and the amount of money that's coming from the people moving here and the development is far
none. And I'm going to keep it short and sweet, but I I disagree. I think we need to re-evaluate some other options and the apartment complexes that are going up everywhere. They're really not contributing as the property the owners
are in the county and we need to look at the people that are coming and just using all our resources but not actually contributing and paying for these resources. Um, but I'd like you guys to consider the everything that was already
said about the fixed income and everything like that. It's tight out there right now. And raising a family that someone that's born and raised here, it's harder than ever. And I'd like you guys to consider that. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Adams going once. There he is. I
didn't see you there, sir. Can you uh Madam clerk, do we have some other speakers? If you'll call theirs names while we're getting No more speakers, sir. No more. Okay. Speed specifically, sir. Uh, yes. My name is Win Adams. Uh I'm
former Simble County Commissioner and I'm also the current treasurer of Coach Light Estate Section 2 which is in Fern Park, Florida. My address is 646 Fellowship Drive, Fern Park, Florida
32730. Uh our community is primarily uh senior citizens. uh we have 55 uh homes within our community and I am concerned of course since the majority of us are on
fixed income that uh we have uh uh let's just say that we watch our money and we hope that our county commission also watches our money. Um I have concerns about uh the item number 10.
county has thoroughly reviewed the budget and so on so forth. Well, number one, uh when we develop the millage, right, and please correct me if I'm wrong, we take the total budget for the county and we divide it by the total property
values of the county. Is that correct? No, it's not right. Is that correct? We can explain that. We'll get explained. All right. If that is the case and we want to maintain or get the millage rate to go down, we need to do what we did
back in the 90s when I was a commissioner is increase the property values in the county. And we can do that by bringing in more business and producing uh a higher level of uh
taxable property. We don't seem to be doing that and I'm I'm questioning as to why. Um, for example, I'm hearing that we want to put in an indoor sports complex. My question about that, being a
former uh uh economics uh degree from Florida State, is that there is such a thing as known as a economic multiplier? Is economic multiplier the greatest for that or should we concentrate on getting something like uh uh hopefully going
after business uh with uh use of artificial intelligence. I mean we got a university that is nearby that uh specializes in that. Why don't we use that and start bringing in businesses that would provide highpaying jobs to
grow the economy in Simil County? We did that back in the 90s. Is there some reason why we can't do that? The sports complex is not going to generate the revenue on an ongoing basis that good industry uh like we did on the I4
corridor in Semlo County. Uh th those are my concerns and I would be very interested to know what the commission is going to do in order to help grow the economy by bringing in better businesses and capitalizing on us having one of the
best public school systems in the nation. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Adams. All right, Madame Clerk, any further speakers? No, sir. We'll close public input and we'll go to board.
Yeah. Um, I just want to make a statement. Mr. Steiner, is he still here? 28 years old. I'm glad you're here. I'm a little over twice your age. Um, but you struck a chord with me because there was a time I used to be
able to ride my horse from Ocola County through Orange County through this county into Lake County, probably through where your house is at currently. Um, so I get it. I understand. And often that is the
the problem that we run into when you have a state and a county that a lot of people want to live in with low taxes, uh, great quality of life, great school systems, and so forth. And I'm going to ask staff to get into
it just here in just a little bit. But this notion that the county can just tear up Sunrail and throw it away is a contractual agreement with the state of Florida. and and we've had this conversation with the state and I think the letter that came from the state was
you shall either pay it or we will take it out of your annual funds that you receive from the state for other for other issues I personally am not a big fan. Um, Commissioner Lockheart is our lead on
that and she does a great job and she's I assure you she is working each and every meeting to do what's best for this this county. There was also some information about impact fees and apartments. So, I just want to make sure we we set that straight.
We cannot control only to a certain extent impact fees on developers. That's statutoily limited by Tallahassee. So, we can only do certain things. Apartments, and I think this was said in the last hearing, if it wasn't for the apartments in in
the seven cities, which 72% of them are in the cities of central of Semino County and not in the unincorporated area, your taxes would probably be double what they currently are. Apartment owners and dwellers get zero homestead exemption. So, the owners of
those apartments have to pay full rate. There's no exclusions, no homestead, no save our homes, no anything. And Miss Tyra Miller from from the uh property appraisers office will probably be able to help you with some more information with that as well. Or if you have
questions about how your property is being assessed, and I heard some comments about we need to raise the assessment. That lies with the property appraiser. So they can answer those questions as well. Uh, with that said, I'm sure we'll get into some more stuff, but I also want to
The sheriff is here tonight and wanted to make a statement, so I'll invite Sheriff Lima down real quick. Sheriff, well, uh, good evening, chairman, board members. It's, uh, it's an honor to to be here tonight, and it's really a
privilege to see our democracy work. uh everyone comes up and they have the opportunity to share their opinion and input and perspective and to see the patients and and watch that play out is what America is about and I'm incredibly grateful for that.
