Board of County Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Okay, we're going to go ahead and get started. I want to take the opportunity to welcome the folks that are here to be a part of a proclamation or just to speak to the commission and we'll do that in just a few minutes. And also the staff, good to have you here as well. And with that, we'll get started with the invocation and that'll be done by, who's up for that? That was you, I think.

Yes.

That's okay. All right, go ahead, Renee.

Dear Heavenly Father, we just thank and praise you for allowing us to be here on this day. We know that the inclement weather has given us hesitation in a lot of areas, but we are still thankful for the rain that you've allowed to flow upon us for our necessary needs. We ask that you send your angels of grace and mercy to those who are sick among us, especially our chairperson. We know that a healing is already on the way, and you've provided him with the ultimate surgeon and the ultimate doctor. We pray especially for those who are within our body, not present here on today, but our experience and difficulties. We ask that you reach out and touch them in a very special way and give their family members the strength to be able to endure. We are so thankful and grateful that you have given us the opportunity to serve the residents of this wonderful county. While we may not always agree, we know for without a doubt that our hearts and minds are always on making the best decisions. so that everybody, no matter how poor or rich, no matter how educated or uneducated, no matter where they sit or stand, that they are thought of in our deliberations. We thank you for a wonderful, tireless staff who always gives 100% of what they have to give and then some. We know that they are dedicated to the work that's been presented before them. We ask special grace and mercy for those who are without shelter on today. We ask for special grace and mercy for those who are without food on their table. We ask that you continue to lift up our veterans and for those who are serving in the military right now, making sure that we do not incur any hurt, harm or danger. We ask that you keep them safe and we ask that you give their family members a sense of calm and ease while they are away. We ask for a special prayer for our federal government and all those who are serving. And for those who have just recently been elected, Lord God, we thank you for their willingness to serve and we look forward to our partnership. But more importantly on today, Lord God, we just thank you because we didn't have to be present and you didn't have to allow us to have breath in our body and the use of our limbs, but you did so because you truly love us and we love you. Lord God, we ask that all the things that are come before our meeting on today, we know that we can't give everything to everybody, but we will certainly do our best to make sure that everybody receives something. So we ask that the conversations that come before us are professional. We ask that those conversations be humble. And we ask that we treat each other with respect and deliberations. These and all other blessings we ask in the majestic name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen. Commissioner, doctor, and pastor.

Yes, sir. Thank you for that invocation. Yes, sir. And Commissioner Shearer, if you'll 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.

Okay.

Yeah. Anytime. Yeah, that was beautiful. Anytime. Yeah, we have four proclamations today, but I'd first like to thank Corporal Thornton, Deputy McSweeney, and Deputy Atkinson for being here today and taking care of us. They always do that with such grace and humility. Thank you for that. And we will get started with our presentations, proclamations. Okay, and first up, we're calling it Remembrance Day Proclamation. It's hard to believe that it's been 25 years since 9-11. I can remember five years afterwards thinking that how old were the people have to be that will have heard about that personally. And as you get, it keeps going further and further and now 25 years later, unbelievable. So today, we are very blessed to have four fire chiefs in the house. It's good to have all of you here. Fire chief from Laelman, Rick Graham. Fire chief from Pinellas Park, Andrew Hughes. Fire chief from Clearwater, Chad Pittman. And fire chief from Palm Harbor, Scott Sanford. And if you four could come on up. And I'm gonna go ahead and read the proclamation and let the four chiefs decide how they want to address the public here. Pinellas County and the citizens of our great county join with our fellow Americans across the nation in honoring and remembering those who lost their lives in the horrific terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001. We continue to offer support to the family and friends who lost loved ones in the devastating events of this day, and especially our firefighters, police, and first responders who continued to step forward and serve our communities with dedication and vigilance. We commend the firefighters, police, and first responders who courageously risk their lives to rescue those in need, as well as the ordinary citizens and volunteers who selflessly gave their lives to aid their friends and coworkers who were injured, trapped in the Twin Towers and at the Pentagon. And I just added, and those 40 people and crew that took charge on a plane while flying over the fields in Pennsylvania, presumably thwarting an attack on our capital. The events of September 11, 2001 tested the strength and resolve of our country. They also reminded us of the value set forth by our forefathers, who saw a vision for the United States that we would live free and be free of tyrannical rule, and today we are even more determined than ever that we will not give in to terrorism and threats, to the safety and security of the United States. The United States is unified, and boy, there was a lot of unity back then when we suffered that catastrophic event. This country came together beautifully. But the United States is unified in our purpose to prevent further tragedies like those experienced on September 11th, and it is right to honor the men and women of our armed forces who have fought tirelessly to keep us safe from further attacks on U.S. soil. Today, we remember the lives that were lost, honor the heroic actions taken by first responders, and thank the members of our military for their continued service and sacrifice. And now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners that September 11th, 2026 be recognized as Remembrance Day.

Well, thank you, everyone. We appreciate you having us here for this. I was actually a fire chief on September 11, 2001. So I was there about a year before that happened. So I remember how we felt on that day. I remember what the fire service went through, everybody. And it really was a spirit of unity, for sure. Right after that, everybody was just together, and it was quite an amazing, amazing thing. But on behalf of the Fire Chiefs Association, the men and women in the fire service of Pinellas County, we just want to say thank you very much.

Keep it short, so.

So four chiefs decided only one was going to speak.

Four chiefs, you guys go out front of the locker room here, please. The rest of it kept working back then.

I don't know what that means. Get them lined up right in the middle and just surround you guys on both sides. And for those of you who are interested Palm Harbor Fire Department and the community have an event at 10 o'clock at Curlew Hills. Palm Harbor Friday. I got it. Thank you. Yep. Tomorrow. Thank you all. All right. Our second proclamation is for Hispanic Heritage Month, and today I'd like to invite Amanda Markowitz, Chief Executive Director of Intercultural Advocacy Institute, Hispanic Outreach Center, Micah Julian, come on up, Director of Advocacy and Support Services, and Liz Mendez, Director of Community Impact and Development, to accept this year's proclamation. Each year, the United States observes National Hispanic Heritage Month by celebrating the culture, heritage, and countless contributions of those ancestors who were indigenous to North America, including Mexico, as well as those from Central America, South America, Spain, and the Caribbean. What began in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Johnson was expanded by President Reagan in 1988 to cover a 30-day period starting on September 15 and ending on October 15. Pinellas County recognizes and honors the many ways the Hispanics have enriched the fabric of our society and celebrates the rich heritage of Hispanic and Latin Americans in our community. The Intercultural Advocacy Institute Hispanic Outreach Center has an ongoing commitment to the Hispanic community by fostering inclusion, strengthening families, and ensuring individuals of all backgrounds have access to the resources and opportunities needed to survive and thrive. The Hispanic Outreach Center has continued to expand its impact and strengthen services for Hispanic and underserved individuals and families throughout the community. Within the last year, the organization relocated to a larger facility and has continued to increase capacity and programming offerings. Since October 1st of 2025, the center has served 981 members, delivered 15,521 services, and hosted 12 community events. with over 1,000 community members through educational workshops, cultural celebrations, resource fairs, and outreach initiatives that promote connection, empowerment, and community well-being. With that, Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners hereby proclaims the month of September 26th and through October 15th be recognized as Hispanic Heritage Month in Pinellas County, so thank you.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, everybody. We want to thank this recognition on behalf of the Hispanic Outreach Center. It's an honor to accept this proclamation recognizing Hispanic Heritage Month. This month gives us the opportunity to recognize and celebrate the history, cultural traditions, and contribution the Hispanic American has been doing to our community. At the Hispanic Outreach Center, we are proud to serve everyone in our community. We support youth, adults, seniors, and families by connecting them with information, services, and resources that help them to thrive that it was said before. We are truly grateful for the opportunity to serve our neighbors and to be part of this community we call home. We are also grateful to the many individuals, organizations, community partners who support our mission and make this work possible. Again, thank you to the city and the county for this meaningful recognition and for celebrating the Hispanic Heritage Month with us. It's truly an honor again to be here and happy Heritage Month.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you again, ladies. All right, our third proclamation is find the good day. And I'm pleased to welcome several individuals from the Junior League of Clearwater Dunedin who have come to find the good day. Please help me welcome Melina Allison, Junior League Clearwater Dunedin President. Beth Cardenas, Junior League Dunedin Clearwater President-Elect. And Felicia Maranon, she's also a Vice President of Membership.

I wanted to say welcome. Good to see you.

Thank you for coming today. It's really important and we're dedicated to advancing women's leadership for meaningful community impact through volunteer action, collaboration and training. Find the Good Day, observed annually on the third Thursday of September, encourages individuals to recognize and celebrate the positive aspects of their communities and to take intentional action to uplift others through acts of kindness and service. This day calls upon us to embrace compassion, celebrate community spirit, and inspire meaningful engagement to build more connected, resilient and hopeful communities throughout Pinellas County. The Junior League of Clearwater Dunedin has served residents through North Pinellas County for more than 50 years by developing women leaders, promoting mental health wellness through mental health first aid training and community initiatives, supporting children and families, fostering meaningful community connections and partnering with organizations that improve the quality of life throughout Pinellas County and a group that just gets things done. Every single one of you that I've met just are such hard workers. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners that September 17th, 2026 be recognized as find the good day. So we'll learn more about that. Come on up.

Thank you so much. Thank you, Commissioners, and thank you for the proclamation, but also thank you for joining us, the Junior League of Clearwater Dunedin, in this global movement to celebrate community impact, empowerment, and optimism. September 17th is not just a date on the calendar. It's a movement that reflects the timeless spirit of the Junior League, a legacy of kindness, empowerment, and community transformation. We're proud of the impact our members make on this community. We're proud of the meaningful leadership training we provide to our members and our community partners and our commitment to advancing mental well-being in Pinellas County. Together we aim to make a difference by embracing the power of unity, positive change, and finding the good. We hope that on September 17th and every day, our members with the citizens of Pinellas County can find the good, do the good, and be that good that our community needs. Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, I'd like to have my colleague, Commissioner Latvala, come back on up. Most of our proclamations are special in their own way, and many of them are personal to individuals. This one is special and personal to all of us.

So first of all, good to have you up here, brother.

All right, today we have Dr. Brian Hyman and Dr. Yves Gabriel of Morton Plant Hospital to accept the Vascular Disease Awareness Month. Come on up. Vascular disease affects the body's network of arteries and veins and can lead to serious and potentially life-threatening conditions including peripheral artery disease, aortic aneurysms, arterial dissections, blood clots, stroke, and other circulatory disorders. Vascular emergencies can occur suddenly. and may present with symptoms that are difficult to recognize, making awareness, careful evaluation, early diagnosis, and timely treatment critical to a patient's survival and recovery. Early recognition of vascular emergency can begin in the emergency department, where the knowledge, persistence, and clinical judgment of physicians can make a lifesaving difference. Dr. Brian Hyman of Morton Plant Hospital exemplifies the important role of emergency medicine in vascular care through the recognition and diagnosis of a serious vascular emergency, allowing the patient to receive the specialized care urgently needed. Dr., is it Yves? Yves, excuse me. Yves A. Gabriel of Morton Plant Hospital, a vascular surgeon, provide specialized vascular care and treatment, demonstrating the expertise and dedication of the physicians who care for patients facing complex and life threatening vascular conditions. Dr. Thomas Huber of University of Florida Health Shands Hospital, who couldn't be with us today, represents the advanced level of specialized vascular care available to patients whose conditions require additional expertise and treatment, highlighting the importance of collaboration among physicians and healthcare institutions throughout Florida. These physicians, together with nurses, emergency medical professionals, healthcare team, caregivers, researchers, and advocates demonstrate how awareness, early recognition, expertise, and coordinated care can save lives. And of course, we here at the Commission want to personally thank each of you for the role you played in saving the life of our colleague. He hasn't stopped raving about you. since he's been back. Vascular Awareness Month provides an important opportunity to educate residents about vascular health, encourage individuals to recognize potential warning signs and risk factors, and emphasize the importance of seeking immediate medical attention when symptoms of a vascular emergency occur. Now, therefore, it be proclaimed by the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners that September 26th be recognized as Vascular Disease Awareness Month. So thank you. And then I'm going to invite Commissioner Latvala to say a few words and then each of you gentlemen as well.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. A year ago, if you would have asked me, I would have had no idea what vascular disease or vascular issues were. And if I would have had to guess, I would have just said it was something that would have affected old people. But on a random Monday morning last September, I got a searing pain in my stomach. The only thing that I could compare it to would be a heart attack. But I knew that since it was in my stomach, it was not something related to a heart attack. But my wife took me to the ER. The original ER doctor thought that I was IBS, sent me a couple days later to a gastro. That gastro knew that there was something severely wrong, the ER and I was fortunate that day to go to Morton Plant because that decision that probably my wife made saved my life. That day I met Dr. Hyman. who was the ER doctor, and he made the decision to restart the whole process, do tests. The CAT scan, and I think he took several tests, but the CAT scan that he did that day, he noticed what was called an SMA dissection, which I still don't, I'm not quite sure what that is, but I know that it's serious. And so they immediately put me in the ICU, who I met my next hero, Dr. Gabriel. And if you ever need a smile, talk to Dr. Gabriel. Every time I saw him, he had a smile on his face, and he would wear a Michigan thing around his neck, which is why I'm wearing a Michigan tie now. And I will remind Dr. Gabriel that our county administrator is a big Ohio State guy. But a couple important things. The county administrator worked for the county commission. And the second important thing is his evaluation is next month. So we could probably get him to wear a Michigan tie too if you want. But so I, Dr. Gabriel, I was under his care and he started telling me about this surgery that was considered like the surgery of last resort where they take a vein out of your leg and put it in your artery, in place of your artery. But it's not something that they really wanna do because it's very risky. So he gave me medicine for several days. I reacted well to the medicine, well enough even that they were able to send me home. So I thought my issues were over. But one thing that he told my wife was, make sure you check his blood pressure. I think like every few hours, because she was constantly checking my arm. And if his blood pressure spikes, bring him back immediately. Well, sure enough, a day or two later, my blood pressure spikes. She brings me back to Morton Plant. The next morning, Dr. Gabriel, with a smile on his face, And I think he had other patients, if I remember, because his partner was there first. But then she said, he's going to be coming in to see you. And that's whenever I started realizing that this was a little bit more serious. Two things I remember from our conversation was he started talking about, you know, possibly needing to do the surgery and for me being in a place where they could do this. And I said, well, doctor, do you know how to do this surgery? And he said, yeah. I said, well, you're my guy. I trust you. And he said, no, you need to have a team around you in case something happens. And you need to be in a nothing important plant. But he said, you need to be in a large hospital in case there's complications. And I said, okay. And he mentioned a very large hospital in Tampa Bay that he was going to send me to, or Shands. And I said, well, I want to go to the hospital in Tampa Bay. And he looked at me and smiled and said, well, it's not your decision, it's mine. And that's whenever I figured out we weren't at Burger King. And so... But he really did save my life because, and he said, I'm in contact with Dr. Huber at Shands and with other people at Shands because we're going to try to get you there. And a few hours later, I was on a helicopter staring at my own blood, not to be too graphic, and I didn't realize that they got so serious that they were going to do a blood transfusion in flight. uh... and that's whenever i really was facing my own uh... mortality uh... and i thought that i was uh... You know, one day I thought I was going to be fine. The next day I literally was praying for each one of my colleagues because I thought I was never going to be seeing y'all again. But Dr. Gabriel's decision to send me to Shands did save my life because I did have complications in the surgery that I had. And several of the teams at Shands were involved in the four... i not only did i end up having the one surgery i found out i had three more after that um so both of these gentlemen uh are my heroes and and i would not be standing here today if it wasn't for them so thank you very much

First of all, I just want to thank everyone for inviting us here and for bringing this together because I do think that vascular surgery and vascular awareness is important. On behalf of my group and Morton Plant, we're happy to serve the community and we're really excited to be here and we're really happy to have met Christopher LaBalla and just thanks for inviting us and yeah, that's it.

These are such unique opportunities, and on behalf of the physicians at Morton Plant, the leadership, the board, these are the stories that we love that are shared with the community. It's a matter of teamwork. It's a matter of being decisive and recognizing when there's an issue and putting it all together to get results like this. I think when you are selfish, bad things happen. But when you work as a team and you put every piece of your heart and soul in making that team work without a selfish desire, it really leads to great outcomes. And that's really what drives us every day. We love the opportunity to be here also because September is vascular awareness month. So therefore it gives us an opportunity to highlight this where you can have someone who's perfectly normal, perfectly fine, end up with a life-threatening issue, but mobilizing the team leads to great outcomes. So we thank you for the recognition. We thank you for the opportunity to be here and go blue.

Thank you.

Oh, they're leaving.

Doctor, don't leave. Doctor. Oh, he's my doctor. Don't leave.

Yeah, hold on just a second. One of the commissioners wants to make a comment.

I just wanted to say how much you are appreciated. I'm not a doctor or a full-time nurse, but when you think about just how small veins and arteries are, and the equipment that we use now, the robotics that are used to be able to have surgeries not be so invasive. But the amount of knowledge and education that you guys go through and then the retraining because you don't stop all of these new procedures are coming out. You're constantly learning. And I will tell you, I've already shared it with Chris and more so with Bianca because I wasn't talking to him. I was chatting with her, but. When I tell you a team of my friends who were just praying that God led your hands, he led your heart and your mind to do what was best for Chris to come back. And so we razzed him all the time. And he razzes Dave more than he razzes anybody. But I just want to publicly say sometimes you guys don't get the thanks and the recognition that you so deserve. Because we need you. You know, we need you. We need all of the knowledge that you have. And so I don't want to cry, but thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. Appreciate it. Yeah. Yeah.

and and putting and putting all the egos aside and doing what's the right thing to do which is just impressive so again thank you for that as well have a great day guys okay we're going to jump into citizens to be heard and we have a few here so be patient with us and uh... I don't think there's any groups, so most of them will be three. First will be Frank Matowitz. Frank Matowitz. Okay. Could you check on this one, please? I don't know if this is for one of our agenda items or if it's now. We could just double check that one. And then Antoinette Burnham with the Pinellas Coalition for Human Rights. Is Antoinette here? And Kathy O'Gara will be next. Next microphone over. Thank you, welcome.

