Good afternoon, everybody, and welcome to the City Commission's second budget hearing this September 12, 2025. Thank you for being here today. We appreciate your attendance, and this is a very important meeting for the community because we'll be voting for the new budget, the new millage rate, and hoping that we have a very successful 2026 budget year. So before we begin, I'd like to ask you all to please rise and join James and Lila Williams, children of our esteemed City Manager, at the podium to help recite the Pledge of Allegiance. All right, so put your right hand over your heart, and you may begin. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, individual, with liberty and justice for all. Then have fun with the budget. Wow. So what do you talk about at the dinner table? Does Dad want to come too? Come on. All right, thank you. Okay, let's begin. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll. Vice Mayor Herbst. Commissioner Glassman. Here. Commissioner Beasley-Pittman. Here. Commissioner Sorensen. Here. Mayor Trent Ellis. Here. So we'll begin with Budget 1. Someone please introduce a resolution approving the fiscal year 2026 central wastewater region large user rate. Introduced. It's been introduced. Excuse me. Mr. Clerk, please call the roll. A resolution to the City Commission of the City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, approving setting a rate per 1,000 gallons of wastewater treated for the fiscal year 2026 for all large user wastewater customers of the central wastewater region providing for an effective date. Vice Mayor Herbst. Commissioner Glassman. Yes. Commissioner Beasley-Pittman. Yes. Commissioner Sorensen. Yes. Mayor Trent Ellis. Yes. And Budget 2 is now approved. Actually, Budget 1 is now approved. Budget 2. This is regarding the community investment plan. Will someone please introduce a resolution adopting the final five-year community investment plan for the period beginning October 1, 2025, and ending September 30, 2030. Introduced. The item has been introduced. Please call the roll. A resolution to the City Commission of the City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, approving and adopting a final five-year community investment plan for the period beginning October 1, 2025, and ending September 30, 2030, appropriating the portion of the community investment plan for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2025, and ending September 30, 2026, reappropriating the unspent community investment plan project balances at the end of the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2024, and ending September 30, 2025, for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2025, and ending September 30, 2026, and providing for severability and an effective date. Vice Mayor Herbst. Yes. Commissioner Glassman. Yes. Commissioner Beasley-Pittman. Yes. Commissioner Sorensen. Yes. Mayor Trent Ellis. Yes. And Budget 2 is now approved. Budget 3. This is regarding stormwater non-advalorum assessment. This is the public hearing on the stormwater management program assessment. The purpose of the hearing is to receive questions and comments regarding the city's stormwater management program non-advalorum assessment for the fiscal year 2026. The public hearing is now open. City Manager will now present the stormwater management program assessment report. Madam City Manager. The stormwater management program assessment funds the planning, construction, operation, maintenance, and administration of the stormwater management system. The stormwater management program assessment rate will be equal to the estimated costs paid by the city to operate the stormwater management program within the assessment area for fiscal year 2026. The fiscal year 2026 stormwater management program assessment is estimated to generate $42,030,429 in revenue. This concludes my report. Thank you. This is the time for anyone in the public to speak or ask questions about the stormwater management program assessment. No one has signed up to speak. Do I hear a motion to close public hearing? Moved. Do I hear a second? Moved and seconded. Please call the roll. Vice Mayor Herbst? Yes. Commissioner Glossman? Yes. Commissioner Beasley-Pittman? Yes. Commissioner Sorensen? Yes. Mayor Trent Ellis? Yes. And public hearing on Budget 3 is now closed. The final stormwater management program assessment rate will be equal to the estimated costs paid by the city to operate the stormwater management program with the assessment area as provided in the resolution approving the stormwater management program assessment. Will someone please introduce the resolution adopting the stormwater management program assessment for fiscal year 2026? Introduced. Been introduced. Please call the roll. A resolution of the city commission of the city of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, relating to the provision of the stormwater management program assessments in the city of Fort Lauderdale, imposing stormwater management program assessments against assessed properties located in the city of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, approving the assessment roll, providing for severability, providing for conflicts, and providing an effective date. Vice Mayor Herbst? Commissioner Glossman? Yes. Commissioner Beasley-Pittman? Yes. Commissioner Sorensen? Yes. Mayor Trent Ellis? Yes. And Budget 3 is now approved. Budget 4 regarding Lauderdale Isles Water Management District assessment non-advalorum assessment. This is the public hearing for the Lauderdale Isles Water Management District non-advalorum assessment and budget. The purpose of the hearing is to receive questions and comments regarding the Lauderdale Isles Water Management District non-advalorum assessment and the budget for fiscal year 2026. The public hearing is now open. The City Manager will now present the Lauderdale Isles Water Management District non-advalorum assessment and budget. Madam City Manager. The Lauderdale Isles Water Management District assesses the residents of this special district to protect water quality of the waterways in Lauderdale Isles. At the district's June 16, 2025 meeting, the board voted to continue levying an assessment of $15 per parcel for fiscal year 2026, which will generate $8,265. The total budget for the district was adopted by the board at $129,790. This concludes my