Submitted by Adam Kaufman
On Special Assignment
July 27, 2015 9:24 p.m.
Adjusts Capital Improvement Plan
Establishes revenue estimates
At its regularly scheduled evening meeting, July 27, 2015 the Nassau County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted to tentatively set the total county millage rate at no higher than its current level for the fiscal year 2015 – 2016. The millage rate for this fiscal year 2014- 2015 was set at 6.567 after the County had maintained a 5.567 rate level for the prior seven years. The 6.567 tentative millage rate set at the Commission meeting may be decreased as the County Commissioners continue budget deliberations but it cannot be raised.
There was no debate or discussion with only Commissioner Kelly questioning County staff to emphasize that the millage rate remains the same.
The first public hearing for the 2015- 2016 budget will be Thursday, September 10, 2015 to be held at the Page Governmental Complex at 6pm.
In an afternoon Special Session the County Commission made adjustments in its Capital Improvement Program. The Commissioners unanimously agreed to remove a $2,000,000 from an allocation for the purchase of a chiller at the County Jail and return that money to the One Cent Sales Tax fund dedicated to capital projects. The Commission budgeted the remaining $346,000 for maintenance of the existing air conditioning system. The County Manager will be exploring a pilot project with Florida Public Utilities that would provide a natural gas powered cooling system for that facility at little or no cost to the County.
The Commissioners agreed to adjustments in the CIP deleting $76,000 for two boat ramps that have been determined to be eligible for state funding and adjusting an allocation for the purchase of kitchen equipment at the jail.
The Commissioners agreed to reestablish the position of Technical Services/Network Manager at a total cost of $100,000 for salary and benefits. The County has been sharing the services of the IT Director employed by the Board of Elections but it was acknowledged that the work load has now become prohibitive and the arrangement can no longer continue. The County has 42 sites that require information technology maintenance and assistance.
At the Special Session the Commission also approved for inclusion in the budget the County Budget Director’s estimates of Debt Service and Ad Valorem Tax receipts and the One Cent Sales Tax receipts for 2015 -2016 at 96.3% and 99% respectively of estimates provided by the State of Florida. Given a ten year budget history the Commission believes that the estimates were well within an acceptable range and are below what the actual receipts for 2014 – 2015 are projected to be.
It was agreed that the County would go ahead and purchase a new Fire Department Rescue vehicle. From submission of the purchase order until delivery may be as long as one year. The redeployment of existing rescue vehicles will discussed at future Commission meetings.
County Clerk John A. Crawford was present at both sessions.
Adam Kaufman is a semi-retired mediator and attorney. A graduate of Northwestern University School of Law, he was born and raised in the Bronx, NY. and attended NYC public schools, including Stuyvesant High School. He still serves on the American Arbitration Association Labor Panel. From 1994 – 2005, he was Regional Director for the New York State Public Employment Relations Board.
If the 6.567 millage rate holds, I am sure that some of the commissioners will say that they didn’t raise taxes. However, with an average property value increase of almost 6% maintaining the same millage rate will raise the amount of taxes paid by the average property owner. The rollback rate was 6.3410 (the millage rate required to bring in the same amount of property tax income as the previous year) – so an effective increase of almost 23 basis points.
Sounds exactly like the tactic that Mr. Poynter will be employing on our city budget.
It was nice to see Mr Crawford at the County Commissioners Meeting. Thank you Mr Crawford.