Good afternoon County Commissioners. My name is Antoinette Burnham and I live in Palm Harbor. Thank you for this opportunity to share our coalition's proclamation to end all cooperation of local law enforcement with ICE DHS. The Pinellas Coalition for Human Rights and to end 287G in solidarity with the National Talk to Your Sheriff initiative is a local accountability campaign focused on ending law enforcement cooperation with ICE and protecting the rights and safety of our communities. We represent a growing nationwide base of activists committed to engaging sheriffs directly, building local pressure, and advancing policies that protect constitutional rights in immigrant communities. A prosperous Pinellas County is one where every resident, immigrant and US born alike, feels safe, valued, and able to fully participate in county life. Our local public resources should be used to keep all communities safe, not to erode our public trust or take away our loving neighbors from the people who depend on them. Our Pinellas Coalition includes Unitarian Universalists of Clearwater, Unity Church of Clearwater, the Florida Immigrant Coalition, the Worker's Circle, Indivisibles of Pinellas and Tampa Bay Immigrant Solidarity Network. We are committed to the following. One, end profiling. End the practice of stopping, questioning, or detaining people based on their race, ethnicity, or the language they speak. Two, follow due process. Require due process and judicial oversight of warrants and detainers issued by ICE prior to any enforcement actions. Three, treat with dignity. Require that lawful deportation first include safe and dignified return to the individual's family, whether in the United States or outside the U.S. Four, protect children. Require that children born in the United States be placed with US citizen families or friends known to them and their parents when their parents are detained. All detained members of the same family must be placed together. Five allow inspection require that each detention center be open to inspection by elected officials be subject to independent public inspection and be free of nutritional health and safety violations. Given the gross violations of law and common decency committed by ICE DHS, we call on all law enforcement agencies in Pinellas County to end their 287 agreements and all participation in ICE DHS immigration enforcement. Thank you.

Thank you. Well, you had that time perfectly. All right. Kathy O'Gara will be up now, and then Donald Hudson will be next.

I'm here because you are my hope. I was born 10 years after World War II ended. Growing up, I was told to never allow any group to be targeted, persecuted, or murdered again. In school, I was taught that it is our duty of every American to safeguard our Constitution and the freedoms it guarantees. Each of you have sworn an oath to uphold that same constitution and those same freedoms. immigrants, and even natural-born citizens are being targeted, persecuted, and murdered in our country, and dying in our detention centers. Our governor, attorney general, and sheriff threatened and forced the law enforcement agencies in Pinellas to sign the 287G agreement, the agreement for our law enforcement to assist ICE in the apprehension and expulsion of illegal immigrants. The 287 is a contract with people that are called a federal agency but are doing business in the same way as the mob or gangsters. The ICE recruits are being told on hire that they will not be held liable for crimes committed in the line of duty. In order to meet the quota, ICE is hiring people with no law enforcement background or psychological evaluation. The agency is actually committing crimes against the Constitution they have sworn an oath to uphold. Right to due process, no cruel and unusual punishment, murder. I call that a breach of contract. In the America that I was taught to defend, masked men are not allowed to abduct and murder anyone. Some of us spoke last week to the Pinellas Commission on Human Rights about the treatment of immigrants in the Pinellas County Jail. The sheriff was asked by the press the next day if he would respond to inquiries by that commission. His answer was that they could read his response that he just gave to the press. Does anyone here think it's okay for a community leader to see themselves as above questioning? Florida is the only state with these blanket mandates for cooperation with DHS and ICE. The governor who mandated this level of interface was just found to have stolen $10 million from the people of Florida. He will not be sent to a detention center, and he will not be denied the right to due process. Why? Because he has money and power. The illegal immigrants are being sent to detention centers and to war-torn third world countries. Why? Because they are poor and they have no power. This is ultimate corruption. Please be strong and work with us to end these 287G agreements.

Thank you, guys.

Okay, Donald Hudson followed by Steve Swanson.

Hello. I'm Donald Hudson. I'm a Largo resident. I've been a resident of Pinellas County since 1980. I'm going to talk about the same topic and specifically about our share of keeping detainees in prison for more than 72 hours, more than the three days in the 287 agreement. So what happens when someone is arrested? They're held for 72 hours maximum for the agreement. in our jails to allow ICE to have enough time to decide whether they want to detain them or not. A lot of these people are breadwinners. So what happens? They've got vulnerable people at home. Their children may go hungry because they're missing paychecks. They may lose their job because they're unreliable. The other caregiver may have to get a job, go to work, leave the children alone at home. They may have to have the children watched by someone who maybe isn't as reliable as they should. The children could be at danger. So these things have a big impact on the family, even if it's only the 72 hours. And our sheriff has been keeping people for many, many days beyond that. So why is it that ICE would ever need more than 72 hours to determine whether they want to detain someone or not? I don't think there's any reason. I just don't think they care. I don't think the management or the people at ICE care. They don't view these detainees or these immigrants as people that deserve respect or that deserve dignity. So when we're keeping them longer than that, we're just playing into the hands of ICE. So what I'm asking you to do is talk to the sheriff about this. He has made some excuses for keeping people longer than three days, but there really isn't an excuse. He's harming their lives, their families. They need to be released. If ICE can't make up their mind in three days, then our sheriff should release them. This used to be the most popular policy for the Republican administration, immigration. It's one of the reasons they rode the wave into the White House. In fact, now it's 13 points underwater. So only 40 percent of the people in the United States support this policy anymore. So detainees are being mistreated by ICE. Why is Pinellas collaborating? Why are we keeping them longer than the 287G agreement says we are gonna keep them? Thank you. Thank you.

Steve Swanson, followed by Linda Stoller, or Stoller.

Good afternoon. I'm here in support, but I'm taking a totally different perspective than my fellows did. And I'm looking at the immigrants in Pinellas County, and I see how important that population is in keeping the county going and to keep the county growing. And so I'm going to look at a couple of things and actually I have note cards because you are owed precise information and this is September numbers. So if I look at the dollars spent, so this is a net number, it's not like a GDP number, $2.6 billion, which says one in every $14 in this county that's spent is spent by an immigrant. There's 8,840 immigrant-owned businesses. And looking at the Bureau of Labor Statistics and saying how many people does that employ, that employs somewhere between 41,000 and 45,000 people. Now, that's a number and they all sound like numbers, but if I was to add up the employees from Publix, BayCare, J Bill, Johns Hopkins, and combine all of them, I'd come up with half the number of people who are employed by the immigrants. In fact, that's also including the 11 and a half thousand that are native born that work in those businesses. and also they contribute 873 million dollars a year in federal local taxes so to me that's a that's a very vibrant community helping us so let's look at some of the areas where they're supporting us because part of it is i think just the wholesale shipping them out introduces a lot of risk into all of our lives and one of the things i'm going to look at is transportation and logistics and i'll take a real quick look at health care i'm down to 47 so if we look at the transportation That's 20,000 people a week get rides that are from immigrants. A lot of those rides, that's to jobs. Many of them are construction. There's 11,500 medical rides. So 5,700 people get rides to the doctor. And there's not an easy way to replace those people. As we all know and what you guys are fighting for, Pinellas is a very expensive place. So some of these, it's not very easy to replace those people. So I'm just about out of time. And thank you very much for your attention.

Linda Stoller, followed by Dale Hennigan.

Good afternoon, Commissioners.

I'm here today because I oppose the active role our Sheriff's Department is playing in the enforcement of immigration laws through the 287G agreements. My immigrant neighbors are under attack and local law enforcement officers are being used by ICE to tear families apart and disrupt our communities. I've been a resident of Pinellas County for 44 years and have never felt threatened by my immigrant neighbors, but I do feel unsafe when I hear about neighbors being arrested, kept in Pinellas County Jail without any bail, and then deported. These 287G agreements are slippery slopes for local governments. Actual immigration policy decisions are being made by the federal government, and then because of agreements like the 287G agreement, local law enforcement is in a position of being a threat to a population they should be protecting. This has really gone too far. Our sheriff needs to be held accountable to the people of Pinellas County to clearly explain the role law enforcement is playing in the enforcement of immigration. The Pinellas County Jail should not be an immigration detention center for even three days, nevermind a week or more. And above all, our immigrant neighbors deserve the respect and care we deserve.

Dale Dale Hennigan and then Joseph Milinar or I'm sure about that Okay All right through 287 G ice is giving local police money to help with deportation How is this helping the taxpayer? We are paying nationwide $88 billion annually. 10 years ago, that figure was $3 billion a year, and I don't think that the results warrant that. This is saying nothing about the brutality and inhumanity that is being used against immigrants. ISIS methods are draconian. What happened to removing the criminals only? 70.6% of those apprehended do not have a criminal record. We are losing a vast amount of income tax, social security through these radical removals. Who is telling the truth? American citizens have been murdered by ICE. We can't trust what little we are being told by the government anymore. How much longer are we expected to accept these untruths? The people will be speaking loudly in November. It's time to revoke 287 and reform immigration in the United States of America.

Joseph Milinar followed by Reverend Ben Atherton.

Good afternoon, Commissioners, community members. My name is Joseph Milinar. I'm a resident of Largo, Florida. I am opposed to 287G agreements, particularly with local law enforcement agencies. I am also opposed to unlawful detention and rebooking tactics used by our sheriff, just because he's following capricious memos and orders from ICE that infringe upon a person's rights and liberties of the immigration process. Immigrant detentions in our Pinellas County Jail cost Pinellas County taxpayers. While the official ICE contract rate is $118 a day, the actual operational cost to house an inmate is $150 a day, creating a baseline deficit of $32 per detainee per day. With an average daily population of 162 ICE detainees, local taxpayers subsidize $1,892,160 annually, even when federal payments are active. The payment freezes, however, ICE routinely enters emergency operational cycles where it freezes local payments entirely. When federal funding dries up completely, the uncompensated burden on local taxpayers skyrockets to $24,300 per day, or $8,869,500 annually. Pinellas County is navigating a massive $42 million budget shortfall. driven heavily by state-mandated public safety pension hikes and unfunded Medicaid compliance costs. To balance these state and federal shortfalls, the Commission chose to completely defund local capital infrastructure, including terminating operations at the Weeden Island and Shell Key Nature Preserves and eliminating seasonal beach lifeguards. Choosing to fund the 287 G deficit over local parks directly contradicts the county's data driven business first objectives. Hard data from the Cato Institute and track confirms that immigrant crime rates are roughly one third of native born crime rates and local immigrant owned businesses generate massive essential employment. It's high time the County Commission does its research and fiscal responsibility. to determine exactly what the financial arrangement and cost is to the Pinellas County taxpayer in continuing the 287G agreements and the detention facility arrangements with ICE and its ever-expanding dragnet. Thank you.

Reverend Ben Atherton and then Elizabeth Dodd.

Thank you. I am Reverend Ben Atherton Zeman. I'm the minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Saint Petersburg, and it is my first time here. I have to say your staff and you are very welcoming, very kind. I've enjoyed this morning. My own wife, Lucinda, had an aneurysm, so the vascular issue is important to me personally. I appreciated the 9-11, the recognition, and there are some first responders still here and there's others outside. And I join you all in thanking them for their work in keeping us safe, protecting, and serving. I do not have that same thanks or respect for ICE. Unfortunately, to me and to many of my colleagues here and in houses of worship across the United States, ICE has lost all moral authority, all legal authority by this list of abuses that you've heard already testified to. Instead of protecting and serving ICE agents harm, instead of enforcing the law, they break the law. Instead of helping human beings, they violate human rights. As a resident of Pinellas County of Gulfport, my town and all the towns represented here, I believe have blood on our hands because of these 287 agreements. I can't sleep at night knowing that we have that official tie to this agency that I think has done so much harm that it needs to be stopped, at least until a study can be done to maximize the good that they do and minimize the harm and the law breaking. Once again, I thank you community county commissioners and this was my first time here, but it won't be the last. Thank you for your work and blessings on all of you.

Thank you. Elizabeth God, followed by Ash Alonzo.

My name is Elizabeth Dodd. I live in Largo. Thank you for letting us do this. I'm speaking today to urge the Commission to influence the Pinellas County Sheriff to end the 287G agreement between the local police departments and ICE. Using local law officers to assist ICE in arresting and detaining immigrants in our community undermines public safety, erodes community trust, and diverts critical resources away from their first job, which is protecting the public. Studies show that communities with high levels of trust in local police report more crimes, cooperate more in investigations, therefore helping safeguard our neighborhoods. 287 agreements create fear and lead to family separations unnecessarily. Traumatic events ripple through families and neighborhoods weakening the social fabric. There's also a huge economic impact on removing otherwise law abiding immigrants from the workforce. Research shows mass deportations result in many unfilled positions and higher labor costs to local employers. Add to that the cost of local law enforcement who must absorb costs for personnel training, detentions, and lawsuits stemming from civil rights violations. These funds should be invested in crime prevention and community programs, not helping federal immigration enforcement terrorizing communities. I would also add that this attempt at law enforcement is complete overkill against people who, in most cases, are guilty only of a misdemeanor, as I understand it. The detention centers alone are abhorrent and do not belong in the United States. Please do your part in rectifying this situation. Our law enforcement personnel entered into this agreement believing it was necessary. We now know that it is not. It is hurting our country in ways we have only began to realize. I request that you consider your position on this issue. Thanks.

Thank you. Ash Alonzo, followed by Courtney Prokopas.

Ash Alonso, St. Pete 33713. When given the opportunity to apologize for routinely rebooking detainees, Sheriff Gualtieri clapped back with, wouldn't you rather they're here than the floor of an ICE office? Perhaps he is unaware that Harris County in Texas terminated its 287G agreement due to resource issues. What Sheriff Gualtieri chose not to mention is that Pinellas County gets paid $118 per day per detainee. The Times reported that the number of Pinellas detainees is four times higher than two years ago. Are your groceries and gas cheaper? Has it become easier for your loved ones to secure housing or a job? Does it cost less today than two years ago to repair or renovate your home? How has demonizing immigrants actually improved your lives? My parents are immigrants who moved to St. Pete in 2000, where my mother was able to support us on only $35,000 a year. In 2004, they were able to build our home for less than $300,000. And in January 2026, I taped to our front door instructions on what to do if ICE came knocking. Is this progress, partnering with an agency that has done nothing but exploit and destroy America's trust in law enforcement? I'm not here asking you to end your complicity in 287G just because it is the will of the people who pay your salaries. I've seen that unanimous opposition isn't enough to move y'all. I am merely here urging y'all to do what you do best, act in your best interest, because whether it's round two of the Nuremberg trials or St. Peter at the pearly gates, you will be held accountable for your actions under this administration. That's what we're doing here today, confronting you for the 174 detainees who were rebooked within hours of their legal release, who will never have the opportunity to look in the eyes of the leaders who failed to safeguard their rights. Twenty months into these raids on immigration court appearances, job sites, and elementary schools, people still think ICE is only after criminals. But 70% of detainees have no convictions, and only 5% have any violent record. Meanwhile, since 2025, eight immigration agents have been arrested for sexually assaulting minors. Japanese Americans were once interned by people who were just following orders, and seven people were killed in four years. Since January 2025, 52 people have died in ICE custody. Sheriff Seisler of Bucks County, Pennsylvania canceled their 287 as a public safety issue. If it were up to the people, this federal overreach would never have been tolerated. But the power lies with the seven of you. The lives of tens of thousands of Pinellas County residents are all within your power. What are you going to do to them?

Courtney Prokopas, followed by Laura Karas.

Good afternoon. My name is Courtney Prokopis and I live in Gulfport. There was a recent ProPublica report, and it goes deeper than just jail logistics. It reveals a fundamental failure of oversight, and I'm asking you to course correct. For nearly a year, the Public Safety Coordinating Council, a body created under Florida law and chaired by Commissioner Scher, was assured in official records that ICE detainees were held for no more than 72 hours here in Pinellas County. This was not the case. Prolonged administrative detentions, especially procedural rebookings designed to reset holds without new probable cause, do not just raise severe civil rights concerns. They expose Pinellas County taxpayers and commissioners to massive liability under 42 U.S. Code Section 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights. When federal civil rights lawsuits land, it is the county taxpayers, you are all county taxpayers, who bear the burden of legal defense fees and potential payouts. While the sheriff isn't independently elected, and this board cannot direct day-to-day operations in the jail, this board does possess explicit legal authority over county administration, intergovernmental policy, and public oversight. You hold statutory oversight via Public Safety Coordinating Council, and under Florida statute section 951.225, the council exists specifically to access jail population trends and facility usage. When an official advisory council chaired by a commissioner, Commissioner Scher, receives reports contradicted by actual jail practices, this board has a duty to demand a formal sworn accounting of those discrepancies on the public record. You are elected to safeguard constitutional due process inside county facilities and hold intergovernmental systems accountable. Do not hide behind bureaucratic technicalities. Be brave with us. Be brave with us. Do you see all these people here? You do. Some of you are taking time to do social media or dating apps on your phone. Some of you are refusing to look at people in the eye. But thank you for holding attention. I am asking this board to direct the Public Safety Coordinating Council to conduct a formal review of Pinellas County Jail, the records concerning ICE detainees, including all instances of detention exceeding 72 hours, whether or not the sheriff has an email saying that he can do that. Further, I ask the council to acquire a sworn accounting of the discrepancy between the detention practices reflected in those records and the representations previously made to the Public Safety Council, and to present its findings publicly, along with recommendations for corrective action. We see you. You see us. We support you, but only if you support us. Thank you.

Thank you. Laura Karas followed by Kate Provera.

Thank you and good afternoon. My name is Laura Karas. I don't come here today with a prepared speech. I come with concerns for the nation as a whole, for the well-being of our Constitution and our rights, And then it hits home. It keeps hitting home. Florida and now Pinellas. There's been some references made by the other speakers to an article in Politico, and there is more being uncovered all the time. I assume that you read the article that I'm referring to. And in it, the issue is not only just keeping them longer, the detainees, hopefully not somebody who's supposed to, let's say they've been sentenced to 30 days in jail. Our sheriff can't say, I'm going to make that 300. They don't have the right. The same is true of these immigration detainees. How many times have you heard that someone is arrested and they didn't even ask for an ID and it's an American citizen? And why are we talking about birthright citizenship? We gotta get rid of birthright citizenship and naturalization. Why would we even be talking about reneging on a naturalized citizen? I myself have relatives that are, and they're so proud. And I'm proud of them too. But now I feel a little less proud of where they've come to make that stake. So, you know, for whatever it is that you can do, you see what everybody else is doing with all the things going on in the world, just trying to live the way we know we're supposed to. Thank you.

Thank you. Kate Provera, followed by Hickey McNichols, or Nikki McNichols, excuse me. Kate Prevera. Okay, Nicky McNichols.

Good afternoon, commissioners. My name is Nicky, I live in Largo. Been a citizen of Pinellas County for a long time. I didn't write a speech today, but I have to talk to you about something that's on my heart. I'm talking about the unhoused people of Pinellas County. I heard that the commission is considering taking away some of the funds that assist the unhoused. I have a question for you about that. Although it's probably unlikely to happen, how would you feel? If you had to struggle to look for a place to lay your head to sleep at night for fear that you'd be killed or robbed, how would you feel if you had to scrape for food every day? How would you act? How would you feel if you were soaked in the rain and the cold weather or struggling to stay awake in this heat? that oppresses us every day. I've talked to a lot of homeless people. I've fed a lot of homeless people. They're not bums. They don't choose this lifestyle. Some of them are parents with children. Some of them are single parents with children. So even though it's unlikely to happen, think about how you'd feel and how you'd act if you suddenly found yourself unhoused. Thank you.

Thank you for your work with the homeless. Michael Raposa followed by Brandon Spencer.

Thank you, Commissioners. I'm Michael Raposa. I am the CEO with San Vincent de Paul Cares. I'm actually here to talk about a specific agenda item, but I can go now if that's what you prefer.

Go ahead.