I also want to thank each of you as county commissioners because year after year after year you have stood with the men and women of policing and fire and public safety and you've created a quality of life here in Sino County that is second to none. I think that every
person in this room regardless of where they stand on this particular issue is proud of what we do. Our parks, our schools, our quality of life here, our crime rate. And I hope by now I have in our office has created the reputation
that we don't sensationalize things. It is easy to do that in today's time and environment to sensationalize to say the sky is falling. The sky is falling. And I do recognize that many of these conversations and discussions started when I came before
you months ago and asked for a $16 million increase, which was then reduced by nearly $1 million to keep up with market value. The comments that I made during that meeting is there was nothing more
uncomfortable than me stepping before you because I know that you've always supported the men and women of policing and fire and emergency management. And this put each one of you fiscal conservatives, people who stand for the right thing, in an incredibly difficult
position. I laid out the argument over a 2 and 1/2 hour window of time that said the market value of policing has adjusted. In years past, when people in various
areas of our country turned their back on policing and in many cases defunded the police, our president and cabinet members in Washington DC said, "We want to support and lift up the police." and did that in a way where they financially
incentivized people working in police at the federal level. To include most recently offered a $50,000 signing bonus for any new ICE agent that wants to join the federal relationship,
which was not the case when I presented to our board several months ago. Governor Ron DeSantis and our legislative body has done more to advance policing in pay and resources over the past 5 years than ever in our
history. And as a result, every municipality in Semino County has raised the starting pay of every police officer $8,000 more than the starting
pay of a Semino County deputy sheriff, which is $58,000. In Semino County, we hire people who have undergraduate degrees, graduate degrees, military experience, and could do anything in the world with their talent if they wanted to make
more money. But they still have this dream that they can raise their hand, take an oath, and stand in the gap between good and evil to protect our domestic and international freedoms, putting themselves in harm way. as recent as just days ago, any person who
watches the news seeing a deputy standing in front of somebody's yard and him pulling a gun on the deputy. And in my lifetime, I have never met somebody who's wore the uniform of their community or country that has ever said, "We get paid too much." Nor have I ever
met a patriot that appreciates the people who are willing to run towards danger say they make too much. And the gentleman came up here talked about benefits and pensions and I shook my head a little bit and he said, "You know, you disagree with me." It was not
because of his principle. It's because the people who join now don't stay until they become invested. They opt for the investment plan, not the defined benefit plan. Nobody's coming into this business and doing 30
years any longer because with those credentials, we train them to forensically examine computers and fly helicopters and they go out into the private sector and make six times the amount of money that they can make serving their community. But they still do it because they have not lost that
American dream to stand in the gap and to do all that they can to protect our freedoms, even for people who completely disagree with them. If you look at where we're at, we have a big part of this budget. I've laid out
in previous budget meetings and and I know our board of county commissioners and our county manager have done such a fabulous job working with us year after year after year. But 40% of this budget or $80 million
is to run the county correctional facility, which is the county's responsibility that has always been delegated to the sheriff for the entire existence of the county. and to not talk about the constitutional or the
sheriff's budget without talking about $80 million of that are 40%. Is what we run on your behalf and I'm grateful for that. But again, we have a great group of citizens. We have a wonderful fire
department. We have a great emergency management team. It is our job to ensure that we can do everything that we can do to preserve the quality of life. not just for us, but for generations of people to follow, our kids and our grandkids and all of
these things are at stake. Or as President Trump often says, I like to surround myself with smart people. And the idea that somebody who's attracted to policing
can come into Seminal County and work at a Seminal County agency for $8,000 more than what a deputy sheriff makes is just not smart decisions, especially
if you're not going to do it for a lifetime, if you're going to do it for a handful of years. So again, I am grateful for the leadership that each one of you have displayed and I can only imagine because I'm not at the dis.
I'm not making decisions to prioritize this. I can only imagine the heat and the emails and the phone calls and the community events that you're at. But I know every one of you to be strong and conservative and the last thing that you would ever want to do is be faced with a
situation like this. But they you know that the decisions are bigger than you. It's to preserve our quality of life and what we have. And for that, not only me, but every member of the Semino County Sheriff's Office and their families are incredibly grateful for the leadership
that you're displaying and the way that you're handling these situations. And if there's anyone that wants to have a conversation directly with me about how our deputies don't deserve at bare minimum
what every other municipality is receiving in Semino County. I'd be happy to have that conversation because the fact is is they deserve a hell of a lot more than what we can ever give them. Even what's on the table now is not
enough for people that are going to stand in that gap. God bless you guys. We appreciate the partnership and the collaboration and I'm thankful for each one of you. Thank you, Sheriff. [Applause]
All right, Mr. Jax, I think you're you're next, sir. Did you want me to address the property tax question? Yes, please. Sure. So our office the office of management budget we're responsible for estimating the advalorum revenues those
are generated through property taxes. So if we look at our general fund the revenue is set with it has no association with the expenditure budget. Um the property appraiser sets the countywide taxable value that includes apartments, single family homes, commercials. We take that taxable value
and we divide it by a th00and and multiply it by our millage rate and that's how we get our revenue. We assume that most people get the 4% early payment discount. That's the budget we set and typically that comes very close to what the revenues that we receive. Great. Thank you very much for that. Any
other questions for staff while Mr. Jex is at the podium? Thank you, Commissioner Constantine. Mr. J, could you there's been a lot of there were some people that mentioned and also I I saw a letter that came up
before us tonight about unfunded mandates and um how that doesn't really affect it. In fact, a certain state senator said that uh you know, nobody else is complaining about unfunded mandates. Being the former president of the
Florida Association of Counties, I can tell you that every single county in this state complains and every city of the 400 cities complain about the unfunded mandates. But could you talk a little bit about how the unfunded mandates affects this budget? Sure. Uh unfunded mandates typically are
known as our community services unfunded mandates. That's Medicaid, our health department, medical examiner. Um also the jail is considered unfunded mandate. The court system support is unfunded mandates. Those budgets are very difficult for our office to control. We we we receive the costs and we have to
put them in the budget. We run them through the county manager's office and they present them to the board. Um and we've seen significant increases. So while we were making reductions on our board departments um and we we were targeting a flat budget coming in right
around 1% increase on our side um that included those increases that we had to take through the unfunded mandates. Good enough, Commissioner. Good. Mr. JS, you um you have put together a seminal county
adopted general fund expenditure budget growth versus inflation growth since 2020. Do you have that available at any you know anywhere slide 18? I I don't need you to put it up but um the um
it's up. It's up. It's up. Okay, good. Um did um I you know I I want to make sure that everybody understands that and and sheriff thank you for an inspiring
wherever you went speech I think somebody took off the reason why you increased your budget. Um, but you know, the fact of the matter is is that, you know, it has, you know, the the the constitutionals, and I'm not,
this is not against constitutionals, and I hope that it's not they're not against us. We're all in this team together, but the fact of the matter is is that people keep talking about, you know, our budget and what we control. The we are 33% and
and they are 66% of the budget approximately. Is that correct? Thank you very much. And any any um any constitutional that says that they have not increased
and we have increased that is just an not a factual statement. Is that correct? That's correct. Thank you very much. Because I've also heard that certain things at a at a seminal county Republican executive committee meeting
at a certain constitutional officer said that they are living within their means and have not increased their budget at all where we are continually to increase ours and that's just a blatant misrepresentation of the truth. Um
okay that's the only questions I have for I have a question for Mr. Harris, emergency management director. Allan, hate to put you on the spot, but I've got walk slower. Allan, walk slower.
