City Council - Special Meeting

We will open this special meeting of the municipal council for the first public audience on the tax rate and the budget. First of all, we will observe a moment of silence, then we will proceed to the oath of allegiance which will be led by the councillor Mathieu.

I swear allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and the Republic which represents a nation under the aegis of God.

Madame the Countess, would you like to make the call?

Mayor Jones Present Vice Mayor McPartland Councilor Nunn Councilor Matthews Present Councilor Dodd

Thank you. Point 5, public audience. Mr. Stokes, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. President. This is the first of the two public audiences required by the law Truth in Millage Agree, which is provided by the Florida Statute, and defines the method for local governments concerning the adoption of a tax and a budget. Tonight the Council will examine the provisional budget and the provisional tax rate. We will hold a public hearing on this subject after the presentation by the staff and then we will proceed to the final determination of the tax rate and budget on September 23. And all this is stipulated in the Florida statute. There are two resolutions this evening, one for each element, one for the tax rate and one for the budget. And when you are ready, I will be able to read the two headlines. And we will be able to deal with everything in one presentation and audience.

Thank you very much for that, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Banton.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So, the provisional imposition rate for exercise 26-27 of 3.30.118 is recommended, which, according to the statute of the State, is identical to the imposition rate of calculated maintenance. These revenues will be affected by the spending of the general fund planned for the functioning budget of exercise 26-27. And we will have a presentation, but I would like to point out that the budget document that you have all received has not been known as a major real change since our previous mess than the additional financing of two police officers, as well as some revenue reductions that will be presented by Mr. Stuart, which will affect the final amount to be collected on the reserves or the direction that we will receive from the Council tonight. So we will wait for some of these guidelines in order to be able to finalize the document in view of the second audience. Thank you.

Thank you very much for that, Mr. Benton. Now we will move on to Mr. Stewart. Mr. Stewart, are you ready?

