Tonight, the Village Council held its first Budget Hearing after a month long meeting hiatus. The hearing follows three budget workshops held in May, June and July respectively. Up for discussion was the Proposed Operating & Capital Budget for Fiscal Year 2021-22, published earlier. Under Council consideration were two ordinances; one to approve the proposed millage rate and the other to approve the proposed budget.

Village Manager Nick Marano opened the hearing with a presentation explaining the proposed millage rate increase from 2.235 to 2.4 mills. The millage rate refers to the tax rate that residents pay for every $1,000 of taxable property value. Taxable value differs from market value in that taxable value is limited to a max of 3% growth in value and is subject to certain exemptions as applicable, such as the Homestead exemption.

The 2.4 millage rate brings an additional $530,000 in ad-valorem revenues to the Village at an added cost of $53.80 to the average resident. The Village had been hurting financially following a year of falling revenues resulting from the pandemic and a lower millage rate. In fact, the Village was looking at a deficit of more than $680,000 at the beginning of fiscal year 2020-21, which closes on September 30, 2021.

Manager Marano also gave a second presentation summarizing the most salient points of the budget. He discussed the main revenue sources for the Village's General Fund, which is Palmetto Bay's operating account. Manager Marano reported that all revenues are up from last year's projections. For fiscal year 2020-21, $14,208,700 in revenues were budgeted. However, the anticipated total at the closing of the fiscal year is actually $14,387,070. That is an additional $178,370 in revenues. This positively affects the Village's Fund Balance, which is essentially the savings account for the organization. The ending balance reflected for the Adopted Budget for fiscal year 2020-21 was $9,350,337. Savings generated through careful spending management by Council and staff along with the refinance of a General Obligation Bond that saved an additional $200,000 to the Village, brought up the estimated final figure for the fiscal year to $10,030,842. For the upcoming fiscal year 2021-22, the Fund Balance increases yet again to $10,701,377.

In terms of staffing, Manager Marano provided an overview of the new positions proposed for the new fiscal year. An increase of 11 positions is reflected in the proposed budget. However, 7 of those positions were previously cut from the budget following the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The additional 4 positions include an Administrative Assistant to be shared by the Village Clerk and the Village Attorney, one Audiovisual Technician for the Communications Division, a Village Planner, and an additional Maintenance Worker for the Parks & Recreation Department. The remaining 7 positions will be part of the ARPA funding, which refers to the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 signed into law to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy. Palmetto Bay will receive more than $12 million in ARPA funding over a two-year period. Expenses must be incurred over the next 4 years. Funding under ARPA may only be used for the following eligible categories:

Manager Marano explained that setting the millage rate at the 2.4 rate puts the Village on solid financial footing to fund the 7 returning positions once the ARPA funding cycle ends at the end of calendar year 2024. In summary, the Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2021-22 includes funding for the following priorities:

In addition, the following Capital Improvement projects have been included in the upcoming fiscal year budget:

Public Services Projects:

Parks & Recreation:

Coral Reef Park:

Palmetto Bay Park:

Community & Economic Development

Other General Fund Projects:

Both ordinances before the Council passed on first reading. Two readings are required before the ordinances are adopted. The ordinances will be heard again for a second and final reading during the second budget hearing which is scheduled for September 27th at 7 pm.

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