Good morning. Good morning. Thank you all for uh calling that to order so early and easy. I want to give a shout out to a few other elected officials that are in the room. First, Mayor Megan Sladic, who's joining us this morning, and Commissioner Sarah
Reese from the city of Alimont. Welcome and thank you for being here. We're going to start out like we start out every other meeting with an invocation, and if you would lead us off in the pledge, we have Melanie Chen from the Central Florida Free Thought Community.
Good morning. As we begin this meeting, let us pause for a moment to recognize the shared work before us. This month, Semino County marks Black History Month, an opportunity to reflect on the many individuals whose efforts, skills, and perseverance helped shape the communities we live in today. Their
contributions are part of our local history, present in our institutions, our neighborhoods, and the everyday work of building a place people are proud to call home. Writer James Baldwin reminded us, "We are responsible for the world in which we find ourselves." Let us take that idea seriously as a reminder that
communities are shaped by the choices people make over time. Let us remember that care in small decisions, a willingness to learn, and steady attention to the work at hand all matter. As this meeting moves forward, let us approach our roles as participants in a shared civic process.
May we listen thoughtfully. May we weigh ideas carefully. And may we consider both immediate needs and long-term impact at its best. Public service is an act of stewardship grounded in responsibility and trust. Let the work done here reflect care for this county and for the people who live and work
here. Thank you. >> Thank you. If you would lead us in the pledge. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. Thank you so much ladies for being here. We're going to move to the awards and presentations uh proclamation section of the program. I did not say this earlier, but if you would silence any devices you have, that would be appreciated. We'll
do the two proclamations and then we will uh come down for pictures all at once. We don't move as fast as we once did. So, you don't want us coming up and down over and over again. So, how about that? We are going to start with a proclamation proclaiming Master Sergeant
Charles Hedge Jr. of the United States Air Force uh our veteran of the month. And this will be read by Commissioner Constantine. Thank you, Commissioner. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. And uh as of the beginning of this, I just want to say it's such an honor to be able to do this
to a man who is part of a family legacy. Um and you'll understand what I mean when I read this. So I will move the proclamation of the Semino County Board of County Commissioners recognizing United States Air Force Master Sergeant Charles Hedge Jr. for his outstanding
service to the United States and Seino County. Whereas the brave men and women of our Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Space Force demonstrate a resolute spirit and unmatched self selflessness,
reminding us there are few things more American than giving ourselves to make a difference in the lives of others. And whereas throughout our country's history, generations of service members have answered the call to leave their families, their jobs, and put their
futures and even their lives on the line to valiantly defend our nation. And whereas for many service members the sacrifice has ended in permanent injury or death, yet their spirit remains in
the continued preservation of our freedoms and the promise of liberty. And whereas there are more than 30,000 living veterans in Semino County who served our nation in times of peace and
war, throughout their service, they kept America strong. And whereas Sergeant Charles Hedge Jr. comes from a long and honorable lineage of military service spanning multiple
generations in conflicts, including the revol revolutionary war at the Battle of Yorktown, World War I, and the Battle of Chosen Reservoir. And whereas Sergeant Charles Hedge Jr. enlisted in the United States
Air Force on June 6th, 1973 in Chapi, Massachusetts and served honorably for 20 years. He also served in Saudi Arabia during the Iran Iraq conflict with additional assignments in
Germany, Iceland, and Alaska. He distinguished himself as a skilled radar maintenance technician and a radar evaluator responsible for managing maintenance operations and evaluating air defense radar systems vital to the
national security earning numerous military decorations. And whereas following his military retirement, Sergeant Charles Hedge Jr. continued a lifetime of service through civilian employment and community
leadership. He remains deeply committed to veteran advocacy with 38 years of membership in the American Legion and active service with post 243 as the second vice commander. He is also the coordinator of numerous veterans
programs including suicide prevention and monthly visitations to veterans in retirement and memory care facilities throughout Seino County. Whereas Sergeant Charles Hedge Jr. has brought great credit and distinction upon
himself, the United States of America, the United States Air Force, and Semino County. Now therefore, be it proclaimed that we, the board of county commissioners of Semino County, express our gratitude, admiration, and respect
for Sergeant Charles Hedge Jr. for his outstanding service to the United States Air Force. Be it further proclaimed that this proclamation is presented to Char Sergeant Charles Hedge Jr. with our sincere congratulations and recognition
as Semino Countyy's veteran of the month adopted today, April 10th, 2026. >> Second, >> February 10th. We have a motion and a second. >> April, he's jumping ahead >> for the record.
>> Uh, we have a motion and a second. Commissioners, all those in favor? >> I >> opposed. Hearing none. Passes unanimously. Sergeant Hedge, would you like to take take the uh podium and have a word? Thank you all.
It's a very good morning, commissioners. I'm deeply honored to receive this prestigious recognition which I accept with great humility and my deepest gratitude.
I stand before you as an individual, but I got here with a lot of support. I'd like to thank my wife Paula of 51 years for her loving support.
She kept me up when I was down. I would like to thank the United States Air Force for its wondrous and exotic assignments throughout my career, some of which I really didn't know existed at the time.
I would like to thank my fellow veterans, my fellow legionnaires, my comrades in arms for their unwavering support in obtaining all our goals. It takes a team to overcome obstacles.
Team, simple word, simple acronym, a powerful statement. Together, everyone achieves more. I thank you all and I thank you once
again for this great honor. Let's all have a great day. >> Thank you, >> Sergeant Head. We appreciate you. NEXT, WE have a uh proclamation proclaiming February 2026 as Black History Month in Semino County. And this will be read by Commissioner Zimbau.
Commissioner Zimbau. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. It's uh my privilege to read this proclamation of the Semino County Board of County Commissioners proclaiming February 2026 Black History Month in Semino County. Whereas, Black History Month, observed annually in February, is a time set
aside to honor the rich heritage, indelible contributions, and enduring legacy of African-Americans whose courage, creativity, and perseverance have helped shape the morale, cultural, and civic foundation of the United States. And whereas the observance of
Black History Month finds its roots in 1926 when scholar and historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson established Negro History Week to ensure that the achievements and experience of African-Americans would be recognized, studied, and preserved as an essential
part of our shared national story. Whereas Semino County, Florida, is deeply enriched by a proud and resilient African-American history, one marked by faith, scholarship, enterprise, and community building that continues to influence and strengthen the county to
this day. And whereas following the Civil War and during an area of profound challenge and transformation, African-American pioneers established thriving communities within Semino County, including the historic neighborhoods of Georgetown and Goldsboro, which stood as beacons of
self-determination, mutual support, and hope. Whereas the Georgetown community found in 1870s emerged as a self-sustaining settlement with its own schools, churches, and businesses, nurturing generations of families and fostering a spirit of unity and progress
that endures as a cornerstone of Sanford's history. Whereas the town of Goldsboro, incorporated in 1891 and recognized as one of the oldest African-American founded communities in the nation, reflects the determination and vision of its residents who built
institutions of commerce, worship, civic life, and in the face of segregation and inequality. And whereas African-American educators and leaders such as Joseph NRS and wealthy CRS champ and wealthy Krms champion the transformative power of
education by establishing Hopper Academy and later KRS Academy providing generations of students with opportunity, dignity and the tools to pursue excellence and leaving a lasting legacy of academic achievement in Semino County. Whereas the enduring presence of
historic churches, schools, cultural institutions, and families throughout Semino County stands as a living testament to the faith, resilience, and contribution of African-Americans whose stories continue to inspire progress, understanding, and unity across our community. Now therefore be it
proclaimed that we the board of county commissioners of Semino County, Florida do hereby proclaim February 2026 as Black History Month in Semino County adopted this 10th day of February 2026. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second
commissioners. All those in favor? >> Opposed? Hearing none passes unanimously. Thank you so much. We have Miss Lana Miller from Radiantly Black Magazine to accept the award. If you'd like to say a few words, Miss Miller, we'd be glad to have you.
Good morning. On behalf of everyone associated with Radiantly Black Magazine and especially the Emerald Awards, a salute to black excellence in Simol County. We accept this honor. We happen to believe that Simol County is comprised of people with immense talent
and skills and education and we look forward to being able to celebrate those who happen to be in the black community. Thank you. >> We happen to believe that as well. >> All right, commissioners, if you'll meet me on the floor for photos, that would be fabulous.
Heat. Heat. All right, we're all good. Next up is a presentation by Ge Couna uh development tourism director and Amy Kirkland from Semino State College. Welcome. Good morning everyone. Gee Kuna, director economic development and
tourism here to present the seminal state college commits presentation. The agenda will discuss the purpose and background. Then I will ask associate vice president Amy Kirkland of resource
and economic development to present the seminal state college commits powerpoint and then we'll have questions. So our purpose is to review the seminal state college commits program that was created to aid small businesses and workforce
development initiatives that experienced a negative economic impact from the COVID 19 pandemic. Our background and here we did have a couple of amendments on this agreement. So I've
consolidated the information here. The original agreement was signed on June 14, 2022, and that was for $350,000 terms and scope there. Uh term ending on
December 31st, 2024, then amended on July 26, 2022. There was an additional $1 million added to the agreement. You'll see the budget at the bottom
there has 1 million. That is an administrative error. Should show 1.35 million. It was an additional million. Then December 12th, 2023, uh scope of service was amended and the
term was extended to September 30th, 2025. And then August 7th, 2025, the term was amended to December 31st, 2025.
So altogether, the project spanned from June 14th, 2022 to December 31st, 2025 with a budget of 1,350,000, all from the American Rescue Plan Act
funding. Now I'd like to call associate vice president Amy Kirkland of economic development and resource sorry I messed that reverse of resource and economic development for seminal state college.
>> Good morning commissioners. >> Thank you for the opportunity to share the final program report for seminal state commits. The initiative was made possible through your investment and today I'll briefly walk through what the program was, who we served, what we delivered, and the impact that it had
across seminal county. So just to clarify, the first grant that we had was 350,000. That was for our small business uh support. So that was strictly for small businesses. The 1 million was for the seminal state commits program, which is what I'm going to be highlighting today. Seminal State Commits is a
community-based education and workforce training initiative designed to remove barriers to adult learning and job readiness. Basically, we took education out on the road out to the communities to address the two primary barriers which were cost and access. All programs
were provided at no cost to participants and were delivered directly in community locations. We're meeting residents where they already were rather than asking them to come to campus. The focus for all of these offerings was practical short-term education that leads to
confidence, skills, and pathways to employment or continued education. The program was modeled after Broward Colle's nationally recognized Broward up initiative and was adapted specifically for Seminal County. This was an American
rescue plan or artbuff funded initiative designed to respond to COVID error recovery gaps particularly for adults who were disconnected from education and workforce participation during and after the pandemic. Seminal state commits deployed workforce focused education in
a flexible community-based way at a time when traditional systems were not reaching everyone. In our original proposal, I know you saw quite a few amendments. Um the target was the HUD zones in the county, but we quickly realized that there were many more individuals in outside of those
areas who could benefit from the training like the Alice population, asset limited, income constrained employed individuals. We expanded our focus and served unemployed, underemployed, and underserved um individuals or adults throughout Semino
County. In short, these were residents who were motivated to learn and to improve their situation by needing accessible entry points. This also included English language learners, adults who were seeking a GED, and individuals facing barriers such as
transportation, work schedules, child care, or prior negative experiences with formal education. We delivered both adult education and workforce training aligned with local employer needs. We did this by surveying
over a 100 businesses at the very start of this program. On the adult education side, this included GED preparation, GED skills labs, and English learners for speakers of other languages. On the workforce side, we offered business
communication, business writing, culinary training, job readiness workshops, and digital skills such as social media, and WordPress for website development. We also provided online options through the colleg's ed platform for individuals who were seeking
training in areas that we hadn't yet created or that was just a one-off, someone who needed something very specific. A few examples, project management, accounting fundamentals, computer skills for the workplace, intro to cyber security, and many more. Again,
all the training was offered, all the training offered was designed to be shortterm, practical, and immediately applicable. Here's some program data. This just shows the by quarter the courses delivered, students registered, and
students attended. So, we had an 83% um attendance and a 73% completion with all these courses. And when you're offering to this population and at no cost, if it rains, sometimes people don't show up. So, I I was very happy
with the success rate that we did have. Um across, as you can see, across the life of the program, seminal state commits served almost 1,200 students. Participation was strongest in Esau and workforce training, reflecting both community demand and employer needs.
Rather than focusing just on the enrollment, we tracked outcomes that demonstrate movement certifications earned transitions into further education and job readiness milestones. We're still collecting some of that data since this just sunseted in December.
We could not have done this without um our strong community partnerships. You can see we have quite a few up there. Uh we worked with local nonprofits, service organizations, cities, and community locations that residents already trust. These partners helped us with outreach,
space, participant support, ensuring that our programs were accessible and well attended. Behind every data point is a resident with a story. These are adults balancing work, families, financial pressures while taking steps to improve their
futures. Many participants told us this was the first educational experience where they actually felt supported and capable. Here are a few of the outcomes that we have so far. To highlight the program's impact, we had 50 students earned ServeSafe food handler certifications
supporting immediate workforce entry. 25 of our students transitioned into the colleg's ESOL classes, continuing their educational pathway, so at a higher level, not just introductory levels. 14 students, and this is huge, earned their GED, a major milestone that opens the
doors to employment. So many jobs, you have to at least have that high school diploma or GED. And also some momentum towards additional education. You can't read these, but these are some great testimonials that we have, and I'll share just one. Um, they reflect
the consistent uh what we heard consistently from these residents. They were grateful for the access, flexibility, and instruction that respected their backgrounds and circumstances. And the one over there on the left is Franklin. He's a culinary student and a veteran. He had prepared
meals on a Navy destroyer for 350 sailors for four years, but had never received his food handling certificate. Well, that has changed, and Franklin now has his food handling certificate. Uh for many seminal state commit served as a bridge back into education and
workforce participation. The ARPA funding allowed us to develop curriculum and build the necessary infrastructure for community education. It's a lot different than what we offer at the college that's been in place for for decades and all those processes and systems are in place. It's a lot
different to take it out into the community and we realized very quickly that we had to put those processes and build that infrastructure. We found out what worked and what didn't work. While the funding has concluded, the need has not gone away. The success of Seminal State commits demonstrated that
community-based nocost workforce is both effective and in demand. Building on this success, Seminal State College has secured new funding partners through various grant proposals. We still have a couple out there, but we're waiting to hear, but these include Bank of America, Duke Energy, Heart of
Florida United Way, and the Westgate Foundation. These partnerships will allow us to sustain and expand key elements of the program beyond the ARPA funding. You helped us to build this program and now we can continue the great work.
In 2026, we're introducing some new courses and again this is the very beginning of the year so there will be more. One of those is culinary 2 which will include the serve safe manager certification. If you've worked in food service you know that you have to have a manager on site in order to open up the
business. Um, so that will u make things make students even more marketable in the food service industry. We'll be offering courses in digital literacy, event planning, and a few others that we're working on in aerospace and aviation all in line with workforce
demand. Last fall, we piloted a line worker program which will be added to the seminal state commits program as well. We'll also continue to pro provide our intro to culinary ESAW and GED preparation courses.
In closing, seminal state commits demonstrates what is possible when the county and the college work together to remove barriers and invest in residents. And thank you for your support and stewardship of these funds. And I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. >> Thank you very much. Great presentation.