report. Thank you. This is the time for anyone in the public to speak or ask any questions about the Lauderdale Isles Water Management District non-advalorum assessment and budget. No one has signed up to speak. Anyone here wish to speak on the item? There being none, would someone please move to close public hearing. Moved. Second. Who moves and second? Please call the roll. Vice Mayor Herbst. Yes. Commissioner Glossman. Yes. Commissioner Beasley-Pittman. Yes. Commissioner Sorensen. Yes. Mayor Trentos. Yes. The public hearing on budget four is now closed. So the final Lauderdale Isles Water Management non-advalorum assessment for fiscal year 2026 will be $15 per parcel for properties within the district. So would someone please introduce the resolution of Lauderdale Isles Water Management non- excuse me, Water Management District non-advalorum assessment and budget for fiscal year 2026. The resolution has been introduced. Please call the roll. A resolution of the City Commission of the City of Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Florida, levying a non-advalorum special assessment for fiscal year 2026 on behalf of the Lauderdale Isles Water Management District and approving the budget for the district. Vice Mayor Herbst. Yes. Commissioner Glossman. Yes. Commissioner Beasley-Pittman. Yes. Commissioner Sorensen. Yes. Mayor Trentos. Yes. And that item is now approved. Budget five. This is regarding the nuisance abatement non-advalorum assessment. This is the public hearing on the nuisance abatement non-advalorum assessment. Purpose of the hearing is to receive questions and comments regarding the City's nuisance abatement assessment for fiscal year 2026. The public hearing is now open. The City Manager will now present the nuisance abatement non-advalorum assessment report. City Manager. The nuisance abatement assessment rate will be equal to the actual cost paid by the City to abate the identified nuisance. The assessment represents 100% cost recovery of the expenses incurred by the City. The fiscal year 2026 nuisance abatement assessment will generate $29,062.62 in revenue. This concludes my report. Thank you. This is the time for anyone in the public to speak or ask any questions about the nuisance abatement assessment. No one has signed up to speak. Do I hear a motion to close public hearing? Moved. Do I hear a motion to close public hearing? Second. Moved and seconded. Please call the roll. Vice Mayor Herbst. Commissioner Glossman. Yes. Commissioner Beasley-Pittman. Yes. Commissioner Sorensen. Yes. Mayor Trentos. Yes. And public hearing on budget five is now closed. The final nuisance abatement assessment rate will be equal to the actual cost paid by the City to abate the nuisance for each business and residential property as provided in the resolution approving the nuisance abatement assessment. Someone please introduce the resolution approving the nuisance abatement assessment for the fiscal year 2026. Introduced. The resolution has been introduced. Please call the roll. A resolution and city commission of the City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, imposing nuisance abatement assessments against certain properties located in the City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, approving a nuisance abatement assessment rule and providing for severability, rescission of conflicting resolution provisions, and an effective date. Vice Mayor Herbst. Yes. Commissioner Glossman. Yes. Commissioner Beasley-Pittman. Yes. Commissioner Sorensen. D. Wayne, is there an issue? I think the mayor didn't say roll when he called to vote for the resolution approving the nuisance abatement. Please call the roll. Section 6. That's what we're doing. The nuisance abatement assessment rule for fiscal year 2026. I thought I didn't hear you say roll at the end. This is introducing a resolution approving the nuisance abatement assessment for fiscal year 2026. Is that what you're referring to? Yes, sir. Okay. Well, I'm saying it now. Okay. Thank you. That's what we're voting on. That's your resolution, correct? Yes. Thank you. Thank you for clarifying that, if that was overlooked. Thank you. Yes. And Mayor Tarentos. Yes. Thank you. Budget 6, regarding utility undergrounding non-advalorum assessment. This is the public hearing on the utility undergrounding non-advalorum assessment. The purpose of the hearing is to receive questions and comments regarding the city's utility undergrounding assessment for the fiscal year 2026. The public hearing is now open. The city manager will now present the utility undergrounding non-advalorum assessment report. City manager. The fiscal year 2026 utility undergrounding assessment rate will be equal to the actual debt service for the undergrounding of overhead utilities project within the assessment area. The assessment amount is $1,712.75 per equivalent benefit unit. The fiscal year 2026 utility undergrounding assessment is estimated to generate $501,150 in revenue. This concludes my report. Thank you. This is the time for anyone in the public to speak or ask questions about the utility undergrounding assessment. No one has signed up to speak. Someone please move to close public hearing. Move. Move. Do I hear a second? Move and seconded. Please call the roll. Vice Mayor Herbst. Commissioner Glossman. Yes. Commissioner Beasley-Pittman. Yes. Commissioner Sorensen. Yes. Mary Trent-Hollis. Yes. And public hearing is now closed on Budget 6. So the final utility undergrounding assessment rate for fiscal year 2026 will be $1,712.75 per equivalent benefit unit. Someone please introduce a resolution approving the utility undergrounding assessment rate for fiscal year 2026. Introduced. Resolution has been introduced. Please call the roll. A resolution of the City Commission of the City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida relating to the provision of the utility underground utility line facilities in the Los Olos Isles neighborhood imposing underground utility line assessments against assessed properties located in Los Olos Isles neighborhood in the City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida approving the assessment roll providing for severability conflicts and an effective date. Vice Mayor Herbst. Commissioner Glossman. Yes. Commissioner Beasley-Pittman. Yes. Commissioner Sorensen. Yes. Mayor Trent-Hollis. Yes. And that concludes