So happy. For the record, Alan Harris, director of emergency management for Sim County and also in charge of the animal and in charge of animal control as well. Yes, that's one of the divisions. Um 911. You know, we we learned yet again today in the morning session, and
thank you very much for that presentation, that our animal services uh division is in need of a lot of things. It was not monetized, but if I look through the list, and I know what the building looks like. Uh I'm going to say it's probably a couple million
dollars worth of deferred repairs and and u roughly 20. Is it really? Mhm. Okay. Back was two. All right. easily. So, I was only off by 10 times. Um, so the one thing that we've been discussing
and and I haven't asked you this in over a week, one of the things that we've been concerned about is the FEMA funding and the last time we spoke, there's still no clear direction on how that's going to happen or if it's even going to
happen. uh traditionally has it has coming to this county which is one of the reasons at least this commissioner is concerned about reserves at a certain level to cover that stop gap when that occurs. Has there been any movement or
any clarification either from the federal or the state agencies on we will get it we won't get it how we'll get it? Is it going to be similar to to the way it was before percentages etc. We we know that uh based on everything that
we've heard so far, we have gotten five different memos with five different ways that this would occur. Um as you know, the FEMA director is gone and there's a new FEMA director now. So some of those members or from the previous FEMA director. Uh what we have heard of
course from the president is the local governments need to be prepared to do more. I think everybody has heard that if they've watched TV at all. Uh we have seen what happens across the the nation with other disasters and we have seen local governments have to be be prepared
for that. I uh I have not seen anywhere where it looks like we would get 100% reimbursement like we did for Hurricane Milton. Sure. So I think that being diligent uh with and and prudent and good stewards of our
public safety, we need to be prepared. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Hate to put you on the spot, but thank you. Can I ask a just a followup question? Yes, Commissioner Her for Allan. So, just a the item that we start getting phone calls about literally 13
seconds after the wind stops blowing is when are we going to pick the debris up? So, I'm only going to use that one example. There's more important examples after hurricane recovery that exist, but that one affects the entire community and seems to generate the most phone calls. Do the contractors work and then
wait for FEMA to reimburse us? Yes. Uh so we contract directly with uh the haulers and the monitors. So we notify them. There's a whole timeline in our comprehensive emergency management plan. Uh how far out of storm is this to
us when we notify them. Uh there's memorandum of understanding for our logistic staging areas. They come in, they they charge us, we pay it. We pay it. Your answer is no. They don't wait for FEMA to reimburse us. We have to pay them or they stop hauling.
That is correct. And then we wait potentially years for FEMA if it's coming now based on their previous correct. So I I only offer that to offer one really good example that impacts every single person in the community of if we
are not prepared, there's no one racing to our side to address this. and I have taken calls from a good clip of the folks in this room about debris and so it it matters. So, thank you for that.
Thank you. Anything else for Mr. Harris? Oh, okay. Thank you, Mr. Harris. Anyone else? Any inquiries? Commissioner her? I I don't have an inquiry, but I just I I do think there's a couple things we need to set straight. You You did a good
job of Sun Rail. If we don't pay for Sunreil, the state simply withholds other funding. It's a net wash, maybe even worse. The event center, and I have questioned the event center over and over and over again, but the
event center is paid for by the hotelers self-taxing themselves. I see you, Nancy Harmon, shaking your head. We haven't voted on an event center. It darn well needs to be paid for by them. You've heard me say that before, but to stand
in front of this room and say that this tax is paying for that is really not accurate. Um the the I think Lake County was left off of the document because Lake County is having similar conversations where the others are not.
So my observation, I watch the same news you all do, is that the surrounding counties that already have high millage rates are not raising them. The surrounding counties that have low, that have historically been very
conservative are raising them because they've been pushed to the edge by some of the things that are happening in the marketplace. So the starting point matters. Um, you addressed the apartments contribute and and I just want to point out that
there was actually a speaker that categorized that pretty well and that is the house that I'm homesteaded on is a 6% increase but my rentals are a 16% increase. Well, that increase gets passed along to the renters. So, the renters pay a higher proportionate
charge based on the square footage that they have than our homeowners do. The last time we looked at this, it's about 50% more, 50-0 more when you're renting in property tax than when you're owning. So, if you have kids, keep them at home until they can buy a house or don't. I don't know that that's the
greatest idea ever. Um, and with regard to this idea of we don't bring businesses into this community anymore, we work every day to bring highpaying jobs into this community.
We often can't talk about it because we're competing with other communities to bring those businesses into this community and we can't violate confidentiality. This is one of the best communities to live, work, and play. We don't have as
much available land as some of the other communities do. So, we often don't win based on the size of the property that we have, but that is a full-time job for all of us. And so I just thought it would be worth setting the record straight. It's not going to help. I have
I have something going on where I'm coughing. Thank you so much. You're welcome. It It's just I'm not crying. I promise. I I would like to cry about a tax increase, but I'm not crying. I'd like to. Thank you, Commissioner Lockhart.