Yes, sir. So we can start the presentation. As Mr. Stokes mentioned, this is the first hearing. Our second and last hearing is scheduled for next Wednesday, September 23, at 6 p.m. I will review the presentation of the budget and the two-thousandth rate, as well as the changes, as noted by M. Benton, which I will highlight between the presentation of July 22 and this one. So, we will review the general information, the current factors. A summary of the budget of the General Fund, the summary of the budgets of the special income funds and other funds, the improvement program of the real estate, as well as your real estate values and the rate of MIM. General information, as a fiscal year determines the budget of the following year, the adopted thousandth rate will be applied to the role of imposition of 2026 and will be collected during the exercise 2027. Adjustments will be made during the year. And Trim's opinion that was established was based on the return rate of 3.3 minus 118. Regarding the current factors and staff, the health insurance premiums have increased by 6%. The police union has negotiated salary increases and employees' salary increases. No, unions are also included. In addition to the new partial-time job and changes since the last presentation, the two new full-time police officers' jobs have been budgeted. This has had an impact on this slide. If you remember, the last time we showed a budgetary decrease of about 18,577 and due to the increase in staff in the budget and a few other elements adjusted since, you see an increase of 31,133 in the summary of the General Fund. By examining the business funds, the budget project for the golf course shows an excess of revenue of 11,283. The revenues are projected carefully. A sum of 108,000 euros is planned as a refund to the general fund. 32,240 for the revenue of the restaurant. The airport rent goes from 107,107,483 to 107,660. And 37,387 will be paid for the principal and interest for the construction fund of 700 euros. For the airport fund, our budget project shows an excess of revenue of 106,287. This includes loans from the discretionary sale tax fund. The hangar A will be the object of a payment of 20,000 and will still owe 202,035 dollars to 30,09,07. And for hangar B, a payment of 20,500 will be made with a due balance of 201,444 to 30,09,07. It also contains counterparty funds for subsidies of 35,000 for the rehabilitation of track 1028 and 152,000 for the construction of the tablier of the golf track. Over the next 5 years, we expect 150.0 miles for phase 2 of the Golf traffic lane, 15.0 miles for the design of the rehabilitation of the Alpha traffic lane, 50.0 miles for the design of phase 2 of the Golf traffic lane and 15.0 miles for the design of track 1028 of the Bravo traffic lane. Regarding the real estate fund, we expect that the income of the permanent remittances will remain stable and we expect 37,387 in principal and interest payments on the golf course loans. The loan of 700,000 dollars will be brought to 390,123 dollars by 30,09,07. And after that, once this loan is refunded, we will begin to pay the loan of 559,684 dollars. I'm sorry, I don't want to. I want to clarify that this is about pre-entering and non-exiting. And non-exiting. Just to clarify this in the Immobility Fund. Regarding your American Rescue Plan Act, the funds must be spent by December 31 of this year. We are currently in line with the design and road work of the Schumann Drive bridge to the Gardegna Fossil, completed during exercise 25, and the work of the Gardegna Fossil in closing phase. The design of the Schumann Drive bridge must be completed by the end of exercise 26-26. On your tax fund on local option gas, we plan to collect up to 1% used for road maintenance and associated work according to the current ground management program. The fund also funds the repair of sidewalks and the maintenance of passages at the level each year. On your discretionary sales tax, we are planning an annual increase in revenues of 1%. The funds are used for the reconstruction of roads and the work of associated soils according to the current ground management program. It also finances the MIS infrastructure, vehicles, police equipment, replacement of air conditioning, improvements of the Schumann Park, as well as vehicles and major construction equipment. On the C.R.A. fund of the Seafront, the operating expenses include audit fees, administration, improvements of the Seafront, maintenance of facilities, submerged landmines, council fees, travel and training, legal announcements, state fees, associative fees and discharging fees for Fisherman's Landing. The landscaping is managed internally. The Fisherman's Landing and Working Waterfront projects from here, exercise 27-28, and the Central Avenue Catalyst site for exercise 30-31. On the impact tax fund, very creative, we have 20 zeros in non-specified improvements, or 5 zeros per area, 60 zeros in park improvements, 100 zeros for the 400 zeros of land and lighting levels, with a end-of-fund balance planned in 2027, 217, 245. On your rainwater public service fund, the revenues exceed the expenses of $ 47,055. The capital includes the replacement of a F250 truck in the fund, as well as the road drainage of the park, the pool fountains and the replacement of the ice pipes. Concerning the confiscation fund of the law enforcement, it is used only for non-budgeted expenses and any article should be submitted to the Council for approval. The initial projected salary is $36,528. For the replacement of parking, used to provide additional space, the initial projected salary is $131,902. The permanent fund of the cemetery, half of the sales, is used for operation and maintenance, paying 150,000 dollars to the general fund and the other half is intended for extensions or free accessories for future sites. And we have a project in the process of replacing the administrative building totaling 735,410 dollars.

Brian, just a quick clarification, the presentation and all the elements were ready before the approval of the ordinance on the cemetery last Wednesday. We will therefore modify this slide in view of the final presentation of the budget. It is just a matter of specifying that the new ratio is 80 to 20 and not 50. This is therefore what will be clarified.