Commissioners, any questions? >> I I just have a comment to make. Um, I want to thank GE's group and if we go back in time, we'll remember how much Trisha was involved in tracking this ARPA money and giving those presentations on a on a basically every
meeting getting an update. Um, and Tim's group for helping track, you know, this ARPA money that we had the fear that it we made sure it was being spent appropriate in the county attorney's office. All working together for a great outcome for the community. So, thank you very much. We sincerely appreciate it.
Gee, sir. >> Uh, sir, if I may, I know uh you don't want to miss uh the uh administrative services, resource management, Lori Bailey Brown, George Wood ring were essential. >> Exactly. I There was a lot of people involved. So, thank you. If I missed
your name, I apologize. A lot of departments I don't want to relive 2021. >> I got but but it was a lot of folks coming together at a time of uncertainty. Um, and I think that Semino
County persevered, persevered, and we came out of this very good compared to what we see across this country. So, that goes with my fellow commissioners as well. So, thank you. >> Yes, Commissioner. >> So, I I wore my Seminal State blue. Um,
yes, I see. Um, so as a trustee at Seminal State, I want to say thank you to the college community because this partnership truly is is phenomenal and we partner in so many different ways in so many different areas, but this was such a unique time for our community and our country and the communities to your
point, Commissioner Zenower, that came out of that cycle um res resiliently did it well because they did partner and they worked with one another instead of against one another. And so shout out to everyone at Semino State. Um a lot of
thinking outside of the box and how are we going to do things moving forward and how do you deliver education and um in a in a completely new world and so we've learned a lot as the county and we've learned a lot at the college and uh we've learned that working together is always better. >> Thank you.
>> Thank you. >> And let's pray we never have another pandemic for the next hundred years. No, no, no. Uh, I I I will wrap this up by saying a a few things. Number one, business communications and writing. I noticed that that's not a continuing
course, but I would highly encourage it without an effective application, which requires writing and often requires writing with the no ability for somebody else to check it because it's online, you're doing it on a phone, people are missing opportunities right
there. Um, and I would tell you that, and I say this openly in my own workforce, just because you graduated college doesn't mean you can write. That's a sad statement of affairs, but today that's the reality. And so, we need to get back to that basic skill.
Um, I would commend you for the execution. And then I'm going to commend you for perpetuation of the program with other funding sources. That is a magical thing. And that's what makes Seminal State fabulous is that you learn using money that we gave you, but that was
seed money for figuring out how to take it to the next level. So that's fantastic. Thank you for the good work you've done. Thank you. >> All right, commissioners. >> Oh, I'm getting waved at. Yes, we're at the consent agenda portion of the program.
And I was just going to ask you, do you have public comments? and she's got she's one step ahead of me and apparently we do >> and I also have public comments for the previous presentation if you would like. >> Okay. Uh well, we're going to take public comment with regard to everything
right now. So, I'll go to county attorney Kate Lour for the reading of the public participation. >> Thank you, Chairman. Florida law provides that members of the public shall be given a reasonable opportunity to be heard on propositions before the court board of county commissioners except when the board is acting on
emergency or ministerial matters or conducting a meeting exempt from the requirements of the sunshine law. Individuals shall be permitted three minutes each for public comment or six minutes when the individual is an official representative of a formal association or group. The chairman may modify the maximum time for public
comment at her sole discretion when appropriate. Public comments on quasi judicial or other public hearing items will occur during the board's consideration of those items this afternoon. Public comments on pending procurement matters or on non-aggenda items shall not be permitted at this
time. Members of the public desiring to make public comment must fill out a speaker form and present the form to staff and forms are available in the lobby. Madam Chair, >> thank you so much. Uh so, uh county manager, do you have any changes to the consent agenda? Thank you, Madam
Chairman. Commissioners, no changes to the consent agenda. >> Commissioners, is there anything you wish to pull? >> I have nothing. >> Hearing none, we'll move to public comment. >> We have one speaker, Madam Gray Wilson, on item 10. >> Mr. Wilson,
name and address for the record, please, sir. >> Yes. Good morning. Gray Wilson, 5044 Shoreline Circle in Lake Forest. Yeah. I just had a um on item 10. I just noticed that I just um
wanted to see if this was the related to the um river cross is that all completed now? Uh and is this funds that we're talking here? The uh funds from
the because the county fought this and I appreciate the county taking a stance on this. I think that was a long long battle and uh uh and you were challenged a lot in the paper and I know he couldn't say anything um and I respect
that and I think that was uh uh I've spoken here before about process and when you take a stand on process at that level that really speaks well for what this board stands for and I've always appreciated the fact that uh folks can come up and and speak on on on
various items Is this um settlement here the dollars because of the uh court or the court cost and attorney's fees being reimbursed or or what what exactly is this? >> Mr. Wilson, I'm going to take a stand on process. Um since you admire taking a
stand on process, public comment is an opportunity for you to make comment. It's not a dialogue between you and the board or the county attorney. I think the county attorney would be happy to speak with you and walk you through the details of the item separately, but not during public comment. >> Oh, I didn't know. I didn't know if it
was an item that can be pulled off and then discussed. >> It was not pulled off and >> I requested it be pulled off, but uh I guess that didn't occur. >> The request that you brought up earlier was that a letter be read during the public >> that was a different issue. This was I
made two I made two public comment forms >> and and I asked for that that one to be pulled off for discussion purposes. I'm sorry they didn't make that clear. >> Oh no, I was not aware of that. So >> is that is that right here? >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
>> He can ask whatever. It's up to the board whether to pull an item out of off the >> I didn't know if I was I made a request here. I turned it in before the meeting and your public comment, Mr. Wilson. >> Are you through with your public comment? will consider your request >> to pull pull it off for discussion. Okay.
>> Thank you. >> Commissioners, what is your pleasure? >> I'm fully briefed and up to speed on it. Um I think if if um this individual needs additional information. I think they should interact with the county attorney,
county manager to get all their questions answered. Uh I've been thoroughly briefed on it. I've done my own due diligence. Hopefully each and every one of us have been. Um, I'm satisfied and happy with where it's at and understand why we got there and how we got there. >> Agreed. Commissioner Constantine,
>> I just I concur. I just wanted to let all of the audience know that yes, this is we this is the completion of it. We are, you know, we are satisfying everything and we have gotten everything that we
intended to get from the settlement. So I don't believe that you know I believe that >> that's all I >> Yes I understand that's not going back and forth Mr. Wilson. >> Yes. >> All right commissioners then I'll look for a motion for the consent agenda. Is
there any other speakers? Let me just make sure that >> No, ma'am. >> All right. We'll >> motion to approve constitutional officers item four and five and 6 through 13. >> Is there motion and a second? Any discussion? All those in favor? >> I
>> opposed. passes unanimously. Thank you. For the record, public comments closed. Regular agenda and I'm glad he stayed near the front. We have a tourism update from economic development and tourism
director Ge Kuna. Mr. Kuna. There we go. All right. For the record, Gee Kuna, director, economic development and tourism. I switched up the clicker for the mouse because we're going to be looking at a
couple different tables moving forward. So I wanted to highlight the areas of where we're going to be discussing during each slide. So the agenda will discuss purpose uh not solely from tourism but sports side. Uh we'll review what uh occurred this
year in hotel demand of a calendar 2025. We'll take a deep dive into our sports tourism market, our largest tourism market, and look at the forecast for the United States and for our submarket here.
So the purpose here the review of our 2025 visitor demand data and then we will review the fiscal 2025 key performance indicators for sports tourism followed by our forecast for the
2026 visitor demand trends. So our review one point before we dive into um this slide is there is an overlap. We want to make sure everyone is aware of fiscal
year 2025. We know begins October 1, 2024 and lasts through September 30th, 2025. Smith Travel Research works on a calendar year. So when Smith Travel
Research shows 25 data, they're going January 1st to December 31st. So, one of the key trends to observe and I'm here is the average revenue per available room. That is the performance indicator
most closely aligned with our tourist development tax. In October of 2024 to February of 2025, which we know that's fiscal year 25, we had an increase of about 10%.
That is a record high increase for those five months. Then we hit the dreaded plateau that we were discussing. So from March 2025 to September 2025, that was the plateau and decline in revenue per
available room of 2%. So when we look here at our table for 2025, we see occupancy for the entire calendar year was 70%. That's flat, 0.2.
And then when we look at our average daily rate, you'll see that referred to as ADR, there was a 2.4% decline in 2025, which is $103.97. And then our revenue per available room,
that takes in both the occupancy and average daily rate, was $72.74. That is a 2.7% decline. So when we look and compare to US hotel demand data, one of the key
points, occupancy, we usually trend ahead of occupancy for the better part of the last 5 years. The US did see a decline of of 1.2%. Average daily rate stayed flat, 0.9.
We look at the percentage of average daily rate as opposed to the whole average daily rate because we do not have luxury properties in Semino County and that deeply impacts the average daily rate. And of our 60 or so properties, only four are classified as
upper upscale. That's the two large boxes, large properties in Lake Mary and the two in Altimont. of those we have over 50 that are not upper upscale. So revpar there we usually look at the percent increase
decrease. We see the US stayed steady at 0.3%. A word that you're going to hear a lot is bifurcation. Not all hotel rooms are created equal. We were on the positive side of bifurcation when COVID when the pandemic
occurred and we were open and we also had our midscale and economy properties were the most resilient and the tip of the spear to rebound. Now we're seeing the exact opposite. Under current economic conditions, the properties that
are holding steady are the luxury and upper upscale when the vast majority of Semino County properties are classified as midscale or economy. So we see we're taking on the brunt of the uh impact currently.
Now all days are not created equal. We know that when it comes to weekend and weekday demand in Semino County, there is a vast difference. Occupancy for the calendar of 2025, we had a 77.8%
occupancy percentage for weekend demand. That actually showed a 1.2% increase. Weekday was 66.9% with a slight 0.9% decrease. Average daily rate $10060
on the weekday, $11122 on the weekend. So the idea that we wholesale the weekends and it's just more affordable to come during the weekends, that is not the case here. Revenue per available room on the weekend is $86.50
as opposed to $67.26. And you saw all in weekday had a drop of 3.8% 8% and week end had that 0.3 slight decline in line with our national average. And if you move all the way to
the far right here, you can actually see that weekend had a revenue flat to somewhat increase of 0.7% when weekday actually had a drop in revenue of 3.2%. So what does this mean? What is our
revenue source? tourist development tax. When we look at fiscal year now 2024 versus 2025, we saw a 7% increase. That's that 500,000 from 6.7 to 7.2. Our
projected FY25-26 uh of revenue from uh tourist development tax collection is a drop from 7.2 million to 7 million. That is a 3% drop. One of the items that that I want to make sure we all understood is
the actual expenditures for the tourism department and some other departments like parks and recreation but mainly the tourism department. The total expenditures associated with TDT was 5.9
million. Of those 5.9 million, 920,000 went to the first in installment of the turf replacement project on the nine fields. And then we also have a large ticket item in the $300,000 in the loan
that we have for the lights that ends in fiscal year 27. So without any further increases, we can expect these items to come off the books by fiscal year 28. Then for the record, um we do Oh, sorry.
Let me go back to Let's go back one. Thank you. We are collecting tourism improvement district uh assessments. Uh we are still in line for that 3.2. Here you'll see 3.1, but that 3.2 was calculated with the two new properties
that are coming in line in 2026. One being the Comfort Inn out at the airport and another being the Fairfield in in Lake Mary. Both owners already have properties in Semino County and already are accustomed to the tourism
improvement district model. And uh of course the indoor consultants that we'll hear from later on today was an expenditure from the tourism improvement district fund. And now I'd like to introduce our division manager over tourism Danny
Troset to discuss our sports tourism market. >> All right. Thank you Gee. Good morning board. Uh just wanted to provide a quick snapshot of sports tourism um here in Seminal County uh as it relates. So kind
of across the chart here, these are really our key performance indicators that we really benchmark each and every year. So we really look at the total number of events, the total number of teams, total visitors, total room nights, and total economic impact. And I'll take a deeper dive uh in into that
in just a second. But as you can see in 2425 at the Bumba Sports Complex, we had 46 events, over 2500 teams, uh over 99,000 visitors, over 14,000 room nights, and over $30 million in economic
impact. All other venues that really consists of all other venues besides the Bumba Sports Complex. So that's Sen Lake Park, Seml County Softball Complex, um Seml Soccer Complex. Um, and so you can see 46 events, over 1,800 teams, 82,000
visitors, over 15,000 room nights, and $25 million in economic impact. In terms of what our 2526 projections are, uh, they're right there in the chart below. We're we're expecting about a 3% increase from 2425
across the board. Um and I'm just going to do a provide a little bit more information on the economic impact. How we derive the economic impact. This economic impact number um comes from destination marketing associations international. Um they really provide
the gold standard for CBBS, sports commissions and and DMOS. Over 90% of CBBS use this economic impact calculator. We started using it in 2022. And what's unique about this calculator
is is that it takes specific local information to Semino County and that really goes into the multiplier that establishes the calculator. And what we historically were doing is we were using a state multiplier, but the reality is it's not apples to apples. A visitor
spend in Seminal County is different than a visitor spend in Miami. So this calculator provide takes local tourism data, looks at our local tax rates, comes up with a customized calculation specific for Seminal County. It's also
updated every single year annually uh with updated information. So um just going across the room nights, the room nights are report the room nights that we report, those are actual room nights generated by the event. We know that we
cannot track every single hotel room. So the actual number um we certainly know is probably higher than that number, but we do report verified rooms after each event. Um and that's that's reported to us and then we verify those numbers with
our hotel partners. The total visitors that really kind of consists of everybody that comes to our events. That's taking into consideration the total teams, the total spectators, total referees. um you know really kind of looking at
the total total mix of all the visitors that come in and then obviously the total number of teams we certainly track how many teams uh come in for each and every event. So just kind of looking at um you know again the sports complex actuals for
fiscal year uh 24 25 you know how it how it compares to fiscal year 16 uh all the way through. Um we had strong years of growth coming out of the pandemic. Um we had a lot of pentup travel demand and the fact that we were able to safely
open the sports complex um was incredible. And so what happened obviously right out of COVID we had a lot of groups that really were reaching out to us because they couldn't hold their events in other locations. So in 2122 and 2223
we picked up a significant amount of business and those were some of our some of our best years that we had. Um, in fiscal year 23, 24, 24, 25, we saw a slight decrease in our team counts and unfortunately we had a few events that
cancelled due to bad weather and we saw less use on hub C and D. Um, approximately 50% of the time that we have events on hub C and D, they're impacted by some sort of weather, whether it's a rain delay and then if we get a significant amount of rain, then
those fields are washed out. However, moving forward with the county's recent investment in turfing hub CND, we are mitigating the risk of rain outs and we will see an increase in usage of hub C and D. We also now have the flexibility to host other types of
sports, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and many more. We are already in discussions with multiple event organizers. Um, a good example, we host a national field hockey event in January over MLK. It brings about a hundred teams to the Bumba Sports Complex. They
play on A and B. With the turfing of C and D, we're able to add 50 additional teams to that event. So, we're going from 100 100 teams to 150 teams. Um, it's hard to believe, you know, again, just looking at the Booma Sports
Complex that we're celebrating 10 years this May. May of 20 May of 2016 is when we opened. Um, it's been an incredible uh, obviously run. You can see in the chart below, from fiscal year 16 to 25,
we've hosted over 496 events, over 28,000 teams, over 1.1 million visitors, over 182,000 room nights, and over $282 million in economic impact. We far exceeded the performer. Um, it's been a
tremendous asset for our local community. Uh obviously there's a benefit for the teams that get to stay here and play here in Seminal County when we hold tournaments. It's also provides a tremendous benefit to our local residents who get to train here um
on these state-of-the-art fields. And also I want to give a a quick shout out to our parks and recreation team and the staff at the Bumba Sports Complex. They really do go above and beyond. uh they take a lot of pride in maintaining this facility and it's really truly one of
the reasons why we were recognized by Newsweek magazine as the best youth baseball sports complex in the country. So when we look at all other venues um you know this again is everything uh besides the Bumba Sports Complex. So,
you know, this really consists of Soldiers Creek Park, Seminal County Softball Complex, uh, Seminal Soccer Complex, Red Bug, several different parks. Very similar story uh to the Bumba Sports Complex. We had strong numbers post pandemic. Then we saw a
slight dip in travel and decrease for fiscal year 23 24 and 2425. But we are seeing a strong comeback here. So the majority of these events like I said are softball events but this also includes our signature events uh
like soccer like ECNL MLS next which take place at Sman Lake Park in the sim seminal uh soccer complex. So who are the sports complex uh who are the sports facility visitors? We use Zardico um thirdparty data research
company and they utilize geoloccation data. They look at devices and credit card transactions. And what's interesting is that 33% 33% of our visitors, one in three visit our sports facilities when they come here to
Seminal County. What's also interesting is that 56% of those visitors are instate. And Zardico defines a visitor as someone who has come from over 50 miles from their common evening location. They've stayed for more than two hours in the
destination and they visited at least one point of impact. So just take a to take a little bit of a deeper dive. Um this next slide, what is the visitor and resident mix at the sports complex? So based upon the data provided and this is a sample size of
over 40,000 people last year. It shows that the ratio of visitors to residents who visit our sports complex. It's the majority of our residents. As you can see, 75% um of our of the people that visit our
sports complex are residents compared to 25% who are visitors. The Bumba Sports Complex is the closest to a 50/50 split with 53% residents and 47% visitors. But again, it just this idea that our facilities have more
visitors than residents is inaccurate. And I really think it's important just to understand what the data what the data is showing us here. Also, all of our sports facilities provide a significant benefit to our local residents. As I mentioned, teams get to to obviously stay here when we
have tournaments. It's a cost savings on money, cost save, cost savings on travel. Um, we've unfortunately been limited with outdoor venues and are always at risk due to weather. To further diversify our offerings and mitigate
risk, the indoor sports complex is going to take Seminal County to the next level. As you will see, the forecast is flat and we have to find a creative way to break the plateau. And the indoor sports complex is going to allow us to bring in new visitors, new events. The
indoor sports complex will be a tremendous benefit not only to our v visitors, but to our residents as well. And I'm going to turn it over to Gee to walk through the forecast. >> Thank you. In the last couple slides here on our forecast, we're looking at
the US hotel forecast. Uh down here on the occupancy side, we don't see much change from the actual of 62.3 in the US to a 2027 calendar forecast of 62.2.