Um I think you've touched all of you so far have touched on some great things. Um Mr. Chairman, did you discuss why impact fees cannot be utilized to fill this budget gap? I I gave a rough overview. Yeah, I think overview. Pretty clear. All right. I And I have seen that
repeatedly. Well, why don't you just raise impact fees? We cannot use impact fees to run the general operation funds of this organization is prohibited by state law. and and the legislature, while while we work very well with with many members of the legislature, many of
the things that were identified tonight are mandated by them as to how we can utilize our funds. The sales tax is a perfect example. If we had the flexibility in local government to utilize sales tax dollars for things other than infrastructure, we might be
having a different conversation right now. So when you are talking to your legislators, um it would be helpful. We we don't necessarily need them to give us more funding. We don't necessarily need appropriations. What we need is flexibility and the ability to make good
decisions here locally for our local community. Um we the sheriff did a fabulous job of addressing the pensions uh the pension issue uh fixed versus investment plan. Um Mr. county manager
or or maybe um Mr. JS, could you address why we did the gas utility and uh millillage? Yeah, and I'm I'm glad you brought that up and I made sure that we added that to the myth chart that we uh did u back in
March when the board had their retreat, the board of county commissioners had their retreat um even long before I got here. I've only been here almost well almost three years now. Um we knew this day was coming as you all had had mentioned. You've seen the revenue. You've seen the ex expenses. Local government, I'll get
off my soap box a minute. What you all are experiencing in your homes, in my home, in our homes, the government is experiencing that too with the inflationary costs. We don't get a deal. We don't get it cheaper. And so the board, they knew that that we had a challenge. And so we so Mr. JS, our
budget director at the podium and I represented the board options because as one thing that commissioner Lockheart said, the state restricts our funding sources so much that we can only use certain funds for certain things. And I like that comment, if they would just
release some of those restrictions, we don't need extra, you know, extra extra funding. They do it for a reason. I under, you know, I I understand that or I don't understand it. But so when the board discussed in March, all right, how do we fill this gap? The board made it
clear to me that they did not want it on the backs of the property owners, which is property tax, which is what one that's what we're talking about tonight, the 0.5. They asked me, they asked Mr. J, what other revenue options do we have to fill in that that gap? We presented
them all the other funding options that they that that could be potentially um that they could they could look at. After discussions and after many uh work sessions that we had through the through the uh early for the spring and the summer, we wanted to ensure that the
burden wasn't totally on the property property owner. So, the gas tax uh that that they increased, if you look at other surrounding counties that have the gas tax, the pump on the the price at the pump is the same. Valuchia County has it the same. It's the same gas gas
prices that you'll see in Simol without, you know, we don't have the tax that won't go into infect until until January. The gas tax helped us relieve the transportation cost that we have in our general fund. the public service tax. Some call it the utility tax. That was
another option. Every municipality in in Simino County except Alto are at the highest at at 10%. Surrounding counties already at at 10%. We were at four. That was another option that we could utilize. Someone brought up the apartment owner property um apartment
residents. That's where they also contribute is through that because they they that's that is another general fund revenue. So that that public service tax is on electricity, gas, you know, th those sort of um uh propane, gas, those sort of things. And then we had uh of
course the the most unrestricted revenue we have is property tax. And when I say unrestricted revenue is that this board of county commissioners can actually fund anything they want through property taxes. There is no restrictions uh uh that the state puts on on that. And so the board made a, you know, we actually
provided uh options for him and and and looked at diversifying. So again, it wasn't on the backs of of the property owner. If we did not do those other two re So it was a it was a package. If we did not do those other two funding sources, this this request tonight, I
would as a county manager and any county manager, I will tell you do does not want to do this. I promise you. I promise you we do not want it. My job is to ensure that this county is fiscally sound for just not today for for here on out. And you know, there's a lot of of
things that this county is very proud of and they should be proud of. And so the the board made a decision like let's not put the burden totally on the property uh owner. Let's let's spread it out through a couple options. And so that's so that thank you for asking. That's actually what's been missed in this in
this uh process. Thank you. Um I have a few other things if you don't mind. Um I still would like it if you have the the chart somewhere in your in your slide deck. Um to talk about what
millage it is that is being increased. I think when people see their trim notices, they see the bottom line number and when they hear that there is a 10% increase, they think that that total number is going up 10%. 16.
And and um Mr. Mr. Buis, I hope you don't mind because that I did this and so I'm I'm using you as an example. Please forgive me ahead of time, but there was um you what struck me was there was a comment that was made, you know, maybe these other people don't mind their taxes going up three, four,
$500. And so I just wanted to to say so I looked up your address on the tax collector's website and looked at your your current and everybody's this is not like privilege information. All of your taxes are out there. It's there's nothing secret about it. U mine are out there. You can look them up. Um, so
yours will be going from approximately $1390 a year to $1,530 a year. So it's an it is an increase and every increase is an increase and it matters, but it's approximately $142 a year. A a little
around $12 a month, let's call it, that we're increasing. So I don't want anyone in this room assuming that the vote tonight that you are leaving here depending and most people in Semino County that is about your taxable value at this $284,000
range. So look at your taxable value for the what you're paying for the general county general fund. That is the number. Um and Mr. J, I'm sorry. If you wouldn't mind just going through that and explaining. So if people go home tonight and they look at their trim notices
again, they can see it uh maybe a little more clearly. Sure. So uh the first column shows the taxing authority as you mentioned the county taxing that's the general fund. Um you can see the prior year taxable value is 166,000. Um this is a
homesteaded property. So that value increase is capped. Uh you see the current 2025 taxable value is going up to 171,000. That's the rate or that's the value that determines your your advalorum revenue. Um the uh then we
have the roll back rate. Um and then the county taxes and then the proposed uh increase the 5.3751. So you see um this general countywide tax is going from $89 to $922 in this example. um other taxes
uh which do have um exemptions uh you know you apply the different um millage rates which are not changing necessarily. Some are going up, some are going down. Um and that's how you see the bottom line increase of $2325 to $2,482. But the the millillage that we're
talking about today is that first row, that countywide millillage. Um and that's the one that's that's uh going from 809 to 922. Okay. All right. Thank you very much for that. Um the unfunded mandates total number is
154 million. 154 million of this budget are considered unfunded mandates for those of you who were curious about that total number. Um this isn't our budget. It's your budget.