Well, let's move on to the Immobilisation Improvement Programme. We expect 61.9 million euros over the next 6 years, including 11.1 million euros for the next exercise, financed at 40%, or 4.4 million euros by subsidies. The most important positions for the exercise to come are the sidewalk works for 2.1 million euros, 1.8 million euros for the reconstruction of the streets, 1.35 million euros for the traffic route, golf, and 1.25 million euros for the cold group of the city hotel, Let's move on to our tax rate. Based on certified taxable values, the total taxable real estate values have increased by 130 million, or 5.2% compared to 2026. The additions represent 47 million, or an increase of 1.9 million, and the re-evaluations constitute 83 million, or 3.3.3% this amount. The proposed imposition rate and the goalback rate is 3.3318 and its use will require to draw 263.057 dollars in the reserves. This figure has slightly changed since the last presentation. I think it has decreased a little bit. Yes, during the last one, it was 282,732 dollars, or a drop of almost 19,000 dollars. By examining the real estate values and the tax rate, the additions to the taxable value show the change year by year, as you will see, from 25 to 26. This indicates an increase of 20% on the part of the additions in our taxable values. by examining the distribution of taxes of our taxpayers when they receive their invoices as citizens of the city of Sébastien. Here is how their tax return is ventilated. For the county of Indian River, you will see their rate of 5.6 to 45, which represents 36.6%. And for the schools of the county of Indian River, 5.6 to 40, which just just voted, I think. This represents 34.8%. For the city of Sébastien, we propose 3.3 and 3.18, or 20.4%. Then the hospital district and other tax districts constitute the rest. If we look at the last 20 years, you can see This graph compares the recovery rate to the adopted final rate. The dark green represents the final rates and the light green the recovery rate. We see that the recovery rate has been reached or has been lower than this one, at least 50% of the time. This concludes the presentation and we recommend that the provisional imposition rate be set at 3.3 June 2018.

Thank you very much for that, sir. Here, Council, does anyone have any questions? Is there anyone in the audience? Did anyone raise their hand?

Personne n'a levé la main.

Merci beaucoup. Consultation publique est close. Comment souhaitons-nous procéder pour le point 5A?

Monsieur le maire, si je peux lire les intitulés de chacun, nous procéderons ensuite à un vote pour chacun.

Le premier est la résolution numéro R25. 26. 31. A resolution from the city of Sebastian, county of Indian River, Florida, adopting a provisional imposition rate of 3... Okay. Active mode. I'm starting again. Sorry. Okay, are you ready now?

Yes, I'm ready.

Two. R2634. Resolution of the city of Sebastian, county of Indian River, Florida, adopting a provisional imposition rate of 3.3.38 for the civil year 2026, foreseeing conflicts, material errors and a date of entry into force. Very well, thank you very much for that, sir. Now in advice, how do we want to proceed? I propose to approve resolution R2634.

We have a proposal from the councillor supported by Vice Mayor McPartland. Are there any other questions? Madame Agrafia.

Councilor Nunn. Councilor Matthews. Councilor Dodd. Mayor Jones.

Yes.

Vice Mayor McPartland. The motion is adopted.

Very well, thank you.

The next one is 2035. Yes, a resolution of the municipal council of the city of Sebastian, county of Indian River, Florida, adopting a provisional budget for the fiscal exercise starting on October 1, 2026 and ending on September 30, 2027, opening credits for the payment of operating expenses, investment expenses, as well as for the reimbursement of the principal and interest of the debt of the city within the General Fund, the Special Revenue Fund, the Immobilization Improvement Fund, the Golf Field Fund, the Airport Fund and the Construction Fund, as provided in Annex A, June 6, establishing the authority of the municipal director to implement the budget, planning the conflicts, planning the secretariat errors and planning an entry date in force.

Very well, thank you very much for that, Mr. Benton. Does anyone have something to add before Mr. Stewart?

No, I just want to clarify that the budget presented includes the use of a reserve amount of $ 262,000 and a few additional dollars. I just wanted to clarify this point and we recommend its approval. I propose to approve Resolution R2635 for the provisional budget of 2026-2027.

Very well, we have a proposal from Councilor Nunn. Do we have a second? Second. We have a second from Vice-Mayor McPartland. Are there any other discussions? Very well, Madam Secretary.

Councilor Matthews. Councilor Dodd. Mayor Jones. Vice Mayor McPartland. Councilor Nunn.

Yes.

The motion is adopted.

Very good. The next point is point D, examination of resolution number R2636. Mr. Stokes or Mr. Benton.

Would you like Mr. Stokes to read the title for this one? Yes. A resolution from the municipal council of the city of Sébastien in the county of Indian River, Florida, adopting an improvement program of 6 years for fiscal exercises ending from 2027 to 2032, foreseeing conflicts, foreseeing secretariat errors and foreseeing a date of entry into force. Very well.

