TOWN COMMISSION TENTATIVE BUDGET HEARING MINUTES  MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2024 OAKLAND MEETING HALL  6:00 P.M.  CALLTO ORDER:  This meeting was held in-person and livestreamed as a Zoom webinar. Mayor Taylor  called the tentative budget hearing to order at 6:00 p.m.  ROLLCALL  COMMISSIONERS PRESENT:  Commissioner McMullen Commissioner Polland Commissioner Ramos Vice Mayor Satterfield Mayor Taylor None  COMMISSIONERS ABSENT:  BUDGET  ApprovalofTown Proposed Millage and Budget and Final Public Hearing Date Finance Director Leon provided a PowerPoint presentation regarding the proposed millage and budget for FY 2024/2025 which starts October 1, 2024. Please see presentation for additional information. Finance Director Leon's comments were as follows: "The purpose of this evening's meeting is to present the proposed millage rate, present the tentative budgets for Fiscal Year 25, and to present the options given by Orange On June 25, 2024, the Town Commission held a work session on the Tentative FY 2025 Budget for the General Fund, Enterprise Fund, and Impact Fees. The general fund budget was presented at a 6.3 millage. Also on June 25, 2024, the Town Commission approved On July 12th, Orange County Fire Rescue sent a letter to Mayor Taylor regarding the proposed increase to the Fire Municipal Service Taxing Unit, or MSTU. The increase would be from 2.2437 to 2.8437. On July 23rd, the Commission approved a tentative millage increase to 6.9 to help offset the increase from the Fire Rescue increase. Meetings were held regarding the Fire Rescue, and on August 29th, Mayor Jerry Demings sent a letter to Mayor Taylor on his decision regarding the MSTU increase and the options to the town. We'll start with the General Fund. The General Fund Budget has been updated to reflect the latest revenue estimates from the State of Florida. The General Fund Budget for Fiscal Year 2025 is $9,797,759 and is based on the 6.9 millage that was approved back in July.  County.  the Tentative FY 2025 Budget for the Oakland Avenue Charter School.  So that brings us to today.  Town Commission Tentative Budget Hearing  September 9, 2024 - Page 1    The General Fund Budget does include the full amount due to Orange County and after all revenues and expenses are accounted for, there is $33,645 left over. Increases to the General Fund since our last meeting - This does include the full amount due to Orange County, that amount is a little over $2 million. Last year, our bill from Orange County Fire was $1.48 million SO that is a huge jump. This budget does still include a 4% cost of living adjustment for all town employees and there is also a 2% increase to the retirement contribution for all sworn officers, making it a total 16% that they would be receiving. This budget includes funding the compensation study that the town had done to assist with employee turnover and compression. The updated budget reflects a 3% increase to general liability insurance and workers compensation insurance which is an 13% increase overall from last year; we were expecting this to be much higher. We have also included increases to the attorney fees and auditing fees due to Decrease to the General Fund - Since our last meeting, there were negotiations for health insurance. We ultimately switched from Florida League of Cities to Mulling Insurance. The town and school employees will now have Florida Blue instead of United Healthcare. This switch gave us a savings of $130,000 towards the policy. The town will see about $54,000 of this and the rest will be seen by the school. There was a decrease to the overall compensation budget for the finance administration. This was due to the reduction of two positions. The long-time finance director, Renee Mullen, retired back in May and I took over for her. This eliminated my old position as finance manager. And also, Melody Oliver was promoted as HR director from payroll specialist. And we merged payroll with Finance Director Leon turned the presentation over to Public Works Director Parker to discuss the Enterprise Budget. Public' Works Director Parker stated that since he is directly responsible for several of these budget lines, he is assisting Finance Director Leon with the Enterprise Fund part of this presentation and will be available to answer questions. "When you see the total amount of the enterprise fund budget, you tend to think WOW that's a lot of money! Nine million? In reality, that number includes grant dollars for things that have yet to be constructed, and loan dollars for things that have already been constructed, things that that cost a lot to build. The rest, about $2.9 million is what it We are projecting an increase in water revenue during 24/25 due to the level of growth we are: seeing in both our residential and commercial development. More customers equal more revenue and more expenses. Unfortunately, growth also means increased stresses on our utility systems to meet these growing demands. And with that growth, it reflects Wastewater revenues will also increase this next year. This is predominantly due to growth with The Grove and Phase 1 of Briley Farm coming on-line. Just think, less than 8 years ago the entire town was served by septic tanks. Fast forward to today and we  recent resignation; these amounts are just estimates.  the HR director position and eliminated that specialist out of finance."  Public Works Director Parker's comments were as follows:  costs to operate the water, sewer and solid waste programs.  back to what Ij just talked about - grants and loans.  