Budget 6 and has now been approved. Budget 7 regarding Beach Business Improvement District non-advalorem assessment. This is the public hearing on the Beach Business Improvement District non-advalorem assessment. The purpose of the hearing is to receive questions and comments regarding the City's Beach Business Improvement District assessment for fiscal year 2026. The public hearing is now open. The City Manager will now present the Beach Business Improvement District non-advalorem assessment report. The Beach Business Improvement District imposes an assessment on certain portions of beach property to establish funding to support services, facilities, and programs providing a special benefit to business properties and areas within the beach business boundaries. The fiscal year 2026 Beach Business Improvement District assessment rate is recommended at $0.8525 per $1,000 of assessed property value to generate approximately $1,285,343 in revenue. This concludes my report. Thank you. So this is the time for anyone in the public to speak or ask questions about the Beach Business Improvement District special assessment. No one has signed up to speak. Does someone please move to close public hearing? Moved. Second. Moved and seconded. Please call the roll. Vice Mayor Herbst. Yes. Commissioner Glossman. Yes. Commissioner Beasley-Pittman. Yes. Commissioner Sorensen. Yes. Mayor Trentos. Yes. The public hearing on Budget 7 is now closed. Is there any... Pardon me. So the final Beach Business Improvement District assessment rate will be $0.8525 per $1,000 of assessed value for each business property used for commercial purposes as provided in the resolution. Approving the Beach Business Improvement District assessment. Someone please introduce the resolution approving the Beach Business Improvement District annual rate resolution for fiscal year 2026. Introduced. It's been introduced. Please call the roll. A resolution of the City Commission of the City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida relating to the provision of Beach Business Improvement Services in a portion of the city reimposing beach business improvement assessments against the sets properties located within the assessment area for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2025. Establishing the rate of assessment, approving the assessment roll, providing for severability, providing for conflicts, and providing an effective date. Vice Mayor Herbst. Commissioner Glassman. Yes. Commissioner Beasley-Pittman. Yes. Commissioner Sorensen. Yes. Mayor Trentos. Yes. And Budget 7 is now approved. Budget 8, regarding the fire assessment. This is the public hearing on the fire assessment. The purpose of the hearing is to receive questions and comments regarding the city's fire assessment for fiscal year 2026. Public hearing is now open, and the city manager will now present the fire assessment report. City manager. The fire assessment program provides funding for fire suppression services, facilities, and programs that will benefit the city in its entirety, such as fire facility improvements, equipment, and cost of operations to fund the city's fire services and facilities. The residential assessment rate is recommended at $403 per year. Non-residential properties are assessed based on building classification and square foot ranges. For fiscal year 2026, the proposed assessment is estimated to generate $61,616,864 in revenue to the general fund. This concludes my report. Thank you. So this is the time for anyone in the public to speak or ask questions about the fire assessment. Just Keith Costa. Keith, are you here? Do you have any? Just for questions, right? Okay. So if there be no one else who has signed up to speak, would someone please move to close public hearing? Moved. Second. If there be no one is seconded, please call the roll. Vice Mayor Herbst. Yes. Commissioner Glossman. Yes. Commissioner Beasley-Pittman. Yes. Commissioner Sorensen. Yes. Mayor Trentos. Yes. And public hearing is now closed on Budget 8. So the final fire assessment rate will be $403 annually for each residential property, and the final fire assessment rate for non-residential properties shall be as shown on the detailed rate schedule provided in the resolution approving the fire assessment. Someone please introduce the resolution adopting the fire assessment rate and roll for fiscal year 2026. Introduced. It's been introduced. Please call the roll. A resolution in the city commission of the city of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, relating to the provision of fire rescue services, facilities, and programs in the city, establishing the rate of assessment, imposing fire rescue assessments against assessed properties located in the city of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, approving the assessment roll, providing for severability, providing for conflicts, and providing an effective date. Vice Mayor Herbst. Commissioner Glossman. Yes. Commissioner Beasley-Pittman. Yes. Commissioner Sorensen. Yes. Mayor Trentos. Yes. And Budget 8 is now approved. Moving on to Budget 9. This is regarding Sunrise Key Neighborhood Improvement District final millage and budget. Um, this is the second of two public hearings as required by law on the Sunrise Key Neighborhood Improvement District millage rate and the budget for fiscal year 2026. Purpose of the hearing is to receive questions and comments regarding the Sunrise Key Neighborhood Improvement District's budget and to explain the budget and any amendments thereto. The public hearing is now open and the city manager will now present the final millage rate and the final budget. City manager. The Sunrise Key Neighborhood Improvement District taxes the residents of the special district to provide security to their neighborhood. At its May 6, 2025 meeting, the district voted its millage at 1.0000 mill to generate a tax collection of $223,168 to support an operating budget of $223,168. This millage rate is 9.15% more than the rollback rate of 0.9162 mills and is necessary to maintain services for the Sunrise Key Neighborhood District. This concludes my report. Thank you. So this is the time for anyone in the public to speak or ask any questions about the millage rate or the budget. No one has signed up to speak. Will someone please move to close public hearing? Move. Second. Move and seconded. Please