Thank you very much, Mr. Benton.

So, Mr. Mayor, here is our Immobilization Improvement Program, which is scheduled for six years. And I would like to point out that the program proposed for exercise 26-27 amounts to 11,059,135 dollars. More than 4 million dollars in subsidies are proposed in this framework. Some of them, you know, may not be granted to us, but others have already been received and we plan to spend these funds. So, of course, if we do not receive these subsidies, we will not continue these projects. I would therefore like to present this to you and then answer all your questions regarding the proposed investment plan tonight.

Very well, thank you very much for that, sir. Is there anyone in the audience who would like to speak on this subject? Anyone with their hand up?

No one raised their hand. Very well, thank you.

The public word is closed. Any advice? Any questions?

We are going to pass a motion. Mr Mayor, I propose to approve the R2636 resolution for the Immobilization Plan from 2017 to 2032. Thank you very much.

We have a proposal from the Councilor Nunn. Before us, a second. Seconded by the Vice Mayor Mac Parkland. Are there any other questions? Not hearing any, Mrs. La Greffière.

Councilor Dodd. Mayor Jones?

Yes.

Vice Mayor McPartland? Yes. Councilor Nunn? Yes. Councilor Matthews? The motion is adopted.

Very well. Thank you very much. Point E, Mr. Stokes.

A resolution from the City of Sébastien, county of Indian River, Florida, adopting financial policies governing various areas of the budget and finances as provided in paragraph A, dealing with conflicts, material errors and setting a date of entry into force.

Very well. Thank you very much for that.

Mr. Benton, do you have anything to add? I will let M. Stewart discuss the few changes he made in the minor adjustments he made to the financial policy. Do you have anything to say? Do you want me to talk about it? I was just imagining that you would like to say something.

Well, I didn't bring the whole document with me tonight, but there were no major changes that I remember.

Yes, the only thing we really tried to change was to align the current practices, to promote administrative efficiency, to minimize risk of error and to concentrate financial information on significant assets. The capitalization threshold, the amount in dollars from which the expenses for individual items are recorded as immobilization and amortized on the lifetime of the assets rather accounted for, was increased as indicated in the financial policy document. This was therefore the only significant change we brought to this document.

Thank you very much for that.

Questions, let us know.

Did it also come from the auditors, or was it mentioned during the audit on this subject?

I don't think so. I think it was just something that M. Stuart, by evaluating our financial policies last year, led us to modify, led us to modify. This is a point that we wanted to continue to examine, to treat, while we continue to improve our policies, their and our policies.

Okay, can you tell us a little more about it, M. Stuart?

If you're talking about the threshold change, we changed it last year in the financial policy. No. So it's in place. But yes, we have modified this threshold and increased the limit for the capitalization of assets up to 5 zeroes for equipment. And the real estate is up to 50 zeroes for all types of projects, construction sites, buildings, real estate improvements and others. This corresponds better to the usual process of governments and this helps to ease the burden of staff for the follow-up of small articles. So to capitalize and amortize these articles, we can always follow these articles and we always follow them. We have not changed our follow-up method for this, but for the capitalization and the amortization of articles, this is what we have changed. Thank you very much, sir, for your contribution. There is nothing else.

Council, how would you like to proceed on this point?

I will take care of it. I propose to approve Resolution R26-37 for the adoption of financial policies for 2026-2027. Thank you very much.

We have a proposal from the Hénon Council. Do we have a second? Seconded. Seconded by Vice-Mayor McPartland. Are there any other questions? Otherwise, Madam Secretary?

Mayor Jones. Mayor McPartland. Councilor Nunn. Councilor Matthews. Councilor Dodd. Motion adopted.

Very well, thank you very much. And our last point is point F. I announce that the final public audience for the tax rate and budget for exercise 2026-2027 will take place on September 23, 2026 at 6 p.m. here in the rooms. And on this, we raise the session.