City of Margate Meeting Minutes Mayor Tommy Ruzzano Vice Mayor Arlene R. Schwartz Commissioners: Antonio V. Arserio, Anthony N. Caggiano, Joanne Simone City Manager Cale Curtis City Attorney Weiss Serota Helfman Cole & Bierman City Clerk. Jennifer M. Johnson  57901 Margate Boulevard Margate, FL33063 954-972-6454 www.margatefl.com  OF  City Commission Budget Workshop  Tuesday, July 9, 2024  4:00PM  Commission Chambers and Zoom.us Webinar ID: 885:29743545  tps.luso2webzoom.S/88529743545  CALLTOORDER ROLL CALL  Present: 5- Commissioner Anthony N. Caggiano, Commissioner Joanne Simone, Commissioner  Antonio V. Arserio, Vice Mayor Arlene R. Schwartz and Mayor Tommy Ruzzano  MOMENT OF SILENCE-INVOCATION PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 1) PRESENTATIONS)  A. ID2024-208 FY2024-2025 BUDGET WORKSHOP  CITY MANAGER CALE CURTIS explained thep protocol for the City Commission Budget Workshop. He extended his thanks and gratitude to all the stafft that was involved with putting this together and saidt thatt they! had done ane excellent jobH keeping expenditures in line and believed thatt the City had a very solid budget for consideration. BUDGET MANAGER, DECIA A. SMITH-BURKE, welcomed everyone toi the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Proposed Budget (PB) Workshop where she provided al PowerPoint presentation. She gave ana analogy oft the PB which she likened tot the Olympics and explained thati its foundation was built and served ont four purposes; as a Policy Document, Operations Guide, Financial Plan andt the Communications Device. She highlighted that the City had received the Distinguish Budget Award from the Government Financial Officer's Association for thel lasts seven years which satisfied 25 criteria under those four purposes. Sher mentioned that Broward County Property Appraiser (BCPA) Kiar attended the last City Commission meeting and provided detailed information regarding property values and homeowner protection. She highlighted Margate's property values and millage rate ands saidt that it was proposedt to remain at7.1171 and that their debt service millage would slightly decrease by. .0337 mills with savings of approximately COMMISSIONER. ANTONIO V. ARSERIO highlighted that since 2020, their overall  $159,000.  Cityo ofM Margate  Page 1  Printed on7 7/31/2024 9:37AM    City Commission Budget Workshop  Meeting Minutes  July 9,2024  millage had decreased every year.  BUDGETI MANAGER, SMITH-BURKE, explained that the taxable values andt the millage rates were used to calculate the tax revenue and for FY2025 PB, iti included an increase tot the estimated revenue of 9.3% which was based on BCPA's. July 1st values. She indicated that although the City had budgeted approximately $2,900,0001 in additional ad valorem revenue, the change inp property values also resulted in ani increase in the payment over $600,0001 tot the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) for FY2025. She said that this would resulti int the net change in ad valorem revenue to the General Fund of $2,300,000. She advised that the property values increased again this year but Margate was lower than the average in Broward County and that 8%, which was al little of 1,600 Margate residents, paid no ad valorem taxes. Shes said that after listening to BCPA Kiar, another prospective was that Margate was one oft the only cities in Broward County (BC) to offer the additional exemption for Low Income Senior Exemption of She continued to discuss the average Homestead Single Family home values which was based on tax year 2024's July average values and FY2024 adopted millage rates for comparative cities and Margate was thes second lowesti in dollar amount oft taxes behind the City of Sunrise. She continued" to go through Margate's comparisons whichi included that the City received less than one third of 32% oft total property taxes for an average Single Family Homei that had a $50,000 Homestead exemption. She advised thatt the FY2025 PB was approximately $265,000,000 which was a 34.27% increase from the FY2024 amended budget which was due primarily toi the Water and Wastewater Renewal and Replacement Fund utility projects which was dependent ont the $68,000,000 approval oft bond funds. She advised that the General Fund (GF) deficit decreased to its lowest level int the last several years at $1,760,000. She said that the PB GF was al little over $79,000,000. She readi through and highlighted a summary of GF Revenues and Expenditures. She said that the overall expenditures had decreased slightly by. 11%. She explained that their ad valorem revenue taxes were increasing to 9.17% and that overalle expenditures have increased slightly by. .86%, mainly due to a combination ofa reduction from thep prior year for one time capital purchase of fire engine and other equipment as well as personal services increasing as a result of anticipated contractual COMMISSIONER. ARSERIO requested information ont the sales tax. BUDGET MANAGER, SMITH-BURKE, said thati it was located ine entry governmental. VICE MAYOR. ARLENE R. SCHWARTZ was concerned that the FY2025 PB of $79,000,000 hadi increased by $13,000,000 since FY2022. COMMISSIONER. ARSERIO reminded Vice Mayor Schwartz that the same question was brought up lasty year ande explained that the City budgeted for itb but they do not necessarily spendi ita and referenced some of Margate's parks.  $25,000.  