call the roll. Vice Mayor Herbst, Commissioner Glossman. Yes. Commissioner Beasley-Pittman. Yes. Commissioner Sorensen. Yes. Mayor Tontos. Yes. The public hearing on Budget 9 is now closed. So we're now going to have two votes. One's going to be on the budget and one's going to be on the millage rate. So the final millage rate for the Sunrise Key Neighborhood Improvement District will be 1.0 mill, which represents an increase of 9.15% over the rollback rate of 0.9162 mills. Someone please introduce a resolution adopting the final millage rate for the Sunrise Key Neighborhood Improvement District for fiscal year 2026. Introduced. It's been introduced. Please call the roll. A resolution of the City Commission of the City of Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Florida, adopting a final millage rate of 1 mill to be levied by the City of Fort Lauderdale for the Sunrise Key Neighborhood Improvement District for fiscal year beginning October 1, 2025, and ending September 30, 2026. Vice Mayor Herbst. Yes. Commissioner Glossman. Yes. Commissioner Beasley-Pittman. Yes. Commissioner Sorensen. Yes. Mayor Tontos. Yes. And the final millage rate is now approved. Will someone please introduce a resolution adopting the final budget for the Sunrise Key Neighborhood Improvement District for fiscal year 2026? Introduced. It's been introduced. Please call the roll. A resolution of the City Commission of the City of Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Florida, adopting a final budget of $223,168 for the Sunrise Key Neighborhood Improvement District for fiscal year beginning October 1, 2025 and ending September 30, 2026. Vice Mayor Herbst. Commissioner Glossman. Yes. Commissioner Beasley-Pittman. Yes. Commissioner Sorensen. Yes. Mayor Tontos. Yes. And so the final budget for Sunrise Key Neighborhood Improvement District for fiscal year 2026 is now approved. Moving on to Budget 10, this is regarding the City of Fort Lauderdale fiscal 2026 final millage rate. This is the second of two public hearings as required by law on the millage rates for fiscal year 2026. Purpose of the hearing is to receive requests and comments regarding the City's millage rate and to explain any amendments thereto. The public hearing is now open and the City Manager will now present the final millage rate on which the fiscal year 2026 budget is based. City Manager. The fiscal year 2026 City of Fort Lauderdale final budget includes maintaining the current millage rate of 4.1193 and decreasing the combined debt service millage from 0.2545 to 0.2306 mills. The recommended millage rate of 4.1193 exceeds the rollback rate of 3.8604 by 6.71%. The aggregate final millage rate including the Sunrise Key dependent district is 4.1230 which results in an increase of 6.71% above the aggregate rollback rate of 3.8639 and is premised upon the following. Funding increases in wages and insurances funding key commission priorities and community investment plan projects and maintaining a healthy fund balance increases to the fiscal year 2026 general fund budget that require maintaining the millage at the same rate as the prior 18 years include. $12.7 million for the increase in salaries and wages $10.4 million for the increase in fringe benefits including health insurance and pension contributions as well as $4.2 million for the increase in capital outlay equipment purchases. This concludes my report. Thank you. So this is the time for anyone in the public to speak or ask any questions about the final millage rates. I have one person to sign up to speak. Chris Nelson. Hello, commissioners, public. Chris Nelson. I live in the beautiful Flagler Village. And I just want to say I'm so glad that we can come and hash this out and talk civilly in light of the recent political assassination of Charlie Kirk that we can do this civilly. It's really a great thing that we can do this and then shake hands afterwards. I would just like to point out that when you say the millage rate needs to stay the same, this is really an increase in property taxes. And when you say that you can't lower the millage rate without cutting police, cutting fire, that's simply not true. Let's take a look at the numbers. In 2020, Fort Lauderdale collected $168 million in property taxes. In 2026, you're in line to collect $250 million in property taxes. That's $82 million more, a 67% increase because you set the millage rate the same, but property values keep getting jacked up. So you've got a windfall coming in. Yet the population only grew by 2,271 people, a 1.24% increase. So you're taking in 67% more money, yet the population has only grown 1.2%. So where is this money going? I mean, you know, this is not all going to police and fire. You can absolutely lower the millage rate. I don't know if you've heard, but property taxes are going away soon. But you can absolutely lower it back to 2020 levels. So let me give you some ideas of where you can cut. The Strategic Communications Office spends $3.5 million for 13 people to go around making videos of you, Mayor Transhalis, and the rest of you doing your little ribbon cuttings and stuff. And then it barely gets any views on the Internet. They're nice videos, but 13 people, $3.5 million. Do we really need a chief waterways officer? Do we really need a chief education officer? Making over $100,000 a year. There are a lot of positions that can be cut. I know you're not going to do it because most of this is performative, but you need to lower the millage rate. You absolutely can. Thank you. Is there anyone else who wishes to speak on this item? There being none, someone please move to close public hearing. Move. Do I hear a second? A second for Pam Beasley-Pittman. Vice Mayor Herbst. Commissioner Glassman. Yes. Commissioner Beasley-Pittman. Yes. Commissioner Sorensen. Yes. Mayor Trent Dahls. Yes. And public hearing is now closed. So the recommended millage rate to be levied for all general city purposes, exclusive of debt service, will be 4.1193, which represents a 6.71% increase in the millage rate over the rollback rate of 3.8604 mills. The aggregate final millage rate, including dependent districts, is 4.1230, which results in an increase of 6.71% above the aggregate rollback rate of 3.86939 mills. The recommended millage rate for the debt service for the 2015 general obligation refunding bonds is 0.0171. The recommended