City Council - Special Meeting

Everyone, good afternoon. Today is Wednesday, July 28th, 2026. The time is now 6 p.m. And we are about to start our proposed millage rate fiscal year meeting. Madam Clerk, please call the roll. Councilwoman Corrinoso.

Present. Councilwoman Maureen Porras. Here. Councilman Rafael Pinero. Present. Vice Mayor Degna Cabral. Present. Mayor Christy Fraga. Present. Mayor Hapcorn.

Thank you. Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance led by Councilman Pinero.

Okay, I don't believe there's any changes to the agenda order of business.

So we'll go ahead and move into public comments.

We will now open the public comments portion of this meeting. Anyone who would like to speak on anything germane to this council or on this agenda, please approach the podium. I will start with those who have pre-filled a registration, and then I will go ahead and open it to anyone who would like to speak for their reasonable opportunity. We ask that you please in compliance with the city code, keep a respectful manner in your comments and address the entire body. We'll go ahead and start with Mr. Jose Dons. Name and address for the record, please.

Good afternoon, Madam Mayor and council members. For the record, my name is Jose Dónez, D-O-N-E-S. My address is 3861 Alcantara Avenue. You all look like Pavarotti, Carrera, and Placido Domingo on the stage. Look nice. Keep singing nice together. Very important. After January 1st, you all have very important matters related to the funding of project of city government property tax cut. That will be in the ballot next November. And that's music to my ears. It will be approved. So, when you wake up on January 1st, 2027, you have less money. Probably. But I doubt it. You need to check again the property tax millage and make the appropriate adjustment. I'm not talking about don't say. I'm not talking about Don't say, but serious adjustment will have to be made. And you all need to make consensus. Consensus. Work together. That's very important. That's why I said Pavarotti, Carrera, and Placido Domingo. When they found they could sing better together, they look better. You will have less revenue. You have to cut either service or raise taxes. Either one or both. As a matter of fact, I'm going to tell you the opportunity right now. I propose to make a city sale tax. Thank you. The city will have to tighten They built city employees or the city departments. This population is growing up. We'll have more people. So we need more services. We need better roads, better street lining, public safety, parks, recreation, and that's money. That's not free lunch. I've been here a few years. I've been looking for free lunch. I haven't found free lunch yet. So I ask you to lift the eagles out, talk to each other, listen to each other, make consensus, and make the best decision. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Jones. Would anyone like to speak in public comments at this time, as Mr. Jones is the only one that has registered to speak for this item. You can take a seat. Thank you.

You're welcome.

Being no more public comments at this time, we will now close the public hearing portion of this meeting. No one else has chosen to speak. And we'll move into our discussion items.

Discussion item 5A, a resolution of the mayor and the city council of the city of Doral, Florida, establishing the proposed operating military for fiscal year 26-27, the current yield rollback rate and the date, time, and place of the first and second public budget hearings as required by law. Accepting a proposed debt service military for fiscal year 26-27 for the general obligation bonds, parks and recreation projects series 2019 and 2021. Directing the city clerk and city manager to file said resolution with property appraiser Miami-Dade County pursuant to the requirements of Florida statutes and the rules and regulations of the Department of Revenue in the state of Florida and providing for an effective date.

All right, thank you very much. Madam city manager, the floor is yours.