Town Commission Tentative Budget Hearing  September 9, 2024. - Page 2    now have 12 sewer pumping stations either in operation or being constructed, approximately 7 miles of sewer lines in place, and about 230 sewer manholes. The Enterprise Fund budget also includes a 4% cost of living for all utility employees. Our utility employees, as few in numbers as they may be, are responsible for producing and distributing more than 350 million gallons of water each year, through about 35 miles of pipelines, to the homes and businesses in Oakland. They are also responsible for ensuring about 55 million gallons of wastewater make it to Clermont each year for treatment. Where would we be without these employees? No water in the kitchen sink And lastly, we anticipate having about $40,000 in reserve for anything we have missed. Just to be clear this is what we anticipate having in excess for FY24/25, not to be misinterpreted as the utility reserves, where our recent audit showed that we had Since the draft budget was presented to this Commission in June, a few changes, or increases, need to be noted. The first, and a very important change that was made, was the acquisition of another 2 million dollar grant to be used toward construction of the Alternative Water System Project. This brings the total dollars we have locked down now to 4 million. If you recall, the first phase of this multi-phase project will immediately remove the irrigation demands of 155 homes from our drinking water system, and then, through the construction of additional transmission facilities, remove about 900 more. As the design phase moves forward, we continue to look for additional funding sources for The second item that has been included since June, is the $319,000 SRF loan that has been approved for design purposes of the Alternative Water Project. This loan could also The third item is a "place holder" of sorts for a grant that was applied for earlier this year. Irecently had applied for an $850,000.00 grant that, if awarded, will be used for another septic to sewer project. It will enable several residential and commercial properties to get The fourth, and final change to the draft is the increase in solid waste. Since 2015, when the town last solicited for a solid waste provider, we have been fortunate to see only minor increases in this essential activity but, it looks like inflation has finally caught up with us on this one! Recently, the town advertised for proposals in an effort to get a new contract in-place before the old one expires in early 2025. Since the cost per household has not been finalized as of this date, we have plugged in an estimated budget of Finance Director Leon said that the Impact Fee Budget for this year will be $5,240,676 and out of that number, $1,358,000 will be for projects and the rest will be in reserves. There is an official breakdown of all the project this year in the presentation, there were only a few changes since our last meeting. The Impact Fee Budget now reflects an  and too much of something else in the toilet!  approximately $1.2 million at the end of 2023.  construction.  be converted to additional construction funding if necessary.  onto central sewer, as well as some of our Town Center Buildings.  $520,000."  Town Commission Tentative Budget Hearing  September 9, 2024- - Page 3    increase of $50,000 to Wastewater Impact Fees for Onsite Sewage Treatment and Disposal System (OSTDS) Remediation Plan which is a required by the Florida DEP. To the Transportation Impact Fee line, we've increased that by $100,000 for an additional southbound lane on Catherine Ross Road and to the Water Impact Fee line, we actually decreased that from the $319,000 to $150,000 for additional services to the alternative Finance Director Leon said that as she mentioned in the beginning, there were some meetings that happened between Orange County and the town regarding the MTSU. We were offered a deferral option for the first year of the new millage rate. She said she believes we requested a change to be charged solely on volume, but that was denied. We also requested a one-year stay, no payment difference, but that was also denied. We ultimately were given two options, to pay it in full or to defer this first year and pay it back in three years. The chart in the PowerPoint, shows on the first line, at the 6.9 millage, what we would pay and what we would be left with. This is what we currently budgeted for, SO it's the full amount owed to Orange County and then the leftover $33,000 that we discussed however, there are some options in the handout that she was asked to present to everybody. Under the part that says Fire Rescue, towards the middle of the slide, that is what the payment plan would look like. We would pay them $1.7 million, which is what our property value is at for this year, at their 2.2 millage, which is what their old millage was. We would then take what they proposed, the $2 million and some change, subtract the 1.7 from that, and that would leave us about $300,000 that we would have to pay over the next three years. So, in fiscal year 25-26, which would be next fiscal year after this one, we would have to pay at the full millage, which is the 2.8, at our increased property value, and then the remaining breakdown of the $300,000. So, we're looking at a possible $2.3 million amount to Orange County, two fiscal years from now. The same would follow for the year after that SO, for fiscal year 26-27, there could be a possible 10% increase to the property value, which would be about $2.5 million that itv would be, plus $100,000 from the leftover $300,000. That would be about $2.6 million that we would have to owe. Finance Director Leon said that the payment plan is possible at a 6.6 millage, there wouldn't be too much left over after revenue and expenses are accounted for. The 10% has also been added to revenue and to expenses but we can't really account for a 10% increase across the board, because some things cost more than just 10% SO any additional things that the town would need, like roads or repairs or maintenance or anything like that, would more than likely have to come out of reserves. There's also an option for a no payment plan, and we still reduce the millage from 6.9. We can reduce it to possibly 6.7 and pay Orange County in full, and use the reserves to pay the difference owed, which would be about $126,000 or we could even reduce it down to 6.6 and still pay them in full and transfer the difference of $250,000 from reserves. She said we would just pay it out, not have to owe them or let it snowball and then have our increased property values that we can increase, or we can use to make the town better or fix things or do whatever the residents need. Finance Director Leon said that all of that will go straight back to Orange County if we do the payment planand the property value should cover everything for the following year SO we wouldn't have to  water supply project for anything that isn't covered.  