millage rate for the debt service for the 2011A general obligation bond is 0.0175. The recommended millage rate for the debt service for the city's voter-approved public safety bond is 0.0776. And finally, the recommended millage rate for debt service for the city's voter-approved parks bond is 0.1184. Would someone introduce a resolution adopting the final millage rates for the city of Fort Lauderdale for the fiscal year 2026? Introduced. Resolution has been introduced. Please call the roll. A resolution to the city commission of the city of Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Florida, adopting a final operating millage rate of 4.1193 and a final debt service millage rate of 0.2306 to be levied by the city of Fort Lauderdale for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2025 and ending September 30, 2026. Vice Mayor Herbst? Commissioner Glassman? Yes. Commissioner Beasley-Pittman? Yes. Commissioner Sorensen? Yes. Mayor Trentiles? Yes. And that passes. I just want to comment regarding the millage rate. I happen to see in today's newspaper some of the other budgets from other cities. Just to take an example, the city of Pembroke Pines, which is a growing city, a lot of great things happening there, second in population to Fort Lauderdale in Broward County, their millage rate is 5.6690. And I'm sure it's all well spent, and I'm sure the folks that work for them have done their best to best apply the income towards their needs. But I have to commend our city staff and all those who participated in this budget process for keeping our millage rate at 4.1193, 19 years now. And I also want to point out the county's budget. Now, again, Pembroke Pines does not benefit from any of the new construction that happens in Fort Lauderdale, but the county certainly does. And their operating millage rate is 5.3561, and then there are all kinds of other components that are in addition to that. But just taking the base operating millage rate, 5.3, we're significantly less than other places that we can compare to in terms of providing services and opportunities for people in our community. So, again, I just want to point that out because I feel that our city staff has done a great job at keeping our millage rate low and at the same time providing the kinds of services that the people in our community come to expect. Mayor, can I add to that? Yes. Because I think it's a great point. You know, while we're talking about other cities in the state of Florida, we could also look at the city of Jacksonville, which is leading the way by cutting its millage rate. So the largest city in the state of Florida is leading by cutting the millage rate. So there are other examples out there. I'm sure there are other examples out there, and I know there are cities that have less, have a lower millage rate than Fort Lauderdale. But in terms of trying to compare apples to apples, Broward County, I don't know what's going on in Jacksonville County, keeping in mind that Jacksonville is basically a city-county government. It's a completely different kind of form of government, and so I would, you know, I'm not here to compare Fort Lauderdale to Jacksonville. It's a completely different city. So, but in terms of local municipalities such as Pembroke Pines, such as Broward County, I feel that, you know, we're well-postured to consider that we have done our best to try to keep our millage rate at a fair and reasonable level. Vice Mayor, what millage rate should we be cut to, do you think? What's a good number? He's directing that to the Vice Mayor. Vice Mayor, yeah. So we could easily cut 50 basis points off our millage. We could cut it by a half a point. Okay. So he's saying like 3.6%. Yep, 3 point. Great. And so what would be the resultant reduction dollar-wise? So if you look at the fact that we got $250 million in property taxes at 4.1193, you're roughly at $60 million per mill. So if we were to cut $30 million, that would be half a mill. If we were to cut, you know, $15 million, that would be a quarter of a mill. Great. And then what suggestions would you have for where to cut that $30 million? I had an interesting conversation with the city manager after our last meeting, and she had some concerns when I started talking about the various positions that I think are either redundant or superfluous or don't add value. And her concern is that we're going to be creating a lot of anxiety and potentially demoralizing those particular individuals, which I wouldn't mind doing if I thought there was a genuine interest in cutting the millage rate. But I don't think there is. As Chris pointed out, I think this is performative, and I think we're all pretty well aware of how the vote's going to go. So rather than throwing that burden onto the employees for something that's never going to happen, I prefer not to discuss which staff I think we could probably live without, but I have seen a lot of bloat and growth in the city government through the years. But there are other simple things we could do. We could look at doing a pilot out of the airport, which we used to do and stopped doing. The FAA allows it. We could look at the excess $14 million that we have above our goal in reserves that doesn't need to be there. We could look at the new $5 million that we just got in there. If we took that $20 million and used it to offset the current general fund contribution over to the CIP, guess what we'd have? Close to half a mil. Okay, so – But again, I don't think it's relative at this point. Let's just continue with the vote. Let's call the question. We're half a mil. No, it's very relative. I want to say something. Okay, so if you had concerns about the components that make up our budget, the city had a joint budget workshop with the Budget Advisory Board back in August, which you failed to attend. And that would have been the appropriate time to raise your concerns and to make your suggestions. In fact, the following meeting that we had, the city commission meeting that followed, you also failed to attend. And that would have been the appropriate time because that's when we started to discuss budget items. But the point is that, you know, we're not in a position to now make those changes. If you really wanted to make changes, those would have been the opportunities to participate in the process. And if you say that the budget has been bloated