obligations, FRS and! health insurance changes.  Discussion ensued. ab breakdown of all the revenues.  FINANCE DIRECTOR, ISMAEL DIAZ, advised that Page 13 of the FY2025 PB books had BUDGET MANAGER, SMITH-BURKE, continued with her PowerPoint slide and said that ad valorem revenue accounted for approximately- 42.49% oft the GF which was primarily due toi increases int taxable values. She explained that expenditures for public safety  Cityo of Margate  Page2  Printed on7 7/31/2024 9:37AM    City Commission Budget Workshop  Meeting Minutes  July 9,2024  continued to make up the majority of the GF at 56% although there was a very small decrease from 2024. She highlighted thata as Margate was at full service City, personnel services accounted for 73% oft the GF budget. She readt through the list of departments' GF capital items as well as fori ther next FY. She advised that allt the projects under Capital Improvement Project (CIP) were all rebudgeted which were subject to change and MAYOR TOMMY RUZZANO questioned ift there would be any money left after the Parks BUDGET MANAGER, SMITH-BURKE, explained that alli funds were int the Parks Bond Projects and that $10,000 would remain which currently was not allocated. CITY MANAGER CURTIS advised that what was on the sheet was the balance of what COMMISSIONER ARSERIO questioned ift the CIP's Centennial Park was as scaled back CITY MANAGER CURTIS confirmed itv was but it had been deprioritized based on feedback from the community and that Oriole Park! hadr moved upi int the rankings for upgrades and whatever was leftover, they wouldl look at allocating towards improvements Discussion ensued on improvements tot the City's Parks and whether any remaining BUDGET MANAGER, SMITH-BURKE, detailed the Enterprise Funds Infrastructure Improvements for Stormwater and Department of Environmental and Engineering Services  that the Parks Bond Projects were all currently ongoing.  bond.  was remaining tol be spent.  plan.  at Centennial Park.  funds could be usedf for Calypso Cove.  (DEES).  Discussion ensued ons stormwater lines.  COMMISSIONER. ARSERIO referenced the drinking water and questioned whether the city that Margate serviced would have to buyi ito outi ift they decided tol leave. CITYI MANAGER CURTIS confirmed thatt the City did own thel lines and ift they were to separate, they woulde enteri intos some form of separation agreement that would açcount  for that. Discussion ensued.  BUDGET MANAGER, SMITH-BURKE, advised that the objective oft this PB Workshop was tor reach CONSENSUS on the millage rate ceiling for FY2025. She repeated thati it was proposed to leave the operating millage at7 7.1171 and the debt service millage was decreasing to. 0337. She advised that the next steps were for the City Commission to set ther millage rate ceiling, put outt the budget message andt the full budget package would be submitted tot the City by August 15th as required andt then the first public hearing would be on! Monday September 9th, 2024 at 5:01pm and the second public hearing would be on Wednesday September 18th, ate 6:00pm. She advised thati the millage rate would be certified int the Department of Revenue system to be includedi ini the COMMISSIONER. ANTHONY N. CAGGIANO askedi ifh he could make a motion to accept  Truth in Millage (TRIM) notices that were mailedi in August.  City ofMargate  Page: 3  Printed on7 7/31/2024 9:37AM    City Commission Budget Workshop  Meeting Minutes  July 9,2024  the! lower millage rate as in the paperwork.  CITY MANAGER CURTIS explained in thet firsti instance, he needed to get CONSENSUS on setting the maximum millage rate at 7.1161 which was thes same rate thati ith had been COMMISSIONER CAGGIANO asked for CONSENSUS to make the millage rate 7.5667 COMMISSIONER ARSERIO said that he was in support of keeping the millage rate the same and overall, ith had decreased once again and said that the taxes had continued to go down since 2020. He referenced BCPA's Kiar's recent attendance at the City Commission meeting and advised thati ift the residents' tax bill had increased, that was duet to either the! home value increasing or another government entity raised their taxes. He wouldI like toi inject more money into the City's Property Improvement Grant Program (PIP) anda a separate one for Homeowners Associations (HOA). He said that he would like to allocate approximately $50,0001 for Police enforcements for speeding ins school zones. He thanked the staff and said thatt they did a good job with the budget. MAYOR RUZZANO questionedi ift the City still had the damages of approximately over $1,000,000 which was received from al lawsuit against BC in 2015/2016. He said thati the Finance Department did a great) job, referenced Commissioner Arserio's comments and said that whent they did the budget, they could nip, pick and pull. He indicated that! he hadr no problem with agreeing tot the millage rate as ity was presented. CITYMANAGER CURTIS confirmed thatt there was approximately $800,0001 from the CPI fund. He explained about the Budget Workshops ifa additional time was needed. He repeated if there was a general protocol for CONSENSUS tol keep the operating millage CONSENSUS was given by the City Commission tol keep the operating millage rate the VICE MAYOR SCHWARTZ referenced page 5 and questioned what Fund 1-32 and NSP1 meant? She also asked another question on the same page wherei its said water DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF FINANCE, JACQUELINE CHIN-KIDD, responded to Vice Mayor CITY MANAGER CURTIS explained that pertaining tot the water connect fees, Vice Mayor Schwartz was looking at budgets compared tot the actuarial. VICE MAYOR SCHWARTZ continued to ask questions on the FY2025 BP.  fort the last couple ofy years. that the staff hadi recommended.  