Yes, good evening, mayor and council members. On July 1st, 2026, Miami-Dade County property appraiser, Tomas Regalado, certified the city of Doral's preliminary taxable value. Pursuant to section 200.065 of the Florida statutes, the city must, within 35 days of that certification, advise the property appraiser of its proposed millage rates the current year rollback rate, the date, time, and place of the public hearings at which the tentative millage rates and tentative budget will be considered. At tonight's meeting, the city administration is recommending a proposed operating millage rate of 1.5994 mils, which is equal to the current year rollback rate, together with a proposed depth service millage rate of 0.3600 mils. These rates are proposed for use in the truth in millage or trim notice process. Tonight's city council vote does not constitute final adoption of the city's millage rates. Final adoption will occur at the second and final budget public hearing scheduled for September 22nd, 2026 at 6 p.m. The administration arrived at this millage rate recommendation after months of careful analysis and collaboration among city departments. During this process, city staff evaluated projected revenues, operational needs, capital priorities, and the city's short and long-term financial obligations. The recommended millage rates reflect the administration's continued commitment to responsible stewardship. Throughout this budget development process, city staff have focused not only on identifying and implementing operational efficiencies, but also on developing alternative sources of recurring revenue to reduce the city's reliance on ad valorem tax revenues. These initiatives have already begun to strengthen the city's financial position. As a result, the proposed millage rates will allow the city to minimize the property tax burden on our residents and businesses while maintaining the lowest operating millage rate among Miami-Dade County municipalities. At the same time, the proposed rates will enable the city to continue prioritizing public safety, maintaining essential services, advancing its most important priorities, and protecting the quality of life and level of service that our community has come to expect. It is a recommendation that reflects a balanced and responsible approach and that protects Doral's taxpayers while preserving the city's long-term financial strength and its ability to continue to provide strong public safety and high quality municipal services. At this time, I will turn the presentation over to finance director Solangel Perez, who will present the proposed millage rates for the city council's consideration.

Thank you, Madam Manager.

Through the mayor? Yes. I just want to make a quick comment before we hear the presentation. I want to thank the administration, and I want to hear the presentation, but before we do that, I would like to make a motion to approve based on the recommendations.

Thank you, Councilman. Is there a second? Second. I know so. Okay, go ahead, Finance Director Solange. Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor, City Council members, Madam City Manager, City Attorney, Madam City Clerk, Solange Perez, Finance Director. We have prepared a presentation for Council on the City of Doral's 2026 tax roll. As stated by the City Manager, the Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser certified City of Doral's taxable value for the current fiscal year 2026 at approximately $22.6 billion. an increase of 780 million or 4% over the prior year 2025. Here in this slide, we show the historical millage rates adopted by the city for the last 14 years. This proposed budget for 2026-2027 was prepared with a millage rate of 1.5994, which is the proposed rolled back rate. For the current fiscal year 2025-26, Doral is the lowest operating millage rate in Miami-Dade County with 1.6912 mills. Using the 2026 tax rule, in this example, we illustrate that the current fiscal year 2025-26 millage rate of 1.6912 would generate 36.4 million in ad valorem tax revenues. That would represent an increase of approximately 4% over the current fiscal year 2026 revenues. Using the average Doral Homestead residential value of $356,893 and a millage rate of 1.6912, the average Doral homeowner would pay $603 in property taxes to the city. This millage would be 5.74% higher than the rollback rate. The current proposed rollback rate millage of 1.5994 would generate 34.4 million in ad valorem tax revenues, which represents a decrease in revenues of approximately 1.9 million compared to the revenues of levying a millage rate of 1.6912. using the same average Doral Homestead residential value of 356,893 and a millage rate of 1.5994, the average Doral homeowner would pay $570 in property taxes to the city. That represents a decrease of $32.77 when compared to the current millage rate of 1.6912. It is important to know that the rollback rate is the rate that generates the same amount of ad valorem tax revenues as what was generated the year before. In addition to the proposed millage rate, the city also has to levy a debt service millage to pay for the debt service of the two general obligation bonds series 2019 and 2021. To cover the annual debt service of 7.6 million, the city must levy a debt service millage of 0.3600. Using the average Doral Homestead residential value of 356,893, a debt service millage rate of 0.3600, the average Doral homeowner would pay approximately $128 to the city a decrease of $43 in property taxes when compared to the current fiscal year 2026 debt service millage rate of 0.4810. The recommended operating and debt service millage rates would result in the average Doral homeowner experiencing a total reduction of $75 in property taxes when compared to the current fiscal year 2026. Thank you and please advise of any questions at this time.

Thank you very much, Madam City Manager.

Mayor, that is our presentation. If you have any questions regarding the rates, like I said, this is not going to be, we are setting the ceiling today. We are starting the process that we have carried out since the city's been a city. And that will be, this will be decided, we will be doing two additional budget meetings, and a budget workshop, which is a very important part of this. And the budget workshops are scheduled for September 8 and September 22, like I said in my presentation.

Thank you very much. Do we have any questions? We have a motion by Councilman Pinedo and a second by Councilwoman Reynoso. Do we have any comments, questions? I have a quick question.