Town Commission Tentative Budget Hearing  September 9, 2024 - Page 4    use reserves SO we can make sure that we had money left over and use whatever revenue Finance Director Leon turned the presentation over to Principal Dwyer to cover the OACS Budget revisions. The OACS Budget has been updated based on the State Revenue calculator that became available in July. Expenses were reviewed and adjusted as needed based on revenues and enrollment. This year they wanted to be a little bit more conservative and adjusted those numbers to make sure that everything was covered in case they had any enrollment issues. When Principal Dwyer came in June, they hadn't closed out the fiscal year so there were some items that they needed to pay out and take a look at it where they landed in regard to total expenses. After review of end of year expenses on categories, they made some further category refinements to ensure that they are coding different expenses properly and made an adjustment to one of the GL accounts to more appropriate language aligned with the Florida Red Book. The example of that is we had for a number of years labeled one of our salary categories as remedial which is not even appropriate language, SO they adjusted that to make sure that everything lines up with the red book and ended up with in this particular tentative budget  we had to put it back into the town.  with a reserve of around $108,000. Town Commission discussion was as follows:  Commissioner Polland asked what the payment plan is. You have got 1.7 million dollars, SO we are paying $1,770,000 and then that leaves $300,000 to pay over Finance Director Leon said that it would be over time for the next three Commissioner Polland asked if Orange County would charge us interest on Finance Director Leon said no but after we pay this year, next year we have to pay it at full millage which is the 2.8 and then whatever our property value is, that is what the fire rescue amount is. We projected an additional 10% increase of property value which would bring our total property value to $863 million SO if you take 2.8 times that $863 million and then divide that by 1,000, they charge us 92% of that and that is where we would have to pay and then add an extra $100,000 for the leftover $300,000. Finance Director Leon said that would be for the first year and then we have Commissioner Ramos said sO we are carrying $100,000 after the first year, we're carrying $100,000 every year and we are letting the property values Finance Director Leon said correct, and we would have to pay it at the full Mayor Taylor said if you pay in full right now, you will pay the Fire Department $2,070,000. If you did the deferral package, you would pay  time?  years until we pay it off.  that.  Vice Mayor Satterfield said for two years? another two years of that.  catch up.  millage which is the 2.8.  Commissioner Ramos said which would be a total of what?  Town Commission Tentative Budget Hearing  September 9, 2024 - Page 5    them what we would normally pay which would be $1.4 million dollars SO year one you would pay that this year in 2024-2025, the next year you pay Commissioner Ramos said but we will keep our millage at 6.3 overall. Mayor Taylor said but then don't forget as value of property goes up, that point millage goes up, SO itis a double-edged sword. You may be thinking we are saving money but in reality, we are not because we are having to Finance Director Leon said that at the 6.3 millage, the fire rescue plan is not feasible, we still have to transfer from reserves SO if the commission would like to do that at the 6.3, we still have to transfer from reserves. Vice Mayor Satterfield said at 6.3 the end result would cost us more money. Finance Director Leon said yes, we have a snowball effect, and we still have  a third of that $2,070,000 plus $2,070,000.  spend more in the long run.  to pull from reserves in order to pay them. Mayor Taylor said and that would leave us with $33,000. Finance Director Leon said at 6.3 we would have nothing. Commissioner Ramos said iti is a negative. Finance Director Leon said yes. own and kind of go back.  Vice Mayor Satterfield said if we bite the bullet and we do the 6.9 for this year and we pay that full amount off, we could back up next year on our Commissioner Ramos asked how far back we can back up after 6.9. Finance Director Leon said at the 6.9, we cover it fully and then as the increase then we would hold on to those reserves but at the 6.6 we could Commissioner Ramos said he sees one of the scenarios is 6.6 and we can continue 6.6 for the next three years getting it out of reserves. He said it would be almost like meeting halfway between 6.3 and 6.9, we could put it at 6.6 and continue it at 6.6, something that we could all absorb. Mayor Taylor said he asked Finance Director Leon to run two scenarios which was an assessed home value of $350,000 which is an average cost of a home or $550,000 which is an average cost of a home if you lived in Oakland Park or somewhere similar. He: saidi if you look at 6.61 for a $350,000 home, the average person, their tax bill would increase by $105 a year. Mayor Taylor said if you were to pay Orange County out at the $2 million, Finance Director Leon said at 6.6, the amount we would need to pull out of reserves would be approximately $255,000. At 6.7 this amount would be Mayor Taylor said he had Finance Director Leon run the various scenarios because he was trying to find a sweet spot when he was looking at the numbers with her and the 6.7 is about $30 more per home but there seems to be some sort of sweet spot at pulling $125,000 out of the reserves and then paying Orange County in full. He said that would still give us money  probably start covering our own after year 3.  