These are your taxes. These are your assets. These are your services. Um we take no pleasure in the costs going up or the situation that we are in. Um the amount of deferred
maintenance on so many things in this community that we are responsible for as as your fiduciaries are are in there. Some of them are are really in deplorable conditions and they need to be improved and those are some of the things that are going to be occurring. um taking care of your
assets, not ours. We have a small personal interest only in the fact that we live in this county. Um other fascinating note, you know, I I heard we represent all of you, even those of you who disagree with one
another, right? We had some people that came up here and said they they supported the increase. We had people who came up and said they didn't support the increase. We had people who said, "Well, you know, maybe charge people more for the newcomers that are coming." We had people saying don't let any newcomers come. We had right I mean like
the the reality is we are a very diverse community. Everyone has different ideas of prioritizing. Some people love the trail. Yay. Some people are like why the heck do we spend money on this trail? I'm never going out there. Um so we and
libraries we have so many people who utilize the libraries. huge uptick in homeschool families using libraries right now. Um, and then we have people who have never darkened the door of a library. But the reality is it's our responsibility to provide for all of the
services for all of the constituencies in the most costeffective way that we possibly can. So, um, so please understand that we don't just watch how we spend your money, we also watch your assets and take care of them. And we're
trying the best that we can to to be to make all of you happy and we will never do it. So, some of you are going to leave happy tonight and some of you are going to leave unhappy tonight. And that's the breaks of the game. We we were not elected to this job to make everybody happy. We were elected to this
position to make good sound decisions with all of the information that we have. And and frankly, this letter I I have to tell you, Miss Keeling, I don't know who you are, but there are some wonderful questions in here. Excellent questions. Thank you for identifying
yourself. We will get you the answers to all of these questions. I wish that we had had these before tonight because just to get I'm not going to read them all to you, but I think it's really important. Um, there are questions in here about the homeless services network and why we give them money and who they
are and why we would give money to Habitat for Humanity. Um, questions about why do we support Kids House? The sheriff can tell you why we support Kids House because they do all of the sexual battery um work for our children in this community who have been violated. That's
why we give money to Kids House. Um, it's a part of our public safety initiative. Um there are so many what uh Seminal County uh coalition for schools. Um we we get money from the state and we're required to help pay for families
who are eligible for daycare. That is a state it's a state funded program. We are a pass through for many of these questions and we will get you the answers to all of them. Um because they're very good questions and they need to be answered. Um, I will say
I'm gonna I'm gonna read the paragraph from your letter that Commissioner Constantine was gracious enough not to identify, but I think it bears reading and I think it it it bears addressing. At another SECRE meeting, for those of you at Seminal County Republican
Executive Committee, Grant Malloy informed us that he has had to learn to do more with less. But it seems to me that the commissioners are doing the opposite and demanding more revenue from taxpayers without fine-tuning the budget and not cutting down on waste.
And I will tell you, I don't know if that statement was made or not. I don't know. But if it was, Commissioner Constantine was very gracious and he said it was factually untrue. I'm going to call it what it is and it's a lie because what has happened
actually with that situation is that we have spent a significant amount of money supporting Mr. Mallaloy in his endeavors at the clerk of the court. We told him no last year on a couple of items and
because we told him no and didn't give him the full amount of money, he's suing us. Actually, he's suing you. So now we're in court and we're spending money on lawyers because we didn't give the clerk all of the money that he asked for. And I'm the attorney is now looking
at me like, "Stop talking because it's open litigation." Okay. No. Okay. Good. Um I just think we need to set the record straight about where funds are spent, how it gets asked for. The the amount of money that we have spent on
the courthouse annex is significant. The number of times that I was asked to make improvements and changes and upgrades that increased the cost of the courthouse annex for Mr. Mallaloy it was considerable. Um and and I and I am was
not intending to do this but that really struck a chord with me. So if that did not happen, Mr. Mallaloy, I certainly hope you will set the record straight. Yes, I like that and thanks for are bringing this up. And one of the complexities of my budget is your funding is one part of three parts. So
it gets very complex and working with you. If you look at if you could zoom in to the top part of this because the numbers I presented were accurate. And if you look I did the apples to apples because I know I have been coming to you to pay for county
responsibilities. Sorry my hands in the way there. If you look and these are audited numbers in 2006 total revenue. Now remember I have three sources. There's the county funding for the controller and county related expenses. Article 5 related
expenses which is the disagreement that I'm currently having with the county. There is the noncort things like weddings, passports, recording fees. And then there's the clerk of court operations corporation. those three budgets together plus the different uh
sources of revenue from uh recording that go to the like the $190 trust fund. When you look total revenue that my office received in 2006 under the previous clerk 19,857,000
we're talking 19 years ago to be accurate. 19 years ago okay these are audited numbers. This is fiscal year 2006. Last year it was 20,686,000. So I know it it it sounds like I'm coming to you for a lot, but what is
happening is on the non-court side, what clerk Marian Morris would do is she would pay for a lot of county responsibilities such as the auditors, such as the JDE system, such as the financial system, such as uh article 5
court related uh expenditures. You knew Maryanne. One of the reasons she did it, she didn't want to have the county have any control over her office. And she also did things with a lot of paper. There wasn't much technology back then. So you fast forward and what has
happened is because we are we don't get any money on courts. We get zero. We don't get any money on non-cort. We get zero. We start off the year with zero. And what happens is the state will tell us what we can keep if we collect it. So
on the CCO side, the court side, uh we were told we can keep $10.1 million this year. We're going to collect in excess of that. So we will have to send that back to the trust fund which gets split. Half of that goes to the state. But when you look at the non-cort and this is
where you know I spent a lot of time with Darren and the staff last year. we have you know gentleman's agreement and how we can move forward. What has been happening is the non-court recording revenue which is all this is capped by state statute on fees that were set up
18 years ago. Nothing has changed. It's $10 to record a document today. It was $10 15 years ago, $30 to get married. It was $30 15 years ago. There is no inflation adjustment to it. So what has happened over the years is because you
can see the recording money has dropped in half and so has the court technology funds and that sort of thing. So the while as the clerk's office was paying county bills for all these years, what has happened is there's more responsibilities on technology,
more innovations, more things we have to do, more reports we have to do for FDLE and courts and all that sort of thing. So we have to do more work and the revenue has dropped in half. So the clerk before would pay for county responsibilities out of non-court money
which is not there now. That's why the ask for the county to help and take over some of these payments for responsibilities has increased for the year over the years is because there's just not money there. I don't answer your question, but if you
look at apples to apples, we have basically the same amount of money. If you factor inflation, that's the green section, we're 10 million below in the inflation adjusted dollars as we were 18 years ago. We have about 60
fewer employees. We have uh we have cut our square footage. We've donated part of our warehouse to the sheriff and the supervisor of election for them to store uh their records and uh other items there. So, we're being a good partner,
but overall our budgets are flat from uh 18 years ago. Well, it is that those are the numbers. Mr. Mallaloy, let me just your understanding our understanding obviously is not the same. But what I
will tell you, cuz we did the numbers, cumulative percent of increase at the clerk's budget since 2020, budget growth versus inflation growth is 90%. It's the highest of any constitutional.
Now, you and I had a conversation last year about you weren't getting enough fees. The governor had just signed a bill three months earlier giving the clerks in the state more money.