Okay, wonderful. So I'm here to speak to you regarding the item on your agenda, which is the execution of the contract between Pinellas County and 211 Tampa Bay Cares and San Vincent de Paul Cares for homeless services. We recognize the fact that this renewal contract is up, and many of you were not here when the program first started. You weren't elected as of yet, and you probably don't know too much about it. But the program began in 2017. It's a collaboration between us and the City of St. Petersburg to exercise rapid rehousing intervention on behalf of the people of our community. I'm here today to say thank you. Not thank you on my behalf or even behalf of SVDP or our organization, but thank you on behalf of the unhoused people that we've had the privilege of serving and effectively ending that homelessness. It began in 2017. We have served 793 households since that time. 61.5% or 488 of them included families with children. About 305 of those were individuals that were traveling on the streets. From that 793 households, 1,998 to under 2,000 were actually the client level that were served. And it's about half and half. About half were adults and about half were children. It's also worth noting that 406 of those clients were fleeing domestic violence in our community as well. The good news I have for you is of those 793, 81% have been housed. That's an 81% success rate of a program ending homelessness at a time in our country and at a time in our community that most think that there's no such thing as effectively ending homelessness. And your partnership with us and belief in the fact that it can be done, I'm here to tell you that it has been done and with the renewal of this contract for another five years, You know, it'll continue to be done. We've worked this program through the COVID pandemic. We were among the very, very few organizations that worked throughout the COVID pandemic day to day. Working from home was not anything that we believed in or did because we felt that it was hypocritical to attempt to end homelessness from home. Our teams were out on the street and working out on the streets as well. It's also worth noting that 71% of those that we have served have also increased their income and been able to maintain their sustainability in permanent housing as a result of this program. This year, we have served 360 on an average of 81 days into permanent housing. So we appreciate your support. The agenda item number is 0788-8.

Thank you, and thank you, Michael, for all your hard work and your organization's hard work on behalf of the homeless. Thank you. Brandon Spencer, followed by David Ballard Geddes, Jr. Good afternoon, Commission.

My name is Brandon Spencer. I'm a resident of Palm Harbor, Florida. To borrow Benjamin Rush's wisdom, without learning, men are incapable of knowing the rights, meaning we as one of the people must be educated first to effectively instruct our servants as we are ordained to do by God as the principal. We retain ultimate popular sovereignty. We have the right to petition for a redress of grievance and to instruct our public servants. So let me ask you, do you believe and uphold in the Constitution? That's perfect because that's what I'm here to do. because that's what I'm precisely here to do, to instruct you on the supreme law of the land and how it applies to automated mass surveillance like flock cameras. While leadership promotes these networks as tools to catch criminals, they ignore the inherent risk of unchecked power. We are sold a narrative of safety while mass misuse is completely ignored. Across the country, officers have been criminally charged for weaponizing these databases, like the officer who tracked his girlfriend over 2,000 times, are the targeted surveillance of activists like Jessica Saxton with Justice Without Limits, who was illegally tracked by multiple officers in Blount County, Tennessee, and I have the receipts to verify. As James Madison warned in Federalist No. 51, if men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. And framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this. You must first enable the government to control the governor and the next place oblige it to control itself. That is why we have the supreme law to keep our servants in check. The Fourth Amendment and Article I, Section 12 of the Florida Constitution protects us from unreasonable searches. Furthermore, Article I, Section 23 of the Florida Constitution grants an explicit right to privacy, the right of every natural person to be let alone from government intrusion. You took an oath to uphold these charters. Did you swear to defend these constitutional guarantees or to normalize digital general warrants? Flock cameras bypass warrants and probable cause, turning public roads into digital fishbowls. When the call goes out to stand and breach and defend the supreme law of the land against unconstitutional encroachments, the only proper response from one of the people is send me. Protecting civil liberties takes precedence over administrative convenience and marking safety as one of the people's exercising my rights to instruct my public servants. I instruct this board and law enforcement leadership to reject Flock Camera's contract and uphold your oath to the Constitution. Thank you. I have a couple notices here. If you don't mind, I can hand them to you here. Thank you very much. Thank you for your time.

David Ballard Geddes, Jr., followed by Greg Pound.

Good afternoon, Commissioners. David Ballard Geddes, Jr. I live on Georgia Avenue in Palm Harbor. Suppose I took the liberty, the freedom, and the happiness to hand out lollipops to everybody. Generally speaking, people would consider me to be a nice guy unless they realized that I was a dentist. A dentist that hands out lollipops does so in order to facilitate a state of decay, playing pretend for the purpose of causing perfidy, intending to affect your health, your safety, and your welfare in hopes of drilling you at some later point. point in time capitalizing on your despair so i ask is our current government a good ship lollipop assailed as a ship of war currently conducting a peacetime operation based on article one section ten handing out liberties and freedoms and happiness setting in motion a state of perfidy and decay eventually costing us our health our safety and welfare intending to capitalize on our liberty taking our property taking our lives birthing or naturalizing water jurisdictions as based on the fourteenth amendment birthing a ship of war taking our religion to reflective of the reclaimed water variance application as our water supply has fallen into a state of dk when the government shuts off my water supply After I paid you for such utility service, the county violated my First Amendment rights as written therein. That was done 15 years ago. I still stand before you today. Does the county, in my perspective, does the county itself in its individual capacities, does it deserve to be detained and placed on ice in regards to this matter? Thank you.

Okay, Greg Pound and then Joseph Krasnosolovsky.

Greg Pound, Largo, Florida. I just want to quote something that Elijah said in the Bible. It says, if I be a man of God, then let the winds of heaven come down and consume Pinellas County and its governing body for what they have done to people and families for money. That's it.

Okay, Joseph Krasinowski. Come on up. Joseph, you'll have four minutes.

Thank you. My name is Joseph, my name is Joey. I have a bachelor's degree in criminal justice with consideration in Homeland Security and Christ management. I'm continuing on my education towards bachelors. science and nursing. I'm also autistic, so these issues are personal to me. First, I believe people with disability deserve a fair opportunity to work. Employers should look at our abilities, education, qualifications, skills, instead of assuming what we can or cannot do because of our disability. One example is for dispatchers testing for some autistic people on online critical tests can be difficult because we are processing information differently. I believe a reasonable combination could be realistic scenarios using a headset or a simulated 911 call. Let us show that we can listen, communicate, and type the information. I'm not asking for lower standards, I'm asking for another way to show the same skills. And I also believe a driver's license shouldn't be required for the job that doesn't involve driving. If someone has reliable transportation and can do the job, give them a chance. And I support mandatory autism awareness and de-escalation training for security personnel. They should complete the training and receive a certificate before their first day on that job. I would also like to see visible paths showing that they're autism trained. And finally, I believe APD shouldn't place people in homes just because the room is an open room. Placement should be based on where someone is on the spectrum, their support needs, independence, and roommate capability. Autism is a spectrum. One puzzle piece does not fit everybody. I'm asking for Pinellas County to review its hiring testing policies, disability accommodations, the driver's license requirements for non-driving county jobs. I'm also asking support autism training for county security personnels and advocate for APD for better housing replacement and roommate matching.

Thank you. Thank you so much. Hey, Joseph, can you leave? Do you have a copy of that? Do we have a copy of his letter? Okay, we'll get a copy to everybody. Yes, we got it. Thank you, Joseph. Appreciate it. Okay, that's all the... uh... consent excuse me that's all the uh... citizens to be heard we're going on to the consent agenda it looks as though is is darren darvin land here darvin land or darren land nobody here by that name okay then we'll go ahead and take the consent she had a comment on items eleven which i was going to pull off if she was here do i have a motion on the consent please motion by commissioner flowers second by commissioner peters all in favor say aye any opposed motion carries unanimously we move on to the regular agenda item thirteen

Item 13 is an airline operating agreement with Allegiant Airlines for St. Pete Clearwater National Airport. This new five-year agreement will provide a 61% revenue increase. We previously discussed that and we recommend approval.

Motion by Commissioner Peters, second by Commissioner Flowers. Are there any questions or comments on item 13? I'll pull up the card please, voting card. Oh, where are the screens behind me? There they come.

Okay.

I'm just letting you know that I do have all your votes. I don't know why it's not showing on this screen. That is beyond my... Is it unanimous? Yes.

A unanimous vote on item 13. Item 14, please.

This is an award of bid to Hubbard Construction for airfield pavement rehabilitation, $522,000.

Motion by Commissioner Peters, second by Commissioner Flowers. Any comments or questions? Cleaning up the voting card for item 14.

It is unanimous.

Okay, unanimous on item 14. Anybody in the back being able to fix that item?

All right, item 15, please. This is the first amendment to the MSTU with Whispering Souls African American Cemetery. This is just a time extension, so it has no fiscal impact.

motion by commissioner peters and second by commissioner flowers and uh... and you know we're gonna have talk about budgets later but this is an item that is near and dear to my part that we have some funding available for some of the small projects that are in the unincorporated area they are special and they do good work in this particular one is for an african-american cemetery uh... very supportive of it but uh... if you can read the voting card please Mr. Chairman, I just one quick question. Commissioner Scott, excuse me.

Yeah, and I agree with everything that you just said there, but there was a caps item on this and a consumer protection case regarding the contractor hired to restore water access. I was just wondering if there was any resolution, if we knew if there was any resolution to that or not. Oh, so here comes all three.

One more vote.

Audrey Ables, Mid-South County Community Coordinator. With that, they are working with our Consumer Protection Division. We do believe that there will be a resolution. Both parties have been very responsive.

Okay. All right. Thank you. Motion carries unanimously. Thank you, Audrey. That motion carries unanimously. Go ahead.

Item 16 is a first amendment to an MSTU. This is for Keep Terra Verde Beautiful for medium enhancements within the neighborhoods listed. Again, this is a time extension, no fiscal impact.

Motion by Commissioner Peters, second by Commissioner Flowers. Any comments, questions on item 16? Bring up the voting card, please. Oh, excuse me, hold on.

Commissioner Scott, I apologize. So the initial funding agreement, I'll add in some dates for progress reports. Have we got them? Has any work been completed at this point? Should have had her stay up. Get your steps in.

We have received progress reports as submitted, so they have done some irrigation work. They did run into an issue with the irrigation repairs, which is part of the reason for the extension for the deadline, but we're hopeful that it'll all get done.

Okay, thank you. Thank you. Bring up the voting card, please. Motion carries unanimously. Item 17.

This resolution is required by state code. It's a list of update of our code inspector job titles.

Motion by Commissioner Peters. Second. Second by Commissioner Flowers. We have one card, David Ballard Geddes, Jr. Speaking to the issue on the table, please.

Thank you, I appreciate the time to speak again. The agenda item here bases itself on an ordinance that bases itself on chapter 7.05 of the Florida statutes. 7.05 of the Florida statutes deals with lost or abandoned property. Statute 705.104 talks about taking title to such abandoned property. Now, a few years ago, we went through a COVID pandemic. Now, say we experience another super spreader of such and we all experience some sort of typhoid, cholera, Ebola outbreak through some sort of aerial transmission. uh... that could come through our sprinkler system in and really start some serious and wipe out the entire town now what this agenda item does is it allows in a sense and enforcement to take title to our property uh... within ninety days uh... calling into question the comprehensive plan, Statute 163.3167, Section 11, back in 2006. They've recently changed this statute, but historically, this statute specifically mentioned a land planning agency and a clearing house creating a vision for the future regarding jurisdictions, natural resources, and making reference to any numeration clause. I think we have an issue taking place here, some stage or a setup taking place that will cause a lot of people to abandon their properties, and this Particular agenda item is setting the stage for code enforcement that takes title to our property within 90 days of being abandoned and tapping title to our property in Ordinance 97103, Section 126509A, claiming eminent domain again in Statute 15303, Section 5. Do not pass this. This needs to be scrutinized a little bit farther and I have a lot of questions regarding this chapter 705. Thank you.

Are there any other questions on this item? Jewel, any thoughts on this?

This really basically is a resolution that the county updates probably every year, two years, every so often. This is something that is required by law to designate various county employees as code enforcement officers that would have the authority to write citations for your code enforcement, lawn watering, you know, any of the things that we cite to. So this really is something that's required by law and it goes to the enforcement of your ordinances. It gives the county employees the power to write citations.

Thank you. Any other questions? Do I have a motion? Motion by Commissioner Flowers. Second by Commissioner Nowicki. Bring up the voting card, please. It's not coming up on the screen. All right, we'll take a voice vote. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay, motion carries unanimously. Item 18.

It's an agreement with 211, Tampa Bay Cares for Adult Emergency Financial Assistance, five-year term, $7.2 million.

Motion by Commissioner Peters, second by Commissioner Flowers. Any questions?

Commissioner Scott. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yeah, I had some questions about this at our work session on this item and the next item. And I had a conversation this morning meeting with Karen and Matt. Very good meeting with them, and I appreciate all of their time on this. I'm gonna be supportive of both of these items. Both of these have non-funding agreements for future years should we decide not to fund them. But I'm just gonna throw this out for a request for a future work session that we really kind of talk about this space and define our mission in it. Because these programs were put in place by previous commissions under different economic times trying to solve specific problems. And there has been mission creep in these programs. And I just think we need to really sit down and define what our goal, what our mission is, what populations we feel we need to be serving, what populations other taxing authorities should be serving, and really kind of hone in. Because it's a very decentralized, we're doing things, there's other – taxing authorities doing things, not-for-profits in the same space, and there's a lot of overlap, there's a lot of duplication of effort. So I am gonna support this and the next item, but I just think going forward.

I think you brought that up at the workshop, and it's a good idea that we kind of take a, you know, kind of a holistic look at all of our social programs and make sure that we're not overlapping, duplicating, or that indeed we want to continue down that path.

And just be realistic about the problems we can solve and what we can't solve.

Yeah. Any other comments or questions?

Yes.

Did we make a motion?

Yes.

Okay, yes. Thank you for that clarification. Bring up the voting card for item 18. Motion carries unanimously. Item 19, please.

These agreements are with St. Vincent DePaul Cares and 211 Tampa Bay. This is for the Rapid Re-Housing Provider and for the Rapid Re-Housing Fiscal Administrative Collaborative. Both of these contracts total 3.4 million dollars.

Okay, motion by Commissioner Peters. Second. Second by Commissioner Scott. Any questions or comments? We have a, Helen Rimes would like to speak. Good afternoon. Welcome.

Thank you. I'm Helen Rimes. I'm from the city of St. Petersburg. So I heard you that you should hear from your partners. And so I want to say thank you for being a good partner with us. We value your partnership for the Rapid Rehousing Program. The city has since 2017 been a partner with the Rapid Rehousing Program. We fund the direct services of about $400,000 a year to date, a little more than $4 million. We know that Rapid Rehousing works. And it works for the individuals, it works for our neighbors who live unhoused, right? Families, individuals, both of them are housed using our Rapid Rehousing dollars. We believe so much in it that we've put other funds into Rapid Rehousing. We just put out an RFP for Rush. OUR RUSH FUNDS THAT WE RECEIVED, THAT WILL BE FUNDING RAPID REHOUSING AS WELL, BUT WE WOULD LIKE TO CONTINUE THE PARTNERSHIP THAT WE HAVE WITH THE COLAB AS THE COLAB WITH PINELLAS COUNTY MOVING FORWARD. WE HAVE PUT IT IN OUR BUDGET FOR FY27. I KNOW WE ARE HAVING HARD CONVERSATIONS ABOUT OUR BUDGET EVERY SINGLE DAY. But right now, it is in our budget for FY27, so we'd like to continue the partnership. And I thought it would be important that you hear from the city that we are here and we remain committed.

Appreciate that partnership, Helen. Thank you. Thanks for being here. Did you have a comment?

Just real quick. This young lady, when I was a city council member in the city of St. Petersburg, she started out as a receptionist. Student intern. Yeah, with the city of St. Pete. And I have watched her rise up through the ranks. And then she moved up to the mayor's office, like as the receptionist when you walk in. And now she's working with Amy Foster through the housing department, homelessness, all of that. So she's doing an absolutely wonderful job. And I can tell you, she doesn't just work in the office anymore. If there's something going on in the community or they need someone's presence to share their level of expertise, she is there. She is also a member of my church. So I wanted to embarrass her for a moment, but I just wanted to also publicly thank you because I'm not just saying it because I know you, but I'm telling you she is out in the community. So when people identify or trying to identify a person with a specific project or access to services, they identify her with.

Thank you for that, Commissioner Flowers.

Thank you. I saw the picture.

Thanks again, Helen, for being here.

Thank you all.

Item 20. Oh, I'm sorry. We had a motion and a second. Bring up the voting card, please. I'll get us all in trouble.

I'm just having Karen stay up there in case there's questions we have.

One more vote, please.

Yeah.

Yeah, a motion carries unanimously. Item 20.

Yeah, this is a funding recommendation for the Substance Abuse Advisory Board for the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Trust Fund. The recipients are listed within your packet.

Okay, thank you. Will the board please? Motion by Commissioner Flowers. Second. Second by Commissioner Peters. Any comments, questions? Print the voting card, please. Motion carries unanimously. Item 21.

This was the reason I wanted Karen up there unless there's questions on this. So this is, these are letters of agreement and questionnaires in substantially similar forms as required to allow the hospitals to participate in the supplemental payment programs. So this is a new year, new requirement.

Second. Motion by Commissioner Peters, second by Commissioner Scott. Any questions or comments on item 21? Bring up the voting card, please. Motion carries unanimously. Item 22.

These are revised authorizing agents for the hazard mitigation grant program application with Florida Department of Emergency Management. This is for our North booster pump station hardening project.

Motion by Commissioner Peters. Second by Commissioner Scott. Any comments or questions on item 22? Voting card please. Motion carries unanimously. Item 23.

Mr. Chair, if I could, what I would first like to do before taking action on item 23, I know that we don't have anything listed under county attorney reports, but the board is aware we've had a shade meeting to discuss some cases in litigation that we're seeking to settle. We did have a recommendation at that time. We have a different recommendation now. You've each been brief on that recommendation. So at this time, I would ask that the board take a vote on staff's recommendation to settle the three cases that we discussed in the shade meeting.

Motion by Commissioner Nowicki, second by Commissioner Scott. Any questions or comments? I'm sure none, since we did all this individually. Bring up the voting card, please. Motion carries unanimously. And boy, I had to bite my tongue on that one because I'm not happy.

Thank you for doing that. Since you all have taken the action that you just took, I am withdrawing the request under item number 23. Okay.

Item 23 withdrawn. Anything else under county reports? No, nothing else today.

Thank you.

Thank you. County administrator reports. Item 25.

Yeah, no report. We're going to spend our time this evening with the budgets.