from accruals, you know, over the years, I mean, keep in mind, you are our auditor for many of those years. And you never once said anything about rollback rates. You never once said anything about cutting millage rates. All the years that I've sat on this commission and all the years you sat in that chair as auditor, I've never once heard you say that we need to cut our millage rate. In all the 19 years that we have kept it at 4.1193, you never once said let's go back 50 basis points, 10 basis points, any basis points. Absolutely, because that is absolutely the wrong thing for the city auditor to do. The city auditor should not be engaging in policy decisions. So if you look at the audit, which apparently you haven't read what the auditor's opinion says, it says it is to determine whether or not the budget is accurate, whether the amounts that are in there for revenue and expenditures are properly calculated, whether it complies with state law. Mr. Riley, can you confirm that, that that's what your audit opinion says? Yes. Is it your job to tell the city commission what they should spend money on and what they shouldn't spend money on? We don't make policy, no. Thank you. Okay. Just want to clarify that. Let's clarify that, though, Mr. Auditor. While you might not make policy, do you make policy recommendations? Your microphone's off. Your microphone. Your microphone's off. I'm sorry to turn it off. Yes, we bring in some things, what we call concerns, that we looked into as we did our budget review that may be something that should be considered, but we're by no means saying that you should do this move or this move. Do you regularly make suggestions about when you have concerns with spending? We make recommendations to management. Absolutely, right? You make recommendations all the time about what fiscally you think is wise, what's unwise. Are you at all inhibited by presenting suggestions to the city commission around what you think is wise or unwise fiscal policy? We do not. Are you limited? Limited, no. We base it on our audits and make sure that we have sufficient, confident, evidential manner to make a recommendation. Appreciate it. Thank you. But Commissioner Sorensen, that is not a recommendation as to whether or not we should have a chief education officer or a chief waterways officer or how many staff you should have in STRATCOM. That's a policy decision. So for him to get involved in those decisions, in all the years I was here, it was always the position of the city commission that charter officers don't make policy. They don't recommend policy. They don't get involved with that. Their job is, again, strictly limited to verifying the accuracy of the calculations of the revenue and expenditures, ensuring that the budget is balanced, that it complies with state law, not getting into questions of whether we should be putting more money into police and less money into fire or more money into education or less money into this. That's simply inappropriate for an auditor. It compromises their independence. Sure. So if you've read the city auditor's, some of his recent memos and suggestions, you'll see great analysis about where he thinks there's redundancy in spending, where he thinks there are staffing opportunities, where he thinks there is a lack of financing for projects. So he provides a suite of very helpful recommendations. And there's a difference between setting policy and making policy recommendations. So I appreciate your continued engagement in that realm, Mr. Citi Otter. Sorry, Mayor, just wanted to jump in there. Okay, thank you. And, Mayor, if I could add, and I don't mind this discussion at all. This is a healthy discussion. But I'm going to have to concur with you that this should have happened a long time ago. Because what staff has done over almost the course of a year is taken the work that the Budget Advisory Board has done, and I'm going to thank Bill and that board for that incredible work. The staff has been going on all of the cues we've been giving them since, actually, we started meeting together in earnest and doing a lot of work at the joint workshop on June 17th. That is the only time that the vice mayor actually ever mentioned lowering the millage rate at the June 17th meeting, and there was no one else that wanted to do that. So that discussion went absolutely nowhere. The one meeting that you left out, Mayor, was on June 30th. On June 30th, we actually adopted the 2026 proposed millage rate, which is a key vote. Vice mayor was not present. That's when we should have had that discussion. That's when we could have really driven down into the details of what this budget's all about. We could have looked at that. By the way, the suggestions that I'm hearing, $100,000 for a chief waterways officer, $100,000 for a chief education officer in some positions in STRATCOM, what are we talking about? Not even a million, $2 million out of a billion-dollar budget. So I'm not sure how much of an effect that would have. By the way, I think all of those positions are vital, very important. We had a lot of input over the years, especially about the chief waterways officer because of the condition of our waterways. If we didn't have that, we would be criticized for not having that. And this commission made a commitment eight years ago that education was very important to the children of our city. We wanted to be more involved with the schools. And what better way than making sure that we had a very vibrant education committee and also a very important position of an education officer? So I just wanted to add that because in my recollection, we had about five meetings where we discussed this budget in earnest, joint meetings with the Budget Advisory Board and among ourselves, setting that millage rate, and three out of the five, the vice mayor was absent. Thank you. So one of the things the commission used to do, and even, Mayor, you were back on the commission at the time when they would do that, is between the first budget hearing and the second budget hearing, the commission always directed the city manager to go back and sharpen the pencil. And every city manager has always come back with reductions between meeting number one and meeting number two. You may recall that back when Gretzis was our city manager, Mayor. Those days were a different approach. Okay. All right. Any further