It was 45 million statewide. Regardless, the state determined that the clerks needed more money. So, we're not going to be here to debate this all night, but I asked a question earlier today that that I really need an
answer to because I looked at the budget closely. So, I asked Mr. Mallaloy, are you giving your employees bonuses? We don't give bonuses. We have a pay policy. Uh we presented that to the
county for their review. Um we are audited by the Department of Financial Services. we approve our pay. Um, so was so was a particular tax collector in this county once before. So my question uh financial services state of Florida
is different than the uh understood outside auditor here. Do I have a misunderstanding that this there was some indication of of bonuses to employees at the clerk's office? I mean that's what we were told that
they were given bonuses at the clerk's office. Are any of our employees in the county getting bonuses? No. Are any of the sheriff's department people getting bonuses that we're aware of? That that I would not think so. Sure. No.
Okay. And we've requested the bonus policy from the clerk. I have I was provided a policy that was not called bonuses. It's called other payments. Oh, that's convenient. Um Okay. I think
we need to know more about that. Uh, and I just I think the county manager is going to have to sit down with the clerk and also figure out almost two years ago, the clerk requested $182,000 for a special project. We agreed to fund
that special project for $182,000. And that was for an ewarrant system for the courts and our law enforcement to be able to do things more seamlessly. At the end of that year, I ask, "How's the ewar going?"
Well, nothing's happened. Where's the $182,000? What is the response that we received back from the clerk's office inquiring about the $182,000 special project that it was spent on? The response from the clerk's office was that it was spent on personnel services
and operating expenditures related to other sieges projects. So it wasn't used for what this border county commission agreed to fund. Is that fair chairman? I just disagree. It's a bit more It is a bit more nuanced
than that, chairman, because the $182,400 was withheld by the clerk from the sum that he was returning to the county that year. Um with an indication of um several projects that he was going to use that money for in addition, e warrants and a
few other projects. Um but when when the county staff followed up several months later, it was actually spent for for different purposes. Okay. Chairman, before the meeting, I I shared with you because you brought this issue up uh at September 11th, 2024. So, you
brought this same issue up a year ago and there were some other misstatements about the budget. So, I sent this letter to you and I copied the board that had a very detailed explanation of some of the things that were said that were in in my view, you know, maybe not quite
understood. But the 182,000 that we talked about again are things that are county responsibility that the clerk has been paying for. These are article 5 constitutional required mandates of the county which is very clear that the county is supposed to pay for multi-
agency criminal justice uh uh services that we provide for the law enforcement community. And that's the whole issue of this uh the second district ruled in favor of Pasco County. It should be clear. Uh, and it's the issue we've been having for years now talking with you is
the recording money. That is clerk money. It's not county money. I am not a county department. When the when we do a passport, when we do a recording, it comes into a separate budget item and we're using those to fund county responsibilities such as article 5
criminal justice information systems. So, all those funds have been allocated. The sheriff didn't move forward with the e-warrant section, but that was one small sliver of the the 82 we held back. And this is being very transparent with the county about some of the things we're doing to help out the judicial
system. So there was not 182,000 of county money that was like used improperly. This is clerk money that we spent on county responsibilities to to support the law enforcement community. So, I think everyone on this diet
supports our law enforcement. I think that's well proven throughout the decades in this county. My expectation would have been the same expectation I have for my children. If they need money to do something, I expect it to be spent for what they tell me it's going to be done for. It was spent.
If not, then get back to me and say, "Look, we're not going to do the e warrants. We're going to do something different." That's a conversation the county manager could have had and we could have moved forward, but I don't want to spend a whole lot more time on this and not really the place I'm trying to flush this out. Commissioner Lockhart,
I I guess my my bottom line question um Mr. Mallaloy, if you'd be gracious enough to answer it based on the statement that was said that you made at a public meeting is do you need more money to fulfill your obligations that you believe that you have or not?
Uh when it comes to the article 5, no. Yes, we need more money from this county to fulfill your obligations. That's what the issue is five. Now, when that happens, that's it. Because here's the thing, Mr. Mallaloy. Every constitutional officer has come up here
and they have told us this is what we need from you in order to fulfill our responsibilities and they've owned it. and you have just clearly said repeatedly and I've seen it on social media plenty and that you know you are putting yourself and I appreciated so much the fact that people say oh we're
all working together and we're all that is that is very gracious but it is yet again not a not a terribly true statement because there is a continual undermining and misstatements and things that are being said publicly that is frankly misleading the public and making
this very um unnecessarily contentious and And I think that everybody just needs to realize that what they read on social media isn't necessarily accurate. Um, and that we are more than happy to be honest with everyone about where the needs are and
where the money is spent. But, um, I I certainly hope that it is not true that you are going around telling people that you are living within your means and not asking for more money and everybody else is just, you know, a drunken sailor. This this office has been very transparent with the county and we spent a lot of time last year working with
Darren. At one point the article 5 funding was included in the budget and then it was taken out before the first public hearing which is why I then forward went to the courts for clarification on that issue. But I will point out that you compare us to other counties, we are the lowest cost
comproller office of any comparable county from three to six to eight. We have one of the lowest millages in the entire region. All right, we're going to wrap that up. Thank you, Mr. Mallaloy. Uh, Commissioner Her is has been patiently banging on the desk, raising her hand. Commissioner,
to wrap it up. to wrap it up. I think I think if there's one thing there's a lot of things about that that may have been extremely uncomfortable, but we are comfortable in the uncomfortable when we're fighting for tax dollars. We were comfortable in the uncomfortable with
the sheriff. We've been comfortable in the uncomfortable with all of the constitutional officers and they have been comfortable in return. Where I think we may have gotten a little sideways is that the public speeches were a little bit different than being comfortable in the uncomfortable and
trying to work together to spend money as expeditiously as we can to make sure that the services that we guarantee you are out there. So I would just say good job, good job. We all want the same thing. We need to be treating each other
respectfully, speaking factually because the numbers matter. And when we're mixing apples and oranges with these budgets, which is really easy to do because every single constitutional officer, Tim Stodd said, every single constitutional officer has
an exceptionally complex budget, regardless of how small it is, as do we. So, we go out into the public and speak differently about things and then we get accused because this is what happens in this day and age of who's lying and they're not and we are. Let's not do
that. Seinal County, let's be above it. I believe we're above it. So, let's let's advance. Um, I I really do think that where I'd like to leave this is with these thoughts.