Average daily rate slight increase 0.9. And then in 2026 calendar 1% 2027 1.3 and then our revpar uh year-over-year increase or decline. These are the
percentages most closely aligned with tourist development tax increase and decline. Uh so we see 0.3 in the US expected uh was the actual for 2025 0.6 on 2026 and a 1.4 slight increase. One
of the key uh uh notes to take with you here, we are part of the Orlando North subm market for Smith Travel Research. It's about 10,000 rooms, 5,000 of which our are our rooms. Um just to keep in
mind that that take this forecast with a little grain of salt there. But occupancy for calendar 2026, it's as flat as I've ever seen. ADR average daily rate the same and revenue
per available room the same $72 to73 here are some of the factors impacting the entire uh subm market these factors I know there was a question on where what's a tariff uncertainty that's more for hotel supply that's that's for the
building of properties and then here's the top five uh messages the the last slide here on forecast the top five messages coming from Smith Travel Research. The takeaways specific to the Orlando North subm market. One of
the key messages to keep in mind is bifurcation as we discussed is going is expected to continue for upper tiered hotels recorded. The lease decline. So our properties um in Semino County the vast majority are expected to continue
to see volatility in demand. So this concludes our presentation. I open the floor. >> Thank you very much. Commissioners, questions. >> Yes, Commissioner Locker. So, um, Danny,
I heard you give the definition of visitor. Is the definition of resident someone we know lives in Semino County? >> We know for sure they live in Semino County. >> No. Um, let me clarify. So, the definitions are from Zardico. So,
Zordico does geoence within the county. So, there's two different visitor types. There is the local drive market visitor and then there is the visitor outside that 50 mile radius. So, that 33% that
was addressed are all visitors outside of Seino County. >> Right. And so the balance of of the 100% when you take out the 33 of those how we don't do we know how many of those are seminal county residents or do we just know that they
are within 50 miles? >> So we'll get follow-up data there. Um that the the balance of that 33% can be visitors to any other points of impact POIs. So the 33% are just visitors that
have stayed within one of our sports facilities specific. So it's a visitor market that have touched the sports facility. So we'll >> right. So the slide that's the the bar the bar graph of the sports tourism
slide you've got visitors and residents. Can you've defined visitor? I'm asking you to divine define resident. >> Yes, we'll we'll get the exact definition, but I do believe from Zardico they do have a geoence around
the county. That's how they have our points of uh impacts. >> If that is the case, that is remarkable. >> I'll be anxious to hear the answer. >> Yes. So, some background on this slide specific uh at the bottom left you will
also see the fiscal year date. So this is a date that we did see a 7-month slowdown in visitor demand. So one of the key points I want to I want to make sure we understand is this slide and
this one is specific to fiscal year 25 that we did see a slowdown in a visitor. >> Yeah. >> Yep. Great clarification. Thank you >> commissioners. Commissioner Deli. >> Thank thank you Madam Chair. Okay. Can
we talk about occupancy has been increasing but the ADR is going down? >> Can you work us through that a little bit? >> So >> that's pretty your chart right there. >> Yes. Yes. So Smith Travel Research occupancy has been resilient um on the
positive side of plateau. A common trend that you do see as occupancy softens, uh, average daily rate is usually about 6 months behind. >> That's correct. >> So, if we're continuing to see a
softening of occupancy, we can expect average daily rate to continue to decline as hotel. >> But in your chart, you're showing the occupancy increasing and the ADR is decreasing. So, just to confirm, are we
looking at forecast or are we looking at the first uh >> since we don't have page numbers, I'm looking at >> Sorry about that. >> The one that says review of STR hotel trends. >> Perfect. >> 149. >> And I'm seeing that occupancy level from
2023 to 2025 went from 67.9 to 70. >> That is correct. And I I see it's negative, but it's still decreasing. >> So, we expect to stay around that 69 to possibly as high as 7172
occupancy. That would be a great year for us if our calendar is at 72. Um the record highs in Semino County were just shy of 75. U just to give you some perspective there. But as as occupancy
plateaus, hotel years are really focused on rev porn revenue. So they will start, if they haven't already done so, trending to lower ADR to try to capture more of that wholesale, whole value market. >> So how does the housing companies come
into play about their percentage as well? >> So are you short-term rentals? >> No. Oh, >> housing companies. So when you're actually putting on an event, >> Yeah. Everyone goes to housing company, correct? >> Yes. Not everyone, but the majority of
the the large scale events. Yes. >> So, how is that affecting our ADA and what their revenues are? >> So, I'm going to ask Danny to come if he has direct info on the housing companies. Um, but they do also ask for
rebates, comp rooms, recess, all that, all other uh concessions. Dan, do you want to >> And if you don't if you don't have the information, if you just get it to us, that'd be great. >> I mean, that is correct. The majority of our events do use a third party housing
company. Those housing companies typically charge a commission rebate or some sort of combination of both. Um, you know, in terms of how that affects the rate, um, typically, you know, those commissions and rebates are paid by our hotels to the third party organization.
So, um, we could we'll probably have to get back to you to answer specifically how that might impact the rate or affect the rate. Um, again, that's really pricing strategy, um, is up to the hotels. >> The reason why I'm asking because I know we talked about this years ago when we
were doing Bloomber from the beginning, we talked about, uh, some type of either registration or rebate from the surrounding counties where the hotels were closer to Semino County because they were going to be feeding off of it. And you know, at some point we should be talking about that as well.
>> Absolutely. Uh we know right that uh we're going to have that issue, especially when the new indoor sports complex does open. Um we're going to have multiple events taking place at the same time. And to answer your question, that is something that staff is looking at. We're we're looking at a program
that would allow us to capture those rooms that are going outside of our county, which obviously we're not collecting a bed tax from. That's the reason I'm asking >> and and that is something that we're looking at right now. >> Since you do sports tourism, uh a lot of the contracts are multi-year contracts.
>> Yes. >> So, how much time do you really need before you actually go and get uh people to actually change their contracts because contracts only come up every so many years? >> We typically look at a two-year booking window um for a lot of these events, but
some some events are more like 3 to 5 years. um you know the Bumba Sports Complex, we're booked 12 months in advance. We're always booked a year year out. Um but a lot of those events now are repeat events, right? But when you're talking about a new facility
coming into the market, we do need that longer lead time. Um at least 18 to 24 months, I would say at a minimum. >> Okay. So then my next question is for Gee, if you don't mind. >> Sure. So gee, I know years ago we did a visitor study and a master plan. It's
about six years old or five, six years old. When do you think we'll be going out to revise that? >> So uh for fiscal year 27, that is something um that we are looking at. We do want to have a a definition on what
the indoor may look like, especially from a strategic plan if we're looking at five years out. So, um, the the best response I have is soon. >> Okay. >> Yeah, >> that's a good that's a good answer. The reason I'm ask is that really helped us during the downturn because we were able
to get that data to understand what was going to happen before it happened. >> So, thank you, Madam Chairman. >> Thank you, Commissioner Zimbau. >> Uh, thank you, Madam Chair. Um, are we capturing STRs?
So STR reports multiple times to us uh throughout the year. So we have a monthly trends report that the hotels submit to. Then we also have a forecast that they provide to us and then and we have the yearly forecast that we also.
>> So it would seem to me as I look through these numbers, one of the huge gaps is the weekly occupancy. Um and and of course a lot of these travel teams, sports teams that come in have children who are in school. So it's rare
that they're going to be out in the middle of the week or all week long with exceptions of championship times and those kind of things. What is the plan to to as we have more hotels coming online? What is the plan to fill the gap during the week?
So outside of the summer season, as you discussed the school being out at that point, our our largest performance indicator that we know has room for growth would be that midweek market as we've seen here, >> right?
>> Um so when we look at that weekday market, we have to capture the weekday market traveler in the summer. that may be a youth sports, but during the school year that may not. That is likely going to be a larger meetings or or catering
style, expo style of event. That is our our largest room for growth that we have identified. >> I won't go into it because I know we're going to talk about the indoor sports complex. My hope is that's going to help drive weekly room rates as well or occupancy. So, thank you. Thank you,
Madam Chair. You're welcome, Commissioner Constantine. Nothing. I'm not forcing you to speak. I promise. >> No, I understand. And no, I I'm very pleased in the sense of the completeness of the report. We've had uh you know, updates both here and at TDC and uh you
know, I understand you know, we're matching the trends of of national. >> Uh commissioners, we have I think three speakers that want to speak now. lucky you have a team lined up behind you. I don't know that it's possible to feel
intimidated up here, but uh why don't you guys come on up? Give your uh name for the record. >> Good morning. My name is Kristen Oswald. >> And and who are you with? >> I'm with the Townplay Suites Marriott and Altimont Springs.
>> Please let us know what you'd like to share today. >> Okay. Um, good morning commissioners. Again, my name is Kristen Oswald. I'm the general manager of the Townplay Suites by Marriott and Ultimont Springs and also the vice chair for the T board. Thank you for the opportunity to speak
today regarding the indoor complex. I'd first like to thank the board for the work already completed on the project. The approval of the indoor complex represents a significant investment into our community and we appreciate the leadership and collaboration that brought us to this point. With the
indoor complex approval, the next critical step is finalizing a comprehensive business development strategy. The T advisory board has asked that we begin drafting the business development strategy. The request was appropriate and timely as the types of groups being considered typically
require multi-year contracts, long lead times, and early planning commitments. Without clarity on business strategy, it becomes difficult to fully evaluate opportunities, negotiate terms, and/or long-term success. I respectfully
encourage the board to prioritize at the appropriate time the business development strategy that can be imple implemented in alignment within keeping the project moving forward with purpose and momentum. Thank you again for your time, leadership, and continued support. >> Thank you.
And for the record, we are still on the tourism update, but it has bled into the indoor sports complex. >> Um, and it it all works together. So, we'll just keep going. >> We are nothing if not accommodating.
>> Thank you for that. Good morning, commissioners. My name is Jacqueline Lurigan. I am the general manager of the Hilton and Alultimont Springs, and I am the chair of the T board. The next steps are critical in finalizing the development strategy and ensure long
term long-term success for our county. Um I do have on behalf of Jason Seagull, the president and CEO of Greater Orlando Sports Commission a letter um addressing to chair her and the members of the board. On beha on behalf of the board of
directors of Greater Orlando Sports Commission, go sports. I write to express our strong support for semol county efforts to advance the construction of the indoor sports complex. Ghost sports has been proud partners with seminal county for over 30
years. Working closely with your tourism, hospitality, venue, and hotel stakeholders to successfully host numerous youth, amateur and collegiate championships. The proposed indoor sports complex
represents an important opportunity for Seminal County to further enhance its competitiveness and preferred destination for tournaments, events, and all yearround sports tourism. Such a facility will drive increased visitation,
important tax recovery, and generate significant demand for our hotels, restaurants, and small businesses in the needs of periods. Equally important is the need to maintain momentum and proceed with
construction in a timely manner. Advancing the project will enhance the Greater Orlando Sports Commission efforts to position Seminal County to capture future demand and secure sports event bookings well in advance of the facilities opening. To date, our efforts
to recruit indoor sports related events and like activities to Seminal County have been limited due to the lack of space. Moreover, destinations around the United States have been and continue to invest in the construction of multi-purpose
indoor sports complexes. This causes more competition for the right to host regional, national, and international sports events. We truly appreciate the seminal county board of county commissioners commitment to thoughtfully
plan and responsible investment. We encourage continued progress on this transformation. And we are confident moving forward with the indoor sports complex will strengthen Semino Countyy's economy, enhance quality of life for its
residents, and reinforce the region's repres uh reputation as the premier destination for the hosting events. The Greater Orlando Sports Commission looks forward to continue collaborate with Semino County. >> Thank you very much, >> Madam Chair.
>> Yes. >> Since you mentioned you're from the Hilton, >> Yes. I have a I have a personal request. Sure. On behalf of all Guinness drinkers during the Scottish Highland game, >> would you please consider doubling your order prior to the weekend next year?
>> Absolutely. >> Thank you very much. >> Yes. Thank you. >> How's that? How's that? >> I didn't fully realize that personal privilege meant a beer order. >> Correct. >> It does. But I do appreciate you the need and I support it for the record.
