City Budget: The Squeeze Begins

The great debate about funding the Fernandina Beach 2024-2025 budget is about to begin at its usual starting point: there won't be enough money to pay for everything the city needs.

City commissioners will meet July 30 to set the millage rate that city property owners will be assessed to keep the lights on, repair and maintain facilities, and provide services.

And, it's an election year with Mayor Bradley Bean and Vice Mayor David Sturges seeking another term on the commission. That of course means not upsetting voters with a property tax increase.

Interim City Manager Jeremiah Glisson Tuesday previewed city staff's recommendation of a "modified rollback rate" formula for 2024-2025. A "modified rollback rate" protects property owners with homestead exemptions and would raise another $580,000 in revenue over a "rollback rate" assessment. If approved, the modified rollback rate would be a 3% reduction in the millage rate over the previous year and would generate $19.4 million.

Glisson previewed what that tax rate would fund and budget considerations the city faces in 2024-2025 in setting the millage rate.

Funding would include:

• Streets/Sidewalks: $955,000
• Atlantic Rec Center improvements: $572,862
• Waterfront seawall (state grant): $2,000,000
• Amelia Island Lighthouse (state grant): $630,000
• City Hall improvements: $125,000
• Downtown revitalization and improvements: $1,230,543
• Police/Fire radios: $935,288

Glisson also highlighted areas the commission needed to address when setting the millage rate, which includes:

• The municipal golf course, which is budgeted to receive a $890,000 subsidy from the general fund to keep it running. "Increasing expenses without corresponding revenues is putting the golf course in a deficit," Glisson said.
• The addition of 6.5 employees to the city staff (16.5 employees had been requested). Staffing changes in the General Fund include two additional police officers, one additional cyber security technician, and downtown manager. Staffing changes within other funds are the addition of two positions within the wastewater division. Other staffing changes (non-financial) are related to the re-organization of several departments to streamline reporting and improve efficiencies.
• No additional firefighters are included in the proposed budget. "This is something we need to talk about. There was commission support to fund the increase in public safety. This budget does not have this money for the firemen."
• No replacement for beach boardwalks. At least three beach walkovers were recommended to be built in 2025 by the Beach Access Committee in 2021.
• Increasing backlog in street resurfacing. There is $230,000 less for resurfacing in the 2024-2025 budget. "We need to address how we're going to pave those," Glisson told commissioners.
• Increased expenses for city maintenance of facilities and properties.

Ad valorem property taxes account for 67.2% of the city general fund revenues in 2024-2025. Personnel and operating expenses account for 57% of the funds necessary to run the city.

According to the draft budget, personnel costs will rise by 9.8% over the previous year for 296 fulltime employees.

Along with the general fund subsidy to the golf course, the draft budget shows a $686,000 transfer to support the city marina operations.

City commissioners imposed the rollback rate for 2023-2024 and in the process eliminated funding a number of projects. That budget was salvaged when city officials discovered an additional $841,222 that was surplus in the reserve fund that was transferred into the city’s general fund.

The city has scheduled the following budget meetings:

August 6-7 – Budget workshops

September 3 – Special meeting (budget hearing)

September 17 – Special meeting (final budget hearing)

The new budget begins on October 1, 2024.