Weekly comments from Dale Martin

Dale Martin
City Manager
Fernandina Beach
October 6, 2017 1:00 a.m.

The City’s new fiscal year began October 1. The budget for the year was approved by the City Commission shortly before then, on September 19, following the second of two public hearings on the proposed budget.

To refresh, the City’s tax rates were reduced. The operating levy went from 6.0682 mills to 6.0000 mills, and the voter-approved debt service millage fell from 0.2362 mills to 0.2097 mills, making the total millage levied 6.2097 mills. In more easy to understand language, that means for every $1,000 of taxable value of your home you will pay $6.21 in City property taxes. Remember that of your total tax bill, City taxes are usually about a third, with County and School District taxes comprising the bulk of the remaining balance.

General Fund expenditures, which are funded primarily by property tax revenues, equal $21.2 million. These expenditures are mostly personnel and operating costs, with approximately fifty percent of the expenditures related to public safety.

Another sizeable category of expenditures (separate from the General Fund’s $21.2 million) are capital expenditures. The proposed capital expenditures for this year total $4.2 million. While General Fund revenues may support most of the capital expenditures, other funding is received from loans, leases, County, State, and Federal sources.

Capital expenditures within the budget include funding for the Alachua Street rail crossing, sidewalk replacement, and street resurfacing and striping. The City, under the guidance of Finance Department staff, will continue its transition to the next module of software, the cost of which is another capital expenditure. The roof at the Police Station (Lime Street) will be replaced. Additional downtown amenities will be installed (sidewalks, lights, benches, etc.).

Several recreation components are funded as capital improvements. Projects include the redevelopment of the waterfront park, beach access (walkover) replacements (35S and 40), beach renourishment efforts, and improvements at the Atlantic Recreation Center, the Martin Luther King, Jr. facility, and the Peck Center. Improvements at Buccaneer Field (Central Park) are also funded.

New equipment includes a dump truck and a grader for the Streets Department. A fire boat is included in the Capital Improvement Plan, but the funding source for that is solely dependent upon securing Federal grant assistance- no grant, no boat. The Fire Department will obtain a new rescue unit. Both the Fire Department and the Police Department will receive new radios in order to be compatible with County radio systems.

Additional capital expenditures are allocated for information technology, new sidewalks, athletic equipment, beach shade structures, and cemetery improvements, including a long-desired columbarium. The maintenance and the operation of the cemetery has been neglected for several years, and, as a key historic asset to the community, demands significant re-investment. I plan to work with several interested parties in order to determine how to appropriately plan and fund short- and long-term improvements.

The Airport and the Marina will see substantial capital investment this year. Construction of the Airport terminal has begun, and repairs to the fuel system at the Marina, following the repurposing of State grant funds and City Commission approval, will begin shortly. The next significant repair (replacement) at the Marina will be the southern attenuator, followed by the removal of the southern docks to prepare for dredging and realignment.

The City’s Capital Improvement Plan is an effort to anticipate capital expenditures for the next five years. It is a document subject to change as the needs and desires of the community change. With all of the projects listed above, it will be an exciting year to manage all of the capital improvements.