Okay. Item 26. Who's handling that one? I'll turn it over to... Move approval. Okay. A motion by Commissioner Latvala and second by Commissioner Nowicki. Any comments or questions? Bring up the voting card, please. There we go. Item carries unanimously. Item 27. We have a motion by Commissioner Peters, second by Commissioner Nowicki. Comments or questions on item 27? Bring up the voting card, please. Motion carries unanimously. Item 28, before we go around the room, I think I'd like to go ahead and take up the county attorney contract negotiations if we could. I think we sent out the information to you all earlier this week. it included a under item one the recommended uh... uh... salary details and total compensation that would be this being brought forth for your approval uh... and the other examples the side-by-side of fifteen and twenty percent and talking to the HR director with a usually increase in position of responsibility in the county is about a 10% increase. That's why I'm recommending the first column there that talks about a base salary of 292,883 and a total compensation of 332,583. When you look at the survey, excluding miami-dade that three thirty two compares to three fifty six three fifty six thousand when you can uh... compete include miami-dade of three hundred seventy eight thousand compared to the compensation total compensation of three hundred thirty two thousand so just wanted to bring that perspective item to was the uh... did the kind of the survey that uh... that i asked of our h our director to conduct, and you see the details in there. If you remember, the larger board, including the constitutionals, wanted us to do a lump sum number. We talked about that last time, and I wanted to keep it separated out with an indicator of what the lump sum was, but that's not what the folks around the state do. So by comparison, I wanted to have the details as well. So we have that for you, and this is some of the review that they had. Item three is the employment agreement for the county attorney. And it has got the details of that compensation package within. And item four is simply the letter from Don Crow along with his resume of qualifications. So I just wanted to bring that to your attention. I'll be obviously looking for consensus approval, but we can open it to discussion or at your will.

So, yes. Mr. Chairman, I just want to say good job. Thank you. I agree with, you know, with the proposal. And if we need a motion, I'm happy to make one. Yeah, that'd be great. I'll make a motion.

Motion by Commissioner Scott, second by Commissioner Flowers. Any questions or comments? Okay, then I would say all in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay, motion carries unanimously. And is the sick county attorney to be still here? There you go. Come on up. Come on up. I just want to, again... The larger board, which is made up of county commissioners and our constitutionals unanimously selected Don to be our next county attorney. Very proud of that action that we took. And we spent a few weeks. I've dragged a little bit, but sorry about that. But we are we are negotiated, I think, a very fair settlement or agreement, not settlement. But I'm glad to have you on board. And if you want to make a couple of comments, you're welcome.

I just want to say thank you to the county attorney oversight committee and to this board for the confidence you guys have placed in me. I have spent my entire career working for Pinellas County and I'm proud and excited to continue that career here working very hard for you and for the residents of Pinellas County through our service to the county commission, the departments under Barry,

and thank you to jewel white for her mentorship and friendship over so many years yeah well uh we're glad to have you um and um all of the things that you've brought in general to your position but also the dogged um work that you did on the on the raise uh contract negotiations i couldn't thank you more for that close tough scrutinizing work that you did. I'm very proud of that work. It didn't come to pass, but it was no fault of this board nor of you. Thank you for protecting the residents of Pinellas County, which is what your job is. Thank you. Again, congratulations. Thank you.

I know Jules is not leaving anytime soon, but I want to... Yeah, let's give him a clap. Applause I also want to thank Jewel. She's just done an outstanding job in her position, and you've done a great job mentoring him, so thank you. Yeah, thanks, Commissioner. What's that?

Getting out of jail.

That's a good thing. Okay. She keeps us all out of jail. All right, we're going to go ahead and go around the room, and we'll start with Commissioner Scott.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Let's see, yesterday we had a very long for Pinellas Day. We had a work session followed by a regular meeting and the work session really focused on the uh what the founding documents for regional mpo might look like so we had a very robust discussion about all that gave wit a lot of a lot of good feedback so stay tuned more more to come on that but should it should it happen the new time frame would be july of 2028 to have a regional mpo informed and functioning. And then we went from there straight to PSTA for our first budget meeting there, budget hearing. And we recommended, voted for a full rollback at PSTA. As far as community events, I did an ambassador visit with Pinellas County Economic Development to top end sports in Pinellas Park, so they manufacture adaptive. adaptive wheelchairs for disabled athletes. So if you watch New York City Marathon and you see the wheelchairs going out, they make them. You see basketball. and any type of football any type of of sport they they make those adaptive um wheelchairs and so it was really really cool and to see it happen right there in pinellas park as well so um and they've uh got a new ownership uh group there in the last few years um they're just really doing some great things there and they're really expanding the business and just really proud that we have them here in uh in pinellas county attended the ribbon cutting along with Commissioner Lapval and Commissioner Flowers for the first completed home reconstruction with the Pinellas Recovery Program. So congratulations to Melissa and Largo on her new home. And they did that in record time too. What did they do that? 30 days.

30 days.

Ripped the old house down and built a brand new one in 30 days. I know, amazing. It was amazing, right? Also had the honor of presiding over County Road 1 Honorary Designation Ceremony in memory of recognition of Sergeant Nicholas A. Flowers, native son of Pinellas County. Went to Palm Harbor University High School. An Army intelligence specialist who served our country in Iraq, Korea, and Germany, and he was a patriot. May all who travel on that section of County Road 1 remember his contribution to our community and beyond. Enjoyed Representative Ana Polina Luna's remarks at the Baylor Women's Republican Club last Friday. a presentation at the City of Bel Air Beach Town Hall on Property Tax Amendment 3 with Rep Burfield and also Pinellas Suncoast Fire Chief Ken Grimes. And also met with with Kim Burfield separately to just talk about legislative priorities and you know what our legislative priorities and agenda might look like for next year. attended the Rose Awards at the Sand Pearl Resort in Clearwater Beach, celebrated the hospitality professionals delivering exceptional service and helping create memories for all of our visitors and guests. And then lastly, I would like to offer my condolences and prayers to the Dimmitt family on the passing of Lawrence H. Dimmitt III. Mr. Dimmitt spent his life in the city he loved and in the business his family built. The Dimmitts have been in the automotive industry in Florida since 1924, and Lawrence began leading Dimmitt Chevrolet in 1972. He was also an outdoorsman and a conservationist. He served as a trustee of Bock Tower Gardens and on the board of the Highlands Cashiers Land Trust. He was very instrumental in saving land in Highlands, North Carolina and donating it to the land trust. He was also a longtime supporter of the Audubon Society. the Nature Conservancy, the Alachua Conservation Trust, the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation, and the West Klosterman Preserve Group, supporting their efforts to save the West Klosterman Preserve. And I hold the deepest gratitude for Mr. Dimmitt's generosity, his love of natural Florida, and for giving back to our community. And Mr. Chairman, that wraps up my comment. Thank you, Commissioner Scott.

Commissioner Nalicki.

Thank you chair. Um, the only new business I have, you know, I sent everybody an email last week talking about the flock camera, a license plate reader resolution. Um, you know, I'm happy to, you know, entertain and move that forward today. Um, though, if it's, you know, the kind of the will of this board to wait for the sheriff to come and do a presentation, you know, I'd like to get a list, uh, of the sheriff's, uh, inventory of assets. Um, of all the tools and devices that he has to fight crime. I support law enforcement. I support ICE and DHS too for the people that spoke earlier. So I just wanna be clear about that. But I think it's dangerous to say that removing something would bring Pinellas County to fighting crime in the Stone Age. Um, so, you know, if the sheriff wants to come here, you know, him and I talked multiple times, but I'd really like to get a list, uh, inventory list of all of the assets that he does have. Um, cause you know, I know he does have a lot of assets. Um, and you know, taxpayers spend a lot of money for those assets. And so I don't, you know, we're not taking away lots of things. Um, but I think it's important for the voters and taxpayers to know the tools the abundance of tools that the Sheriff's Office does have, and it's not gonna be putting Pinellas County into the Stone Age of fighting crime. So if the Board, I think it was the Chair wanted to wait till the workshop for the Sheriff, but I won't make a motion if he comes, but I'd like for him to bring a list of other tools and assets that he does have if that's the consensus of this Board for a really full, robust discussion.

I'm sure that the sheriff stands ready to have that dialogue. I'm sure he has a pretty good handle on the tools that he has available to him, whether they're

the ones he's been using for years or new ones that are being thought of or whatever i'm sure he's got a list of those there did you have anything mister no i can i talked earlier but i'd i would ask we define what we're looking for from the sheriff you talk about helicopters so it means beat beat were beyond technology tools you were referring to other types of tools so if we could define that house certainly for that this year for him either to be prepared to bring matter or submit that in advance?

Yeah, I mean, for me, I mean, it would be like a list of all assets used to fight crime. vehicles of all modes of transportation i don't know if they have robotic dogs that go after people uh mobile command centers it's a facial recognition uh big operation that's really um that's pretty tall list to ask for the sheriff i'd be happy to talk to him about it and forward that to him but yeah

Yeah, I don't know how robust that is, that list, but I'm sure that there's a general category of things that he could bring to us that give a sense of the scope of his tools that he has at his disposal.

Yeah.

Okay, for a general category of assets, you know, so you don't have to get into the details about the number of revolvers he has or the number of, you know, but that we have every sheriff has every deputy has a revolver, you know, every deputy has, you know, that kind of thing, but.

not i don't want this to be a cumbersome project for him to come see us but he could he can share some of that assets i can i can make that request it's it's i mean it's a big operation yeah okay and so when he gets into a lot of his forensic i mean he has a lot of forensic tools there's there's a tremendous amount of different assets that he has so i yeah

so we can just say that he has forensic tools he doesn't have to tell us all of the forensic tools okay i think that otherwise we might be here for a couple of hours before we start talking about it but i do think the idea of the scope of the of the what he has at his disposal is that is certainly at his he knows it pretty good thank you and will and i think does anybody else have any comments on that uh... sure uh...

Honestly, I'm looking forward to seeing the sheriff. I don't need a special list of his tools at his hand that he needs to talk about. That's not something that I'd be requesting. I'm just looking forward to hearing an update on Flock. There are specific questions I have on it, but moving forward on your proposal on the ordinance, I would like to wait until we talk to the sheriff. I can wait 30 days. I don't think it's going to be a big deal. Yeah, it'll be, I think, the first workshop in October. I just don't want to add.

Excuse me?

I don't need to see a big giant list of things that he has.

That's why I don't want to get into all the details. He can say generally what he has at his disposal, which is significant.

Yeah, generally, just nothing too encumbrance. We'll keep it to a page or less.

It'll be at the workshop on October the 8th.

Again, I think the primary thing is to talk about the technology that referred to often as flock, but there's two or three manufacturers of that technology and how it's used. Again, if you listen to his press conference, I think I listened to it. Most people listen to it. There'll probably be some of that and maybe a little bit more interaction that we can have with having the sheriff here. So I look forward to that dialogue.

We will have a white, I'm sorry. We'll have a white paper out to you within the next couple of weeks and well in advance of that. workshop.

Okay. Commissioner Scott, did you have something?

Yeah, just briefly. Yeah, I definitely want to hear from the sheriff. I want to give him the courtesy and respect as an independently elected constitutional officer before we just pass a resolution or something like that. So I definitely want to wait and talk with the sheriff. Agreed. And I don't need a big list of stuff. He's got a lot of stuff. We know it. Right.

Well, that'll be less than a page. I've got a lot of stuff. Anybody else have a comment on this? So we're going to go ahead and move and have that workshop topic and get into that technology and how it's used and the truth and what some people might not understand about it. We'll see. We'll have that conversation. So. All right.

Anything else? Yeah, no, I mean, just again, you know, reiterate, you know, I called the sheriff before I, you know, emailed everybody because I do have respect for the sheriff. So I don't want that to be, you know, misconstrued, you know, as an independent elected. I gave him a call and reached out to him and sent him a copy of the resolution ahead of time to give him that respect. And we talked multiple times on the phone. so you know i'm looking forward to a robust conversation and um you know to hear his more perspective and and again don't want to take away anything from this but you know i do i do support law enforcement and i think we all support we all support law enforcement so um but thank you chair yep thank you anything else you good i'm good okay commissioner peters

Yeah, I did attend the Besties event, and I meant to bring the award that the best place to take your dog was Fort DeSoto. And I apologize I forgot to bring it with me, but I'll bring it to our next meeting. And so it was a great event. A lot of people got celebrated for all the great work they do in tourism. And so thrilled to see that Pinellas County won one. How great is that? And I've been meeting with the community, a bunch of mayors, and getting some updates and Kind of their thoughts on you know how the city is doing after the storms and and you know what they're thinking budgetarily in the future. And you know, it's been really great meeting with the mayors and kind of getting caught up. So I've been doing a lot of that and with agencies as well, so. Just getting a finger on the polls, thanks. Commissioner sheer.

Mike Lee. Thank you, Chair. I don't have too much. I've really, the last six weeks, as Chris and Barry know, I've been focused on a budget. So I've been working hard on that. But I know that we all have in this important season. And we've worked, one of us is on another taxing authority of some time. So I appreciate everybody digging in on the budgets and working hard on them. I did yesterday. The Fort Pinellas meeting was long, but we got a lot done. The things that I think are very important are the special act committee that we were on. I think we've made some good decisions on how to give staff for the PPC staff level approvals, which will make things move two to three months faster. And I think that's very important. And also we have a plan in place for the PPC, what's going to happen to the PPC if the MPO merger goes through. So I'm glad we got a lot of work done and Commissioner Peters was with me on that committee and I think we got a lot done. Also on the MPO itself, if any of y'all watched the meeting, I still do have a lot of reservations about the reapportionment that's going to occur after a census and the And the reapportionment will put Pinellas County in a minority position on the newly formed MPO. We're looking into that. I believe Jewel and her staff are looking into that for us because it concerns me. I'm all about the merger. I think it would be a good idea, but I still think it should be focused on a Tampa Bay water model. But we're making progress on that. And then yesterday, as Commissioner Scott said, we had a great meeting at PSTA. I was very excited about that. Getting to a full rollback, I emailed Brad today, the CEO, and asked him when the last time we had a full rollback on PSTA, and he didn't. It's been at least 16, maybe 20 years, maybe never. So he's looking at digging. I think never is probably a good. Yeah. Never, you think? So I was proud of the work.

In the six years I was on it prior to 12 days.

Yeah, so anyway, the hard work that we all put on these budgets is making progress, and so thank you for the work that you do in other places. So that's my report.

Well, and the commissioners that were at MPO and PSTA, thank you yesterday. That is a long day. So anyway, appreciate that. Commissioner Flowers?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So all of us that with each other at the besties awards and we did have a lot of fun just joshing each other, but also celebrating what I really enjoyed about it is to see the restaurants and businesses that. have been able to get themselves back up on their feet. And now they're getting an award for the service. And it seems to be quite competitive in that room. But I had a really good time and I got a chance to meet some people that I didn't know. I had an opportunity, of course, to attend the Forward Pinellas Workshop, as well as the actual board meeting, and that was very interesting. The meeting for the career source, Hillsboro Pinellas meeting, I think it's going to be canceled, our consortium meeting, because we didn't have any business to come before us that we needed to vote on. That's taking the efficient use of your time of our time. The Black Health Equity Alliance will be hosting a number of community discussions about men and men health. And I think I even spoke here about the increase in men who are being diagnosed with prostate cancer. So I'll make sure I provide those dates. And if anyone would like to attend just to get some additional information. Please feel free to do so. We'll be having the annual dinner with the superintendent of schools, Kevin Hendricks. That is through the Pinellas County Education Foundation. So I'm looking forward to attending that. It's an opportunity also for him to just kind of bring. the committee members up to speed on what's going on within the Pinellas County school system and what we have to look forward to. Some of you may have read the article that was in the paper today about the number of additional schools that will be closed. The majority of them, if I'm not mistaken, were elementary schools like Bear Creek, which is not very far from me, Azalea Elementary and some other schools. It is sad because some of those schools have some very long history in the communities. And they have very specific programs, which is why the parents requested for their children to go to that school. So that would be very sad, but they're having to cut their costs based on low attendance within the school systems. I also attended an art club board meeting and budget meeting just talking about ways to continue to encourage individuals to make sure that their children are attending school early so that they are what's called school ready. I attended a Bubbles and Books on the 29th. Esther Sonny, who is also the president of the NAACP, but she owns her own business. She is also an author, and her books are selling really well, but one is called The Meantime Movement, and I was the moderator, if you will, for her book, and it was a lot of information that came out of that. She is originally... from Jamaica. And then her family came over here. And so the book is about her struggles in trying to adapt to a different culture and different community, but also the struggles that she's had in being a woman in business. And so it was a very eye-opening for me discussion because I never had a conversation with her in a number of areas that we discussed on that day. It was well attended. The event was completely sold out and it was held at the Woodson African American Museum. I attended my NACO Justice and Public Safety Committee. We're doing just like FAC is doing. We're putting together the policy proposals that will be discussed at the upcoming NACO legislative conference that will be held in Washington DC. If anyone wants information on attending that conference, I'll forward that to you if you have not received it. We have a couple of new restaurants that are opening and so one is called Ms. Thelma's. It is a completely soul food restaurant. So if you're in the mood for some smothered turkey wings, some collard greens, some cornbread, Lima beans, all that good stuff. Yeah, you got to make sure you go visit Ms. Thelma. It's she and her family. And I'll send you all the address and whatnot. Who knows? You may want to go down and visit. It's on First Avenue, South and 49th Street in the strip right there on the plaza. There was also another new business that has just recently opened, a young lady who got her training there. from Pinellas Technical College. The name of her shop is called Evolve, and she does all forms of eyebrow waxing, all of that other good stuff. Me and you may not be into that, but Commissioner Peters may be. So please, I'll provide you all with her information as well. I just like to go visit some of the new businesses that open, especially some of our small businesses that are opening. I like to stop by even if they're not on our radar, but just to go visit and say thank you for opening your business here because they could have gone somewhere else. And who knows what may happen to them as it relates to moving forward. I've been going around the community to any organizations that have been requesting. a presentation regarding um amendment three not telling them how to vote just giving them information on this is what it means this is what happens this is the time frame um this is the 150 000 section this is the 200 plus thousand section who it applies to who it doesn't apply to so i've been going around giving um those presentations and um i'm really uh really um not amazed but i'm excited about the number of people that are coming out because they just want accurate information and then being able to share that i've already shared with you guys i think that i've prepared a policy statement regarding e-bikes because there are so many differences between e-bike scooters electric scooters motor scooters and dirt bikes and so i did provide a policy proposal that'll go before the Florida Association of Counties for our legislative conference. As a matter of fact, it came up yesterday for Pinellas. And I mentioned it because we do want a unified policy, not that in St. Pete is this way, but in Tampa is that way. And in Clearwater, it's another way. So I'm hopeful that we'll be able to get to that point and then share it with our legislators so that they may consider whether or not they will get behind and support it. On the 14th, I have my NACO Housing and Affordability Committee meeting on the 14th, which is Monday. And then, of course, we have the... Innovation and policy meeting or conference rather for the Florida Association of Conference. the 15th, 16th, and 17th, and so that I'm hopeful we'll be able to bring back a lot of good information. They have me working a lot, which is good. I'm not complaining at all. I just wanted to say that the majority of the individuals that came here today, they did come to the Office for Human Rights board meeting, which our chair, thank you all very much for appointing me to that. Um, Barry was there in attendance as well. They were very polite. They filled the room, but they were very calm. They were very polite. Um, and they just, you know, express themselves. Um, at the time, what I did say to them was that I would, uh, reach out to the sheriff to have a conversation because I received information about the pro publica report. when I was giving a presentation on amendment three at the legal women voters meeting that Friday before. Um, so I had been aware of that particular article and one of the young ladies that spoke today, she handed me a booklet of information and I did tell her that. But one of the things, um, that, excuse me, I think is somewhat confusing about the office for human rights. And it is understandable because when you hear office for human rights, you think, um, across the board, anything that is relative to someone possibly being mistreated. Um, but the office for human rights that we have have has a specific structure and it doesn't entail immigration. That's not one of our areas. Um, and so for some of the things that are being asked to request it is not hiding behind a mask or hiding behind words or whatever the the phrase was that was used today but it's just recognizing where our authority ends and begins and our authority does not end nor does it begin with the office for human rights committee being able to um provide a resolution i think is what they were asking for To provide a resolution against the 287 G agreement and to say that we would what they're asked was demand that the sheriff removes himself from that agreement. Now I did read some of the federal legislation that came down with the 287 G agreement and it talks about. giving states certain authority to pass whatever laws that they want to pass. And we all know that DeSantis, in fact, did that. And then it talks about once you enter into an agreement with them, then the expectation is that you're going to follow that out. We are one of the counties where we have a separate sheriff and the sheriff runs the jail. There are other places within the state of Florida where the jail is actually run by the county commission. And staff. Pasco County. Pasco County is one. So there are different structures and the legislation does talk about those different structures. And yes, there are some who have rolled back the 287G contracts, but those are ones where that commission is in charge. That's not the case for us. we do have a separately elected sheriff who runs the jail. So, um, I know, you know, some of my dear people that were here today, um, uh, have the best of intentions. Um, I, I have to admit I was concerned about what they call catch and release. I was concerned about that and I still am concerned about that. Um, I am concerned about some of the, um, comments that have been made related to people that have been detained or held. Um, I don't know. I wasn't there. So I'm, I'm waiting to listen to hear, um, what comes from it. But I just wanted to go through that piece because, um, like I said, it was several of them here today that spoke and they, they said the same thing. And again, I thought they handled themselves well based on just the passion that they feel for the treatment of mankind all around. So, um, My report back to OHR when we have our next meeting, because I also asked the attorney who staffs. I'm sorry, y'all. My grandson had a football game last night, and I was yelling, if y'all could imagine. I cannot imagine. I was in the pouring down rain. Yes, in the stands with an umbrella, raincoat, and some rain boots running up and down, yelling and screaming, so my voice is going. But we do have an attorney from our legal department that staffs OHR, and I did ask her as well to get with Jewel and whatnot and to go through what our parameters were and were not, and so I'll be providing that information. to the persons that came to our committee meeting so that they could see that I did in fact, follow up on what I had promised to follow up on. Um, And that is all that I have.