Yes, Councilwoman Porras. This is a question that I got asked if, I don't know, a financer or the city manager can answer. So adopting the rollback rate, as mentioned, is going to generate the same revenue as the previous year, correct?

That is correct.

So where does the $2 million figure come from?

It comes if the rate would have stayed flat because it would come from the assessed values, the rate, the height and assessed values.

Okay. So it would have been an additional 2 million if we would have kept the same rate. Correct. Okay. So we're essentially getting the same revenue as last year. We're not, I mean, and again, correct me if I'm wrong, but we're not I mean, we're losing out on $2 million, but it wasn't $2 million that was already something that we had. Because I've heard it be mentioned as the city is cutting $2 million from the budget, but it's actually we're losing out on $2 million by not keeping the same military.

Wow. That doesn't necessarily translate into what you just said. Remember that ad valorem is only a portion of our revenue. So our revenue, our ad valorem revenue is going down by $2 million. It doesn't mean that our other revenues are going down by that amount. So there could be compensation on that. And you will be able to see that once the budget is turned over to your offices at the beginning of August or Monday. Okay.

Yeah, I just wanted to clarify that because someone did ask. And again, I just wanted to make sure that we're still getting essentially we're operating within the same revenue that we received the past year moving on to this year.

For ad valorem. Yes.

Yes. For ad valorem.

Yes. You know, and I'll just mention, obviously, I'm happy to see that the rollback rate is the rate that's proposed. I think it's the highest rate that we can adopt with a simple majority. But, and I mentioned this to your office, I would like to see lower rates so that we can compare. Obviously, I would have liked to have seen them before this meeting. I know traditionally we haven't submitted military rates lower than the rollback rate, but we have compared and we've had something to compare with whatever was recommended. So like we always had the rollback rate which hasn't been adopted to my understanding in a couple of years. And so we always had to compare whatever was recommended with a lower rate, which was the rollback grade. So for me personally, I would like to see, and I know this is only the first hearing, I would like to see other alternatives that are lower than the rollback rate. So if the council is open to having the city manager's office bring forward one two as many you know alternatives as feasible for us to evaluate before the next opportunity for us to make a decision i don't know if that's something that i should make a motion on or if it's something that you know the council again is an agreement for the city manager to bring back to us

A motion's on the table already. So we need to entertain the motion that we currently have. If you're done with your comments, I think we can hear from the rest of the council. And if there's consensus, then the administration can proceed. If there's not, then we'll just continue with the motion that is currently on the table and what we're here to do today, which is set a ceiling I do have some comments on that once everyone has spoken. So does that conclude your comments?

So yes, I'm going to support the rollback rate because obviously it's the lowest rollback rate that's on the table for us right now. Again, I wish there were other alternatives lower than the rollback rate, but I would like to ask now and also after we take a vote for the council to consider having the city manager's office provide us with lower rates than the rollback rate, because right now what's on the table is the highest to my understanding that can be passed with three votes. So again, I'll support it, but I would like to hear from my colleagues to see if they're also on board with getting something from the city manager's office with lower rates. That's it.

If I may? Yes, Vice Mayor Cabral, go ahead. I most definitely support your advice. I really think that there should be room to show different scenarios from the city manager's office to give different alternative for us to evaluate and make the right decision for our residents. And for us too, because we are residents here as well. So we pay taxes like everybody else. One thing is that I would like the city attorney, if you could please explain a little bit about Florida Statute 200.71 and also a little bit about Florida Statute 200.065. I think that it's important that our residents understand a little bit more about the maximum millage rate that is up to when you don't have the majority. So the residents will be educated because I have received a overwhelmed text calls about that and they are really eager to understand.

The both statutes are one governs the first one that you mentioned 71 governs the setting of the millage rate and the other the budget. The final setting of the millage rate. The way that the law is today, and that's not what you're doing today, you're setting the ceiling. So at the end result, which will be, I think, September 21st.

22nd.