how much money would we have to pull out of reserves.  approximately $125,000.  Town Commission Tentative Budget Hearing  September 9, 2024 - Page 6    left over in the town to use for whatever could happen out there, but it is only an increase of $140 to the average homeowner a year or $220 if your house is in the $550,000 price range. Mayor Taylor said he believes that is pretty sustainable. He said he went back and was looking at the millage rate from years past and the average millage rate in Oakland was that 6.7 range and it was only in the past few years it started creeping down. Mayor Taylor said if it wasn't for Orange County, we would be sitting pretty. Vice Mayor Satterfield said iti is what it is. He wants to make sure he is clear on if we go to the 6.7 and we pay them off, then the next year it is at our pleasure, and we can drop it back SO much depending on the increases that Mayor Taylor said that you would still pay in the $2 million range because that millage rate of 2.6 is still going to be in there sO the town's millage is not changing, the town itself is not changing. He said one of the things he has asked and the other municipalities such as Belle Isle, Edgewood, and Eatonville have asked the county to do is to break out that fire millage from the overall Oakland amount because right now all those towns that contract with Orange County pay for that 2.6. Mayor Taylor said a normal Orange County resident gets broken out separately, don't forget to pay 4.4 to the county for whatever they help us with like mosquito control and then of course you have St. John's, you have a library, and anything else that goes on. He said the county's never going to go back and on September 5th the letter he received from Mayor Demings is that he supports the increase as well as most of the commissioners sO there is really no fighting it. Commissioner Polland said that the county voted September 5th six to one Commissioner Ramos said he can go with the thought that Vice Mayor Satterfield had at 6.7 even though it's going to be carried and it's going to be from the fire, he thinks that in the future, maybe not in this scenario here, not in three years from now but four or five years from now when everything's developed that we have been improving that we might start now going back to where we started 10 years ago, 12 years ago from 6.7, Vice Mayor Satterfield said that is where he was going but he was trying to Mayor Taylor said he 100% agrees and we tried every option with the county talking to them, even things to the point where we were asking them to give us a flat fee. He said he knows that Windermere contracts Ocoee for the fire rescue service and it is a flat fee. Mayor Taylor said he did ask Mayor Demings to provide from Orange County Fire Department, what service they provide to the town proper because in his opinion it is not $2 million work of service that they provide. He said that when you are in an emergency situation, you don't care how much it costs, you are going to have them come out and do it, but they did provide that accounting function  come.  toa approve it.  6.6, 6.5, and healthy. accelerate it a little more.  Town Commission Tentative Budget Hearing  September 9, 2024-1 Page 7    for us and Town Manager Stewart has that data as to how many calls, how many runs they're doing a shift because there is not a lott that happens out here. Mayor Taylor said he thinks most of the stuff is on 50, or the turnpike, or Orange County. He said there are other avenues that we can all explore and talk about in the future once we get this behind us and we start looking Commissioner Ramos is really pleased that our residents won't pay 6.9 and we could have just sat by and let that happen SO if we can get to 6.7, he Mayor Taylor said when you look at it, it is about $140 more a year. Commissioner Polland said the town's eating some money if we are not Vice Mayor Satterfield this is something kind of like splitting it. Commissioner Polland said that we going to be working off less money at 6.7 because we are going to be putting out that .2% of the town's money Mayor Taylor said he can see where Commissioner Polland is trying to go here sO asked Finance Director Leon to explain again if we were to go with the 6.7 millage on a $350,000 house, the estimated taxes would be an increase of $140 a house but if we are going to say that we will pay for the increased fire fee in full today, how much has to pull out of that extra revenue we've generated from the 2023 to 2024 fiscal year that would Finance Director Leon said at 6.7 it would be approximately $125,000. Mayor Taylor said we would have to pull $125,000 if this increase didn't happen that we would normally have in that to cover SO we are basically helping the residents out is what we are doing. Mayor Taylor asked Finance Director Leon how much that leaves in the 2024/2025 revenue carry over? Finance Director Leon said it would be approximately $300,000 that we Commissioner Polland said SO what Mayor Taylor is saying is that the budget isonly going to take a hit on this next fiscal year but then we have enough Mayor Taylor said that is his thought. He said how he is looking at it is that this year we are going to take a hit and have to pull the money but now what is happening is Oakland Park houses are starting to get their full house bill and he is getting call after call after call asking what we are doing to them. Mayor Taylor said the problem is that the first year they paid only on the land, SO they paid around a $500 tax bill, he is not just referring to Oakland Park but to all new houses, and now they are getting hit with a tax bill of about $16,000. He said they are higher end houses SO as those kick in, that is going to help offset this cost. Mayor Taylor said that when that hits a certain year there is going to be another dip because the last phase of Oakland Park is going to be paying on land only and it won't be until the  at some options.  