Thank you also very much for the time to share. Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Latvella. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for the proclamation today in honor of my doctors. And I look forward soon to us doing one in honor of your doctors once you conquer your battle that you're waging. uh... we love you uh... there at least i love you know that i can't speak for everybody else uh... as for my reports uh... as has been said i uh... was also at the besties award awards and i had the honor of presenting some awards along with you miss sherman uh... i presented uh... the best casual eats which was Clear Sky Beachside Cafe, as well as the Best Festival, which was the Pier 60 Sugar Sand Festival. So I encourage you all to go to that next year. I gave a presentation on the county's budget to the big C. I attended a ribbon cutting with Commissioner Scott and Commissioner Flowers in Largo for the first home that was built under Pinellas Recovers. And as was said, it took 30 days. to build and I wanted to congratulate Clearwater Police Officer Andrew Billups on being named Officer of the Year by the Tampa Bay Area Chiefs of Police. And he had a couple of heroic things that he did last year. One of which was there was a young autistic girl, I believe around eight years old, who went missing on Clearwater Beach. And autistic children, as you know, have a fascination with water. And her grandmother had called 911. There was a frantic search and mentioned that her granddaughter had a fascination of water. So he immediately thought to go look along the water and found her literally in the water on the jetties. But she had already gotten in the water but he had saved her and saved her life. So congratulations to Andrew Billups. And also I just wanted to remind folks that today is the one year anniversary of Charlie Kirk's assassination. We did a, um, proclamation last year for him. Um, and I believe it's a day of remembrance, uh, for him. And, people should not be regardless of, of what side of the aisle people should not be killed for their beliefs or what they say or their words. Um, and, um, He joins a long line of folks that have been assassinated for their beliefs and their words. But hopefully, as a society, we will be more loving to one another. That's my report.

Thank you, Commissioner. So yeah, I too attended the Besties. Brian Lowack and his team pulled it up, beautiful event off, and it was just a lot of fun seeing, and I think Commissioner Flowers commented on, just the folks that had gotten their businesses going again and were being considered for it, whether they won it or not. It was an exciting evening to recognize those folks, but they had a Besties in so many different categories, it was wonderful. But anyway, it was a great evening, a lot of fun. I kind of sat in the back and listened to the MPO work session yesterday, and I think it was a really good discussion. I think a lot of the concerns were about how census changes and future changes years when they do that how that would affect the composition of the board and whether um what what kind of safety protections do we have in place and that's going to be kind of looked at in more detail and make sure that we're comfortable with that item also the chance the idea about how many dollars we are collecting now and what might be at risk uh versus the the hopeful opportunity to capture a lot more dollars so i mean i think that has some bearing as well so that's going to be discussed in more detail but i i really liked i hadn't been to the meetings because i'm not on the board anymore but um really was encouraged by the conversation. Uh, those who were for it and excited and those who had questions and were still had concerns. I think there's been a lot of progress made and I'm really proud of it. And, um, I really want us to determine it. I know there's some different opinions on that, but I don't want the state to determine this item. This is something that we ought to do the best we know how to do because it's going to come. If we don't do it, they're going to do it. I'm tired of losing control of what we do here locally to the state. I hope we can do that locally. Just so everybody's aware, 9-11 ceremony. I think they're having one in Dunedin. I think it starts at 8.30, but they're recognizing the Twin Tower collapses. And then Curlew Hills has one at 10 o'clock. Again, 25th anniversary ceremony. Of course, all the fallout that we continue to have on health issues from that day. Honor flight, I think this month, September 15th, seven-ish. People get there at six, get there at eight, welcoming our veterans back from a day in Washington, D.C., where they're pampered and taken care of, and they get to see all the monuments and memorials and that kind of thing. uh... dot that was great i want to thank commissioner scott for doing the uh... scott nichols excuse me for the mister nichols flowers nicholas flowers uh... recognition he uh... who worked a long time to get that to that point and family was there i understand it was very exciting and i think to have the sign at each end of that corridor is just really fun for the for the son to see that every day as he goes to school and back and forth so nicholas flowers ran into a gentleman who trains out of orlando and just told him about it and he was very proud of the fact that we would recognize the folks that were killed while serving. And that's all I have. I think to your point, Commissioner Flowers, the only thing that continues to strike me is about the hold, the 72-hour hold that we have. And is there a truth to where we let them out and we get them right away again to get them back in for another 72 hours? And just like to, you know, In an era of trying to make things right in some ways, sometimes we can step on our own feet. So that's the only thing that hit me. I want to make sure I understand that more. And then the only other thing I have is I was approached by one of our... fix the directors about an opportunity that came to her, but to me it rose to a different level about our naming right policies and private individuals or companies wanting to expend dollars towards a facility, towards something. And what do we have at our disposal to recognize a company or a person for dollars being submitted for facilities. Now, if you have a $10 million facility and you're giving $100, that's one thing. If you're a $10 million facility and you're giving $5 million, that's another thing. Um, in this time when we're talking about budget cutbacks and less taxes and other partners, um, I just thought it might be something to have a conversation about. Not today, but maybe sometime in the fall. Um, one of our workshops just kind of kicking it around a little bit and see what the appetite here is. And, um, and if there's an appetite for what those parameters might look like, what, what what levels and what do we want to do to recognize. If somebody wants to pay $10 million for a $10 million facility, maybe it has a little name outside. But those are things that I think we need to have at least some discussion about and I think there are some opportunities out there and so hopefully we can get that. If you guys are okay with that, add it to Barry's list. I'm gonna add it to Barry's list of activities for the fall, okay? Is that all right with everybody?

To that point, Mr. Chair, and I like that idea. I was at, I've been to Sprouse Horizon Park a couple times in Pinellas Park. And the new thing now in these little league fields, And Little League Complexes are having tiki bars and restaurants and stuff like that. And from what I've heard is Pinellas Park is making a decent amount of money doing stuff like that. And so if we're... if we're looking at like naming different facilities, could we also look at doing things like that at some of our, like also doing that at some of our facilities? Like we're adding like a restaurant slash like beverage component. And so when some of your constituents want to go to see little Johnny play ball, they can, you know, get a pina colada to come up to our, our, our district.

I don't know. That may be kind of dangerous.

Well, that's what I was. That was my question when I was in Pinellas park was these, you get these little league parents that are, and especially like travel ball. Cause they're very competitive, but that's like the thing now is that they go and you know, So now they can get sloshed when they yell at the umpires.

Well, yeah, maybe the bar component might be looked at a little differently than the food component. Yeah, Commissioner Scott.

a for three hundred million dollars or less in a very good campus uh... uh... will only only on the corner like a little small that yeah i think that's a real good idea current policies is like for naming a building or whatever the person needs to be deceased five years and have made a significant contribution but i think that we could certainly look at expanding that uh... and do it for a time frame like with the mahafi you know that was associated for a number of years uh... with Duke Energy at one point, and so they paid for naming rights for that period of time, and then when that time went away, and then prior to that, Barry Edwards had it.

Well, and to Commissioner Scott's point, I still think that we should look at some commercialization of our county building, like what Largo is doing. I mean, they just got a sports bar from Tampa to move in. To move in? Yeah, I think they're up to three restaurants now.

Listen, as long as they have food that's not that food that's in the vending machine across the street, I'm good. Well, maybe we'll do trucks outside, Barry. Uh-uh. Well, we could do that once every three months. I like that idea, though, a nice restaurant or something, because, you know, when you're working, you may want a good hot meal or whatever, or...

it seems like largo is making it more of like a destination which i don't know why people would want to go hang out at city hall but like they have more like it's like more of like a community hangout spot which i don't know that our facility will be like that but if we add like a chick-fil-a for instance or Something like that.

I think we're redesigning the building as well We can use some of the judges chambers for like evening events. I don't know Clark Burke's space We're gonna have a grab-and-go in there We did not build this to scale for other type of rental space You do have other space, but we we built all the way to Almerton Road That was the opportunity is really long to spend that off, but it is different than Largo's downtown there They're spinning that into kind of a 24-7 and as a destination place. Having some trucks there might not be bad. But we have talked about how to use, and you saw the open space. We have a lot of open space opportunities for type events and really trying to tie that into the larger business community behind it. So there may be opportunities like that. Listen to that entrepreneurial spirit. As you look at the final design, I'm sure Blaine's having a heart attack when he hears that we're going to expand the building again.

Relax, Blaine. We're okay. All right. Anything else before we take what looks like about an hour and a half break before we come back for budget tonight? We're adjourned.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Bye. Thank you. you Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

We're going to go ahead and get started with the public hearing portion of the commission meeting. And we will start with item 29.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Agenda item number 29 is the proposed amendment to ordinance number 2416, adjusting section 110, article 3, to allow exemption from assessment requirements for certain non-public hospital facilities that are granted waivers by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to participate in supplemental pay programs supported by the local provider participation fund. The public hearing was properly advertised and an affidavit of publication has been received for filing. No correspondence has been received by the clerk. The matter is probably before the board to be heard and I do have one individual who preregistered to speak on this item and they are on Zoom.

And who is that?

Hayden Rivera.

Oh, okay. That's why I have Jayden Rivera, but...

Okay.

Okay, so we'll get to that in just a minute. Commissioners, any comments, questions? Move approval from Commissioner Nowicki. Second from Commissioner Scott. And we do have a couple of speakers, so we'll go to the person that's preregistered online. I have Jayden Rivera, so...

Mr. Rivera, can you please raise your virtual hand in the Zoom application? We'll go ahead and unmute you to speak. Are you able to hear me?

Hello? Oh, that was her again.

Jaden Rivera, can you hear me? I see her. You may have the prompt to unmute in a Zoom application. And if you want to return to them after, it seems there's technical difficulties.

OK. We'll cut.

Hello?

Hi. I'm Jaden.

Hi, Jaden. Sorry. You have three minutes.

Go ahead. OK. So for my first question on agenda 29, um, let me pull up my questions.

This is your opportunity to express your thoughts and comments on the issue.

So this is about snap, um, federal productions. And I was wondering how does the board kind of commissioners, um, how have they been responding to, um, Tax reductions and, um. Um, wage cottage. Where are teachers and, um. Students or people who are under food stamps.

Go ahead.

This item is item 30. This is actually Associated I'm sorry item 29. This is actually an ordinance that is deals with hospitals And so as your comments about this item. Well, this is about snap benefits.

I Clicked the one that was um about snap benefits yesterday. I didn't think it was item 29. Let me see Sorry Are you a student? Yes, I'm a student of St. Pete High School. I'm taking a political engagement project for my school, and I was just doing this meeting for global politics.

Okay, well, okay, under this item, you're allowed to, you have three minutes to make public comment regarding the item. It's not really a question and answer type of format. Okay, all right.

I just wanted to see your guys. Hold on. Hold on just a minute. Uh, commissioner flowers, young man.

Um, if you, um, if you will go to our website and look me up, my name's Renee flowers. And if you can email me, I'll be happy to answer your questions for you tomorrow online. Um, I think you were intending to call in during the public comment piece to ask this question. Um, but yeah, um, I just know about the class is doing the project. That's all. So, um, so thank you so much for being involved in the process and for hanging around and cause you could have been doing something else at six o'clock. But if you could look me up under Pinellas, uh, county government.com. Pinellas.gov, I'm sorry. Lord Jesus, I'm about to give you wrong information. Or you can just say Renee Flowers and it'll pull it up. But send me an email, sir, with your contact information. I'll reach out to you tomorrow and I will answer your questions.

Okay, thank you so much.

You're welcome.

Thank you for calling in. All right. Okay. We do have Laura McDonald who is available for questions, but she doesn't need to speak. So if we have questions, she's available. Mary Summers from representing Bay Care Hospitals is here. She's welcome to come up. You have three minutes. And then Anna Rivas is next.

Hi there. Good evening, commissioners, chair and staff here. Just wanted to thank you all for your continued support of the LPPF program on behalf of Baycare Health System. We operate five hospitals in Pinellas County, and we are also the largest provider of behavioral health services. So the LPPF program does a fantastic job of helping us meet Medicaid shortfalls. So for your awareness, just sort of the rough BayCare numbers, it's about a third of cost of care is covered by Medicaid. And with this, it brings it up to a little bit over half of cost of care on the dollar, about 50 cents on the dollar. for Medicaid. So, you know, this helps us fill that social safety net. This is moms and babies. This is behavioral health. It really allows us to provide really high quality care and compassionate care to the neediest of folks in our community. So just thank you so much for your partnership and your continued leadership on this. We really, really cannot thank you enough for all of this. So thank you.

Thank you, Mary. Appreciate it. Um, Anna Rivas. Good evening.

Hi, good evening, commissioners. My name is Anna Rivas and I'm representing Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital. First, I just wanted to express our sincere gratitude to the board and county staff for your continued partnership and support of the local provider participation fund. As a children's hospital serving a significant amount of Medicaid patients, this funding is especially important to us. It supports our ability to provide pediatric care to children and families, including some of the most vulnerable patients in our community. I just really wanted to appreciate the county's continued partnership as the program evolves with the federal requirements. The LPPF allows hospitals to generate our non-federal share portion needed to draw down the federal matching Medicaid funds. So on behalf of Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital and the families we serve, thank you for your continued support and partnership with the LPPF.

Thank you, Anna. Appreciate your comments. Okay, I don't have any other cards. We've got a motion and a second. Any other comments, questions? Bring up the voting card, please. Motion passes unanimously. Item 30. Oh. Now, everybody be patient with me tonight because there's a script and you've got different paths to go down depending on where we're heading. So this is agenda item 30. Can the clerk please read the title of this item?

Yes, resolutions adopting tentative millage rates and budgets for fiscal year 2027, the first public budget hearing.

Has any correspondence been received regarding the tentative millages and tentative budgets?

So the clerk's office has received seven emails in opposition regarding the tentative millages and tentative budgets, and the Office of Management and Budget has received 11 phone calls.

Okay, and good evening. Tonight's public hearing is the first of two public hearings for the consideration and adoption of the fiscal year 27 millages and budgets. Before we get started, I'll walk through the sequence of events for tonight. The county administrator will present changes to the proposed budget since it was originally presented to the board on August 11th. The county administrator will provide a budget overview presentation that incorporates these changes. We will accept public comment on the following property tax levies and budgets by the following tax authority classification. The BCC countywide levy for the Pinellas County General Fund and the county levy supporting the Health Department Fund. the levees for dependent special districts and unincorporated area municipal service taxing units that go forward will be referenced as ms to use the dependent special districts include the emergency medical services authority and put panels planning council the and ms to use include the unincorporated area municipal services taxing unit public library services district Palm Harbor Community Services District, Feather Sound Community Service District, East Lake Library Services District, East Lake Recreation Services District, Greater Seminole Recreation District, and the Special Fire Protection District. If you wish to speak regarding the millages and budgets, you should have filled out a blue card. If you have not filled a card out and wish to speak, please see the staff seated by the entry door and they will assist you. For all the preregistered online participants, you will be instructed at the proper time to raise your hand in the virtual meeting. After hearing all the public comment, I will ask the board if they recommend any further changes from the proposed millages or proposed budgets. If so, I will ask the board for a motion and a vote to adopt any changes. Finally, we'll adopt the resolutions for the fiscal year 27 tentative millage rates and tentative budgets, which will be the basis for the final budget public hearing on Thursday, September 24th at 6 p.m. In accordance with Florida statutes for each taxing authority, the tentative millage rates will be adopted first, and then the tentative budgets will be adopted. before we begin this public hearing if anyone has specific questions or concerns regarding the assessed value of their property exemptions or classification related to your property or information on trim notices tonight we have alex luca raising his hand over there thank you and jackie war There you go, two folks here with us from the property appraiser's office. If anyone would like to speak to them, please follow them at this time and they will answer your questions. For those attending virtually, please contact the property appraiser's office at 464-3207. That's 727 area code 4643207 Monday through Friday 8 to 5 or email or email Mike at PCPAO.org. That's Mike at PCPAO.org and that's Monday through Friday 8 to 5. Florida statutes also provide that a taxing authority may adopt the tax levies and budgets of all its dependent special districts and MSTUs by a single unanimous vote. However, if a member of the general public requests that the tax levy or budget of a dependent special district or MSTU be separately discussed and separately adopted, we will then discuss and adopt the district's tax levy and budget separately. All right. At this time, does any member of the general public attending the meeting in person request separate discussion or separate adoption of a tax levy or budget of any dependent special district or MSTU? I'm waiting the appropriate 15 seconds. If no, okay. All right, no one requested the special, okay, we can go on to 16. Since we have not heard from anyone requesting separate discussion and separate adoption of any dependent special districts or MSTUs, we will proceed with the adoption of the tentative millages and tentative budgets for the BCC countywide levy for the Pinellas County General Fund and the county levy supporting the Health Department Fund and then for the dependent special districts and MSTUs by single unanimous vote. We will now open the first official public hearing on the fiscal year 27 tentative millage rates and budgets.