Number one, there is no way we'd be standing in front of you with accurate information if we didn't have Mr. Jack standing here in front of you giving us this. There is never a number that we ask for that he can't give us. It may take him some time but because he digs deep but he gets it to us and he does
that for you all as well. I think some of you have actually met with him. I would also tell you that the entire county team including all of the directors and the employees and the constitutionals have all weighed in on this budget to make it as effective as
it can possibly be. To my fellow commissioners, this sucks and we know that. Not a word I like to use in public, but that's the reality of it. But it's now our turn to stand tall and do the right thing for the citizens. And
in my opinion, that is guaranteeing property values, public safety, and quality of life in this community and not cutting this short. So, chairman, I'll turn it back to you. All right. Anyone else need to weigh in before we move to the Mr. J's ask?
I think we all know what Mr. J's ask is. for action. Yeah, Mr. Chairman, I I let me just make a comment. Sure, then I'll go ahead. Um, say something. I I said this before. Property taxes are property value protection and property insurance protection. We didn't have the
property taxes and therefore couldn't pay for public safety, fire, utilities, everything else that we have that your your value of your most important asset would be in the dumpster. Quite frankly, um
earlier today or LA at the last meeting two weeks ago, I told you that I think each and every one of you, each and every one of us up here felt sick about this. Commissioner Her just said it in a different way. I'll be true when I get home tonight
about that. And and you know, like everyone else, I've been searching for opportunities to reduce this budget, to reduce the increase. I'm not saying to eliminate the increase, to reduce the increase.
And so, you know, over those last two weeks, I've really been focused in on how we can do that. And I use the word shared sacri sacrifice a number of times. Our own county manager has used that. And so speaking to a number of you here today
and in the audience until well until the wee hours last night, continuing to work on this as I have been for two weeks, I came up with a a a plan to reduce slightly because that was the best I
could do slightly using shared sacrifices and cutting each and every one of the constitutional budgets as well as ours in a slight manner so that we could all work together and then in in presenting it to Mr. objects and presenting it to the county
manager today. Um, we negotiated came up with a different one which was a little bit less of a of of a reduction. And I asked them just to see what the reaction would be. And and I will tell
you this. [Music] As much as I hate increasing taxes and as much as I do not want to vote for this millage increase,
I love Seino County more. This is not about Doge, that political nonsense. I'm going to tell you that right now that comes up with the answer before they even investigate and tell people that it's it's a
reduction or that that you know there's money wasted. This is about protecting the stability of this county and its budget, its programs, and its quality of life.
which is second to none in this state. And most importantly, it's to ensure that the taxpayers can be looked in the eye and tell you that we've done every single thing that we could to keep this budget low.
Now, I'll tell you the best I could do is 0.53 and we're asking for 5371. It is insignificant and quite frankly it could potentially in told to me by the
county manager and the county um uh budget director Tim Jigs this could not today but the stability of this county in the future could possibly be jeopardized because all of it is based on not this
year but long-term viability. I'm gonna look at somebody that I believe in that all of you believe in who's probably a great American. His name was Benjamin Franklin. Benjamin Franklin about three 238 years
ago on this day within a week of this day when the Constitution of the United States was being approved in 1787 and I'm going to paraphrase because it was a long speech
basically said doubt a little bit of your own inf infallibility. Those that still have objections, doubt yourself a little. I'm sure this budget
is not perfect, but approach it with humility. He said, "I agree with this Constitution with all of its faults, and I question myself because I am not perfect."
Fact of the matter is I'm sure that anybody out there could say I don't want to spend and and Commissioner Commissioner Lockhart said this a little bit. You know, somebody said you don't we don't need to spend it on on on Kids House. Kids House saves us
money. Somebody else said that we shouldn't spend it on Sunreil. Hey, look it. I get it. You see it that's sometimes empty. But have you ever heard of transit oriented development? I can I can show you three developments
that come have come into Semino County that have given more taxes than we're spending on Sunreil. It's never going to be at the at the toll booth. It's because you're building a community and the quality of life that that community
serves. I want a budget that's resilient, that's stable, and has sustainability. I truly believe that this staff, and I'm going to thank every one of them, especially the manager and and Mr.
Checks, have done this, and I I applaud the commissioners with their courage. I wish we could cut this I would like to cut it, but I am not willing to jeopardize this county to cut it. And therefore, Mr.
Chairman, if if I can do, I will move the adoption of the 2526 final millage rate as presented. Second. Motion and a second for further discussion. I think Commissioner Delari has been patiently waiting. Please, sir. Sir, go ahead. The citizens definitely have the right
to have full transparency and we do that on a regular basis. And I will tell you that every county commissioner, including all the staff, including all the constitutionals, try their hardest to be fully transparent in every which way
possible. I'd also tell you that county budgets are not easy. And I think each one of us alluded to that in its own way. Uh I will tell you also that no matter how much you think you study the budget, there's always another piece of it you can actually
learn, including Mr. J at times because the rules do change on a regular basis. Is that correct, Mr. JS? That's right. I would also tell you the constitutional officers, all five of them do a phenomenal job. You will not find any one of them that
have anything to hide because they're all transparent and they truly are looking out for the best of all the citizens of Semol County. There's a lot of different ways that we can slice the budget and we talk about the sheriff. I know he's standing in the back of the room.
We're very lucky to have the sheriff. I say that because one of the things that this sheriff has done many times as well as his predecessors, they've found ways for us to save money.
Sheriff does not have to run the jail. Other counties contract privately to run the jail. When other counties do that, they not only have to pay an outside firm, but they got to figure that outside firm profit. The sheriff does it for cost.