22nd. At that date, in order to pass the millage, if you want to pass it as a rollback rate, then it just needs a majority. If you want to do anything higher, then it may require additional votes, currently the way that the statute is set. the millage has to be passed before the budget is set, and that's just the way that it works. Now, at this point in time, all you're trying to do is trying to set that ceiling because what you can't do is once you have the first formal budget hearing is you can't set anything above that ceiling. So the ceiling is set there so that that way that's your worst-case scenario, and then you work down from that.

that answer your question no i mean it's not a question just to to educate the uh our residents um this is also what is right now the maximum cap if it doesn't reach the super majority within the vote that's not Right now, the rate that is capped on the state, if it doesn't reach the majority on the vote.

I'm not understanding your question, ma'am.

I know that there's a cap, or I guess that will be my question then when we get together again on the next meeting.

Ask your question again. What is it that you're...

I know that if it doesn't get to a certain amount of the majority to approve the minute rate, the cap, what will be? What is said by the... There's no cap.

There's no cap.

What is the amount, I mean, the military that it's already said, if it doesn't reach a super majority that the state has?

I don't understand what you mean.

I will explain my question on the next meeting so you will be able to understand. No, I will. ask you the, or I will get that information.

There's no cap and there's no cap for a super majority.

I will get that information. Okay. And I will share it. I will get that information. I will share it.

Any other questions?

Comments? Okay. I just want to clarify a couple of things real quick. So just to clarify the question or a question that's been asked in very simple terms. Today, can we adopt our current millage rate with a simple majority?

Are you addressing the question, Madam Mayor? Yes.