This public hearing is being held in accordance with chapters 129 and 200 of the Florida statutes. The meeting has been duly noticed by the property appraiser's mailing of the trim notice.

Thank you. We have the Board of County Commissioners as taxing authority for the BCC countywide, dependent special districts, and MSTUs as previously referenced. I will now proceed with the public hearings.

In accordance with Florida statutes, I want to publicly note that the percentage increase in the millage rate for all budgets over the rollback rate based upon the maximum rates on the trim notice and subsequent decreases to such rates to fund the FY27 tentative budget as proposed is 0.16% decrease over the aggregate rollback rate of 6.1284. The primary purpose for the increased millages over the rollback rate are due to the following. In the general fund, including the unincorporated area MSTU, and in the emergency medical services authority, revenue increases over the rollback rate are required to support personnel and operating expenditure levels that are driven by inflationary factors and board priorities. the pinellas planning council sufficient revenues will exist with or within a millage that is equal to the rollback rate to support personnel and operating expenditure levels as per the request of board pinellas in the public library services district mstu the palm harbor community services mstu the East Lake Library Services, MSTU, the East Lake Recreation Services, MSTU, the Gradle Seminole Recreation Area, MSTU, and 11 Special Fire Protection Districts, the Bel Air Bluffs Fire Protection District, the Dunedin Fire Protection District, the Gandy Fire Protection District, the High Point Fire District, the Largo Fire District, the Pinellas Park Fire District, the Safety Harbor Fire District, the Seminole Fire District, the South Pasadena Fire District, the Tarpon Springs Fire District, and the Tierra Verde Fire District. Revenue increases over the rollback rate are needed to support increased expenditures by the agency providing services for those districts. In the Feather Sound Community Services MSTU, and one of the special fire protection districts, the Clearwater Fire District, sufficient revenues will exist within a decreased millage from the rollback rate to support personnel and operating expenditure levels and board priorities. Chairman, before we begin the FY27 budget presentation, I'd like to note a schedule of changes to the proposed budget. These changes are outlined in the memo. Modifications include both changes discussed at the BCC meeting, or work sessions and technical adjustments related to accounting presentation, updated information, corrections, and other minor changes. We will now proceed with the FY27 millage tentative budget overview presentation. I'm gonna ask Chris Rose to provide a schedule of those changes.

Good evening, commissioners. Chris Rose, Office of Management and Budget. So a memo went out to the commissioners yesterday. It's dated September 9th. It's titled Changes to the 27 Proposed Budget for the First Public Budget Hearing. And it incorporates the following changes from what was proposed and what was mailed out in the trim notices. So first of all, Weedon Island and Shell Key are restored at $555,000. That's partially in the Parks Department and partially in the Construction and Property Management Department. We are building capacity for future bond payments for the new administrative campus. We are restoring the unincorporated area MSTU grant program in the amount of $125,000. Parking at Fort DeSoto, Sand Key, and Fred Howard Parks will be capped at $12 per day. Funding for survivors of sexual assault will increase in the Human Services Department by $85,000. And then some of the things that we talked about at the last budget workshop are public works allocations, expenditures in the general fund are going down 500,000 and going up in other funds. Medicaid payment from the state is lower at $975,000. Tarpon Springs Health Center with the Department of Health is $400,000 lower in human services. Excess fees from the tax collector revenues are going up $584,000. Parking revenue is going up $285,000. Water and navigation permit fees over three years is $283,000 revenue increase. We are removing the personnel contingency in general government. Expenditures are down by $300,000. Reducing the organizational efficiency studies in general government by $500,000. Reducing the third dedicated millage by $1.532 million, which is half of that, and the associated service levels in public works. Those will allow the millage rate to go down by 51.4% of the state defined rollback rate. Then we have a couple of non-general fund changes. We are reducing the Seminole Fire District by $41,000, and the millage that goes with it, it will reduce that millage vote from a unanimous vote to a two-thirds vote. at the second budget hearing. And then we have three changes at St. Pete Clearwater International Airport at Pai. We have the new agreement with Allegiant Airlines, which is $1,042,000. We have revenue from the Transportation Security Administration, revenue up by 173,000. We have the Sheriff's contract at Pai, which is expenditures up by $152,000. And then anything that we need to balance the reserves off of in any of those funds, we will do that. And then there are four changes that have no dollar impact but are just programmatic changes between different funds. And that's everything that was in that memo that went out yesterday to the board. Thank you, commissioners.

Thank you. Are there any questions from the board on the presentation? Yeah, Commissioner Flowers.

Chair, Chris, for the sheriff's contract with PI, is that for the officers that are there for security, or is that the officers that are there for security plus the hanger for his helicopter?

This is for two positions. We never included a shift relief factor into the officers that are assigned out there, and so that's basically the equivalent of two positions. He's actually expending.

Okay. Thank you.

Any other questions? We will now continue this public hearing as taxing authority for the BCC countywide dependent special districts and MSTU levies as previously referenced by taking public comment from citizens who wish to be heard regarding our fiscal year 27 millages and budgets. And I do have a card from Shaquina Reese uh... you're welcome to come and you have three minutes to address the commission good evening

Good evening chair and commissioners. My name is Shaquanna Reese, academic officer for the Shirley Proctor Puller Foundation in South Saint Petersburg. We understand this board faces real budget constraints and we know you don't take these decisions lightly. We're here to ask you to preserve the social action funding program. Our programs offer educational interventions designed to ensure that students in South St. Petersburg reach grade level reading and math proficiency, successfully navigate the transition from middle school to high school, and learn critical career, financial, and life skills. We serve over 300 students annually across three sites. Around 90% are low income without access to dedicated academic support. Last year, with the support of certified teachers, 73% of our year-round scholars reached grade-level reading by July, which was up from just 29% at the beginning of the school year. This past summer, 91% of our scholars avoided summer learning loss. Thanks to social action funding received this past year along with private contributions, we expanded the number of students served by one classroom, reduced our waiting list, and moved closer to our goal of serving 400 students. While SPPF focuses primarily on improving literacy outcomes, community partnerships allow us to further support the families we serve. As an example, we address food insecurity through a community school-based food pantry in partnership with Feeding Tampa Bay. Through our community partnerships, we offer mental health service, free vision screenings, and more. Our social action funding request helps to stretch support from private foundations, individual donors, United Way Suncoast, and other local government organizations, including the Juvenile Welfare Board and the City of St. Petersburg. We raise about $1.1 million each year from private foundations and donors. We do not have an endowment. The funds requested are used to support direct services, and if the social action funding is not approved, it will absolutely create a funding gap with very short notice. We believe that an investment in the children and families we serve is an investment in the economic future of Pinellas County and respectfully ask that you protect the social action funding program. Thank you all so much for your time.

Thank you. I'm looking for my place that I left. 26. Thank you. Or 25. 25. At this time, we'll take public comments from those who have preregistered online.

Mr. Chair, there are no individuals who preregistered to speak on the tentative fiscal year 27 millage rates and budgets.

Okay. Okay, we are now at the part about board discussion on any changes, a motion and a vote for any changes. So... We are open for discussion. Just to kind of wrap up where we were last week when we left our budget workshop, with the form that we have in this form here that talked about the yellow and gold together, those are the recommendations from administration and represent a 51.4%

reduction in the rollbacks rate that's correct 100 would be a full rollback where it the proposal that you all are proposing is 51 rollback correct and that's all of the changes that chris outlined he does have one additional one that he skipped but um that we need to incorporate into the record but that incorporates all the changes up to it that was outlined in his memo or my memo that he did you have one other one

Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I neglected to read elite event funding in Convention and Visitors Bureau, $367,500. So I just skipped over.

Non-general fund. Yes, sir. Non-general fund. We need to put it on the record because Don said so.

Okay. All right. Commissioner Peters.

So I have a question about the box culverts. So if we were to go to that millage rate, remove that millage number three? So the box coverts, is that preventing flooding? Is that what that's about? Kelly, could you educate me on the box coverts?

Kelly can come up. And so, Commissioner, while Kelly's on her way up, what we tried to do, because the question was, you know, there was a discussion at the workshop about further reducing the amount that we transfer towards the Transportation Trust Fund. That's the additional million and a half. Well, obviously, in one year, not that much of impact, you know, she would not do a project here or there, and you always need more money for infrastructure, okay? But over time, it'll have an impact. So we tried to outline that on kind of her level of service, and so I'll let Kelly speak to it, because she can articulate that. And obviously what she'd have to do is move things around. So, you know, rather than do a road at 15 years, you might have to do it at 16 or 17, fill potholes in between or something.

No, I understand all that, but I do know when Milton came, There's a lot of talk about the culverts weren't big enough. The culverts were clogged. And we were, I think, an F. Were we an F at one point? So we were an F. We're now a B. The potential on that is, am I talking about the right culverts?

Yeah, we have, Kelly Hammerle, the public works director, we have 60 what we'll call unclassified box culverts. So a box culvert is a bridge. It is over water. So yes, a stream or water is going through it. If it's classified, that means that it meets a certain criteria that the Department of Transportation inspects it about every two years and then gives us our deficiency report, and then we have to work towards correcting that. We have 60 box culverts that are not classified, meaning no one looks at them. And before the third millage was allocated, We had no funding to look at them, so we did not know anything about them other than we have them, and we would respond to issues when we were made aware of them. With the implementation of the program, we conducted a formal bridge inspection of all of them, identified all of the deficiencies, and we've been working towards correcting all of those deficiencies using this funding. So yes, we would be doing less. With 50% less, I mean, to be quite honest, I'd probably not resurface our arterial road, and I'd probably put the funding that is available into these box culverts, because some of them have been in since the 70s, and they need a lot of work.

And many of them contributed to the funding in areas that have never been funded. contributed to the flooding in areas that have never flooded before. Is that correct?

Most of the problem areas that we had were on Indian Rocks Road. There are four culverts on Indian Rocks Road that they were overwhelmed with the volume of water during Milton. They are scheduled for replacement, but right now we're just doing maintenance.

And same thing in that Seminole area where it flooded, where it's never flooded before, Alligator Creek, weren't a lot of those covert issues by Alligator Creek?

The Alligator Creek were not ours. Different city. Not ours, but in Seminole, yes, there are box culverts there as well. I mean, the box culverts that drain Lake Seminole underneath Park Boulevard were put in in the 70s, and the box culverts that the bypass canal adjacent to Lake Seminole goes under Park Boulevard, and that was also put in in the 70s. So a lot of our culverts are really old. And didn't that only collapsed on Lake Seminole we lost the weir on Lake Seminole yes we did we lost the weir so I mean right now our we're we're really taking the dollars that we do have and we're putting it into what we call it's not preventative maintenance more corrective maintenance because They've been sitting for a long time, and they haven't been maintained for a long time, so we're finding that the rebar is expanding and rusting, and so we're going to have to go in and do that corrective maintenance. So that's what we've been working on since receiving the funding. And you can see it's really helped. We've been able to recover nicely in some areas where they would have been rated poor, and now they're in fair or good condition when we get in there and we can do those corrective work and seal them. That type of corrective maintenance can extend life 15 to 25 years. But I understand we have to do with what we have and we will make every dollar stretch.

So I was driving on Dumie today, and that road has decreased. It wasn't this bad six months ago, and now all of a sudden it's terrible. So I don't know what's happening. So when you look at core function of government, and this is my concern, because originally I was all for getting rid of this third millage. But then when I saw that it was going to be box culverts, But that's one of the number one reasons we're flooding in non-flood zones, right? And in not high flood zone risk areas, because Seminole, where they flooded, wasn't a real high flood zone risk area. And because of the age of these, this gives me caused a pause uh... and here this is core function of government and it does surprise me how many people don't really know what the core function of government is but roads and culverts is core function of government and so Just because of the fact a couple years ago, we were at an F. I know you've done incredible work. I know you've laid 1,300 miles of roads and sidewalks in a short period of time. You and your team have done an outstanding, outstanding job. But where I was excited about rolling that mills right back again, this concerns me. Because flooding is one of the number one issues with people. We've had so much flooding recently. And if we do anything that will compromise getting a handle on that flooding, when it's core function of government, this is core function. And so where I was okay with going a little farther on the millage, if it's cutting this, I don't think I'm okay with that. So I just wanted to put it out there. I want to talk about it. This is, you know, core function is sewer water roads and public safety. That is core function. Everything else is quality of life. all the wonderful things that we love, you know, libraries and parks and all that wonderful stuff that we love that gives us quality of life. But this is core function. And even on Amendment 3, their whole discussion was that we don't take away core function of government. And this is core function. And I'm not comfortable. And I'm just putting that out there. I'm not comfortable with this. I don't know how my colleagues feel about it.

Are you talking about the half that they've recommended or the additional?

I think it's the additional. This additional, is that what I'm talking about where the culverts were going to get cut?

Yes, it is. It's the additional. The staff recommendation is for the half, the million and a half. The amount that she's referring to is specifically the additional cuts that we would have to make if we take away the entire third millage.

You're talking about the part?

the part of the millage down there down in the blue it's 651. yeah the the amount and that would be um well it's actually more it's more than that it would be the additional one and a half million of the millage okay so so i mean because it's core function i'm really i really have heartburn with this one and because it's something that contributes to flooding i really have heartburn with this one And I'm not comfortable eliminating something like that at this time. You know, next year, if Amendment 3 goes through, we're going to be losing core functions of government, I believe, by the time that second year of Amendment 3 goes through. So I'm not prepared to lose core functions of government at this time. And so I just wanted to put that out there. I know a lot of you want to have a bigger rollback, and I get that. I understand it. But I wouldn't support it being from there.

So Kelly. I have an example today just it's kind of goes across some of the infrastructure issues related to. Well, the name of the street is Dunbridge Drive.

I get a smile from your... Actually, I don't know where it is. So that's why I was like, oh my gosh, you would ask me about one more. I don't know where it is.

They said this is an unknown street to the county, right? Clearly, when you drive down that street, there's been some utility work done from what I've been told. uh... but the road itself is a disaster i mean i i mean it's been paid for the dead you know where the inundations were uh... but it really is it's way beyond so i said well have you found out what like where it is on the on the schedule and i said it was not even on the schedule to me that's that's not what we're talking about here these are that those are the first two additional millages covering the local that they were able to correct number two okay It worries me that this street, as an example, isn't even on the five-year plan, according to these folks.

We still have about 141 lane miles of local roads that are in failed condition.

So those are the ones we took from an F to a C?

No, they are in failed condition. Those are the ones that we haven't done yet.

I was talking about the overall rating that we have.

of the overall the overall rating yeah it's gone up quite a bit but like anything else you know infrastructure deteriorates over time so um our goal for our local roads was a pavement condition index of 50 and what does that mean it's fair it doesn't mean that it's looks immaculate it's perfect it's fair that was our that was our approved our funded goal um the majority About 90% of our local roads are in that condition, but the other 10% are failed. They are in a failed condition.

Well, I'm going to continue my story. So there is a culvert that goes into some land that we own behind these houses, and it doesn't look like it's in great condition. It connects the road flooding to this open area. And when I looked at it, I said, well, where's the pond back there? There's no pond. It just kind of goes into this area. Area and yeah, create well, I don't know if it's wetland, but anyway, it creates wetland for sure. And and it creates a lot of issues and we're not taking care of that land. So we have. To use hyperbole, a gazillion. bunches of Brazilian peppers that have actually invaded some of the neighbors' stuff. Unacceptable, since we hold our residents to a standard. We have not even taken care of our own. And we have the ever-present animal snakes that migrate, and they're not pretty snakes, they're venomous snakes. Many have been shot because they're on their private property. We have an area back there, so where would that money come from? What budget to take care of that in a proper manner? And I'm not talking about bringing it up to A, I'm talking about providing some protection from 19, like some fencing along 19 that would, you know, give some exclusivity to that area. We have those areas that have fences around them now in our county. Not all of our lands have fences. But between that, between the peppers, between the culvert from the street to the, and the street itself, where does the money come from for that type of maintenance and improvements?

That would be general fund. general fund your your division public works your minutes if they were funded yeah if it were at our it's way above our level of service i mean commissioner we have a lot of properties like this all over the county and that includes parks because we maintain um the trees and things for the parks department we have one crew that does all 22 parks plus their their environmental lands when they have a problem so We have four right-of-way crews. Their job is largely dealing with trees over sidewalks and trails and the roads and that type of thing. So this would be above and beyond that.

This area is not acceptable in my mind. So to me, again, we don't have to bring it up to an A. We don't have to bring it up to a B or whatever the ratings that you do. But when you have... the different elements that are in that property, the different flooding, the different Brazilian peppers, the different road conditions, it speaks to a problem. If we don't have the funding for that stuff right now, getting back to the core issues or core functions of government, that concerns me. And I just went out there to look at it today for the first time. And I wasn't sure what the name of the street where it was either, but when I drove down the street, I'm going, oh, it comes right out by the fire department there.

And it's just, it's just,

It's just awful.

And to that point, Commissioner, we've tried to bring up that level of service with the funding through these three increments, through these three transfers from the general fund to the transportation trust fund. But it's still not at the level to maintain. I mean, that's how much it takes. And so we've tried to show you a service level. with these reductions to where you can get a sense of priorities and how you want to prioritize that. But a reduction in the funding will impact service level. And as you know, Kelly's team has done an amazing job of taking roads that were in a failed condition and resurfacing them. But you know, as we've shown you that chart, a road deteriorates a lot quicker at a certain point unless you repave it. It costs our taxpayers more when we fail to maintain that infrastructure at the right time. So it's a cost effective decision, but it requires funding to be able to maintain that infrastructure.

And so therefore one of our,

Asks or indexing of our gas tax that we don't currently have We really need to get the state to index our gas tax But who else indexes their gas tax the state the state does like the state we if they would simply treat us like they treat themselves We could we could apply that back to property tax reduction But in but until they do that, which we've advocated for for years you know, then we're at a deficit and and there and and and we need more from our property tax to be able to maintain that infrastructure. We tried to find a balance this year. We heard you loud and clear that you wanted a rate reduction. And so we've incorporated half of that increment into the recommendations based upon your direction.

Well, I would argue that when we go back to talk to our residents next year about the penny, that instead of 50 or whatever percentage we're using on infrastructure, that it's higher.

like you know a hundred percent we we are going to have that discussion i agree and but if you look at we've what we've actually done it's far greater than what was previously targeted we've shifted a lot more to infrastructure and we're up around 70 i believe that's right yeah 70%? I believe. Don't hold me to that.

I'm going to quote you.

To me, that's a big deal. We've tried to prioritize that because we were so far behind. We were not even doing local roads. Neighborhood streets, we did not touch prior to 2022.

You haven't touched this street either, the one I was just mentioning. Sorry, Kelly.

It'll be harder to get there.

But again, I worry about how we cluster streets so they all work in the same area. This is like streets all by itself, and it doesn't cluster with anything.

We have a number of roads like that that don't cluster, and we still go get them.

You go get them?