>> Thank you. Yes, sir. >> Good morning, commissioners. Uh, my name is Duncan Wall. I'm the regional director of sales for LBA hospitality representing the Hampton in the Swedes and Optim Springs. I also serve along the board uh T board with Kristen. I
appreciate the opportunity to speak with you all today. Um, as we've been talking about today, Simol County's hotel market remains stable and well balanced. Um, no real uh pressure u supply pressure is very minimal with no openings of hotels in 2025 and only two projects under
construction as of January 23rd, 2026, adding an additional 238 keys. This limited supply pipeline helps preserve market equilibrium and supports long-term performance. In 2025, the market saw a modest softening as performance normalized. Occupancy
averaged 70.1%. ADR declined to $15 and RevPAR settled at $74 with total revenue reaching $151 million. Despite these slight declines, demand remains steady, positioning the county for stabilization and gradual
growth as comi conditions improve. Looking ahead, Simol County's revpar is projected to see modest growth in 2026. Occupy occupancy is expected to rise slightly to 68.6% 6% while ADR holds at $106, driving revars slightly from up
from $72 to $73. Positive calendar comparisons support this performance, though factors like softer business activity and lower consumer sentiment may temper those gains. As Kristen highlighted earlier, timely action by the county is essential to strategically
align with targeted group segments. As we mentioned earlier from Danny, these groups typically operate on multi-year agreements. um and they rely on long booking horizons and require early planning. So proactive engagement is key to securing long-term commitments, fostering strong partnerships and
driving positive economic growth as well as the increased gains and overall market share impact for Simol County. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you, sir. >> Come on up. >> Good morning. My name is Rick Donnie.
the general manager of the embassy suites, Orlando North Altoont Springs and a Semino County resident as well. I'm here representing Robert Grusa of the Central Florida Hotel Lodging Association to read a letter that was addressed to chair her and members of
the board. On behalf of the Central Florida Hotel Lodging Association and our board of directors, we'd like to express our strong support for Seminal County's efforts to advance the construction of the endorsed sports complex. For decades, CFHLA has been a proud partner with Semino County and the hospitality industry. Applaud the
county's collaborative leadership and vision in pursuing a pro a public private partnership that'll deliver long-term economic and community benefits. To date, our efforts to recruit indoor sports related events like and like activities to Semino County have been limited to a lack of
space. This is a key reason that this proposed indoor sports complex represents a significant opportunity for the seminal county to enhance it competitive its competitiveness as a destination for tournaments events and yearround sports tourism. Such a facility would drive increased
visitation, extend length of stay and generate meaningful demand for local hotels, restaurants and small businesses, particularly during slower travel periods. Equally important is the need to maintain momentum and proceed with the construction of this facility in a timely manner. Advancing the
project will allow the business development and recruitment efforts to begin as soon as possible, positioning Simol County to capture future demand and secure bookings well of advance of the facility's opening. The certainty around project timelines is critical for attracting event organizers, investors,
and the complimentary development that can further amplify the the project's economic impact. Moreover, destinations around the United States have been continued to invest in the construction of multi-purpose indoor sports complexes using thus causing more competition for
the right to host regional, national, and international sporting events. Therefore, we truly appreciate the semol county board of county commissioners and their commitment to the thoughtful planning and responsible investment of this transformation transformative project. We're confident that the
continued progress of this indoor sports complex will seminal se will strengthen seminal county's economy, enhance the quality of life for all its residents, and reinforce the region's reputation as a premier destination for hosting sports events. Thank you again for your
continued consideration. >> Thank you, sir. Thank you for being here. >> Thank you. >> Hi, Sky Buckner, director of sales for the Orlando Marriott Lake Mary. I didn't apparently write a speech because it has to come from the heart and this
is the next big demand generator for the county. I've been in Semino County since 1999 and in the hotel business. The last time we saw an opportunity like this was with Boomba and with your help and your support. You see the numbers, right? You see where we we went. We're starting to
plateau. So, this is the next demand generator. This is more than just first quarter. We all get business in first quarter because everybody wants to come to Florida. This is about filling the county for the rest of the year. So, thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Thanks, guy.
>> I'm going to ask for personal privilege and say, "Bring Corkage back to the lobby bar." Bring Corkage back to the lobby bar. Mr. >> Akuna, alcohol, >> they'd like that. >> All good. All good. Miss Dreger, does
that conclude our speakers for this topic? >> Yes, madam. >> There we go. Commissioners, I'm going to call that a wrap on the tourism update and maybe move to the next work session if that is okay. >> All good. We're sort of there anyway.
>> Yeah. >> Mr. Durr, parks and recreation director. >> Good morning, commissioners. Uh Rick, for the record, Rick Durr, parks recreation director for Simol County. Um, I'm going to introduce you just in just a moment our consultant team who's assisting us with the next steps, but
I'll give you a little bit of background and introduction prior to that. Uh, obviously with the recognition of the trends that we've seen, uh, that we all just went over in detail. Um, the county recognized the need to be able to move some options forward to be able to both increase our capacity as well as develop
additional options for our youth sports tourism market. to do so. That that effort really began back in 2023 2024 with bringing in the hunting group to assist us with a new proforma and what that particular facility might look like and what the projections might be for
both economic impact as well as tourism dollars and increase in heads and beds. Um that being said, that particular study then moved into how do we fund that? And back in 2025, in May of 2025, the board was able to approve a item
that the uh where our hotel years locally had voted to assess themselves to help fund such an effort known as the T or the tourism improvement district. Subsequently to that, the county then moved forward through a competitive bid process to identify a company to help us
both identify exactly what the size of the facility would be as well as what the budget of said facility would be for construction. Uh moving that forward, we went through that bid process and we were lucky to have the Pizuti companies with us here today to discuss their
first initial work into this uh project. They began really in earnest in December. uh worked through the holidays on a number of items and then uh began to meet with folks really in the month of January to begin collect information which we call affectionately known as their listening tour. Making sure they
met with individually uh each of you as well as many many other folks without both within the county as well as business partners that we have inside the county uh to assist with this with this project. Uh at this particular time, I'm going to introduce our consulting team who will be walking you
through what they've heard at this initial step of the indoor sports complex. Uh with us today, we've got James Russell. Yep. Tom Hmer and Ashley Sin, who like I said, have been pretty much working around the clock on this particular project and are
here to give you an update on this first portion of the project, as well as a a uh preview as to what our next steps would be. They'll be continually working in earnest over the next month to not just continue to collect information, but to be able to bring you back some
options back in the month of March, specifically to facility sizes as well as potential uh cost and funding strategies. And with that, I will move it directly to our team, James Russell. >> Thank you, Rick. Welcome.
>> Thank you, Rick. Good morning, commission. I think it's still morning. So, good morning, commissioners. wanted to first say always start with a thank you for the opportunity to work with you and on behalf of the businesses and residents that you represent. This is a great opportunity. We're excited to be here to work as hard as we can for you.
Um what I wanted to do and I have to add one more thing. Usually when we are presenting and we see a line of people asking questions, we get a little nervous. This is a change of pace knowing that this is an important project and having that kind of support. What I thought I would do is just walk
through add initially the deliverables that we are working on both for the public and to remind you of the things that we'll be doing. A lot of this we discussed but it's important to understand it's part of the next steps. So initially and a lot of the work that we've been doing is is really focusing
on helping you align the program and the objectives of the project to get you to something that you can build, give you a recommendation on advancing and aligning those um important priorities with your available budget. So that's the number one uh task that we'll be focusing on.
Um included in that is going to be the development of what we call an owner's project requirement documents, the OPR. And a lot of that and you know in some of the individual conversations that we had with each of you and the teams that we met with there are key elements that while they are influenced by the
physical side of the building there are also some intricacies that we want to make sure get passed along to the design architect and those to make sure that those unique aspects of this facility are incorporated in in a narrative form. We'll also be recommending an
architectural program that will become part of that OPR that really identifies specific spaces and sizes that we believe are important for you to maintain that competitive advantage to attract those tournaments and and uses of the facility. So, we'll get very
specific in that document identifying spaces. Again, we're not designing the building. That will come later. But it is important to keep those driving points identified and key. Uh importantly, we'll also be presenting you with a recommended budget uh that is designed to make sure that we're meeting
the aspects of what you need to have covered, but also protects you with the appropriate levels of contingencies both in design contingency, construction contingency, and owner contingency to make sure that you're not left with questions down the road. So, that's part of that budgeting process for you as
well. Um, we also will be delivering a preliminary procurement document so you can hit the ground running with the design architect. The idea is as soon as we can get your blessing that that can move forward to get your design architect and team on board to make sure we're advancing the project as quickly
as we can. Um, included in the OPR will also be some illustrative diagrams, some site planning, and some conceptual renderings to help understand that. Uh and I think in some of the discussions we've had with everybody, we identify a good,
better, best in terms of really understanding the facility, how it's going to look and how it's going to perform, which is the key element of this project. And giving some examples in that document will allow the design architect to advance the project a little quicker and not have to revisit a lot of these items to make sure we're
moving quickly. And then finally, we'll be presenting you with um durations, project schedule duration to talk about what we believe you'll need to allow for design and what you can anticipate both for construction and movein activities. And that becomes very important too
because as you've heard from many of the speakers, what's key is that you have a product that you will be selling. And so understanding those time frames so you can begin the process sooner rather than later to try to attract those tournaments will be key. So, we want to give you those durations so you can kind
of align and overlap those as appropriate. Kind of touch a little bit of the listening tour that we've been on. Um, as Rick had mentioned, we've met with all of you individually to get your input to help us align objectives and desires. Met numerously with members of
your county staff to make sure again we understand all aspects of what everybody um views the project and the critical nature of the project. We've done presentation and had questions with the TDC and T boards uh local school board and seminal state college to get their
feedback, impact, desires, opportunities for uses of the facility. Met with the Central Florida Hotel and the lodging association to get there a lot of what you've heard already. Uh we had it reinforced to us many times working with the hotel years. um and also with the
Greater Orlando Sports Commission members really to capture what the intent of this project is to help us align those opportunities. Um Ashley's going to come up and give you a little summary of some of the key elements that we've heard and then Tom will come up and talk about some of the elements that
we're continuing to study that impact the project. >> Good morning, commissioners. >> Morning. So much of this initial feedback that I'm going to review with you should be familiar to you. Uh thank you for all of
your time spent count >> spent with all of you and your staff and other stakeholders throughout the county. Um so we understand we've heard loud and clear that the primary purpose of this facility is going to be for sports tourism and to support heads and beds. Tournaments we understand are
generally held um Thursday through Sunday. Um we are also looking we heard loud and clear that we need to prioritize family oriented spaces for siblings and parents of the youth athletes. We heard this morning most recently that
timing is critical in ad advancing this project and we certainly agree and are taking our best efforts to get you there. Um local community availability is something that we've also heard in addition in addition to the importance of drawing visitors from outside the county. um multi-purpose and flexible
spaces for a variety of events and uses and Tom will discuss that in a little bit more detail here in uh shortly. And then um we've heard also heard from you that the performance of the internal spaces is a higher priority than maybe the exterior facade.
A little bit more feedback. Um we understand that the basketball and volleyball court dimensions will really drive the size of the facility. Hardwood C flooring for courts is a priority. We're also going to explore rollout Teraflex flooring options for volleyball. That's something that we
heard that we um we need to study further. We're going to be looking for synergy between Boom Ba and the new indoor facility for both programming and operational efficiencies where they may exist. Um we've also heard not to underbuild. So, we're going to make sure
that the program that we move forward um for you is going to meet all of your needs. So, we're not going to compete with the existing hotel space and we're also going to factor in the ability to phase the project and uh plan for future
expansion, especially with the exterior site amenities. So, I will let Tom talk you through the key amenities noted. Thank you, Madam Chair and commissioners and Mr. Gray. So, so this is the early
phase of the project. It's the listening tour. It's been really interesting for us to hear so many different u individuals share feedback and and you hear there's quite a bit of consensus on some of the key components of the project and and I'm going to walk through a little bit of the amenities
because you heard Ashley talk about you know it's the performance of the indoor facility that we heard was most important how it supports those sports tourism related tournaments and on top of that then we'll talk about as you look at each of these amenities ities,
how do you leverage them to also benefit from a local use standpoint? Um, but we understand what we heard is is that priority. A lot of these sports tourism events uh operate similarly, but there's some that have better reputations than other and
and what we heard was, you know, we want to be kind of a best practice. Uh, and so when we think about the amenities, no no surprises I think for many of these, but that lobby area is really important because when you go to events and my granddaughter is a a club volleyball
player and um and so I've been around to a number of events and that lobby area is a lot of times where they do the ticketing and the team gathering when you first arrive and in between the matches and all of those things. So understanding the need and size of that lobby area. We heard a lot about
restrooms. You know, you obviously need amplesiz restrooms for the size of the facility. Uh and also we heard very clearly from others in the industry that the the refs, the umps, the officials, they really need their own restrooms,
probably showers and locker rooms. The meeting room should be flexible. Again, leveraging the building to provide as much as a purpose as possible. It's kind of like when Ashley talked about the dimensions of the basketball courts and the volleyball courts are kind of fixed.