thinks it would be a good start. passing along this whole increase.  SO now, we have less money to work with.  normally have carried over to 2024/2025?  could carry over.  revenues coming in to offset it.  Town Commission Tentative Budget Hearing  September 9, 2024. Page 8    following year 2026/2027 that they will then hit their full tax bill as well as probably The Grove and Briley Farm. He said it is just this year that he thinks we will have to pull that $125,000 out of what we could have saved Commissioner Ramos said when we are caught up, we are going to stay there at that level for the next two to three years until all that gets developed and goes to the fiscal year, the tax year but when that happens there is also 4thStreet, there's also commercial coming up behind RaceTrac, there is a lot coming up. He said in the next three to five years, we are going to start doing the same thing we did twelve years ago but we start going down from 6.7 and we'll look ati it and when there are healthy enough reserves, we will go down to 6.6, healthy, 6.5, 6.4, we will be back at 6.3 Commissioner Polland said as those come up, our fire rescue bill comes up. Commissioner Ramos said of course, it is always going to be there growing but SO will our ad valorem at a pace that we can drop .1 starting three or Vice Mayor Satterfield said that was his exact point where he was trying to get because if we fight a bullet now and throw some in a couple years on our end of it, we can go back. He said he knows the fire rescue is never Commissioner Ramos said it is not for another 15 years like they did. Mayor Taylor said thati is correct. They decided to do it for 15 years and the conversation that he had with Mayor Demings wasn't that the town is opposed to the fire department or their increases or their cost of living, itis the same here at the town. He said that one thing he told Town Manager Stewart was that whatever he does, he didn't want to touch the 4% cost of living increase of town staff, that is very, very important to them. Mayor Taylor said that he thinks that every resident would see that as well, it was the way it was presented, and it wasn't presented in a timely fashion. He said he believes that we could have all sat here and digested it better and maybe came up with something better, but it is what it is. Commissioner Ramos said we will be proactive for the next wave. It might not be 15 years, or they might do it in half of the time or 10 years, depending on how fast Orange County grows and we will have enough Mayor Taylor said he thinks ifwel look at this for next year or the next couple of years then maybe there are alternatives, we can look at to help on our  ifthe fire department hadn't increased.  eventually.  four years from now and they will offset it.  going to backward; we can't be fooled.  reserves not to get another hit of .4 or .5 points up. Vice Mayor Satterfield said that would be the hope.  fire services as well and other services in different years.  Mayor Taylor opened up the floor to the public, there were no public comments. Mayor  Taylor closed public comment.  Town Commission Tentative Budget Hearing  September 9, 2024 - Page 9    Additional Town Commission discussion was as follows:  Mayor Taylor said that he had a couple of notes on the budget. He said he knows that grant writing helps the town out a lot with the grants SO he knows that Town Manager Stewart this year put in about $30,000 in grant writing, which he thinks would really help the town to help obtain some of those grants. He said if you are fortunate to be awarded those grants, you can work that $30,000 back into that grant. He said there is the legislative part as far as the expenditures for travel, memberships, legislative events, meetings and workshops. Mayor Taylor said that he knows there are monies put in there that were probably a little bit cut somewhat and if you break that out, that is about $10,250 in memberships and legislative events, things like workshops, which are all important to go to. He said he doesn't know if the commission wants to break it into five SO that would be about $2,050 a person or if the commission wants to just keep it in a pot and designate it. Mayor Taylor said he knows Commissioner McMullen does a lot with the Florida League of Cities, SO those are important meetings. He said he thinks the chamber is an important one also SO looking at those, does the commission want to give each person $2,050. Mayor Taylor said he knows that most municipalities give their commissioners and mayor a stipend to spend over the year, or does the commission want to keep it as av whole bucket and we have $10,250 to spend between the five of us. Commissioner Ramos said that he likes having the lump sum bucket for all of the commissioners to use, because there may be some years that they don't have to go to The Diplomat in West Palm Beach, and it is in Orlando where all five of them can go at the fraction of the cost. He said you just don't know what year or what events the commission is going to be going to that they can just share from the pot. Commissioner Ramos said it is always for the good of the town, SO it won't be spent unwisely. He said if they are going it is for a purpose