We go get them. Okay. Yeah, we go get them. It's not a problem. But to Barry's point about that tipping point, when they're as bad as this road, and we haven't, again, when I tell you the, I think it's 141 lane miles that are like this, they're failed. It's more than resurfacing.

So it's that per lane mile cost is very expensive Typically what you do is and I amend familiar with this road, so it's not about this road But after it gets to a certain point you go ahead and let it fail Yeah, and we'll fill it with you know We'll just pothole fill it and you know for a few more years till we have the funding because then you're gonna do drainage You're gonna do a reconstruction of the road it's a far bigger deal because then you have to get land acquisition for drainage etc and stuff and

and so it becomes a major project versus a resurfacing and it takes longer to do again if we let things go that's what happens we get more expensive streets correct so those f-rated roads that we're talking about are those roads probably yeah um i didn't mean to i just wanted to bring that example because i just again it was refreshing my mind from from this morning so uh commissioner scott

yes thank you mister i agree with uh... with uh... commissioner peter's uh... i've been you know giving a lot of thought about that third millage rate there and and kind of going back and forth in my mind how i feel about that but uh... i am really concerned i think we should wait before we get rid of that until we get some certainty on aloft. I really think that that's important. But going back to her comments about core function of government, which I totally completely agree with, what is not a core function of government is social action funding. It's completely discretionary. I just do not think that this is a year that we should be doing this. I don't know that we're going to be able to get to a full rollback this year, but I would like to get a little closer to it. And I just don't think that this is a year for us to be doing social action funding. It's completely, completely discretionary. We approved two large items on agenda items 18 and 19 today to help for emergency rehoming and 211 for emergency financial assistance. Completely discretionary, but we approved that today. But the social action funding, I just do not think that we should be... giving not-for-profits taxpayer dollars in a budget year like we have now. I don't know how everybody else feels about that, but I just don't think this is the year to be doing that.

On that point, It was a $1.7 million budget for old requests and some new requests, correct?

So under the current recommendation, it is to reduce it from the $1.7 million you used to authorize down to ongoing programs. $667,000.

So that would fund ongoing. I think what Commissioner Scott is referring to is the $667,000.

Additional six hundred and sixty.

That's correct. That is currently recommended within the budget, right?

Thank you, Mr. Chair, I totally agree with Commissioner Scott There are many worthwhile nonprofits in Pinellas County including the folks that are here tonight But I don't believe that It's our function and our body of government to fund them. The state has a whole heck of a lot more money than we do. The state routinely funds different nonprofits and different organizations through their budget. And also, nonprofits do a lot of fundraising. And I know times are tight, and I imagine they're tight in the fundraising world, but our residents are also facing you know rising cost of gas their rising cost of groceries uh... rising cost of homeowners insurance and and of course uh... property taxes and so i think any little bit that we can help them uh... you know goes a long way and so i am fully in support of eliminating the social action funding and uh... you know, being able to do any bit of cuts that we can, and if we can't reach a full rollback this year, it still goes a long way in what we can do next year and in future years, because we have already tightened our belt quite a bit this year, and Chris and Barry have done a great job in that regard, and the sheriff has made a lot of sacrifices, as well as our constitutional offices, and I believe there are 50 some odds and positions that we've had to eliminate Under Barry's purview and and and counting government so there's been a lot of sacrifices made in this budget and I think Eliminating the social action funding is just one small piece of that Commissioner flower were you finished?

I'm sorry Oh

Just one other thing I forgot. So there may be another potential $100,000 savings as well. When I mentioned at one of our previous meetings about the $1.7 million of discretionary funds that we provide to the Public Defender's Office, 111 uh 130 000 of that is for 10 dedicated apartments at the redwood apartment complex through the panels housing authority that that lease expires on december 31st and um in conversations with the public defender that they may not be needed going forward or would be okay with those with that going away

that would save us an additional hundred thousand dollars next year but i do want to have some further discussion with her about that and can bring that forward at our next meeting so commissioner flowers thank you mr chair so i am going to appeal to the better angels that sing because um the discussions that we've had going forward um up until tonight unless i misread the discussions we were only really talking about not awarding the full 1.17, but staying with the 667,000 and change, staying with that for this year, and it wouldn't be anymore after that. As I shared in our last meeting, it is a crime to sleep homeless in your car. So for me, we don't know if those individuals are working poor. Some of them are. We don't know if they are former veterans or whatever the case may be. They have certainly fallen on hard times. But what we do know is we do not have enough shelters that can take them in. But they deserve a place to sleep that's safe. They once paid and some are still paying into the tax base. of the community, and so they deserve to be considered when we're looking at services. If you look at what is above that line for demarcation, it is disadvantaged residents, homeless persons, aging population, which is our seniors. We all know that Social Security does not cover what it takes to live here. It doesn't. And we have seniors that are making decisions about medicine, food or paying rent or utility bill. Um, I am not in that position. I hope I'm never in that position, but I do know that when my mom was diagnosed with cancer, I helped pay her bills and my father's bills because she simply could not live off of what was being provided. But I was in a position to be able to do that. Not everybody is. for food and nutritional services, as I shared with you all at any point, and you probably have it up North County too. But we have food lines on Wednesdays and Fridays that literally wrap the block from people who are still in need of food. And not anything luxurious, just basic fruits and vegetables. And lucky if there's some hamburger meat or some chicken or fish sometimes that is included, because I've helped to volunteer in some of those lines for people. So I don't have a problem with the reduction for any of the new programs that was shared when we first started talking about this. But I would humbly ask for strong consideration that we maintain the $667,403 for this year. And then if the decision is to no longer fund social action, I'll probably be the only person to vote against it. Um, but if that's the direction that this board would like to go, then that's the direction that we need to go. I don't think that we should, I would love to say people money. I want to save myself some money cause I'm single. I don't have no boyfriend, no sugar daddy or no husband. So everything comes out of my pocket. I pay for everything. So I know my utility bill, my electric bill was $300 this month. My water bill was 262. They've never been that high. So I don't have anybody else to go to. I have to pay it myself. But this is one way that we help people. And while it is not a quote unquote mandatory arm that we provide, it is a worthwhile needed arm that we provide. Um, what will be, um, the answer for going to the state legislature? Allow me to share. I wrote a grant and it took me five years to get funded for the nonprofit that's attached to my church. It took me five years to, and even with the people that I know and walk in the halls, it took me five years before I actually got the funding for a nonprofit at my church to help people in my community. So, yes, I'm sure many of these organizations, they go to the state legislature and they request help and support. But so are all the other nonprofits throughout the state of Florida. They're going to their designated legislators. asking for funds. Um, some get it and some don't, but that's, that's not something that we've seen our legislature do to the strength that would be needed to try to uphold and maintain our community. Um, I will, I will just say that these These are some well worth worthwhile programs. And I know you all want to roll back the millage rate and do a full rollback and all of that. When we are collecting taxes, we are collecting taxes to pay for services that are needed within the community. These areas are needed in our community because people are suffering and some are suffering a little harder than others. So I would ask that there be a reconsideration for, um, my, my gentle colleague over there. Um, I know that, um, you know, you, you've been looking very carefully at the budget, but again, number one, I, I was under the impression that as we were moving forward, it was still considering the 667,000 and nothing over that. Um, but more so than that, um, If we're not a place where persons can go, then you're going to see some of these people in Pinellas County Jail, and the sheriff doesn't want them there because they're there because they're homeless. They can't sleep in front of businesses anymore because the state legislature made that a crime. I don't want individuals like seniors to have to continue to make some of the sacrifices that they're making. for things that we can afford um and it's no pun against anyone all of us are at different income funding levels so this is nothing negative on any of you but abilities of florida bullish centers family resources preserve vision seniors in service of tampa bay the st pete free clinic and the shirley proctor puller foundation are all worthy we gave a lot of money to the free clinic for that huge facility that they have on 22nd Avenue South and 31st Street. And we gave them that money so that they would be able to purchase more bulk products, store it, and have people come there to be able to get food as a food bank. um feeding tampa bay is experiencing shortages everyone is um and so i think we will be doing our community the entire county i think we will be doing more harm than we will be doing good and trying to provide um a full rollback. I think the 51% in a rollback is good. And I'll be honest with you. If I had known that this is what we were going to be discussing now, I would not have voted to give 211 Tampa Bay the amount of support we gave them today. I would have said to take the money from them and put it towards these programs. Um, because quite frankly, I have issues with 211 Tampa Bay, um, and have had issues with 211 Tampa Bay for a while. Um, back to when I served on city council in St. Pete. Um, but, at the time they were kind of like the only game in town doing what it was that they did. And they've tried to improve over the years, but there are still a lot of concerns and issues as it relates to them being able to connect people with services. So if I had known that this is where we were going to be today, I would have voted no on both of those items. So that's my plea to the better angels that may sit on your shoulders on tonight on behalf of people who probably couldn't make it here. Thank you to the Shirley Pull. I didn't know they were coming, but thank you all for coming up. As a matter of fact, the young lady that spoke, I used to babysit her and her mom. And I know everybody. I know her mom and her mom and her dad. And I worked for leisure time, realty and travel. My responsibility was to, when big executives came into town, I was to make sure they had a place to stay, children were enrolled in school, all that good stuff. So, and Mr. Darren Hammonds was a principal with Pinellas County Schools. He had the nerve to retire. But he retired and I send and extend my condolences. He just recently lost his mom, but he's here tonight because children are important to him. So, um, I will, I will ask you all that. And, um, that is the end of my comment.

My only comment to that night, you know, makes me, makes my heart really hurt when I, when I hear about the number of kids who are living homeless, uh, right now. I mean, they're living in their cars, they're living kids going to school every day. Um, what worries me more about it is that we, uh, We, not all of us sitting here today, but this county government has agreed in principle to be a partner with these organizations. We've agreed to that. I mean, whether we should have or not, we did. And again, this is the only difference I had last year at the budget when we at the last minute defunded a group. And it just feels like there's no transition here. You brought up Commissioner Scott about looking at our social funding in this coming year and I think that was a great idea because I think we need to really hone in on that and find out what's a need and what's maybe not as much of a need or where we have overlap or where we have and I think that's what we should do. It worries me that these groups that we have had partnership with and it's a lot of the homeless folks in our community This is not all their money, but it is significant parts of their money, and I hate including that piece in what we're talking about. That's just my thought, and again, it's not that the effort that we're going through isn't a good effort. I'm just saying we gotta be careful. I mean, I didn't bring up the final element of my story earlier, which was that there's a homeless encampment on this property, that our sheriff has to go on to and move them along and then they come right back because there's no place to go. They don't qualify for safe harbor because of their own activities. So they move from section to section. So we have that issue and they're literally in their backyard. They've had some issues but not anything significant yet. But that's a part of what we have here. They can be fellow residents. They can be friends. They can be people who have lost their jobs, et cetera. I'm just concerned about the pulling it all out at one fell swoop and not in a more phased manner. That's my only comment on that. Commissioner.

Thank you, Chair. Question for clarification goes back to option three. That is not included in the millage rate that you're proposing, right? This would be in addition to a cut?

We've included a $1.5 million reduction in the third increment of the transportation millage.

But the millage that you've proposed does not include the items that are on this remove millage number three that Commissioner Peters was talking about, right? No, it's not. So it's not in the millage.

The blue is not. The blue is not. I'm sorry. This is the whole option.

It says number three. I couldn't read what you're saying. I can't read that far.

Okay. I thought you were talking back to the millage. Now, on the social action funding, we've included the $1.1 million reduction. We've included into the recommendation the ongoing funding for the current programs, the $667,000.

Okay, so we're really talking about $667,000. That's correct. Okay. I am of the opinion of Commissioner Peters. I don't want to mess with our drainage system, so keeping that one out is fine with me. And I don't know if you all noticed earlier today, but I actually serve on the Pinellas Safety Coordinating Council. We heard. Yeah, and I got to tell you, there's a myriad of... Programs out there. They're helping the homeless and it is Commissioner Scott brought up It is confusing about about who's even in charge all these programs and and I and I got I just I just think it That I don't want to be in that as Commissioner love all said i don't think that's our our business but uh... there's a lot of funny that's already going there and quite honestly the only reason i voted the way i did on two one one camp base because i had a feeling that this was going to be on the chopping block here so uh... i'm in favor of uh... defunding that the social action program and and get the state involved in that so that's kind of where i'm on that so i don't want to i don't want to I don't want the drainage part, and I do want the social action part, so that's where I am.

You don't want the drainage part cut. Right, not the 651, but you are for the social action funding. Right. Okay. So you have... I've heard from six people. Three to three. Yeah, so there you go.

There you go. I think if those organizations knew that this conversation was going to happen, they would have been here tonight. Absolutely. It wasn't really on the table.

I know. I'm just saying. It's just, yeah. Well, this is what I was talking about, that sudden change. Commissioner Nowicki.

Thank you, Chair. It's an interesting position to be in. I think I have an angel and a devil on my shoulder, so I'm split on the issue.

Send the devil home.

And that is Pastor Flowers. That's good advice. But we'll see if we can get to saving that, but maybe making a cut somewhere else if I could get some support in other places, since that's what we're asking for now. How much money are we still putting aside for the new county campus?

We're putting approximately $4.1 million towards the new campus bond payment.

And so those last items on the blue graph of the cuts to get to the full rollback, what do those add up to?

That would be about what? 5.1 million.

You're talking about you're not talking about you're just not talking the green. You're talking the blue.

Well, the just the last line to get to including the sheriff. Well, I mean, obviously, you know, we don't want to take away any more tools from the sheriff. So we're not going to touch that. Yeah.

But to get to a full rollback, you need 5.1. Just to be clear.

There's about two million there in the blue.

I'm okay with keeping the social action funding if we can decrease the amount that we're putting aside. Because when is it due for the bids for the new county campus?

Well, we're finalizing design this year, and then we'll be bidding it out following that.

I misspoke. I apologize. The bids for the downtown Clearwater land, when is that the due date for those bids?

Approximately next week, I believe. Yeah, next Friday.

Yeah, I mean, because we may get in a scenario where we get no bids. You know, we'll know by our second budget hearing if we get bids or not. But, I mean, I think if we get no bids, that's going to dramatically change where we're at. budget-wise and what we're putting aside if we get no offers for the land. So again, I'm in favor of keeping the social action funding, but I would like to decrease what we're putting into the new county campus, putting aside that money for it.

Like corresponding amount?

Or more. Or more. Because that's not a core, to a couple commissioners' points, is that, I mean, that's really not a core function of government. so uh... that might be what i call a great area i live in the great having housing for for folks is pretty important yeah i mean but we don't know i mean we don't know you know we don't know what amendment three is going to do you don't know how much the account of campus is going to cost you don't know if we're going to get any bids on the downtown clearwater land it's been active we'll know next friday we're going to

If you proceed, when we bring you final design, we're going to be bidding out the new campus. We start building, we're moving in in three years. And so, and then you're going to have a bond payment. And so this is an effort to prepare for that bond payment. You reduce it down, then it just makes it harder to get to the amount of the bond payment in future years. But it's absolutely a policy call.

Because I think the social action, I mean, I think it's a small amount in the overall large budget, like the yak, you know, if that's on the chopping block, I'm happy to sacrifice the full 5,000 for my office budget, but maybe we won't need to get that desperate. But, you know, so I'm in favor of keeping the social action funding only if we can find the money somewhere else. like in the reserves we're setting aside to reduce that amount. But I happily yield to my colleagues.

Commissioner Peters was for it. You guys both?

So that is an interesting proposal. And I like the conversation. So I agree with our angel over there. Because if you look at the seven agencies that got funded, the first one is for veterans. And Florida's the most veteran friendly state in the country. I am not okay with putting our veterans out on the street and not giving them the mental health services that they're getting at their program. I haven't seen the measurable outcomes that we're getting in these that we didn't get the grant applications. We don't know what the measurable outcomes are. So we don't know how good they are. But one is providing food. And there's no question that affordability is the biggest concern of our residents right now. And because affordability is such an issue, especially for our young families and our seniors, I'm not sure I'm ready without giving them a proper notice that they're not gonna get the funding to have more food to give out for food. And BOLI is one of the most outstanding homeless programs, I believe, in the county. And when it comes to getting people in housing, mostly veterans, many people with mental illness. Bully is like the best game in town. They're amazing. So there's a couple of them here that giving them notice of a couple weeks that they're about to lose significant funding. I don't think it's appropriate. So I like the idea that we were going to those core ones that we had before leave them there this year knowing that next year it's likely not going to be there. They've got a whole year to plan that that funding is going away. And I think that's appropriate. But several of the, and I keep losing it because my phone closes and for some reason my email's not working very well on my iPad. But now it is, thank you. But yeah, so abilities, it's comprehensive support to veterans. How about you? I know it's not core government. It's not our core function of governments. And Amendment 3 was to force local government to only focus on core functions. So if we funded this this year, next year we can eliminate it and then we take that out of our core function. But I can tell you, we did all this homeless services and the sheriff put that safe harbor on his property because it was costing us a fortune putting people in jail. And it's ridiculous that you have to arrest somebody for being homeless because they lost their job. And because they're sleeping in a car and their car gets towed by the towers or they get arrested because they're sleeping in a parking lot that they're not allowed to be in. And it's becoming a crime because you couldn't afford your bill and you became homeless. And it was costing us an enormous amount of money. It was hurting our businesses because people were sleeping in the doorways. That's why the legislature passed that law that said they can sue local government if somebody sleeps in the business doorway. But The homelessness has been a huge crisis and problem in Pinellas County. And St. Pete did studies. I think you were on the, Renee, you were on the city council when you had Robert Marbach, was it? Anyways, when you did the study, the county did a study, Clearwater did a study. I think we all hired the same consultant to do the study for all three governments. But we knew that we had a crisis, and that's why we did this.

It was Jamie Bennett that led the homeless. It was. Jamie Bennett led the homeless.