comments? There being none, where do we leave off, David? Okay. Moving on to the last item, Budget 11. This is the second of two public hearings as required by law on the city of Fort Lauderdale's budget for fiscal year 2026. The purpose of the hearing is to receive requests and comments regarding the city's budget and to explain the budget and any amendments thereto. The public hearing is now open. The city manager will now present the final budget. City manager. The fiscal year 2026 city of Fort Lauderdale final budget includes maintaining the same millage rate of 4.1193 and increasing the annual fire assessment rate by $75 to $403 per residential unit. The final budget is premised on the following. Funding increases in wages and insurances, funding key commission priorities and community investment plan projects, and maintaining a healthy fund balance. There have been no adjustments to the fiscal year 2026 budget since the approval of the tentative budget on September 3, 2025. This concludes my report on the fiscal year 2026 final budget. Thank you. So this is the time for anyone in the public to speak or ask questions about the final budget. I have a few people sign up to speak. Start with Joseph Kenner. Are you here, Joseph? Good evening, Mr. Mayor, Commission. My name is Joe Kenner, President of Hope South Florida in Fort Lauderdale. We are a 30-year ministry that has been ministering to the homeless in this city, and we're very proud of that. Again, I was here last week but came again, just wanted to commend the commission on allocating $200,000 for the Safe Overnight Parking Initiative and that pilot. But I also brought some friends with me this evening from Mount Olivet that just also wanted to commend you as well. They've been partners with us in serving the homeless in this community for many years, and we just want to, again, express our appreciation and commend you for this. Well, we want to commend you for the great work that you do in helping and partnering with the city in this very important imperative that we have in trying to work with our homeless population here in our city. So thank you. Thank you. Appreciate the partnership. Thank you so much. Ansel Pratt, is that just for questions only? Okay. And Joe Cox, just for – where's Joe? There you are. Just for questions only? Okay. You're welcome. We haven't voted yet. You never know. You want to speak? Sure. Good afternoon. Joe Cox with the Museum of Discovering Science. And the thank you is really for this year's support that you've been able to make to the museum. So over the last few years, the city has been incredibly supportive, and each year the museum provides, at no cost to the children, free programming to every kindergarten through fifth grade student in the city of Fort Lauderdale public schools. So we're able to provide that thanks to a match from philanthropic and corporate partners that we have. So that investment, particularly now when museums are really facing challenges at the state and federal level, really shows that this community is invested in the future of education of our young children. So thank you for this past year. You're very welcome. Chris Nelson. Yes, Chris Nelson. I live in the beautiful Flagler Village, and just want to thank Commissioner Hurts for having the guts to talk about lowering the millage rate in spite of the condescension all coming his way. And I can only imagine how hard it must be to sit there and talk about these bloated salaries we have for various positions. I mean, the city manager's making almost as much as President Trump, but the question hasn't been answered, okay? Property taxes are going away, all right? Governor DeSantis is putting this on the ballot. This is going to get done, so it would be wise to start planning for this now. And we have, in 2020, from 2020 to 2026, 67% increase in property taxes taken in, with only a 1.4% population growth. So where is this money going? It's, I mean, I know we've got a new city hall to build, state-of-the-art. Maybe we can put some hair dryers in there, you know, with all the rain. But the question is, is... Or a barber, maybe you can get a cut. I'm growing this out, baby. But when it comes down to property taxes, you know, I talked to a man the other day that was, you know, he had four parcels of land that he owns outright. He's paying over $100,000 a year for the right to live in his own property. When I buy a TV and bring it home, do I have to pay taxes on that to the government every year for the right to own my own property? So property taxes are an immoral thing, okay? And that's why they're being put on the ballot to go away. And also the fact that commissions like this one, commissions like the Broward Commission, Pembroke Pines out of control, of course, as you pointed out, Mayor. Never said they were out of control. Well, they clearly are, but constantly increasing these because the property values go up. So even though the millage rate stays the same, property taxes are increasing greatly, and everybody's refusing to lower them. So it's pricing people out of here, middle-class people. That's why it's come to this. That's why it's come to putting it as a ballot measure to eliminate property taxes, because you haven't been responsible in lowering the millage rate every year. And you're going to put out a newsletter that says, we kept the millage rate the same, pat yourselves on the back. But it's really, let's call it what it is, it's a property tax increase. I highly recommend preparing for the coming elimination of property taxes. Thank you. Thank you. I'd like to ask a question. So as we prepare for that elimination that you're foreseeing, what is the alternative to pay for police, fire, and all the other services that municipalities pay for? What is the plan then? What are you saying is going to be the great plan that's going to replace property taxes? Well, if you listen to the governor, which you criticize all the time, but listen to him. When do I criticize the governor? Let's wait. I don't criticize the governor. Answer the question. Just answer the question. Okay. Just reminding you, I'm just a regular citizen. I don't work for the government. But let's see. We have so many tourists that come in here, okay? And they are all paying money in sales tax. All these people come in. We had a rather record tourist rate, tourist season. That