So with three boats, we can adopt today the ceiling rate of our current millage rate. We don't have to go to the borrower back rate. Not today. Perfect. Thank you. That was one question that I had to make sure. And to address some other comments. So I think that first I want to congratulate the administration and the work that the finance department has done, our CFO and our city manager and the entire staff. I know that every single department really did sharpen their pencils this year. And we talked about this during strategic planning. It's unfortunate that not every council member was able to be a part of our strategic planning this year. for the entire session but one of the things we talked about during the strategic planning session was doing providing the maximum amount of reductions we possibly could in preparation for what may happen at the state with the conversation of reduced um property taxes which would impact our collection and our revenues and so in preparation for that by the way we've been preparing for this for probably three years now um one of the main reasons that uh we brought on uh our city manager was because one of our main priorities or at least i can speak for myself and i know two other members of this council was to create revenue generating assets Why? Because we need to find new revenue to supplement the burden that we have on our taxpayers. And over and over again, and at least, again, I can speak for myself, sitting on this day is four times I voted to reduce our millage rate. And so we have actively made a conscious effort to reduce our millage rate when possible in a responsible manner. Because as Mr. Jones very well pointed out, nothing is free. And so living in a city like ours where the services are exceptional, our parks are exceptional, and truly something that I think our residents value highly because of the work that our staff does, all of that requires us to have responsible governance and to have a revenue stream that will cover these costs. And one of the statements that was made today was that we are not losing $2 million because we never had that $2 million. Well, we are losing the $2 million because maintaining the millage rate we currently had would have allowed us to recover the property taxes based on evaluation. And everybody who runs a business or runs a household understands that every year your costs go up. And so it is no different for the city. Our insurance rates have gone up. Our Our employees are constantly trying to be poached or we are competing with the private sector. So we do provide cola and merit increases. Our FPL bill goes up just like the, just like our residents. So there's a lot of things that, and our residents also as very well have been accustomed to receiving great services. All of those things have a cost. Now, we've been absolutely blessed in the city of Doral with the growth, the organic growth that we've had and that the valuations have gone up. But just this year, we saw a tremendous decrease in that evaluations, whereas the valuation, the tax valuation of our city has historically gone up between seven and 10 percent this year. It only went up about four point five percent. Correct me if I'm wrong. Somebody from finance. 3.6. They went up 3.6. So we saw a tremendous reduction in that alone, which means we're not seeing those increases as we have historically seen. Now, there's still redevelopment and things happening in the city of Toronto. One of the things I want to point out, and I'm very proud of our staff for doing is, while we are not receiving those 2 million that we would have received in maintaining the same millage rate, we have been able to find ways to increase our revenue in other ways, right, without burdening our taxpayers. But we have looked at fees and things that we could evaluate and continue to utilize in replacing These funds, you know, something that we talked about last year when it was discussed to reduce or to go to the rollback rate last year was it was the first year of Doral Central Park's full year of operations. Um, so that means staffing needed to be done. We were really going off of, um, projections that we knew may come from revenue streams and expenditures. We have now been able to see a full year of operations of central park. Um, thanks to the great work of our new parks director, we've consolidated events. Um, they've really streamlined fees and processes. So there's been cost recovery. And so we have a better understanding of what it'll take to operate and run and generate revenue, just like any well balanced minded business owner would do before making these types of decisions i think it's extremely irresponsible in the same token in this year while we are taking the recommendation of staff to go to the rollback rate which we said we would do regardless of what happened at the state in our strategic planning session we would provide relief to taxpayers this year as we did last year too by the way because we did lower the millage rate a percentage we provided um seniors in automatic grant, those who qualified for senior homestead exemptions. And we did the Doral Hardship Grant, so taking all those things into consideration. We did Doral SEEDS. We did a lot of things we had never done before. We knew that there was going to be an opportunity to review and to study giving more relief to our residents this year. And so that was discussed at that strategic planning session. And I'm sorry, the two members of the council weren't there for that discussion. So this is something that has been considered and why the staff worked so hard to come to this meeting. proposed millage rate and the proposed budget, which we will see August 1st, which is traditionally how this process has always worked for 20 years, 25 years of the city, 24 years that the city has been doing this, at least for the past, 14 that I've been doing it, that's the way it's always done. We don't see the budget until August 1st. Then we have independent meetings. Then we have our budget workshop. We come to terms and we agree to disagree or we agree to agree on what the balanced budget will be. But I think today, like last year, was irresponsible to go to a certain rate without having a full understanding of the city's one of the largest city's assets being in full operation. I think today is irresponsible to go anything under the rollback rate because of the ballot measure that's going to be taking effect potentially in November or before voters decide on Amendment 3 in November. Why? We are already analyzing the impacts that that will have to the city, which over five years will have about a $9 million impact to our ad valorem. So it is irresponsible at this time, in my opinion, and I hope that I have the support of our council on this, to really even consider anything less until we know what will happen, because then we will be preempted, basically, to make that determination based on the numbers provided by the homesteaded exempted properties that will fall under this new law. reflecting a significant reduction in our ad valorem so the staff will be making a presentation which i asked for at the last council meeting and then deferred to the budget workshop because they were working on everything else and so they kindly asked can we do this during the budget workshop so during the budget workshop it is my understanding by the way i haven't seen it either yet um they are working on a presentation that will show us what would be the impacts Should this budget measure, should this ballot measure pass? What would be the impacts to our budget? That already is an analysis that we'll have to take into consideration if that happens. So I think this year, the responsible thing to do is take the recommendation of the rollback rate, which we had already been working on, providing relief to taxpayers. And then we will review the proposal of Amendment 3 and how that will impact. And then the following year, if that is something that does take into effect, we'll have to meet the requirements of that and we'll have to make those adjustments. And then we'll have to sit down and look at the five-year effects to the city moving forward. By then, hopefully many of the asset revenue, uh, the revenue generating assets that we have already set in motion will come online and the city won't be as impacted as maybe some others will be because we are prepared because we have prepared as a city, um, and as leaders of this community to provide tax relief in a responsible manner. So at this time, I think that we have really taken leadership in this in this role of providing relief. I don't know of any other municipality at this time that is making the significant reduction we are. By the way, it's not just a reduction in our minute rate. There's also a reduction in our bond. millage. So it is a double reduction. So it's actually lower already than what our rollback rate is. If you take into consideration as well, the bond millage, it is an even lower reduction. So I'm comfortable with the recommendation. I'm comfortable with the motion on the table. I think that the work that we're doing here today of setting the ceiling is a responsible one. And then we can have all other discussions once we see the presentation, which I think is significant enough of what the proposed amendment three effects will be to our city's financial sustainability to the future and its impact should it pass this coming year. So at this time, if there's no additional questions or comments, I will have the city clerk call the question, and then we will adjourn the meeting and come back in our budget workshops to hear the analysis that staff is already preparing. I have some comments. Okay, go ahead, and then we're going to call the question.