I mean, there's a standard in the business that it has to be a certain measurement dimension. A lot of the other tournaments or activities or events, competitions that you're going to support um aren't as defined and they can fit within that flexible space. So as we
look in programming the space architecturally, you know, we understand it needs to be flexible and you'll see some drivers like the volleyball and basketball that may impact dimensions. Um adequate storage. Uh as you think about other events we've talked and
we'll talk about a little bit here, uh events that may include things like graduation. Uh there is an opportunity to have temporary seating. And so then where do you store that? Do you store it on site and how big of a space do you need? If we have addition a different type of flooring to meet a different
type of tournament use or competition use, where is that storage? Sometimes event organizers bring that in themselves. Sometimes they prefer if the event can hold that. So, as we just think about the facility, we want to make sure storage is addressed appropriately up front. A lot of
feedback about food. I mean, a full range of food from, you know, full kitchens to rooftop bars and restaurants and to uh everything else. But one of the bottom line comments I remember is we don't necessarily want rollup metal doors in a concession window as our
standard. We want something um that may be a higher quality food option. So as we explore that, we'll look at that and then realize when you're there and you're the parent or the brothers or the sisters and or grandparents and you you
have receive an email or phone call, you have to deal with the business issue. You want some quiet space in the facility. You also want some kind of downtime space, too. So, whether that's a lounge or car arcade area for the kids and and things like that. And this can
kind of be a big list, but as you fit it all together, um you know, we anticipate it'll come together the right way. The first aid treatment areas uh is important obviously because it's an athletic based event a lot of times that may need some care. um the fact that
this is a family or oriented event and some of the events, you know, draw a lot of the brothers and sisters and grandparents and parents. Some may draw less, but you want to have that ability to keep them on site and things for them to do. We heard about uh the need for
high-speed internet obviously for the attendees that are on there, but also for the event itself. I know when my uh granddaughter was I I didn't make it to New Orleans and Texas when she was competing, but we were able to pull that up live stream and watch that and that
was considered a big a big asset. You know, what's the sound and lighting infrastructure in there and and how much do you need and and what can it support? Also, the the natural light. Uh interesting feedback there from a performance standpoint. Too much natural light can impact the court play or the
activity there. And so being able to minimize that or screen that is really important. We heard and this is listed as our component. It it can be more than that. And this may be more of a use than maybe a programsp specific space. But
the idea that there's an opportunity to expose the attendees to Semino County in a very positive way. whether that's through art or it might be even through some local retail opportunities or other things so that when they're there's another opportunity for them to learn
more about Semino County when they're there and then performance space is there a component that has a performance base and so a lot of this is now being pushed into the you know the machine to kind of figure out what we would come back to you and and recommend and we'll
have more discussions with that and more public discussion with that but we know gradu graduations was something that's been mentioned early and and ongoing and we had good conversations with the school board. We know that if we have these open spaces like the basketball volleyball courts, they're going to
accommodate a lot of temporary seating and if there's a way that that can serve two purposes good and we we'll re we'll refine what the estimates are on how much space turns into how much seating. And so that's kind of ongoing. And then we'll have follow-up discussions with
the regulatory entities here in Semino County to talk about when you have those type of uses there. Is there anything else that's triggered in the facility? Maybe it's more restrooms, maybe it's ingress egress, maybe it's lighting, maybe it's other things that you might not have to have for the sports portion,
but you might need to have it if you're bringing in 5,000 or 6,000 people for an event. So, we're we're working through all that. And so, this is kind of listed as ongoing review. We discussed with your emergency manager um some interest because we heard in a
number of the conversations the idea of some type of shelter that the facility could serve as. And so in talking to Allen, he was pretty clear that he wasn't looking for a hardened facility like an EOC or a hardened shelter
pre-storm. he was more focused on a posttorm shelter that could get the kids back into the schools and reopen sooner and that there may be after an event some number of individuals in the community that they're going to be delayed getting
back into their homes and so maybe this could help offset some of the impact on the local churches etc and provide a facility that could do that. Uh when we talked to him obviously there's some restroom needs associated with that. Some could be contracted, some could be in the facility. There was laundry potential needs that could be contracted
or not. And so we're still kind of uh discussing that with your emergency management staff to see how that might fit in as a potential flexible use. The art component, again, that whole local component is there as well. and the performance discussion we did here. And
on the right side of the slide, you see what we listed as kind of lower priority items because these were on some of the um programming that we saw previously was presented to the commission, discussed by the commission and and as we asked stakeholders about that, these
items were less of a priority. They did not come out on the top of the list. Um the idea of an indoor turf field is is kind of listed as one of the potential programs, but the sense was that may not be needed as much as the other uses that
would draw um to the facility. And then athletic locker rooms for the participants. Also, we've heard from those in the business to say really that's not something that's often provided that you need some locker rooms for the officials, you need restrooms that are
plenty, you need areas maybe where the athletes can change, but you don't necessarily need formal locker rooms dedicated just for the participants. And then same with like the mezzanine level track. If you're going to have a certain track up there, there's certain dimensions to the track, etc. It may or
may not complicate the construction. it may or may not fit into the design and it wasn't as high of a priority as some of the other items. So, as we kind of looked at that and where would you draw the line, those are some things that we've heard so far. We also received a lot of feedback about
the site itself and obviously you're going to need to finish the site in some fashion that makes sense and looks good. We've heard about, you know, a Florida feel. So to the landscaping, the type of landscaping maybe is there, you know, what the entry
feature looks like, is there a water feature, and how do you kind of landscape around that that make it look and feel Florida? And um and so that's something that you're going to want to incorporate into the site for sure as we go through and you go through the design
phase. Parking has been a you know common discussion and I think there's still some more analysis that we want to help with to look at you know how much parking demand is needed how much parking is required how much will accommodate the expected demand and how to do that and and we've heard a lot of
feedback is ultimately there's this sense that we're going to need and you're going to need a parking garage on the site. We want to kind of flush that out to see is that necessary upfront for events is that potentially a future phase or not or is that something that needs to be upfront? So, that's kind of
something we're still working on. We obviously heard EV parking needs to be factored in. That's I think pretty normal now as you think of new facilities and new parking lots. And really, you know, with Uber and Lift and and and parent drop offs and everything else, the ingress egress is really
important of how you manage the flow in and out of the site. And then you're going to have larger vehicles coming in with groups, whether it's vans, buses, etc., and where do they park? So, those are kind of site considerations. And then we heard a lot of other ways to activate the site, maybe with other
improvements. So, if you look at the bullets on the right, sand volleyball, um play structures for the kids, so when they're outside, it can do different things. Is there eventually a performance amphitheater or event space outside that you could have other events there to activate the space, whether
it's for the facility or for people who are attending boom bomb and come over for a portion of an event or or other things. a mini soccer patch. You could list other things there. Projection movie night against a portion of one of the design walls. So, those are just things that we want to get on the list.
And as we think about the priority of the indoor facility being for performance of tour tournament events and a local use component, then what else might work there? And some of that may be longer term or not. So, so all
that is kind of where we're going with next steps. So, with that, I'm going to turn it back over to Jim and he'll talk a little bit more about where we go from here. >> Thank you. >> Thanks, Tom. So, a lot of things, a lot of ideas, um, and a limited budget.
That's that's public projects at its at its peak. So, um, just to kind of review with you what we're working on now at advancing and the activity that you'll see from us over the next several weeks, uh, we are now conceptualizing that space program. We have a lot of charts
and and dots and buttons trying to say understand how all of these potential uses get factored into a building. And the good news and what we say there's consensus, not necessarily what all the uses, but in the amount of space that you need that can accommodate a lot of uses. And that's key. if you're not
duplicating spaces which is costing you money. So part of that is now conceptualizing that uh space program understanding the size the dimension the stacking the location the adjacencies to be able to get maximum use out of the facility. So we'll be we're starting to
do that now um and we'll be um presenting that to you. We're working on the cost estimate. to never lose track of the fact that you have a limited budget and we want to make sure that we're advising you and recommending on what you need to do to get this project out of the ground moving and performing
and then options on how you look at things in the future around this facility. Remember, it's a multi-year multiuse facility and so that has to be factored into it. Uh we will be doing some follow-ups with you uh where where needed to understand and weighing some
of the opportunities um through you additional county staff discussions we'll be having. Tom mentioned some too as well as understanding the impact of assembly when when you're looking at some of the accommodation of seating. It does impact a lot of things. Fire suppression and and health life safety
is a key element. So we want to be able to make sure that we're advising you on that. Um and then we'll be working for looking forward to uh the retreat with you on March 10th where we really can uh start uh presenting you what our findings are uh to advance the project.
So with that, that's our presentation today. We're happy to answer any questions that you may have. Um and thanks again for the opportunity. >> Thank you. Rick, did you just come up for questions or do you have something that you want to wrap up? Uh no, I think
I think uh James just did a nice wrap up on this, but to again reinforce the idea that right now we've gone through this collection phase. Uh and it's and they're deep into analysis right now. They're putting together some options so that again come March the 10th, what we'll be looking at at that time are
specific ideas and specific proposals to begin to really focus this down so that we really can hit the ground running with a uh RFP that everyone's proud of that we know that fits within our budget and a strategy on how we're going to deliver that project. So with that, we're happy to take any questions.
>> Yes, Commissioner Constantine. >> Uh thank you. Not a question, just you know, just just an excitement. I'm really excited about this whole proposal. I mean, we're looking at a lot of great opportunities here and I I you know, in talking with Pizuti and I know
all of you have done that also, it just seems that they're they're getting it and of what we're trying to do and what we'd like to do and I know we all have our own little ideas, but but you know, I think we're seeing it come together and it's very exciting. The one thing and anything I would, you know, talk
about right now would be, you know, premature. But one thing I did want to talk about when we call funding and I mentioned to them and I just wanted to bring it out here and see if it is possible because I don't know. I I really don't know if it is.
One of the things that um when I was in the legislature, as you recall, we were running out of money for UCF stadium and we had to come up with a unique way to and explore opportunities to find more
money for that stadium. And one of the things that I did in in a bill is I put in that you could bond concessions and parking. And so um you know we're talking about limited budget here. We've got some
opportunities and I just want us to explore if that is and I will tell you we used it to finish the stadium and then I will also say that other universities have now used it to expand their stadium including FSU, Florida and
everything. And so if that's possible maybe it's possible for this. I don't know if it is legally uh or if it's a provided by statute, but I would certainly like us to look into that because it may not be a lot because we don't really know what our stat, you
know, concessions, but I will tell you that's why all the talking about the Guinness Run. All the universities now have beer in their stadiums. There's a reason for that. And it's not just they wouldn't accommodate beer. It makes a lot of money in the concession stand. >> Bucks for a high.
>> That's true. It's crazy. But they but they will but it also helps in the bonding capacity to get to put more amenities in to the stadiums. So I just like us to look at that as a possibility.
Commissioner Zimbau, >> the paramount question I have, which to me from a business standpoint, when I look at what we're trying to what we're trying to accomplish with this T, is the amenities that are going to drive
occupancy rates midweek as well as offseason. that should come as a byproduct of whatever we do here. And that's what's
most important to me. As we heard earlier, we have two new hotels coming online. We've got a pretty high occupancy rate on the weekend. We've got very little room for expansion.
So if we don't look at multiaceted uses to fill that week, we can actually do the opposite, which is still have the weeks midweeks vacant and overload the hotels, but then shove them off to our
sister counties or have our hotelers scrambling to do expansions or find other properties and so forth. That's what I'm really focused on is the business aspect of that midweek occupancy and how that helps hotel years, but also brings events that are
likely to be more driven to our local population, whether that be jazz festivals or whatever whatever it is that people want to enjoy that we typically have to go to Orange County or St. Augustine Amphitheater. example. Um
my wife and I enjoy going there for for events because it's a small venue. Um good music and it's easy to get in and out of. Um and I'm not so sure we shouldn't be looking at something very closely resembling
not that but that type of use to help fill midweek for what it's worth. >> Thank you. >> Phil bed nights midweek. >> Correct. >> Mr. Delari. >> Thank you, Madam Chair, and uh thank you, Commissioner Zimbau, for bringing that up because I know we talked about
it briefly when we had tourism up here. But part of my conversation with my one-on-one was ADR, room capacity, room occupancy, and when we do have a work session, I will be focusing on that. And I expect to
understand your position on helping us move all these numbers up north. And I really think that is the cornerstone to the conversation because if you don't have the money, you can't build it. So, how do we get the ADR up? How do we add
a compression up? How do we do all that stuff to get more heads on beds to get the finances to do this? So, um looking forward to seeing your evaluation on how that happens. Thank you. Okay, >> I think um both Commissioner Delari and
Commissioner Zenower explained exactly why a couple of years ago I asked that we stop referring to it as the indoor sports complex because this can't just be a sports facility. So, um thank you for the work. Thank you for spending all of the time that you have going out and
collecting information from all of our stakeholders and um looking forward to additional information and followup. I I think we were started off on a really great foot. So, thank you. >> And I'm okay if Commissioner Lockharts want to adopt Event Center. >> Listen, I love sports. I love sports,
but it has to be it has to be more than sports. >> And I think what Commissioner Lockart's talking about is that it's just how do we bring more people into this community, >> right? >> Doesn't matter what it looks like or what it's called. >> Just stay in a hotel. >> To stay in a hotel. >> How do you bring the heads on beds? Totally support it.
>> Good. Uh my my wrap comments are a few things. When we get to the work session, um please don't presume that we understand the language that you're speaking. I have no earthly idea what a Teraflex floor is. I'm not sure I ever really wanted to either. Um but but
we'll need detail around things like that that are meaningful. Um I did not notice anything up there, but I do know it was said. Uh you heard not to underbuild. I think you also heard not to overbuild.
>> That the budget is the budget. So, I'm seeing nods. Yes. And I am delighted to hear that we're coming back and flushing out the idea of the parking garage and the staging of that because it we can't have that get in the way of the progress of of this from a financial perspective.
So, I think it's all good stuff. I appreciate the depth of the listening tour. Um good feedback from the community around those meetings. So that that's very much appreciated and I look forward to March. >> So do we.
>> All right. I think with that we can uh move on to um I just want to make sure Dominique, you got no more public comment forms? >> No, ma'am. >> Okay. Fabulous. So, a little less exciting, but Trisha Johnson's going to make this as exciting as possible. We're
going to talk about business tax receipts. >> Thank you. Yes. Save the nailbiter for the last. For the record, Trisha Johnson, deputy county manager. Before I begin, I wanted to share Mike Rhodess is joining me. If
you want to move down to the microphone, Mike, so you're available um if any technical questions come up and I know our tax collector will join us if he can if you have any questions for him as well. Okay. So, today we're here to talk about business tax receipts. Our agenda, purpose of business tax receipts,
background and administration of them here in Semino County, benefits and drawbacks of eliminating BTRs, some options and next steps. So, and excuse me, my notes got a little shuffled around here. So, the purpose of today is
to establish a shared understanding of how business tax receipts work in our county. will review the advantages and disadvantages of BTRs as they are called and outline options for your consideration. So, what is a business tax receipt? As Mike spoke to you in
November, these are uh annual local taxes imposed for the privilege of doing business in a jurisdiction. BTRs are authorized under Florida statutes chapter 205, which grants cities and counties the authority to levy a business tax and revenue. BTRs are
considered a local government revenue source. They are not a regulatory license. As you may recall, in 2007, our legislature changed them from occupational licenses to business tax receipt. That was done by design. So, the individuals applying for BTRs
understand that these are not professional credentials or a professional regulation. That licensing is done through state agencies. So, who applies for a BTR? How do they work here in Semino County? Any business, profession, or occupation
engaged in commerce in our jurisdiction, including both brickandmortar and homebased businesses, should obtain a BTR. In Semol County, unincorporated Semol County, our tax collector, administers the program. Our seven cities all administer business tax
receipts as well. They run their program separately. So if a business owner's business is within a city, they are required to apply for BTR both in Semino County unincorporated and within that city.