But I know you hired Dr. Marbot, I think. Yes. I know the county did, and I think Clearwater did as well. And so the reason we got into this business is because it was causing economic decline. It was costing us enormous amount of money in the jails. And children and people didn't have a place to be. And so that's why we invested in this. So I don't want to lose the history on why we did this. But I also am not okay with pulling the rug out from them without notice. And so I would like to go with what we talked about before. Don't do any new funding. Give them notice that this is the last year we're going to do this. According to Amendment 3, we're supposed to focus on the core function of government. So I know Chris is before you, so hang on just a second. So I'm kind of with the one praying for the angels over here on this one. Because when you look at who they're serving, it's food. It's pantry, two of them. Well, the free clinic is food. The senior service is giving them eyeglasses, and our seniors are struggling. So these are the most vulnerable people in our county. And I think it is a disservice to treat the most vulnerable people in our community with a couple weeks notice that we're pulling the rug out from them. And so that gives me a little pause. I understand it doesn't fit under the definition of core function of government appropriately, but we're gonna have to do that next year and I'm okay with waiting one year. I do like your notion because, I don't necessarily, I don't want to put our county in debt. Okay, so that's the one thing. I didn't want to take too much away from putting money aside for the building because I don't want to have debt. This county has been so fiscally responsible by not having debt, unlike many counties in the state. This county has been very fiscally responsible about debt. And I don't want to see us go in debt. And so I like that we're putting money aside. That gives me comfort. But where I'm coming from on the reserves is I don't necessarily think that we need that 17%. And what I found is, and I think every community, there's a lot of reasons this happened. I could be... misguided on this and i know where the errors are but we just had two back-to-back hurricanes and we didn't need that three months of reserves that's what we have it for right we really didn't go through it and the cities didn't go through their three months of reserves so i know it's there for an emergency but could we then not keep that 17 on reserves but look at a 16 or 15 on reserves And then still have money for not debt. But I think if we were to get another hurricane this year, we haven't gotten paid back from FEMA. Don't say that. That's where it gets dicey, right? That's where it gets dicey. Because if you have some several years in a row, that's when you need that 17%. But when you have two back to back, we went through a lot of money, but I don't think we went through the 17%. And I have always argued, even since 2010, since I was mayor, when cities were putting away two years in reserves and 18 months in reserves, I thought it was wrong. And I haven't changed my opinion about that. Three months is, I think, adequate. I think 17% gives us three months. But I think the rule of thumb is kind of 14-ish. And so if we're going to take $600,000 from reserves, I don't have a problem with that. It's kind of where I'm getting to my point. If it's just $600,000 from reserves, but I really want to have the money to not have a lot of debt. I think we've been great stewards. And if Amendment 3 or any tax reform comes through, we have to be responsible and not have debt. Because tax reform is coming, whether it's Amendment 3 or not. So we just have to be responsible and not have debt. So I do want to protect our reserves. I do want to protect the down payments so we don't have debt. But I think we could hang on to the social action for one year and maybe lose that $600,000, but not take it away from the building debt, but maybe from reserves.

Okay. We've got two Chris's that want to speak. And I think Renee too.

So I don't want to get in the middle of your policy discussion, but I want to provide a little clarification on the reserves. So we have a reserve level that we're not even fulfilling because we have yet to be paid by the federal government, right? And the amount that we were projecting we would have at this time that we actually included in our revenue estimates hasn't even come through from FEMA. So we're still receiving delayed responses on that. We're not meeting our minimum threshold level for reserve levels below the recommended level, not even our policy level. So that's one. The next piece is the amount that we're setting aside is towards a bond payment, not towards reserves, because you're gonna have a, pick a number, you know, depending on the final amount, $20 million bond payment. And so you're gonna have capacity in your budget to make that each and every year. So rather than having to come up with $20 million in one year on an ongoing basis, we're phasing that in. So that's the amount. Now, going back to your policy discussion, If you want to give the social action funding folks a one-year notice, well, then we could treat that as one-time money, and we could take that from reserves. But if it's an ongoing amount, well, then we can't. Not ongoing. So if it's ongoing, though, then it needs to stay in your budget. If it's just one year... then we could take that out of true reserves because it's a one-time cost. So that would fix your problem.

And that was where I was going to come to when it was my turn to ask if that was a possibility. Because I know, like I said, I know that around this table we have had the discussion about phasing out social action funding. But in doing it that way, it would give those organizations time to reconfigure their capacity for services and if they need to look at scaling back or whatever you know the situation would be because it wouldn't just be pinellas county government if amendment three passes next year it's not going to be just pinellas county it's going to be all the municipalities everybody who provides support to all of these non-profits are all now going to have to fall under the same rule which now says i have no idea what you know it's only so many kellogg foundations and johnson and johnson foundations and things like that that provide you know funding on another way i appreciate um commissioner nowicki i appreciate your um your thoughtfulness in it um getting that devil off of your shoulder and looking at two angels instead of an angel and a devil um and i appreciate barry with you um presenting your suggestion to my request of concern. So if my colleagues would support what has been suggested with Barry, I would be very appreciative.

And I want to thank you for articulating what I was trying to say. Thank you.

So Commissioner, I don't know which Chris is up for. I just wanted, I don't need to talk. I'll support that. Okay. Commissioner LaValle, sorry.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you for your suggestion, Commissioner Flowers, and I would support that as well. To Commissioner Nowicki's point about our Clearwater property and with the deadline being next week, are you all seeing a lot of interest in this property?

interest yet yes we'll know when we actually see the proposals but there's been a lot of downloads but that doesn't necessarily translate into proposals have we gotten proposals yet they're not due until next friday so we won't see them until then they'll wait until the last minute yeah they absolutely will wait until the last second but they're strong in interest but we'll see

we were looking at the millage for 600,000 and we said we're gonna keep that. We're gonna keep the one and a half reduction only. And then we looked at the social action funding, but we're not gonna do that. So we're gonna find it in the one time reserve level. That's where we're gonna find the 600,000.

for this 667 so we will 403 and at all we will based upon based upon what I counting we will reduce the millage amount equal to the six hundred and sixty seven thousand and when we fund it with one-time money out of reserves and so you'll have a millage reduction greater than until we do the math I don't know what that is greater than what is proposed from what we read earlier equal to that amount. And if that's what you agree to, you can vote on that, and we'll have that calculated and ready for the second public hearing.

I think I'm seeing nodding heads. Would that be 57%?

Very. Chris has given me a different, go ahead, I'm sorry.

No, I'm saying to what you just asked, you have enough nodding heads here.

Well, we'll have to amend the budget. So you'll have everything that we said, we've got to make a motion to amend. Chris is doing the calculations right now because he, I think Don's yelling at me quietly saying we have to actually say what the millage change is for. And so the lawyers are telling me yes. So- I stand corrected. We won't change it for the rest. If we can take a quick recess, we'll calculate and tell you what that is. You make a motion to amend the budget.

How much time do you need, OMB director? How much time do you need?

Can I, before we do that, I would make sure this conversation is done because I know Brian had some other thoughts out there and I don't know if you have more thoughts out there. So we might recess and then say, hey, we're not done yet. Sorry, Mr. Chair, but I was reading the room and going, I don't think we're done yet.

Okay, good. So, again, and I would like to know what that millage rollback, now what the rollback is. It was 51.8%, 51.4%. Now it's going to be different.

I think 57.2 if my math is right, but I could be off. Last year I was right on the button. You have a doctorate.

But she's a pastor and a doctorate.

Well, it's less than half of them.

She's like a doctor doctor, not the pastor doctor.

No, I agree.

Some pastors are doctors, but she's a real doctor.

And a pastor.

And a pastor.

But not a pastor doctor.

Right. But not a reverend, right?

But I'll pass the tray if you want me to.

The collection, the collection. Commissioner Nowicki. Chair, I don't know if Commissioner Scott had something first. Okay. Thank you. So with, you know, conversation of the reserves, I mean, I don't know if we can adopt in our budget a reserve level that is lower to even achieve a greater reduction. When you mean that wouldn't have an impact on millage? Well, yes, it would if we took if we lowered the reserve rate to 12 percent. and took the money difference between where we're at in 12% and applied it to the full rollback.

Remember, we're trying to touch match one-time expenditure with one-time. Recurring funds. Not recurring. So this is why the social action funding for just one more year meets the test because it's a one-year, one-time.

Well, I don't know. Okay, to that point, yes, I understand, but I don't know if we still can set a reserve policy to be lower and to just free up. Our reserve policy is 20.8%.

I guess what's it at? It's at less than 17% right now. GFOA recommended rate, the minimum recommended, and we're getting ready to go to bond market. That is not something I would suggest this commission take on at this time because Moody's Standards and Ports will be looking at our reserve policies when we go to bond market for the new campus. Separate from that, the minimum is 16.6 or 16.7 or 16.9%. We're at that right now. And that's the minimum recommended level. We have a higher policy. You could reduce it down to that. But again, we're not even at that level right now. And we're not proposing to increase it as part of this. If you take money out of reserves, if you lower the policy, freeing up one-time money, that's not recurring money. Well, thank you.

And then our... Is bond debt? A bond is still debt though, right? It is. We'd still have debt.

We're going to have 25 million, 20, 25 million a year debt going out for however many years we're looking at, 30 years, 25 years.

I guess my concern and I don't know if I could articulate it enough and I'll just maybe try to articulate it one more time and then maybe they had enough time for the numbers or recess but he's not working on the numbers yet i guess my concern is you know what i was talking about the downtown clearwater is that if we get no bids hypothetically you know just to put on everybody's radar i mean the whole point was selling this land to put down a significant amount of payment for the new county campus so i mean what would you know i think we'd have like budget

conversation by the twenty-fourth if we get no bids come next friday well then we're setting aside well wouldn't that increase our bonding by like eighty million dollars or sixty million dollars we would still we're always we were always anticipated to do a short-term note in the uh... equal to the same value as the downtown property we're not going to include that into our long term so whether we have bids on the first round we have to go out to a second round of bids we would still offer that off of a short-term note, which won't be actually due for about three years when the construction is finished and we're moving in. So we have time on that. So I wouldn't recommend that you adjust your budget based upon that.

Well, that's what I wanted to give some more clarification on that color. I didn't know about a short-term note and stuff. I didn't.

Yeah, we could either do an internal borrowing or we could add to a short-term note. I would recommend an interim borrowing out of like the solid waste fund where we have to have post-closure money. It's not something we need now. That would be an internal borrowing we could do.

The good thing about bonds as well is when the interest rate goes down, you can always do a refinancing of those bonds and pay a lower interest rate so that when you're making that payment, whatever that is, you're actually paying the loan off sooner rather than later when your interest rate's reduced. With bonds, you can go back to the market on that.

Mm-hmm.

There's always somebody willing to help refinance your bond. Certainly. It's all it is is money. Certainly. But anyway. Okay. Any other additions before we take a 10-minute break? 10-minute break. 12 and a half. All right, we negotiated a 12 and a half minute break.

All right, we're going to take a... Before he calculates, I just want to make sure you guys know that I really appreciate your suggestions and your thoughts and your reconsideration. We're getting there. People who aren't here certainly appreciate the voices.

So we are going to, see that clock up there? I'm gonna say quarter to eight. There's your 14 minutes. There you go. Quarter to eight, we'll resume the meeting.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We'll go to mics when we want you to hear. If you get it right, it's all right.

Okay, so we have to make some corrections. We're back on at the meeting. We resumed our budget hearing. Go ahead, county administrator.

So we have a couple of corrections to make, and I'm going to have Chris walk through those. One revolves, something we said earlier is part of the script, and he's going to make that correction, and then he'll walk through how the action you just took would affect that, and then we'll have to vote on all of them combined. Okay. Okay.

Thank you for the time, commissioners. I appreciate it. We want to make sure we got it right, not fast. So I do appreciate the time. So earlier we had said that the tentative budget as proposed is a 0.16% decrease over the aggregate rollback rate of 6.1284. We just spoke, the number is 0.48% increase over the 6.1284 aggregate rate. It's just something I have to read into the record for the state. So the changes that you have made tonight, we had proposed the budget at 5.5423 mills on the countywide general fund. We have now made amendments and the new millage rate will be 4.4989 mills in the countywide general fund. That is a 0.71% above change from the rollback rate, which is 57.9% of rollback, 57.9%. Look at that. Okay. Yeah, yeah.

And she did that in a minute or two.

Yeah, yeah.

She don't need 15 minutes.

Go ahead, Chris. Thank you, thank you, thank you. She has a Ph.D., and I don't. No? I'm sorry. I didn't hear what you said. Five.

You said five here. It's four or five. Okay.

Don pointed out that I misspoke, so. The new millage rate, yeah, the new millage rate is 4.4989. It was proposed at 4.5423 mills.

Oh yes, OK. That was going to be my question, because that was a large.

That was a large decrease. Commissioner, that's yes.

So what we're showing is a 57.9% of the full rollback.

Yes Sir, that's correct. And there's one more thing I need to read into the record and that is the aggregate millage rate is the new aggregate millage rate is 6.1141, which is 0.23% below the rollback rate. So just something again. The aggregate.

The aggregate.

The aggregate, it is below.

Okay, got it. Okay. So where are we on this?

If you agree with the changes as proposed, then you can take a motion to adopt the budget as amended.

Please start with the motion on the millage, right?

So the motion, yeah, would be on the millage for the budget. Actually, the motion would be to incorporate the changes that are proposed. And then you would take a motion to vote on- 0.4989.

That's right.

Okay.

I would like to make a motion. Don's saying wait, wait, wait, wait.

You want to make a motion on the changes proposed.

That's what I was about to say.

Okay. Yeah, motion to accept the changes to the proposed budget.

Okay, so I'd like to make the motion to accept the changes as proposed. Do I read the millage rate we're proposing?

No, not until the next thing.

Okay.

So we have a motion by Commissioner Peters and a second by Commissioner Flowers. Okay.

To amend the budget.

To amend the budget. To amend the budget. Right. Okay. So as proposed. As proposed. Right.

As amended.

As amended. Sorry. Yeah, not the original proposal.

This makes the changes that you said.

Right. I understand. Okay. As the proposed amendment. Correct. Yeah. Okay. All right.

Are we good? And maybe I see some faces. Maybe, Chris, you could help us to just enunciate what the changes were that we're talking about with the motion to change. And then we'll move on to the next vote, which is on the tentative millage.

So I know what the changes were. So the changes were to take the 667,000 from social action, out that money, out of the millage rate, out of the general fund millage rate, and then put it into one time fund reserves. That we would spend that through reserves so it would effectively change the millage rate by 667,000. making the new changed recommended millage rate to 4.4989.

That's correct. It would be to fund the $669,000 for the social action funding out of one-time money. $667,000. $667,000 out of one-time money. That's right. Okay, so we'll pay for that out of reserves, and then that will affect the millage rate that we'll adopt next. You're also recommending all of the changes proposed that Chris read in the beginning.

And can I suggest you just stick with the changes to the budget for now, and then we'll take a new motion to establish the new tentative millage rate.

Got it. So that's what we made the motion for was to make the changes. We had a second. That's good.

And to be clear, you also meant to include all the changes that were outlined in the memo.

So, yeah. Do I need to say that again then?

If you're clear that that was what your motion was and our second agrees.

I am very clear that that's what our motion was, is to accept all the changes recommended, including the six.

667.

From social action, so including the recommended changes plus the 606 social action money, so yes.

And do we have to get into the reserve level? Not yet. Nothing, okay. So we have a motion and we have a second. Are we voting on the millage now?

No. You're voting on the changes now.

On the changes.

Just the changes and then the millage next.

All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously.

Now a proposal to vote to modify the proposed millage.

I make a motion to modify the proposed millage to 4.4989.

From 4.5423. Thank you. 4.5423.

From 4.5423 to 4.4989. Correct. Okay.

So I have a motion. Second. And a second by Commissioner Flowers. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Now we're right up to item 27.

Thank you, Don.

Okay, so 27, you said that's where we're at? Now that we've received all public comment, no, we already did that, right? No, no. The board must now consider resolutions to the tentative millage rates and tentative budgets. As stated earlier, we will adopt the tentative millage rates and tentative budgets in the following sections. BCC countywide first, and secondly, dependent special districts and MSTUs. I will now ask Communications to display Schedule A as amended that will be referenced during the readings and votes and ask the County Administrator to proceed with the readings.

I'm going to ask Chris to read the following mailages.

Okay, so I'm gonna read them all in one shot, that way we've got them all out of the way, but there is Schedule A as amended up there on the screen, and that is going to be the general fund, countywide general fund is 4.4989 mills, which is 0.71% above the rollback rate. The Health Department Fund, 0.0713, which is 2.00% above the rollback rate. The Emergency Medical Services Authority, which is 0.8050, which is 1.76% above the rollback rate. The Pinellas Planning Council, which is 0.0171, which is exactly the rollback rate. The unincorporated area, MSTU, 2.0857 mills, which is 2.10% above the rollback rate. The public library services district, MSTU, 0.5 mills, 2.44% above the rollback rate. Palm Harbor Community Services MSTU, 0.5, 2.77%. Feather Sound Community Services MSTU, 0.7, which is 2.76% below the rollback rate. Eastlake Library Services MSTU, 0.25, which is .60% above the rollback rate. East Lake Recreation Services, MSTU, .25, again, .6% above the rollback rate. Greater Seminole Recreation Area, MSTU, .25, 2.08% above the rollback rate. The fire protection districts, the Bel Air Bluffs Fire District, 1.3 mils, 2.93% above the rollback rate. The Clearwater Fire District, 1.37 mils, 0.06% below the rollback rate. Dunedin Fire District, 1.7650, which is 3.79% above the rollback rate. The Gandy Fire District, 0.78 mils, which is 1.6% above the rollback rate. High Point Fire District, which is 2.3 mils and is 0.8% above the rollback rate. Largo Fire District, 1.62 mils, which is 4.24% above the rollback rate. Pinellas Park Fire District, 2.57 mills, 4.28% above the rollback rate. Safety Harbor Fire District, 1.25 mills, 3.34% above the rollback rate. Seminole Fire District, is 1.9499 mils, which is 10% above the rollback rate. Let me look at my team and make sure that's the right one. That is not the right one. We're good. Okay, so I'm gonna read it again. The Seminole Fire District, which is 1.9499 mils, which is 10% above the rollback rate. South Pasadena Fire District, 0.29 mils, which is 3.5% above the rollback rate. Tarpon Springs Fire District, 2.025 mils, 5.22% above the rollback rate. Tierra Verde Fire District, 1.5 mills, 1.33% above the rollback rate. And again, the aggregate millage is 6.1141, which is 0.23% below the rollback rate. Okay. Okay, I'm on 31 now, correct? The only one that changes. 31? 31.

You're at 31, you're at 31.

Okay, the resolutions adopting the millages and budgets for the dependent districts and MSTU requires a unanimous vote. If a unanimous vote is not received for the dependent special districts and MSTUs, we will need to adopt each separately. 32, Barry.

Thank you Mr. Chairman. Chris just read the resolution announcing each of the countywide rollback rate and tentative millages. I recommend adoption of the tentative millages as outlined and is being displayed in Schedule A as amended from the Schedule A which was previously posted to the county's website. I recommend adoption of the tentative millages as amended.

A motion by Commissioner Flower, second by Commissioner Latvala. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously.

I recommend adoption of the Tenant of Budgets as amended.

Motion by Commissioner Flower, second by Commissioner Scott. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously.

we will now consider the tentative millage rates and tentative budgets of dependent special districts and MSTUs. I recommend adoption of tentative millages for the dependent special districts and MSTUs as detailed in and as being displayed in Schedule A as amended from the Schedule A which was previously posted to the county's website.

Motion by Commissioner Flowers. Second by Commissioner Scott. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously. recommend adoption of the tentative budgets as amended motion by commissioner flowers second by commissioner peter should just all in favor say aye any opposed motion carries unanimously okay we can take down schedule a and item item 43. Okay. With that, unless the board members have any further comments, the first public hearing of the fiscal year 27 millages and budget is closed.

Commissioners, please note that the county will advertise the budget summary and notice of tax increase in advance of the second public hearing in accordance with Florida statutes. This notice will be published in the Tampa Bay Times on September 20th. The second and final budget hearing will be on Thursday, September 24th at 6 p.m. All done. And that concludes the budget.

Chris, you and your staff, thank you. Even with a few more minutes, we get it right. So without further ado, this meeting is adjourned.

Okay. Okay. Okay. Thank you. All right. I'll see you tomorrow.