Yes, I just want to be clear, and I want to clarify a lot of the things that are being said. So the first question is, and I think we all know by now that the first military hearing or meeting is to set a ceiling. Just because it's to set a ceiling doesn't mean we can't consider alternative rates right now. Personally, I would like to have that information now to compare it. Does it mean that I'm going to vote to adopt it? Not necessarily, but I would like to see options. The second thing is, and to the attorney, under the new law, What is the maximum millage rate that can be adopted by a city with only three votes?

Currently, I mean.

Not today. In general. It is a statement, a question.

I'm assuming by three votes you mean by the majority. Yes. Okay. The majority, the new statute requires that if for a simple majority, it is the rollback rate. Okay. But that's for the final millage.

So again, the statement is accurate, has been accurate. The maximum allowable millage rate that we can adopt with a simple majority, because even if we, let's say adopted the current millage rate today, if there's only three votes at the last hearing, the only millage rate that can be adopted with those three votes is the rollback rate. So that statement is true. Whether it's today or later, at the end of the day, if there's only three votes to support the same millage trade, it's not going to pass because the law now mandates that. That's one thing. Two, I was definitely part of strategic planning. I'm not sure who the other two that didn't go are. Just on the record, in fact, I'm in one of the photos. Proof. You only showed up for the photo, actually. When I was there, there was only three of us. So, I mean... At some point, I think some of us came in and out too, not just me. Um, let's see the other thing, the $2 million. I mean, I personally, I don't know how you can make a statement that we're losing $2 million when that was never guaranteed. I understand that, you know, maybe the expectation was to hopefully keep the same millage rate, but it's not, it's never guaranteed. Like every year we have to set a different millage rate. It could be more, it could be less. I don't know why we're relying on more revenue than the current year that we have. I think that we have to start learning on how to live or operate within the revenue that we receive, especially if this amendment passes. I think it's a good exercise. I think it's also a good exercise what the new law is having us do, which is, I believe, Mr. Attorney, correct me if I'm wrong, that the city is going to have to come back and show us alternatives of what a budget with a 10% reduction would look like.

So that particular part of the law doesn't go into effect until January 1st, 2027. So it would be for next year, not for this year.

Okay. Yeah. So, you know, I think it's a good exercise right now to start looking at all these things. Again, I'm not saying I would have voted for a lower rate, but I'm saying I would like to see that information before the final hearing. I would have liked to have seen it today. I would like to see it before even the first hearing. It's something that I think we should be able to consider. I honestly don't know what the real basis for not giving us that option alternatives to look at is, but I mean, it doesn't make sense to me. I don't think we should wait last year. You know, there was criticism about not preparing early enough. Now we're too proactive. I, you know, we really do personally, I really do want to take my time and look at all the options, look at the budget. And I wanted to start early this year. There's nowhere that, in our policies, in our charter that says that we have to wait until a certain date for us to, I mean, from my understanding, that we have to wait to receive data that's already available. My understanding is the city already has a fiscal analysis of the potential impact of if this amendment passes, but it's not being shared. Just so you guys know, other municipalities have already done this, are already working on it. Personally, I would like to have that information, but I'm not here to fight that anymore. I think I already made my opinion on that clear. The city manager and I had a discussion on that. But again, I just want to be more transparent and truthful to the residents. Again, I'm going to vote to support it. because it's the only rate, the lowest rate that I see here, and I'm hoping that we can see other alternative rates.

Okay, any other comments, questions? Yes, Councilman Pinero.