Applications can be submitted in person and online. And in Semino County, uh a business that is not subject to government regulation, it's $25 a year, $45 a year for those that are subject to regulation. The
cities run their own programs, so their fees vary based on that jurisdiction. Per statute, the receipts expire annually on September 30th, and they are required to reapply every year. So the benefits of the BTRs, of course, the reoccurring revenue that is generated
about 310,000 in this last fiscal year. We've collected close to 30,000 now from October to mid January. These are a tool that are beneficial, I'm going to say, primarily for economic development. It tells us when we have a new business coming into the county and when a
business leaves our county, but they can also be beneficial for public safety, fire safety management, emergency management's knowledge of businesses, for outreach uh pre and post hurricanes as an example, and then for our zoning and land development coordination. These
are our business tax receipts by fiscal year. You saw this in November. This has not changed our again collections for last year about 310,000. The benefits of removing BTRs pretty obvious. It supports a businessfriendly approach by eliminating that point of
entry cost. Makes us more open for business. simplifies the regulatory environment, reduces the workload for a tax collector and his team who primarily, as I mentioned, administers the program and rem removes that dual BTR that a business located within a city would be required to pay. Drawbacks
of removing BTRs, of course, loss of return recurring revenue and loss of that structured mechanism to identify business locations for economic development in our county. There is no other mechanism for that locally. The Department of Business and Professional
Regulation does require that businesses that have a license that regulated businesses apply at DPVR, but some businesses are not captured through that process. Um, businesses again that do not require any kind of state regulation lensure. It's helpful to our public
safety team to know when a new business is here in our county. Some counties have created a um some call it a certificate of use or another process to identify this data. In fact, Valuchia created one in 2024 by ordinance. We could discuss doing that. The challenge
is we have Senate Bill 180 to contend with. And that a new process could, and I say could, it really depends on what that process looks like, be impeded because it's considered more burdensome and we couldn't create it. So that would be something we'll have to talk about. And then of course if cities are still
requiring them and the county is not that could create some confusion. Some additional considerations that are important. Uh Commissioner Zenau mentioned at our last meeting there are three bills moving through the legislature right now that would eliminate BTRs. The one with the most traction is House Bill 103. Right now
it's on the House floor for a second reading, but that has been um just put on hold because it's now going through revenue conference which means it could be added into a separate bill or tax package. The other two bills uh on the Senate side are not moving as quickly. They're still in their first and second committees, but as my dad likes to say,
lots of football left to be played there. So, that got at least half session to go. We'll see what happens. All seven of our cities collect business tax receipts. So, it's important to note that if we were to eliminate our BTRs, some cities may feel pressured to do so as well. And you'll see a couple of them
really do collect quite a bit of revenue. These are those cities that have provided us with their revenue collection information. So, options for your consideration, full elimination of the county BTR program, partial elimination, which could look like exempting homebased businesses,
exempting those businesses that already pay a BTR in a city. Um, we're looking at an employee or a revenue threshold. We could consider reforms without elimination, working more closely with our tax collector's office to improve the application process on our end. We
really have not worked closely with the tax collector over the years on BTRs that uh we would talk about improving our data sharing with county departments because um what the tax collector is able to receive through his software. We really aren't getting that information
um aggressively going to get it and utilize it on our end. We could talk about dedicating a portion of the BTR revenue specifically to visible business services in the county. Actually, one of the bills moving through the legislature does require that of jurisdictions in the future. And with that, I'm here to
discuss uh next steps and hear your direction. >> All right. Well, thank you. Commissioners, I'll look to you for feedback. Darren, were you taking a breath or >> I'm good. I'm I'm waiting. You're good. He's waiting. Waiting with baited breath. Literally.
>> Commissioners, what's your pleasure? >> Commissioner Zimbau. Well, I'll make a motion that we will do away with BTRs in Semino County. >> Second. >> I'll open it up for discussion. Commissioners, >> Mr. Constantine.
>> Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I I I think that would be a premature move. Um I believe very much so that we are right now in a stage that we don't know what the legislaturator is going to do. Um this is as Miss Johnson's indicated is a
um is a revenue that is unencumbered. We can use it for many things. Businesses do cause additional services. I believe we have not really abided by our own ordinance by not being aggressive enough
in collecting this shown by the reduction in this. And I I you know I mean just from a feeling after we went through the process of having to look at where we can get additional revenues and
increasing the taxes to the citizens. I feel uncomfortable now giving a tax uh reduction which is what it is before we know what's happening in the legislature to businesses. I think we all, you know,
it's what did I say? Meant she shared sacrifice. Um, I'm not asking for an increase. I'm not asking for anything else other than number one, let's wait to see what the legislature does and then we can decide whether we want to
continue this in a much more aggressive manner in in that we come up with a program that works and that I do like the idea of I will give you some things on this options. Number one, I would not want to charge
city businesses. I think this is just be county. Uh number two, I think that we should um so I should we should exempt city businesses because they're already paying that with the various counties. Uh I think we should obviously have more of a coordination effort with the tax
collector um and improve data sharing. And I think it would be uh interesting to allow the staff to come up with something which would also include some sort of uh business services or economic development if you will in the department and give them additional
monies for or services. So I I understand commissioner Zimbau and commissioners uh Lockheart's um desire to eliminate this. It's not working. I agree it's not but I
don't think it's because um I think it's because we have not really come up with the right formula and the right process to make this happen. So I would not I think it's premature and I would not be supportive of the amendment or the motion excuse me
commissioner. >> Thank you madam chair. question that I would have for our staff is when you talked about some of the benefits where uh zoning and land development, coordination, fire safety and management, economic development and outreach. What is the data that we
obtain and where do we get it from and how would we get it from if these this program run away? >> That would be a gap. We don't get a lot of the data now. Tax Collector has a new software program that um from working with his team indicates the data will be
stronger. But uh if we were to eliminate BTRs, there would be a gap there. We would need to talk about other options, other programs. As I've mentioned, other cities and counties have come up with a different process that would not be considered tied to the BC BTR to capture business data.
>> Yeah. Because my concern is moving forward if we did remove this is where do we get that data from? And I know we talked about getting from the state. I went on the state website and you know looking at that data I didn't see that we had that much harbor pilots in Semino
County that much farms in Semino County or even mining uh in Semino County and it only had uh 20 some odd businesses that a lot of them aren't here. So I was just curious where do we get that data from? So DPBR I assume is what
you're referring to. And we do get data from that site. But as I mentioned, it's only it's >> very limited. >> It's only for those businesses that require lensure. So a florist wouldn't necessarily be on DPBR. A smaller business that doesn't require a lensure regulation would not be listed there.
But we'd still be able to and I know Gee is probably in the back somewhere. There he is. If you want to talk about um how economic development utilizes that data, I'm sure he'd be happy. I like the idea of not charging the the cities because, you know, now you're getting double >> double hit, so to speak. But, uh, more
importantly, what I'm concerned about is the lost data. >> Sure. >> Thank you, uh, Commissioner Zimbau. >> And I hear my fellow commissioners and some of the reasons they may not want to get rid of it, but what we need to think about is is the reality of we're
collecting $310,000. We have a tax collector that has man hours in running the program. We have a county that has man hours, women hours, people hours, employee hours into the program. Uh hard pressed to convince me that we're collecting $310,000
without spending probably pretty close to that and I have not seen that number. As far as your data, uh division of corporations in Tallahassee uh can give you all your data that you would ever want. Um you can gather it there. Our planning and zoning department should be
aware of every zoning change, every plan that we should be doing with the exception of the homebased businesses which are legislators in Tallahassee who are waiting to see what they're going to move do with BTRs over the last three years uh and promise to do it every year. Continue to kick the can down the
road, but yet we'll sit here and yell about home rule and how they're waiting to assault us. But yet you don't want to make the a move before them. And I and I got it. We're doing nothing with this BTR.
It's a tax on business that my businesses have to pay. Everybody else's business and any honest business pays. You're not even enforcing what we have on the books. We don't have the manpower to go doortodoor to figure it out. You
don't have even the right to go to a homebased business and demand that they prove they are or are not a business. And in Tallahassee, they want to carry one step further and expand the parking
capabilities for homebased businesses. So although I hear the the concerns about gathering data, um our planning zone department should should be able to know exactly what areas of this county are commercial, industrial, etc., etc.
Yes, they're hamstrung by the home base provision. We have to leave that up to code enforcement as far as we possibly can without crossing that threshold. Um, and realize this is a tax
on commercial businesses for really no benefit. I mean, my commercial properties pay way more taxes than what a residential property owner does. If that isn't for additional services and impacts on the community, I don't know what is. Um, and I hear what
Commissioner Constantine is saying, this is a revenue source. I'm not a believer in government being just a revenue source because we got a revenue source and we ought to be able to use it. Uh, cutting this tax, I think, saves the county overall money at the tax collector's office, at the county level,
at code enforcement level, and so many other places. We're talking $310,000. It doesn't make sense to continue down this path. That's all I have for you, >> Mr. Lockart. >> So, we're currently collecting $310,000.
Of that, do we know how much of that is from businesses in cities? >> That is the county's portion. >> That is only the county's portion. >> Yes, that is the county portion. So if we were to say as I think we were saying we were one of the suggestions was if someone
pays it in the city we won't collect it. So what would that change for us financially? >> So currently the cities I should say so seven cities all do BTRs four currently collect on our behalf. So Commissioner
Zenower has a business in the city of Altimont. He goes to pay its BTR in person. They will also take care of the county BTR. They take a $2.50 fee, administrative fee, and then they rem the remaining money to $22.50, I think,
to um the county back to the tax collector. And so I I can't tell you how much we would like the impacts of those losses. We could try to work with the cities on that. I don't know how clear that data is. Uh, but we could work on
on the the details of if the cities if if I'm a business in in Altimont, for example, and I no longer have to pay a county BTR, what impacts would there be to to the county revenue? >> Yeah. I'm just saying if if we're thinking we want to be magnanimous and say, "Oh, well, you're in a city. We
won't collect it from you because we don't want you to have to pay double." >> Uh, which I think would be the minimum that I would um entertain uh if we're not eliminating them entirely. What is that impact? Um I I I wholeheartedly
agree that $310,000 in collections is probably uh another phrase, the juice not being worth the squeeze for the amount of manpower and what have you that's involved. Um >> are we sending out uh reminders that
taxes are due the following year? >> No. And is that our responsibility or is that the tax collector's responsibility? >> I don't know that it's a it's necessarily determined whose responsibility it is. I think the tax collector has the um information from folks applying, but it may be something
that we would work closely with the tax leer and doing to get the list and then send the renewals out on our own. And so I would like to have an estimated cost for what that renewal mailing would be each year for all of the current um
uh l not licences tax payer people local business tax receipt holders. Um could I could I ask the tax collector a question since he's here? >> Mr. Mr. Cor, do you have an estimated dollar amount that it costs your
organization to collect and maintain these um collections? >> Uh we we currently don't. Um that's that's been our big issue. I know it's discussion today is about whether or not to eliminate or keep the the BTR tax. Um
my issue today is really what we want is to go either way that it goes. We have three cities right now that are still collecting the tax on the behalf of the tax collector collector's office and we're statutoily required. So it has to go through us to that we collect that
payment even though they collect it first because these these interlocal agreements were written back pre- internet to where you wouldn't have someone that was going from Altoont would have to make a special trip to go all the way to Sanford to make a payment. They would say well let's just do it all in Alamont and Altoont will
send the money to the tax collector office. Well, they're using completely different systems than us. They code everything differently. So, we have currently, I believe, 800 transactions that we're trying to go through right now. We have two people working on it. Two people on the side. >> Okay. So, stop right there. So that's what I that's the information that I
need to help make the decision about whether I'm whether we need to move forward with this because if this is if you have manpower and you know how much those people make per hour and you know how much time they spend on it, we I would like and I think that's how we would determine whether or not we are
spending more taxpayer dollars to collect the money than we're um collecting. It would be helpful if you have that information if you could start to compile it. The simple solution is if if we eliminate the interlocal agreements for convenience which all the contracts are
allowed to. So we have three more cities that we would like to take take back the the BTRs from. In that case we our new software program that we've got with our tax collection makes it simple online that money would be it would just is basically the customer is doing it themselves. They put their information
in they hit enter and send the payment and and we're all done online. Same as city of Sanford does now. They only do the BTRs online. So, it would really help us to be able to collect that money while a decision is being made. If we're going to wait to see what legislature does and comes with tax-wise, we would
just say, well, we can get that get that ball rolling is really what I've trying to last last meeting here. That was what I was trying to push for also to say just give us full control of the collection rather than having to go through the cities and try to maneuver on the way that they do it differently.
and they don't want to spend money on it either because literally those interlocal agreements they get like $2.50 per transaction that they're collecting for us. So really there's no money. There's no meat on the bone for them at all. So why you know that they don't want to spend any time or effort. They just said, "Well, the money comes
in and then we'll send you a check whenever we get around to it." You know, because they don't even have dedicated staff for it. It's just it's just been a nightmare dealing with the cities to try to get that collection and get that information. Um for Mr. Delari had said about the data once again that we don't have any of the data coming from it
because it is so mishmashed with all the different cities and how they collect and how they put it in their own programs and they're not going to spend money to get a new BTR program or spend the amount of money that we had to spend for our tax collection program that actually includes this BTR collection in that. So it would be a simple switch for
us to just take it over. >> Did that answer your question? >> So >> we don't know. Well, no. From a clarification perspective, I I actually do understand that answer. From a clarification perspective, the workload that the two people are doing right now
is because they are doing back office work to an antiquated collection process that we've not updated. Correct. >> But if we moved that antiquated, the cities need to collect it so the the business doesn't have to drive to two locations to pay this. No one's doing
that anymore. if it were to flow through electronic processing on their end or maybe they're still making somebody drive there. That's their business. But if it got paid through our tax collector's software, it's already built into the software that's already purchased. It would be an electronic
transaction that would be seamless. >> I heard that, but that wasn't my that wasn't my question, though. So I think that um that that vision that you have shared with us requires all of the other cities their commissions to want to do
that and their their city managers. Do you have indication that they are wanting to do that? >> No, they all all they require all the contracts are written that they can be canceled by either party for convenience within 90 days. So as long as and and it can be done either way. So any as long as the county commissioners do it or
they do it on their side, if they're going to do it on their side, then yes, they have to go through meetings and go through everything else. But if it comes from the county commission to say we're going to cancel, it's a 90-day and then it just will terminate at that point. So that's why to me it was the simplest way for us to to collect this money still
while the decisions being made. >> Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. And that that is my understanding is that we as a board of county commissioners have allowed those cities to to collect. So if we um um discontinue that agreement, it would go back to the tax collector to to do
that uh to run the program. >> And have we asked the cities? >> No. >> Okay. >> No. >> I have a question for the tax collector, please. >> Commissioner Zimbau, >> so how would you enforce
the collection of the BTR as a tax collector? How would you identify every business including homebased business in the county to ensure that you're collecting all the
BTR that is statutoily required under the current provisions? >> I mean we do have the program that will search for the this information obviously using sunbiz and and things that you'll go through. It's enforcement is not the same as property tax where you have some real property where you
can say we can do tax certificates and there's a whole thing on there. Really it's the BTRs are almost an honor system to say you know if they don't pay we just ask them to pay again. You know it's like just keep sending it out there because there is no there is no enforcement on you know an army of people that we'd have to send out to
collect this money and it is such a small amount of money to collect on top of that. You're either$25 or $45. So really, you know, what would be paying someone to go out and knock on doors would be kind of ridiculous. >> Well, and that was my next question. And maybe this is more for the county attorney.
I have a business. I refuse to pay it. I don't pay it. What are the consequences? >> I mean, other communities enforce BTRs through the code enforcement process, and you cite them for a code violation
for not having an up-to-date BTR. That's an option. Um there are late fees the statute authorizes that if you don't pay and the next time you come in for something you know for a BTR you'd have to pay whatever that fee is but that's >> but we currently do not have that. >> Correct. >> Correct.