to learn and bring grants, networking, a Vice Mayor Satterfield said he also thinks that would make sense because ifwe end up splitting it up then ultimately when Commissioner McMullen Mayor Taylor said that is fine with him, he was just putting it out there to think about it because he knows some municipalities do it this way. Mayor Taylor asked Public Works Director Parker if the $850,000 for septic to Public Works Director Parker said that is correct, there was $650,000 in the legislative budget and the governor vetoed it. He said that he just re-did it and got some new cost estimates and then we went to FDEP for that; we should know whether or not we get it probably about March or April of next Mayor Taylor said he saw under the impact fee fund for transportation that there was a project for the intersection of Winter's Landing and Macchi as  lot of things to our town that benefits everyone.  needs more, the money is going to transfer over anyway.  sewer was a grant and the one that the governor vetoed.  year.  Town Commission Tentative Budget Hearing  September 9, 2024- - Page 10    you come out of Oakland Park which is an absolutely nightmare of an Public Works Director Parker said thati is where the street used to end there and now it goes through, it is not a good scenario SO this fiscal year that we are in right now, we actually had a design budget in this year, and they are rapidly closing the loop on that, and he has seen a preliminary plan for that intersection. He said it will basically redo the intersection SO it will be a Mayor Taylor said sO for the $100,000 it is all strictly town and there areno developer monies going towards that from Oakland Park or anything. Mayor Taylor said what about Jefferson Street and the Oakland Avenue Public Works Director Parker said that he thinks the development agreement for Phase 2 has about $75,000 or SO from the developer. Commissioner Ramos said you also have the roundabout brick planter and Public Works Director Parker said that would be the entry feature. Commissioner McMullen said he wanted to comment on the travel. He said he thinks it is an essential and he doesn't think it is something that should be viewed as a drag or a negative because there are a lot of resources that come from those meetings. Commissioner McMullen said that we really need to start thinking about sending other staff to develop because what you're doing is developing our staff, especially the managers and you know those staff members need to go out outside of this town. He said we need ton make sure we're developing our staff because the institutional knowledge that's required to keep this place operating is not going to be the same when Public Works Director Parker leaves. He said Finance Director Mullen was replaced SO, we need to make sure we have the right people in place, and they have the right type of education to make us better because if they go to these meetings, you bring back a lot of resources. Commissioner McMullen said he has come back with a lot of resources, but at most of them, it would be helpful if one of two or three of them attended to divide the information. He said he really feels that is the area that we really have done a disservice to our town to ensure success for our future because they have all been to the meeting here in Orlando, and Commissioner Ramos and he have been to several meetings, and there's things that Commissioner Ramos would see that he would never see like he met the person that's going to help us with our charter. Commissioner McMullen said that Town Manager Stewart is new here, but he's not new to being a manager but it is a lot of networking and best practices and when he brings stuff back, he is bringing stuff back from what I'm seeing. He reiterated that he really thinks we're doing ourselves a disservice if we ever look at it and that he has always said we need to push that and bring more people  intersection.  smoother transition.  Public Works Director Parker said no, there is not.  improvements.  the acorn.  Town Commission Tentative Budget Hearing  September 9, 2024- Page 11    to those meetings. Commissioner McMullen said that they think he is joking with them, but seriously, he really doesn't think that should be a number that we play with because if we don't invest into our staff and make them better, we're really going to really hurt ourselves. He said he would love to have Finance Director go to a finance meeting and definitely have the Town Manager and Assistant go to some of these ICMA meetings to see what's going on around the country. Commissioner McMullen said that they can bring back some good stuff, it is not all fun and games, there is a lot of networking that happens and just the fact that we have access to or learning about the grants and having free access to grants came from a Mayor Taylor said that he agrees with Commissioner McMullen, the reason he points it outi is ift he needs to increase it and then what does that number Commissioner McMullen said we can do an average of looking at his past travel and training. Normally, he usually only goes to two things, FLC and NLC. FLC is really what we do because when we do the one in Orlando, we need money to just travel, we never pay for our hotel. Commissioner McMullen said with him being a part of certain boards, he has his stuff paid for outside of the hotel. He said there's a lot of times he goes someplace, and the town doesn't even know he is going to a meeting. He said next week, he is going to a board meeting and the town is not paying for it, the Florida League of Cities is paying for his travel and hotel. Commissioner McMullen said sometimes when he goes out to these conferences, the town doesn't pay for his food all the time because he gets free food from the conferences because he is SO active in these meetings. He said he thinks we need to look at that number and see what he has