Allow you to make a comment, go ahead. Thank you, Mayor. I just want to clarify something special for the residents because, you know, everything that we have a discussion about budget or property taxes, I know residents get confused between, you know, when we speak about rollback, the millage rate, property taxes, and so on. So, and I have been at least part of the budget process here at the City of Dorado property taxes discussion since 2014 and for a couple of years now as a council member. And what residents really need to understand is that for the first time in years, Actually, I think it's the first time in history that we're lowering taxes two consecutive years. If you go to you can correct me. I think it's the first time in history that we're doing it consecutively. Yeah. So we have never done it in 23 years. So what that means is that you should feel proud of the administration that you have right now in front of you and the one that we work with. I know sometimes it's hard for some of my colleagues to understand how budget works and how property taxes are really, how the impact is when we speak about property taxes, because that's another thing that unfortunately we don't do a good job when we speak about elected officials and explaining to the residents. Every time that you hear a resident complaining about how much I pay in property taxes, which I agree is pretty high when it comes to property taxes. Look at the number. This year was out of your property taxes. The city only received an average $600. Probably you paid $7,000 in property taxes, and we only received $600. Next year, we're looking at receiving, what, $570 average. And probably you're going to be paying, hopefully, less because in November, as the mayor stated, There's going to appear on the November's ballot the proposal for property tax reform, which I support, by the way. And I don't mind saying it in this council meeting, but I support a property tax reform. I stated in public, I sent a statement to the residents, and I hope that it pass. But as the mayor stated, we don't know the impact. Well, we kind of know what's going to be the impact, which, by the way, that's another reason as residents why we should feel proud of the city that we have, because right now we're the city that really less depends on property taxes countywide. Again, we're the city that, and I look at Fernando's face. Am I right? Sort of. Close. Medley, maybe. Oh, Medley. There you go. So, but again, we're in a very good position, fiscally speaking. That doesn't mean that we can always look for other ways to keep reducing taxes. But again, in 23 years is the first time that for a second consecutive year, we will be reducing taxes to our residents. That's the bottom line. That's what residents really need to understand, that you have a great government thinking about you, thinking about the future, and that's why I think it really makes sense to wait until what happens in November. I mean, we can play with numbers all where you want, but it will be very irresponsible right now to make a decision that is different of the one that we're making today and next time because this is what really makes sense right now. Next year will be a different story, but we have to wait until next year. So that's why I placed the motion right away because I had discussed this with the administration and I feel comfortable in something that again, that it makes sense right now. So I'm not changing my motion. I wanna thank the administration staff because again for another year you guys have done a great great job and just for the record last year we approved i know it was three to two reducing taxes to you to us as residents and i'm very confident that we will do it again because we're an administration and a government that makes sense so i yield the floor

Thank you, Councilman. I have a comment.

Yes, go ahead, Councilwoman. Madam, through the chair, Madam Manager, could you please explain why did we have to go back to the rollback rate last year that something was vote, and then we had to sit down again, and we have to vote again?

We didn't go to the rollback rate last year.

Ma'am, we did not go to the rollback rate last year.

Last year, we didn't have the supermajority, and that's why we have to go to the one point. And this year, I mean, I want to, and I know that the Councilwoman Porras, she asked a question that what was by the Department of Revenue, the maximum millage rate for the City of Doral through this year that can be approved without requiring the supermajority. What is that number?

Okay, last year there was a completely different process in place for figuring out the 420 maximum millage that we had to compute. We adopted to remain flat and then we came back because we had misread the form and we had to adopt a lower rate, which we did. That was not the rollback rate.

But that rate was

The 1.69 we have now. Yes.

So what I wanted to make clear is that in my case, I didn't support it. It's because I truly believe that there's other ways that we could lower our millage rate. Even though that was lower, we can go even lower. And on this time, I still stand for it. So ma'am, just to clarify.

So the rates, are set at this day is they are policy decisions. They're not administrative decisions. We come up here, we make recommendations and you vote and tell us what you want to see. So I, while I am very comfortable with that arrangement, I think it's a wonderful thing. And this is what we do every time I take the recommendations that I make and my staff and I take the recommendations that we make very seriously. I have done, I think we have done an excellent job this year at providing tax relief. As we did last year, we found savings, we figured out how to do it, and we did again this year. That is what we set out to do. If the council is comfortable with our recommendation, then I'm happy to provide it. If I thought that there was a better recommendation in place that could be made to go lower, I would have made that recommendation. We are now making that recommendation. We feel that the rollback rate is the recommendation that is correct for the city without putting the city at risk, without doing anything that will jeopardize its future. And that's what I stand by. But again, it is in my decision.