rate the same. same.  wastewater connection fees. Schwartz question.  Discussion ensued.  FIRE CHIEF LORENZO looked to obtain one rescue trucki int the fourth quarter of 2024 and that the quint ande engine was to be delivered in the first quarter of 2025.  Discussion ensued.  VICE MAYOR SCHWARTZ continued to ask questions on the FY2025 BP includinga question ony whether they charge the sovereign nation of Seminole for services provided  Cityo ofA Margate  Page4  Printed on7 7/31/2024 9:37AM    City Commission Budget Workshop  Meeting Minutes  July 9,2024  by the City or was there an agreement to receive payment as they were separate from CITY MANAGER CURTIS was unsure abouti the financial aspect for the Seminole but saidt thati ity was something thatt they could look into and also how many calls for service Discussion ensued including the service to Seminole Casino Coconut Creek andp public MAYOR RUZZANO said that the City andt thep parks looked great and public safety was number one. He received compliments from the 4th of. July Extravaganza and how great the fire trucks looked. He did not have any complaints but would address itin the budget about aesthetic matters sucha as medians. He said that City Manager Curtis did a good job! buti indicated thati it was alsot the staff's contribution which he appreciated ands saidi it COMMISSIONER. ARSERIO was al bigf fan of curb appeal and would support any median COMMISSIONER JOANNE SIMONE appreciated staff andi their efforts in keeping their wishes and spending within the City means. She saidt that compared to other municipalities, Margate was ai full service City and they have excellent services that they provide fori their residents and yet, Margate was 27th on list. She saidt that Margate was good or better than other cities, referenced what was charged to the residents and VICE MAYOR SCHWARTZ appreciated that some of Margate's goals had! been incorporated in the FY2025 PB. She hads seen the growth and change in Margate since 1991 ands she hadt been saying that Margate should be a great place to live and work and notj just to passt through. She said that whent the City looked at their goals and as they hit those marks, they should always strive for 100% and that the staff were unsung MAYOR RUZZANO said that hel had not received calls on garbage cans.  mutual aid for cities.  they provided for that area.  safety.  was ag great presentation. improvements such as landscaping.  indicated thati ity was because oft the staff.  heroes.  Discussion ensued.  ADJOURNMENT  There being no further business, the meèting adjourned at 4:57pm.  Respectfully submitted,  Transcribed by Salene E. Edwards  Clerk  Date: 8/22/2024  PLEASE NOTE:  at  City ofMargate  Page 5  Printed on7 7/31/2024 9:37AM    City Commission Budget Workshop  Meeting Minutes  July 9,2024  Ifap person decides to appeal any decision made byt the City Commission with respect to any matter considered at this meeting, the person will need a record of the proceedings, and for such purpose may need to ensure that a verbatim record oft the proceedings is made, which recordi includes the testimony and evidence upony whicht the appeal ist to be based. Anyone desiring a verbatim transcript shall have the responsibility, at his/her own expense, to [Appendix A- Zoning - Section 3.3] Any representation made before any City Board, any Administrative Board, or the City Commission int the application for a variance, special exception, conditional use or request for any other permit shall be deemed a condition oft the granting of the permit. Should any representation bet false or should said representation not be continued as represented, same: shall be deemed a violation of the permit and a violation of Any person with ac disability requiring auxiliary aids and services for this meeting may call the City Clerk's office at One or more members of the City of Margate advisory boards may bei ina attendance and may participate at the Members of the public are invited to view this meeting through Zoom using Webinar ID: 885:29743545 or can listen viat telephone by calling one oft the following phone numbers:. US: +13126266799 or +19292056099. AC copy of the Agenda for this Meeting isp posted on www.MargaterL.com and ont the main bulletin board outside  arrange for the transcript.  this section.  (954) 972-6454 with their request at least twol business days prior to the meeting date.  meeting.  City Hall located at 5790 Margate Blvd, Margate, FL3 33063.  THROUGH THE CITY'S WEBSITE: Got tov www.margatefl.com items and see the Zoom meeting information  Goto" "Agendas & Minutes" > Find the respective meeting date and click' "Agenda Summary" to view the agenda ALTERNATE OPTION FOR VIEWING. AND LISTENING TO THE MEETING THROUGH: ZOOM.US  Instructions:  Topic: "City Commission Budget Workshop"  Enter the following link to join the webinar: tps/USV,weD2com.S185.9/435 Dial (for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):  Telephone:  US: +131262667990 Or-+19292056099  City ofA Margate  Page 6  Printed on7 7/31/2024 9:37AM