>> The late fee. >> No the collection enforcement to collect those fees. >> I don't believe we're engaging in that. >> Correct. >> No because we don't have control over it currently. We don't have so we I mean there are there are third party companies out there that will of course
for a percentage of the fee they will go out and start aggressively collecting you know so that's that's an option >> right >> or try to >> Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. But they you know that's how they get paid. So if they don't if they don't collect they you know it doesn't it comes no real cost to us besides less money that they're that
they're going to take their cut out of what whatever they do collect. >> Understood. >> Commissioner Con. >> Thank you. Um, you know, this is very interesting, you know, discussion because I I I I can see
on both sides, but I also saw from both Commissioner Delorei and and certainly from Commissioner Lockheart a lot of questions that are unanswered. A lot of questions that are unanswered. I also have two licenses, business licenses in Altoide Springs. As you can see, they're
much more aggressive than other folks. And so, so Jay and I share in that that we have those things, but they're not quite frankly they're not a lot of money. I mean, it's $15
and $45 or $25 and $45 in and als and and and things. We're not talking about a lot of money and we are talking about the opportunity to have um you know, flexibility in this. I can guarantee you that if we stopped this
today, there wouldn't be a $310 sav $310,000 savings in the tax collector's office. There would be. And and so, you know, we're going to have to find additional funds somewhere. Um, you know, we're not talking about millions, but we're talking about hundreds of
thousands. Again, I the the motion I mean, the mention was home rule commissioner. I hate the fact that the legislators got their little fingers in it. They always do. I'm just saying that before we do anything, let's make sure we know what
we can and cannot do. And I see a lot of questions out here. And I'm if if this does not pass, I'm ready to make an alternative a motion that would request the staff to come back with a potential
program that works and maybe can get because they're a lot smaller than we are. what Altoont gets or come back with a recommendation that they think it's not worth having. And that would be basically my m motion if this one does
not pass. >> So I have not weighed in yet. I'll I'll do that now. Um I do believe we should stop allowing collections by the cities. We should make the collection process for the county uniform in the tax collector's office as the statute
originally contemplate. I appreciate the fact that the interlocal agreements were done for convenience, but we need to modernize that. Convenience happens online now, not not um by shifting money back and forth between government entities. >> I do have concern for the loss of data
because we work really hard. So if you ask me what you get for that$25 or $45, we work really hard to make sure that we continue an economic development program that benefits all businesses. If we don't know about them, we can't do that.
So we can continue to bring, I'll use an example, fried chicken joints into this market until we are all fried chicken to death. Love it. >> Or we can source alternatives because we know what's out there. And I think that's beneficial. I also think
that if we do away with it now, it becomes our burden to figure out how we get that data. If the state legislature does it, there will be a market upswing that figures out how we get that data and the market will be more ready for it. So, um, God bless America.
Opportunities are generated every day by governments around the country. we should not generate one prematurely to the market because I think it doesn't save money. It may save some in the tax collector's office, but it's going to shift a burden to the other departments that we mentioned to go do and figure
out. So, I don't think we're ahead by getting rid of it right now. I do think we need to clean it up. I also don't think we know what we're walking away from. >> I don't the the collections clearly they're down 100,000. So, they're down
25% or it would be up 33% if we collected what we did last year. The current collection methodology is not working as well as it could. And and that's been brought to our attention by the tax collector with a potential solution and software in house to to
solve it. So, with that, how about we call the question? >> And to that point, we don't know what we're doing already. We don't have the data today. So if you do away with it, you still don't have the data. >> To your point,
>> what we're doing is doing away with the opportunity to get the data through a software system that's already been purchased by the tax collectors. >> Well, wait a minute. Maybe I misunderstood. So you're telling me the data, the software you're buying will tell me every homebased business, every commercial entity in this county.
>> I don't know the details details. No, I don't know. I don't think it goes. But we can with that program because you can add fields in there and you can have it whatever. we can selectively go in and have control over what we're using to find out what they are if we want to code it a different way as our codes, not the city codes. Correct. And they,
like I said, they send it to us now and we don't know what it means. >> Right. >> So, it's, you know, it's and trying to get the information out of them and and and they're the payments come in late. They come in sporadically. It's just a >> different question. Your software will not populate
every business in this county. Will it or will it not? >> No. Unless they've already registered and are on the honor system. >> No, it doesn't automatically. It has to. It does. It does search through. We can search through Sunbiz when we find the new businesses. That's that's a simple
enough side on our side. But right now, if we did that, we would search through Sunbiz and then have to still send it to the city to ask the city to collect it and they're going to say we don't have the staffing or anything to really worry about doing anything on it. >> Yeah. I don't Okay. So, Commissioner Zimbau, if they're starting out with the
database through Sunbiz, I'm sorry, I didn't see you started through Sunbiz. >> I don't know that that gets to every homebased business. >> And I also heard some consensus up here that we would probably all be willing to walk away from homebased businesses
because that's not the effort here. >> That is not the effort here. Commissioner Lockhart. So I I agree with Commissioner Constantine's statement that there are a lot of questions because if I create on Sunbiz ABC LLC, I don't
have to tell anyone what ABC LLC does. It's nobody's business. As long as it's a business that is legally operating the state of Florida under the Florida statutes, that's all anybody has any business to know. So you can download all the information you want from Sunbiz for all the new
businesses. If the point of this is to collect what type of business these businesses are, someone is going to have to reach out to the owner of that business or the registered agent and ask them pretty please would you be willing to tell us what type of business it is you are engaged in whether they're
homebased or not. So, I think the expectation that somehow this there's this gold mine of data just waiting for us to to somehow sync with this new software is is um not accurate. And and I I don't
want us to think that, you know, all we have to do is wave the magic wand with the new software and then poof, all of a sudden we have this great database. That's not how this is going to work. >> No, we're not concerned about the data at all. We're concerned We're not, but we are. That's what >> I just never I never said that it does
it magically or anything. It's it's going to be >> No, you you didn't say that, but I think there is an assumption on the part of some of us who would like to have the data. Economic development would love that to be the case. There's nothing wrong with them wanting the data. It's great to be able to serve our businesses
and know how to serve them, but I think it is an overreach of local government to start to pry into what local businesses are doing if they want to be uh a part of our ED team and you know reach out if we want to do something
that's proactive and um and is you know, hey, we'd love to have you call us and tell us what type of business you are and what you do and how can we serve you in Semino County. That's entirely different than a proactive I can't tell you how many times, Commissioner Constantine, I heard you use the phrase aggressively pursue or aggressively
enforce. I am not interested in aggressively enforcing anything right now in this community, in this economy. We just raised taxes. We're looking for ways to continue to minimize the the effects of that
decision, I believe, moving forward, not because of our collection, but because of the people who are paying taxes in this community. And yes, it's only perhaps $25, but I think it sends a significant signal that we as a board of county commissioners are in tune enough
with the climate of small homebased businesses and small commercial businesses who may own property that we're saying, "Hey, it's it's one more thing. We understand we don't want you to have to go through this." The hoops that I jumped through to get mine had
nothing. My business tax receipt had very little to do with the interaction with the tax collector's office. It was getting the information that I needed to get from our staff in order to submit it to the tax collector. So that whole rigma role is a part of the steps in
this process that yes, there are there is a lot of staff time that is being spent on this by county staff and we don't know what it is because we're not tracking it. So anyway, that's my rant off my soap box. call the and I have a question for >> I called the question about 15 minutes
ago. So I'm going to call the question again. Uh let's go ahead and vote. All those in favor >> I >> opposed. No motion fails. Commissioner Constantine. >> Madam Chair, um Commissioner Lockard, again you brought up a lot of good
points. When I say aggressive, I mean something that works. It either works or it doesn't work. And what I would like to do, we've got a lot of questions here. We've got a lot of potential ways other people have done this both successfully and unsuccessfully and it is the responsibility of the
staff to you know I feel to find out what's what's right what works what doesn't work and them in addition to the fact that you've talked about the uh staff time whether it's worth our time to do it. So, my motion is to send this to the staff to bring back either a
program that works for the county, what they feel can work for the county, or a recommendation to eliminate it. That's my motion. >> I thought that was what this was. No, >> we just voted it down. No, >> no, no, no. Like, wasn't this to have
session? >> I've got a question for staff if I may. >> Okay. Well, we have a motion. I'm looking for a second. >> I'll second it for discussion purposes. And I'd like to uh ask the motioner, can you define can you repeat what you're
saying, right? >> Yes, certainly. I want the sta I want to give this bring up the staff did give us an overview in the work session. Got it. They did not provide us and I see the county manager shaking his head a
process which they would recommend that we move forward on or the fact that they feel that it is not worth doing and therefore I want to put it in the hands of the of the staff to come back not with options we've given some of the
ideas that we have like the elimination of the county run I mean the cityrun businesses and not go after them because they're already paying it and other other things. And I would like the county staff through the county manager to come back with a recommendation on
this program and and to make it work or if it they feel it is not worth it then to ask for ask for you know a recommendation of elimination options. Yes. >> For clarification purposes. >> Oh boy. >> No, this is easy. This should be easy.
It would also include allowing the tax collector to collect all of the the uh counties receipts. >> Um and it would include sharing of data, what the data is. It would include the
mechanism within your system by which you're requesting it. Most businesses are just going to answer the question. We wouldn't make it mandatory, but most want to be known. Most want to be known. what they do. >> What they do um and it would include to
wrap your question into this the cost of administering it from an FTE equivalent. So what what's the full-time employee value to this on both the county side and the tax collector side? >> Madam Chair, I would agree with your clarification, but I'd like to ask
additional question if I may. Would that also include asking the CA tax collector to resend the agreements with the cities because that's not heated. >> If that was the recommendation, >> if that was the recommendation, >> yes, >> I I had that in there. So So I
>> But I'm going to ask this question. Should we be doing that today as opposed to when it comes back? You you want to hold on that as well? >> And and Madam Chair, that's one of the reasons why I kept it as open as I did. I don't want to put it so many things. Okay, you have to do this and you have to do this and bring it back to us.
Well, >> well, quite frankly, that's what they've done. They brought us options. This was a work session. >> They have not brought it how it would work, >> but we didn't come to a conclusion, Commissioner Zimbau. So, we're trying to figure out how to bring it again to a different We didn't come to the
conclusion you wanted. Let's say that we did come to a conclusion. So, the chance of moving this forward with alternatives is important. And that's what Commissioner Constantine and Commissioner Delari are attempting to do. >> There's one >> yes item I'd like to clarify. We didn't
go into that in today's presentation, but it has come up a few times. City has or excuse me, the county has five interlocal agreements with five cities. They collect on our behalf and they keep $2.50. One of those agreements has been terminated by the city of Winter
Springs. They sent us a nice letter. They're no longer collecting. The other four cities are requiring it to come to this board to terminate. So we would bring it back to you on a future agenda. I just want you to understand it's up to this board to terminate those agreements >> if that's your recommendation.
>> I I think we did understand that. The question that I was asking was are do we want to do that today or does the the motioner and seconder want to hold that for later? The answer is they want to hold that for later. I'm seeing nods. >> All right. So now we have a motion and a
second. With all of that clarification, which may or may not have helped, and uh I'll call the question on this. All those in favor? >> I opposed. >> No. >> No. >> Passes three to two. So it's coming back.
We clear. >> Would you like us to bring it back before the conclusion of legislative session or after? >> Dad gum. That's a good >> Sorry. How did I not think of that? That would be my my recommendation. If we're going to bring it back, let's wait till the legislative session is it'll be
over. >> Legislator's halfway >> this month. >> First week of March. >> First week of March. >> Yeah, we're there anyway. >> Yeah, of course. Bring it back. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Thank you. All right. Good to go. >> All right. I think that brings us to the
Thank you for being here, uh, tax collector Croll to the county attorney's report. And I will point out that, uh, Mr. Gray, who was here earlier, had a handout that he wanted shared with all of us. >> Gray Wilson. >> Gray Wilson. I'm sorry. I did say Mr.
Gray. I'm sorry. I did say Mr. Gray. >> Mr. Wilson. >> Uh, county attorney. >> Thank you, chairman. Um, over the last week, I've had individual discussions with each of you updating you on the circuit court's order in Seminal County
versus Middberg communities. Um the judges case last Tuesday ruled in favor of Middberg's motion for summary judgement. This is a final appealable order and we have the county has 30 days to decide whether to appeal that order.
So I am seeking direction from the board on next steps uh whether you were interested in appealing. Given the conversations I've had with each of you and the complexity of the issues involved, I am recommending that the
board conduct a closed attorney client session so we can have an open and frank discussion of the board's options and the various issues involved. >> Commissioners by not have are you in in concurrence? >> I think it would have to be at the next
meeting. >> Yes, we have we have plenty of time. Um, we have until March 5th to file a notice of appeal. So, if you're agreeable, we would do this in two weeks from today, which we will have noticed and everything according to statute. >> We are agreeable. >> We are agreeable.
>> All right. Sounds good. Um, thank you very much. My other item is that late yesterday I did circulate the response letter that we received from the CFO's office. Um he it looks like it came from a a the director that conducts the
auditing of the various clerk's offices around the state. I I don't know that the questions we posed in the letter were answered directly but we did finally get a response. >> Sure it wouldn't AI >> I am not sure. Commissioner Lockhart.
>> Um would it be incumbent upon us at this point to um submit a public records request for the information that we are seeking? >> I mean we we could um we provided you know all the the audit the audit reports that we were referring to were provided
to the CFO's office but they were also produced by his office at at some point. Um, we could we could ask if they have more detailed information. >> If if they have done the work that was supposed to have been done, there would certainly be record of that and maybe
they don't want to put that in writing that they have completed it. Maybe we have to ask for the actual record that shows it. >> The letter indicated that they would follow up on the findings made in the 2024 audit the next time they audit the office and they will not announce when
the next time is going to be. So, I didn't really get the impression that there had been followup when I read that response, >> but I'm kind of I'm reading in between the lines. >> Okay. >> I I've got mixed emotions about it. I
don't know that you're ever going to get an answer. I think I think the answer we got was purposeful and direct. Um I don't know public public records request will even be responded to. Um
uh you know we asked very specific questions. I mean very direct. I mean there was no should be no misunderstanding what we were trying to understand. Um, but I do find it somewhat disingenuous
from the standpoint of we are charged here at the county level to protect the taxpayers's dollars >> during our budget session. We're also required to fund all the other constitutional officers to
the point that we're supposed to. Yet we don't have the auditing capability in the Florida statutes to audit the ones we're for that we have to fund on
behalf of the taxpayers. Other words, the taxpayer themselves can't go behind the scenes and see exactly what's being spent. So we have to rely on the CFO who doesn't want to share apparently
information of what's going on. So I don't know where you go from there. I mean I really don't. Our hands are tied. So I think the interesting thing from my perspective is that
in the standard use of the word audit there there is the reporting of the findings and then there is typically a response to the findings. Now, that would bring the assumption that the
find that typically there's not a finding if it's good news. A finding would indicate that something has to be rectified. So, if we're going to ask for a public records request, the public records request would be for the disclosure of the findings. That was his reference in the letter
that are not going to be followed up upon until the next audit. There should be a required response to a finding similar to the way we would respond to a finding on an audit, but that seems to have been left out. Now, it just could be back to my my thing earlier with
education. It just could be a writing flaw. It could have just been missed. Um, so inquiring minds, my inquiring mind would like to know what the findings were. And if that mechanism is a public records request, I do also agree with you, Commissioner Sambau. I
don't know that we're going to get it, but it can't hurt to ask for it. Um, >> well, we have the findings in the the division's 2024 report, the audit report. I don't know what other backup >> the response to the
>> exist and I have seen I I think it's for the 2024 report. I have seen a one-page responsive letter that the clerk provided following that audit. Uh, it wasn't, from my recollection, very detailed. It was a onepage letter. I think acknowledging the findings um
which I think I have that and I can I can send that all to you. >> We should do that. >> Um and I found that in the same place where I found the audit, the original audit. I think it's part of the record online. Um but I don't know that there was any additional backup to the division's audit or findings. I can see
if there's any other information that's public record or if there was any further communication from the clerk's office. I' I'd be happy to follow up in that regard. So perhaps the best solution would be to share the findings along with the response to the findings and then depending on what that
generates in terms of interest of public records requests, we bring that back. >> Commissioner brings it back in a district report if we want to follow up. >> I'm fine with >> that fair. That's fine. >> All right. >> Okay. Understood. That was the end of my report. Thank you.
>> Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. County manager report. >> And thank you, uh, Madam Chairman. Just a couple items. want to thank you all for uh those who attended the fire station 39 opening. It was great. That was one of the first projects uh when I became the county manager that came before us. Um yes, three years ago took
a little bit of challenge. There was some challenges, little hiccups. We have uh the right team now in place as you know in our facilities uh area. So all vertical construction got uh a good team there. So, as projects move forward, I would we're always going to have
challenges, but I don't foresee any of the hiccups that we had with this fire station, but it was a great great day and I uh appreciate that, especially in the northwest part of the county where uh we needed another station for response time. So, thank you for that. And then regarding, we hit another
milestone with our microtransit program with Scout. We're over 75,000 riders uh that have uh that have taken a part of our microtransit uh program and that is just a little over four months. So uh
what we plan to do as staff is after a full six months so the end of April 1st of May we'll be bringing that whole program back to the board. As you know, there have been some some challenges with that like with any uh a new system that we uh put in place, but we are see
receiving overwhelm response on how we are actually moving people around our county that had not as Commissioner Lockheart had mentioned was almost the forgotten segment of our our population and that had not had that opportunity uh before. So that is continuing uh to to
increase our writership and uh the uh response rate the I guess um success rate or the the what do you say the uh satisfaction rate maybe is still high is that 4.7 out of five that we're receiving uh from our riders
>> 100,000 by March. Yeah. >> Maybe. >> I mean and and we and and and we were upfront with our >> Yes. riders. We told them that there's going to be some speed bumps and hiccups. Be patient. And I think we've >> upheld our part of the deal. Staff's doing a great job of
>> dealing though, addressing them as they come in, trying to find solutions and then come to the board when you need a major solution that I think we're doing fine. >> And that is true. And what we don't know what we don't know. So you're right. So as soon as a uh issue comes in, you know, our team is on it >> immediately and and and assisting those
folks that need assistance with it. >> Commissioner Constantine. >> Thank And madam chair at at the count meeting, you know, a a commissioner um from Sanford, you know, gave some concerns about the time and I said and everyone else agreed and
including herself afterwards. I said, "Okay, you can't get it in 30 minutes. So, call if you got something in an hour, call up, you know, for them to pick you up in an hour." You know, I mean, like it will get better, but it's not the end of the world. I mean, as
opposed to this, instead of walking to a, you know, a place, a bus stop, waiting for the bus, okay, he comes on time, then wherever drops you off, then walking to the other place. You know, the the bottom line is is that if it takes if right now we're having a little
bit of problem and they were very interested in the fact that it was like a very few people were causing about 40% of of the times thinking they can do it like they do other things and keep calling and calling again at better time. So, um you know, the bottom line
is is that I'm I'm very pleased in an initial program. Um, and I'm not speaking for all of us, but I think we've all had a lot of positive feedback. I have had a positive feedback. You know, a few glitches. Glitches are glitches. It will get better.
>> I I would tell you uh that one of the things that I think we all have to do is recalibrate the measurement. I think we have other elected officials in the community and community leaders that are calibrating our weight time against Uber andyft. And we are not competing with
Uber andyft. It should be reccalibrating our wait time and the fact that you're sitting in your home while you're waiting or sitting at a business while you're waiting to standing at a bus stop. >> And so I when we rephrase that conversation, the entire thing shifts.
>> That's correct. >> Um and we just can't forget that. Commissioner Lockhart, >> um do we have an update on when the app store is going to update the app so that people cannot call order and cancel hundreds of rides to throw the system into chaos? >> Yes. Yes, Mr. Swinson is coming up to
address that. He hasn't. He gave me a thumbs up, so I think we do. >> Sorry, Christian. Swson County manager. Sorry, I'm in the back of the uh back of the class. Um the app store has launched it. It launched last week. Um we've seen
we've seen the uh we've seen the cancellations go down. There are still some that are are are fairly up there. So, I think there's still a number of people canceling it too, which is what the limit is before they're locked out. So, we have seen that take place and it it was launched. >> And just for clarification, they're not
locked out of the ability to use transportation, they are able to call in and order a ride, but until we understand how to better use the app, the app is not available to those folks. >> That's correct. If they if they do two cancellations, it locks them from the app only. And you're correct. then they
can call in and still make the ride for that place so they're not stranded. >> And really probably stupid question, but surely something pops up to tell them that that's what >> it does. >> Okay, >> I I just wanted to double check. Does it start with yo,
>> you're cancelled? >> Yo, buddy, stop. >> Relax. >> Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Swinson. County manager, does that conclude your >> That concludes my uh report. Thank you. >> All right. Uh I don't think we have any
board appointments. There are none in the board book. I just want to make sure. >> You're right. >> I don't I don't think so. And I'll be departing early. I know you got you're getting ready to get into some other stuff, but I've got a a one:00 that I've got to be at. >> Would you like to do your district report first or would you like us to skip yours?
>> No, I'm I'm fine. I can do it real quick. It'll be real quick. >> Go for it. >> Everything in district two is perfect. Thank you. >> Oh, there there we go. There we go. Let's start that trend going. Commissioner Lockheart, you're up. Um, so I'm going to hover between board appointment and district appointment. So I do not have any board appointments.
Um, I did uh share with you all the um resignation of a member from the historical commission. Um he and I had a great meeting yesterday uh talking about more specifically some of his um suggestions and ways that he might encourage um some uh consolidation of
committees and uh ability to be more effective um not just for the our board and what we hope these committees can do for us but for the members on those committees. So, I will be sharing all of that feedback with the county manager and his team so that we can um start to look at some of those options.
>> And I have had similar feedback uh was a library board member uh that left frustrated and uh county manager and I sat through a fairly long conversation on that. We need to retool these. This is a vestage of the past that is not no
longer necessarily serving our our citizens. It's also probably not serving our directors. It's costing staff time and we're frustrating people and that can't be a good thing. So, um, it has to be on the agenda for this year to get this modernized. >> Yep. That concludes my report.
>> Awesome. Commissioner Delari, we're on a roll. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. I'll be just as quick. No, no pressure. First of all, I want to say I'm sad to say that uh member of our community passed away. uh Matt Brown. Those who may have known
Matt, he sat on the planning board uh for 17 years and uh his service will be this Sunday. Just wanted to let you know everyone know that. It's very sad that uh that happened. And uh if you know Matt, he was truly
a big gentle giant. He served the community very well for a number of years. uh served as the planning and zoning board as well as the chairman of that board for a number of years as well as well as the port authority board uh and he will be very very missed. So
just want to let you know my heart and prayers go out for that family as well as to Matt. uh metrop plan tomorrow uh we have on the agenda that we are conducting ebike safety pilot program reaching about 500 students across the
three counties focus on safety and responsibility for ebike use uh be focusing on middle skate middle school age children and I'll be bringing that data back once we have that but that's a pilot program we're actually doing a metro plan because ebikes is not just a
problem in seminal county but across the entire state and there is legislation that is going on in Tallahassee regarding that. We have not heard yet what they're doing with it, but report back when we get that. That's the end of my report. >> Mr. Constantine,
>> thank you very much. I'll move fast. Um leadership semin it very well attended and um quite an interesting um uh discussions and and information. Uh the uh National
Association of Regional Councils had a meeting in Washington DC which I came back from with a lot of um good information that I will be passing along to the county manager and any of you if you would like. Uh the seminal cultural council cultural arts council had their
taste of uh the arts galla on the 7th and it was very well attended and a wonderful program. Career Source on February 12th will be presenting will be having a ribbon cutting of their new community hub in the East Coast Dream
Center in Ovido. Um so that'll be the first of its kind here in Seino County. I'm looking forward to our February 13th state of the county um which will be at uh at um the Orlando Marriott and I'm sure that you want to say more madam
chair on that. Uh but uh also we have the celebrate Lake Mary at Oval Park on the 14th. The zoo will be having the bruise around the zoo for Commissioner Lockheart on the 24 which is always one of their favorite uh
one of my favorite programs for the zoo that they do. I did want to tell you many of you received in your uh office the Florida Sports Commission's 80th year book that was written by um George
Diaz which was my appointment to the parks and recck committee last time. So uh but he was the author of that. Um I want to wish everybody and you've got the beautiful red on happy Valentine's Day coming up. I also President's Day on the 16th which uh Mr. Great. Make
everybody happy. Gave the staff off. >> You all did. >> Your recommendation. Wonderful. I don't have to tell you all that Marty Gro and the Lunar New Year is on the 17th. Ash Wednesday uh is on the 18th. Um tomorrow
is a very close friend of mine and someone that I think did a great deal of work for Florida in a good way. It's Jeb Bush's birthday. on the 14th. It's my favorite Darth Vader's birthday. I don't know how you got a birthday on
Valentine's Day, Christian, but you did. Um, >> all about love. >> Uh, so all about love. That's all he is. That's right. Love. I do want to say that. Um, >> my longtime aid of 16, 17 years is having a birthday on the 17th, Beatric.
>> She tells me she will be 25. And um also our former county manager uh Nicole Guier is having a birthday on the 22nd who now runs the airport. I do want to say one great thing that I'm very pleased with with Scout is that this
month it has been growing, but this month the percentage of those over 65 are the highest users. And to me that means a group that would be reluctant to go on that is now accepting it. And also
we're getting folks probably less likely to drive carefully off the road. Um and my mother will hate me for that. And um I just have to tell you one other thing tonight. >> One of the favorite game shows of
everybody is Jeopardy. Tonight, one of the questions is unfinished after 20 years, an office building in Semino County, Florida became known as the I4 blank.
Answer is the eyesore on I4. >> That's what is the isore. >> Yeah. Okay, there you go. I'm sorry, Kate. What is the on I4? Um, unfortunately, and that's my pro that's my
Well, I don't know that I can top that. >> Thank you. >> We did, but I won't try. You're And you're welcome, Commissioner Delari. Uh the Sweet W the Sweetwater Women's Club actually would like a scout vehicle to come out to one of their meetings
because >> I suspect that's the demographic and uh and I am seeing more and more folks uh my age and older uh using these vehicles to go to normal day-to-day places that
normally probably would have cost a lot more or required ired a family member to miss work, etc., etc. So, that the we it it's doing what we thought it would do. Um, a few other things. First of all, the the work that got done before the ribbon
cutting, we're all talking about the ribbon cutting at the fire station. We I know that building that station was painstaking and difficult. And the fact that Darren, you and your team, Kate, and the entire team in this building did everything needed to drag that thing across the finish line is is
significant. The station is gorgeous. The program, Dorene runs a hell of a ribbon cutting and it it she just does a great job. The one comment that I would tell you that I had was that every single resident, we had many residents
that attended, felt like it was their home. M that's good. >> Yeah, it's pretty cool. So, I don't have anything other than that to talk about. Uh state of the county is Friday. It is sold out. It's always sold out. Um and I
look forward to being there with all of you and and enjoying the day. >> Commissioner, thank you. >> Before we meet again, one of our commissioners will have another year around the sun. Happy birthday to Bob Dori. Oh, >> do you want to go to Sweetwater Woman's
Club and see the scalp? >> Thank you for the invite. >> Uh, happy birthday, Commissioner Delari. Anything for the good of the order before public comment? We have one, somebody who's been patient enough to sit through this entire meeting to come up and spend three minutes with us. So,
we would love to hear from you. >> Yes, ma'am. Public comment from Andrew Cerny. Andrew, please come up. Name and address for the record. >> Hello. Yeah. Hi, my name is Andrew Cerny. Uh, I live at 500 Macau Lane, apartment 1 in Fern Park, Florida. Um,
I've lived in the county most of my life. Uh, I've come here today to talk to you all about the gutting of the public seminal county public bus service in favor of the scout service. Now, I'd like to make it very clear here that I'm not totally opposed to the scout service. I think it does a good job and
fills a good role as a final mile solution and especially for people as has been mentioned several times who are older and maybe don't want to take the bus system. So, I would just like to make it very clear that I'm not totally opposed to it and I think it does have its place. However, I think the decision
to gut the Seminal County public bus service is maybe not criminally negligent, but ethically negligent. And I have sat here and watched you all pat yourselves on the back uh for your successes here and not mention things like it taking 3 hours to show up. Um,
so I'd like to point out here that I have been unfortunate enough to have to rely on the bus system multiple times in my life to make it to work and in order to make my rent and put food on the table. Um, now luckily I don't have any children or any dependent here. Uh, but
there are people who undoubtedly do and those people now have to wait uh approximately 3 hours last I checked for a scout bus scout bus. It's not a bus. this little van thing to show up and take them to work in the morning. Um,
now you could counter that with, you know, they can go to Uber and use Uber to get to work, to and from work. Um, that would take twice a day and it takes somewhere between like 10 and 20 bucks to get oneway Uber ride. Um, so I think you're kidding yourselves if you think
that is a an appropriate substitute for the bus service in order to get to work on time when someone makes $15 an hour and is required to feed their family. Um, if it's not obvious, I'm just attempting to contain my absolute outrage at the decision that was made.
Um, I did watch the actual event on tape and I saw um, you know, open for public comment, closed for public comment. You know, I mean, it's maybe on the public to show up and make a comment there. That's why I'm here today. But I don't know. I'm not really privy to everything that goes on here. I'm not like a
regular attendee, so I don't know if there was any attempt to be made to actually court public opinion on this kind of a thing, but I've seen it be overwhelmingly negative in the people that I've talked to um both in person and the internet. So, you know, I just wanted to come here today and just uh make a comment, you know, and let you
know like I mean I see a lot of nice cars out there. I see a lot of people dressed very nicely. And I mean, you know, I don't know what your lives have been like in the past, whether you've ever been unfortunate enough to have to rely on public transportation to uh put food on the table, but it sucks. It's not fun. Um, I got a job at a very nice
place. Um, I won't name them because they're not involved with this, but it took me about 2 hours in the morning and the evening to take the bus and the Sunreil to get to and from my job. That would be impossible today. So, I mean, that's pretty much it. That's all I really have to say. So, um, thank you for your time. I guess
>> we do appreciate you being here and sharing your thoughts. If you have specifics with regard to whoever is waiting, not here for the microphone, I'm not calling you back up. Whoever's waiting for 3 hours, Christian Swenson is in the back of the room. He's the director that runs this program. We want the specifics because we do have the
data and we will make sure it's attended to. So, thank you for being here. >> Yes, >> um I I too appreciate the feedback. It is it is incredibly helpful and We can't fix what we don't know about.
And um and to Mr. Swinson's um sugarin, uh he and I have both been fairly active on social media. Um I'm not a Reddit girl, but Mr. Swinson is. So I I see a lot of Facebook. He sees a lot of Reddit. Um every single one of the um
atrocious comments, things that have been posted that just sound egregious. um has been followed up on uh either from our social media team either directly to the CEO of Freeb um or or
members of staff and and out of the the the most the the comment I mean I I would be mad too um if if these things many of them were accurate um what we've been able to find because you cannot ride scout anonymously is that um not
all of the social media posts listings are true. Um, and so that that is important to keep in mind that just because something is posted on social media doesn't make it so. But please know that if you are posting your
experience on Scout, it will be followed up. We have the data to know exactly um who has experienced things that are negative and who is posting things negatively that have not even ever downloaded the Scout app. So um please
know that we are following up very very closely because we want this to work. Thank you. >> Thank you. Anything else commissioners for the good of the order? >> With that meeting adjourned. Thank you.