It's yours. Thank you, Madam Manager. Okay, so we're going to call a question right after. I just want to make one statement also is that, you know, there's been an incredibly amount of misleading comments that have been made too and happens quite often. So here's, again, the city followed the process that's followed for 24 years on how we move forward with setting the ceiling, providing a millage rate that is workable for staff to provide a balanced budget. We all get to see the budget with plenty of time. We get to have independent meetings. We get to have workshops. It starts with our strategic planning session. So this is a process that's been taking place for some time now. Information is available to all of us, not just online as it is to the public, but through the administration providing any information that is readily available. Staff does not work for one individual council member. Staff works for the body. So they provide information that is necessary for us to do our jobs. But we also have staff that does work for us directly. So, Councilwoman, if you felt that you needed additional millage rates, it's very simple to take a millage rate that you feel you would be comfortable with. plug it into a formula on Excel, take the valuation that was provided to us by the property appraiser's office, which is, I believe your office has, you take it in there and you put in the calculation, you take the revenue, you take the evaluation times the number, times the millage rate at 1,000 of the SS value, and it gives you, pops out a formulation of what your ad valorem revenue for the city would be. To balance a budget, in case you don't know, is you take the revenue of the city, right, which is provided of that ad valorem, and then you take the expenditures. And then if you have suggested expenditures you would like to cut so that we could come and get to a balanced budget with your proposed millage rate, you're welcome to do that. I believe it's a pretty simple formula that can be done through Excel if your staff would like to prepare that for you. Here's the thing. Nobody proposed going to the rollback rate in 2023-2024 when you had the majority. You didn't propose it. Neither did Vice Mayor Cabral. How convenient that we are proposing it. Here's the difference. I wouldn't have proposed it in a time when I'm in election because I don't play politics with the city's financial stability.

Excuse me, I have the floor. I have the floor. No, I'm sorry. I don't have the floor. And we gave $1.5 million to our residents and business at that time.

You're out of order, Vice Mayor. So please control yourself. Very coincidentally, there was no proposal to go to a lower millage rate in 2023, 2024. I won't play politics with the city's financial stability. I won't play politics with the services we provide our residents. We are here to do the responsible thing, not something that you believe is popular, will gain you votes, or will give you talking points for your campaign. So I'm very sorry, but I think that we've all been here to do, we are here to do the right thing, the responsible thing, but it's very convenient that this is a proposal last year and this year when you don't control the majority.

so with that madam clerk please go ahead and call the role please go ahead and call the role motion to approve a proposed operating military for fiscal year 2627 the current year rollback rate and the two budget hearing dates made by councilman pineda seconded by councilman reynoso councilman pineda yes councilman reynoso yes councilman porras yes vice mayor no mayor yes motion passes okay motion passing a motion to adjourn

Okay, so you're afraid of a response.

This happened last year. You make comments, but you're afraid of a response. Just say it. I mean, you make very accusatory comments and then you don't want anyone to respond. I'm happy to respond to your comments. Hopefully during the budget hearing, I won't be limited in silence like I was last year. Hopefully we'll have a real honest discussion, but don't be afraid of a back and forth

Nobody is afraid of a back and forth, but this is not a time for debate.

I'm very happy to answer your questions, your remarks.

My recommendation is that you follow Robert's rules of order.

Hopefully that we can have a real discussion during the hearing.

Councilwoman, I understand your frustrations.

Yeah, you just like to silence people because you don't want to hear a response.

You're clearly speaking right now. You're clearly speaking right now. If you allow me, I can respond to you. Will you allow me to respond to you? Everybody has their two minutes to speak. We've already made it. Two minutes? I'm sorry. Everybody has their two rounds of five minutes to speak. Okay, so you are silencing me? Nobody is silencing me. Because that's all you can do. When you come prepared during the budget workshop.

And so you control what gets said and you like to have the last word, make accusations, but you don't like the responses. I get it.

I get it. No councilman. The only one that's made accusations up here. is you with what you're saying about the administration. Don't be afraid of a response. I'm never afraid of a response. Happy to do it anytime. But we've made a motion. It's passed at this time. Anything else would be out of order. My recommendation would be to follow Robert's rules of order. We have a motion to adjourn. We have a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. This meeting is adjourned. Thank you very much. And we'll see you back for our August council meeting and budget workshop. Thank you very much.

Thank you.