spent over the years and do an average. Commissioner McMullen said Vice Mayor Satterfield has been here a long time and he is probably not going to go. Commissioner Polland may want to go here and there, but Commissioner McMullen needs everyone to be there, he needs the mayor to be at those meetings because there are mayor meetings just for the mayors. He said there's an NLC in Tampa in November, that would be a great one for the Mayor to attend and Mayor Taylor said it's a difference of last year, a thousand bucks, is what it was removed from the meeting and the workshops. He said do you keep it the same as it was last year, knowing that you're not traveling because everything's coming here, or do you look at it the following year, if it's important, then it's important. Mayor Taylor said if it's important for the town, it's just like running a business, when you have a business, you've got to pay for that type of stuff to keep your business growing. Commissioner McMullen said hel likes that scenario because you have to pay for your staff, you have got to educate your staff to help them to grow. Commissioner Polland asked what we have been spending.  conference he attended.  need to be.  see some of the collaboration.  Town Commission Tentative Budget Hearing  September 9, 2024 Page 12    Vice Mayor Satterfield said that would be where you would start. Commissioner McMullen said he just doesn't think it should be a point of conversation; it should not be a number we look at to decrease. Commissioner Ramos said he spends a lot of money going there and he Mayor Taylor said the idea is to find a number, just find a number and plug itin and if the number is $20,000, then just plug the number in. He said then that's the number for legislative functions for the town, we should have a budget number in there. Mayor Taylor said right now, it's $3,000 per traveler, last year it was $4,000, and membership fees are $2,500. He said we kept it at $2,500 because we probably have that historical accountability and that's what it cost for membership fees. Legislative events were $2,000 this year, they are $750 for next year, which he is guessing is probably the Florida League of Cities conferences and stuff like that where it's not out of town, it's local. In the meetings and workshops, $5,000 last year, $4,000 this year. Mayor Taylor said he would love to send Finance Director Leon and Assistant Town Manager Hui and whoever else from the town staff to learn something and go somewhere, the town is not the town thati it was years ago, it has absolutely grown in leaps and bounds. Town Clerk Hui said you have to remember that some of the training budgets are in the department's own budgets. Finance Director Leon went to a training and that was from her own budget, it wasn't from the Mayor Taylor said that is good information sO then it sounds like legislative Town Manager Stewart said this is just the legislative budget SO what he can do is get with each commissioner and if they are going to go to the league conference, they just need to let him know what they are going to go to and budget it and if they don't go, then it just will be under budget Vice Mayor Satterfield said he thinks we've got two weeks to really find that hard number. So, let's do that homework from what we have done in the  doesn't bring back invoices.  legislative budget. is just for the commission.  as the previous years.  past.  MOTION was made by Commissioner Polland, seconded by Commissioner McMullen to  pay the Orange County increase millage amount in full. AYE: McMullen, Polland, Ramos, Satterfield, Taylor. MOTION PASSED with 5 ayes and 0 nays.  NAY: None  Town Commission Tentative Budget Hearing  September 9, 2024 Page 13    MOTION was made by Commissioner Polland, seconded by Vice Mayor Satterfield to  approve the tentative millage rate of 6.7. AYE: McMullen, Polland, Ramos, Satterfield, Taylor MOTION PASSED with 5 ayes and 0 nays.  NAY: None  MOTION was made by Vice Mayor Satterfield, seconded by Commissioner Ramos to approve the FY 2025 Tentative Budget with a 6.7 millage and the corrections discussed.  AYE: McMullen, Polland, Ramos, Satterfield, Taylor MOTION PASSED with 5 ayes and 0 nays.  NAY: None  MOTION was made by Commissioner Polland, seconded by Commissioner Ramos to approve the final public hearing date of Tuesday, September 24, 2024, at 6:00 p.m.  AYE: McMullen, Polland, Ramos, Satterfield Taylor MOTION PASSED with 5 ayes and 0 nays.  NAY: None  ADJOURNMENT:  The tentative budget hearing was adjourned at 6:55 p.m.  TOWN OF OAKLAND  Shane Taylor,  E  ATTEST: Jwilhi Elise Hui, Town Clerk  Town Commission Tentative Budget Hearing  September 9, 2024- - Page 14    TOWN OF  - -  ak  land  FLORIDA  TENTATIVE BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING  FY 2024-2025  SEPTEMBER 9, 2024    The purpose of the public hearing is to present the public with the proposed millage rate, the tentative budgets for FY 2025, and the options presented by  PURPOSE  Orange County.    June 25,2024:Town Commission held a work session on the FY 2025 budget for General Fund, Enterprise Fund, and Impact Fee Fund with a 6.3 millage.  June 25,2024: Town Commission approved the tentative FY 2025 budget for Oakland Avenue Charter School. July 12, 2024: Orange County sent a letter to Mayor Taylor informing him of the millage increase to the Fire Municipal Service Taxing Unit (MSTU) from 2.2437 to  BACKGROUND  2.8437.  Onj July 23,2024:Town Commission approved a tentative millage rate increase of 6.90 to offset the increase  proposed by Orange County.  August 29, 2024: Mayor Jerry Demings sent a letter to Mayor Taylor on his decision regarding the MSTU increase and the options for the Town.    