Sheriff also does probation for cost. The sheriff also does his portion of dispatch for cost. We don't contract that out. So, thank you, Sheriff, for your hard work, your dedication, and for putting your men and women in front of that us
in that gap of safe and danger. So, thank you. Please re tell them we all as well as the citizens of Semino County, thank you for your leadership and for keeping us safe. I'd also tell you that there are times
where you heard us talk about Sunrail. When we first agreed to have Sunrail, we had a contract with the state. And the contract with the state of Florida was, and Tim can hold can do a better job of the numbers, but it's basically $5.2 2
million a year roughly. Because of that, they underestimated. And because of that, they actually told us that that $5.2 million is now grown to a little over 11 million. And it's still growing. We don't have a choice. We have to pay it. Could we go back to
the $5.2 million? We would love to do that. It's not going to happen. There's a lot of things in this budget that when people say, "Why are you giving money to an organization?" You know, you heard people talk about Kids House. I sit on the board of Kids House.
One of the things that Kids House does is that it protects the most vulnerable population of our society, children. And you'd be amazed that you can actually see children being violated a couple days old all the way up to 18.
And what Kids House does is does the full investigation and also helps law enforcement and gives therapy to those individuals. I can spend hours talking about them, but we're not going to do that. We could contract out to a private entity like
other counties do, but we don't. There's a lot of things we do that I wish we didn't have to do. Same thing with the court systems. We actually pay for some of the magistrates because we could have people tied up in the court system for a lot
longer than what they're being tied up with today. By us paying for some of the magistrates, it actually expedites that and actually saves not only time but money. We can go on and on and on about all the wonderful things that this budget does
and all the wonderful things that this budget saves money on. Econom economic development We have a couple of individuals that have worked hard over the past couple years. And there's one individual sitting in the room. His name is Gee. Gee has actually worked with all the
property owners of the hotel use developing a tourism tax district. It's the only one in the state of Florida the size that it is. There are other districts, but they're a lot smaller. Property owners of those hotel years have actually agreed to tax themselves.
so that we can actually bring more businesses into Semino County. That is economic development. As Commissioner Hurst said, it's the hotelers that are taxing themselves for that indoor sports complex. If we do it, if we don't do it,
that money will have to be given back to those property owners that they agreed to give us and to bring economic development into this county. We could go on in such great detail that we could be here until the wee hours of
tomorrow talking about it. I will tell you the big issue for me in this budget, it's not the budget. I think this budget is very solid. I think this budget is very solid in being very frugal with your money. But the issue that I have is
we need to be doing a better job working with the seven cities and reducing duplication of services. There's a commitment from this board as well as our staff to do that as we move forward. We are doing that and we've tried to do it and we will hopefully do that next
year to reduce redu duplication of services and I see that as the lowlying fruit that we can actually pluck for next year. But the seven cities have to come to the table. Hopefully they'll have this charge because I know that a lot of
them are raising their millage rate as well. And hopefully as we move through these next months and this next year, we can actually reduce your budget and reduce the millillage. Can't promise you that, but the seven cities needed to come to the table with us. I know we've
been reaching out. And again, I can keep on talking many different areas, Mr. Chairman. So, I needed to at least get that off the table, but I wanted to thank everyone for the hard work. I know the county staff, Tim Jackson, is front and center as well as the county manager. Thank you
for that. All the directors of all the different departments are front and center. Thank you. And I would also tell you all the five constitutional officers. This budget is solid. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Absolutely. We have a motion, a second. All those in favor?
I oppose like sign. Nay, that's for the mill rate 41. Motion carries. I would look for a motion from the board on the next item, the final budget. Mr. Chairman, like to make a motion to approve the final budget. A motion
second and a second. Any further discussion? Yes. Yes. Yes. Just one thing, Commissioner. In in this budget, we have got and I'm I'm just asking and I have gotten assurances from everyone that when we're
looking at future budgets to keep this sustainable, we've got to keep the asks down from everybody. No more double-digit increases from any of the constitutionals or anybody else. We've got to keep this budget down or
unfortunately we'll be back here again because that's again 66% of the budget. Commissioner Lockhart, I'm going to pass. Commissioner Dory, did you need to say anything? Commissioner Her,
I don't understand how you can vote for a budget that you can't fund. So, I asked this question the last time of this no on the tax, but I'm going to vote for the budget that's going to eat into the folks. Try try to be quiet back there.
We appreciate it. And so, I just wanted I my understanding is that that would create a structural deficit and we don't print money. So, how does that work? It's a statement that the seven cities and us need to work better together to So, you're you're counting on us to
vote. Yeah. You counted on us to vote for the millage increase. We can also go into reserves. You could have a statement. Just just telling you where I feel. I appreciate that. I'm comfortable in the uncomfortable, but I'm super uncomfortable with that. I I would tell you before I called the
the vote on this that I'm sure Mr. Jack is is going to be happy. We're done calling him every waking minute. Um, and I will tell you, Mr. J, I've called him after hours and I'm going
through my budget book. What about this? What about that? When I first arrived here in 2018, went through the first budget session, I was I was appalled over one thing. And when I asked the question, I'll give staff the credit. They answered it
directly and honestly. My question was, "Do we really have $160 million of deferred maintenance going on in this county?" The answer was yes. I said, "Wait a minute. The taxpayers paid for that infrastructure, paid for those
improvements, and you're telling me we're not funding to maintain what the taxpayers already paid to build?" And the answer was, we've been told the money's not there to do it and we we don't have the budget to do it.
We've worked on that. We we've worked on that for the last six years and whittleled that down to a much lower number, but then yet today we understand that animal services, and I heard tonight $20 million is still needed, uh, which is
not in this budget. Um, and there's many other things that aren't in this budget. U, but I will tell the public that is here in all the meetings I've been with my fellow commissioners, all the hearings, all the budget work sessions, all the the the
retreats we went on, every one of them struggled to try to make a decision what was the right thing to do. And at the end of the day, I think the the common theme was that Semino County is a great place to live, work, play,
and raise a family. And if we were to continue to for that to happen, then we needed to make sure that we set up the next generation for success. So, this is not an ongoing problem. So, I applaud each and every one of you. I know this is this has been difficult for all of
us. Um, but we were sent here to make tough decisions. We really were. It's uncomfortable. None of us like it. Um, so with that said, I will call the question. All those in favor?
I oppose like sign. Carries unanimously. Thank you all very much. We sincerely appreciate you. We do value folks coming in. If you have any questions still on any of the budgets, we're happy to make sure you get the answers. Thank you all
again. Charity, I will make sure you get that. Will you Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.
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