GENERAL FUND  Total General Fund Budget - $9,797,759  Property values increased by 9% Budget based on millage rate of 6.90 Evaluating a reduction of the millage  Reflects full amount due to Orange County Fire Rescue  Possible reserves: $33,645    Increases to General Fund  Orange County Fire Rescue increased by $600,000  from FY 2023-2024 FY2024-S1.,486.029 FY2025-$2070,000 4% COLA to all Town employees  GENERAL FUND  16% (2% increase) retirement contribution for all sworn Includes funding the compensation study to assist with employee turnover and compression  officers  3% to general liability insurance and workers comp (13%  overall)  Attorney fees & auditing fees due to recent resignations    Decreases to General Fund  GENERAL FUND  Includes health insurance savings of -$54,000 to Town by  switching to Florida Blue  Overall savings of $130,000 split between Town and School Decrease to overall compensation budget for Financel  Administration of $120,000 Reduction 2 positions  Renee Mullen retired as Finance Director; Gabrielle Leon, previously Finance Manager promoted; Melody Oliver, previously Payroll Specialist, promoted to HR  Director/Payroll    Total Enterprise Fund Budget - $9,062,300  ENTERPRISE FUND  $6,154,000 Grants and Loans $2,908,300 Revenue / Operating Projected increase to water revenue Projected increase to wastewater revenue Includes 4% COLA for all Utility staff  Possible reserves: $39,546    ENTERPRISE FUND  Increases to Enterprise Fund  $2,000,000 FL DEP Grant for AlternativeWater  Supply  $319,000 SRF Loan for Alternative Water Supply $850,000 Grant for Town Center Septic to Sewer SolidWaste due to future change in providers    IMPACT FEE FUND  Total Impact Fee Budget - $5,240,676  Projects - $1,358,000 Reserves - $3,932,676    Impact Fee Fund 24/25 Tentative Budget  Estimated Totals Tentative Budget 24/25 1,174,862 451,361  Water System Alternative Water- Additional Services Reserves for Futures Projects Westewater: System Longleaf ww Expansion per Developer Agreement Triplexl Lift Station 1E Expansion Construction OSTDS Remediation Plan Reserves for Future Projects Parks and Recreation Oakland Nature Preserve Pavilion Sadler Park Phase 2: Landscaping. Trail, Golf Cart Access Reserves for Future Projects Law Enforcement CAD/RMS System Start Up Costs Reserves for Future Projects Transportation Roundabout! Landscape Catherine Ross Rd- Addt SBL Lane Roundabout Brick Planter /Acorn Intersection Improvements Winters Landing & Macchi Oakland Avenue Turnouts Jefferson St. /Oakland Avenue Improvements Transportation: Study & Design Reserves forF Future Projects Administrative Facilities Reserves for Future Projects Fire Protection Hydrant Upgrades Reserves for Future Projects  150,000 1,024,862 212,000 100,000 50,000 89,361 30,000 250,000 317,877 36,000 176,338 30,000 100,000 75,000 100,000 25,000 75,000 75.000 1,940,202 260,716 50,000 73,320 5,240,676  IMPACT FEE FUND  597,877  212,338 2,420,202  260,716 123,320 5,240,676  Totals    Increases to Impact Fee Budget  IMPACT FEE FUND  Wastewater Impact Fee  ( OSTDS Remediation Plan - $50,000 Iransportation Impact Fee  Catherine Ross RdAdd'.Southbound Ln- $100,000  Decreases to Impact Fee Budget  Water Impact Fee  Alternative Water Supply Add 'Iservices = reduced  from $319,000 to $150,000    TOWN OPERATIONS: GENERALFUND FY24/25 FY24/25 FY24/25 FY25/26 (10%i increase)* "Y282710kinctease)" "includes 10% increasetorevenue: andexpenses FIRE RESCUE 24/25-5785.75.955 FY25/26-3 $863,583,550 FY26/27 $950.238.905 "includes 10%i increaset top propertyvalue  MILLAGE 6.9 6.3 6.6 6.6 6.6  REVENUE 9,797,759 9,321,859 9,509,050 10,418,665 11,320,242  EXPENSES FIRE RESCUE 7.694.114 7,694,114 7,694,114 7,974.860 8.573,654  REMAINING 33,645 (142,255) 44,936 68,805 146.588  2,070,000 1,770.000 1,770.000 2.375,000 2,600,000  ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE  MSTUMILLAGE PROPOSED 2.2 2.8437 2.8437  PAYMENT REMAINING DUE* 1,770.000 100.000 100,000  2,065,810 2,271,589 2,499,529  295,810 "wouldbep paido over 3years 2,371.589 2.599,529  FIRE RESCUE PAYMENT PLAN* MSTUMILLAGE PROPOSED REMAININGI DUE TOTAL PAYMENT  MILLAGE OPTIONS  Assessed Home Value  Millage Rate Taxes 6.3$ 2.205.00 6.6 $ 2,310.00 $ 6.7 $ 2,345.00 $ 6.9 $ 2,415.00 $ 6.3_$ 3,465.00 6.6 $ 3,630.00 $ 6.7. $ 3.685.00 $ 6.9 $ 3.795.00 $  Difference frome 6.3  350,000.00 350,000.00 350.000.00 350,000.00 550,000.00 550,000.00 550.000.00 550.000.00  105.00 140.00 210.00 165.00 220.00 330.00  $ $ $ $    Total Oakland Avenue Charter School  OAKLAND  Budget  $6,150,472  AVENUE CHARTER SCHOOL  FEFP Revenue is based on revenue calculator figures released Reviewed current enrollment and adjusted as needed Reviewed end of year expenses on categories and adjusted  July  budget amounts as needed were coded properly. with Florida Red Book Reseryes-5108.926  Made some further category refinement to ensure expenses Adjusted G/L Accounts to more appropriate language aligned    Request decision of Orange County Fire Rescue RequestApproval of Final Millage Rate RequestApproval ofTentative Budgets  REQUESTED ACTION  RequestApproval of Final Public Hearing date of  September 24, 2024 at 6:00pm.    TOWN OF  FLORIDA  Dakland    TOWN OPERATIONS: GENERAL FUND  YEAR FY24/25 FY24/25 FY25/26)* FY26/27* FY24/25 FY25/26* FY26/27)*  MILLAGE 6.9 6.7 6.7 6.7 6.6 6.6 6.6  REVENUE 9,797,759 9,638,666 10,561,243 11,477,077 9,509,050 10,418,665 11,320,242  EXPENSES 7,694,114 7,694,114 7,974,860 8,573,654 7,694,114 7,974,860 8,573,654  FIRE RESCUE 2,070,000 2,070,000 2,271,589 2,500,000 2,070,000 2,271,589 2,500,000  REMAINING 33,645 (125,448) user reserves to cover 314,794 403,423  "includes 10%i increase tor revenue ande expenses  (255,064) user reservest tocover 172,216 246,588  *includes 10%61 increase! tor revenuea ande expenses  Assessed Home Value Millage Rate $350,000.00 $350,000.00 $350,000.00 $350,000.00 $550,000.00 $550,000.00 $550,000.00 $550,000.00  Taxes Differencet from6.3 $2,205.00 $2,310.00 $2,345.00 $2,415.00 $3,465.00 $3,630.00 $3,685.00 $3,795.00  6.3 6.6 6.7 6.9 6.3 6.6 6.7 6.9  $105.00 $140.00 $210.00 $165.00 $220.00 $330.00