money all goes to the state. Okay. You know that. No property taxes go to the county. No, no. All sales tax and tourist tax go to the state. Well, did you know that Governor DeSantis said that since we have the biggest budget surplus we've ever had, the state's paid down 50% of their debt since he's been governor. He said he will use the state money, use that money to fill in gaps. So here's the thing. It's not about whether you agree with it or not. I'm just telling you this is the way we're going. So you should be looking for ways to generate revenue outside of just soaking people out of their property because this system just isn't working anymore. And you know it. When this is put on the ballot, it's going to get 60%. So it's really – it's not – you guys get paid the big bucks to figure this out. You've got to come up with the ways and how you're going to pay for this. But I'm saying when you guys say, oh, if we cut the millage rate, we're going to have to fire all the police. We're going to have to – we're not going to have firefighters and stuff. It's simply not true because you were able to do it in 2020 at those rates. The population has not increased all that much, but your budget has gone through the roof, and you're still claiming poverty, and we have to pay a chief education officer and a waterways officer and build a new state-of-the-art city hall and stuff like that. So, I mean, there are – cutting things is not popular. I mean, you put John Herbst on the spot, say, okay, what are we going to cut, hoping that he'll say some things and give you a clip that, oh, my God, Commissioner Herbst said that we need to cut this position or that position and make a big deal out of it, like he's the bad guy, making him into the bad guy. But the thing is, is this is what you guys are elected to do, make some hard decisions. You can't always be the good guy. Okay, Chris, you're two minutes here. And I still haven't had any solutions to replace. I'll just let it go. I'm good. Okay. It's up to you. I was hoping to hear some solutions. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Bonnie Clearwater. Good evening. Bonnie Clearwater, Director and Chief Curator, NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale. I wanted to thank you for the impact that you made last year on supporting the museum. And to just show you how it impacts the city, livability.com has picked Fort Lauderdale as one of the top livable cities. And one of the items it cites for livability is its abundance of art and culture. They're saying that people are moving to Fort Lauderdale as opposed to other cities in the area. And this is one of the reasons. I thank you. You've made a huge difference. And the other way, it benefits the city. One of the long time, over 40 years, residents, Pearl and Stanley Goodman, they're amazing collectors of Latin American art, have just given their entire collection of 90 major works, including Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, to NSU Art Museum. This is a gift not only to the museum, but to the public. So thank you. Your investment is coming back multi-form. Thank you. Thank you, Bonnie. Is there anyone else who wishes to speak on this item? There being none. I'm sorry. Oh, you want to come back? Okay. Good evening. No, push it. There we go. Good evening, Mr. Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commission and staff. My name is Ansel Pratt III. On behalf of the Early Learning Coalition of Broward County, I sincerely want to thank you all for your past support and continued support with our school readiness match program. For those who may not know, the school readiness match program is the state-subsidized child care program that helps families with being able to pay for it to have affordable child care. For those who may not know, the city of Fort Lauderdale is the largest school readiness subsidized population, excuse me, is home to the largest school readiness subsidized population in Broward County. Wait, say that again? The city of Fort Lauderdale is home to the largest subsidized child care population in Broward County. With last year, fiscal year 24-25, we had 2,960 children that we actually served with the school readiness program. That translated to be $15.6 million in child care subsidies that provided relief to over 1,754 households in Fort Lauderdale. The city of Fort Lauderdale is also home to the largest population of child care small businesses, where there are 67 child care small businesses that collectively received $11.7 million in subsidized child care payments that was paid through the Early Learning Coalition of Broward County. These funds stabilized child care businesses to support over 600 early learning educators in strengthening both the workforce and the local economy. With federal and state support shrinking, local investment is more critical than ever. ELC Broad delivered excellent customer service to families and providers. Increased awareness so eligible families can access these services and advocate on the state level to maximize resources for Broward County. As a school readiness program, any contribution that you made, again, is matched on a dollar-for-dollar basis to help double the impact. So we have the ability to draw down on federal dollars. So your generous support of $100,000 last year allowed us to be able to bring in an additional $100,000 to be able to support the residents of the city of Fort Lauderdale. But an investment this year is not only just about a grant. It also is a high-yield investment in quality early learning to prepare children for lifelong success and workforce stability, ensuring parents can remain employed while children are cared for in a safe and rich environment. So thank you once again for your pass and continued support. Thank you. Anyone else wish to speak on this item? I had a couple questions. Let's close public hearing. Great. Do you move to close public hearing? Moved. Do I hear a second? Seconded. Moved and seconded. Please call the roll. Vice Mayor Herbst? Yes. Commissioner Glassman? Yes. Commissioner Beasley-Pittman? Yes. Commissioner Sorensen? Yes. Mayor Trentals? Yes. And public hearing on B-8 Budget 11 is now closed. Commissioner Sorensen? Yep. Thanks, Mayor. Vice Mayor, question. You mentioned there's a program at the airport. I didn't quite catch it, what you were mentioning. I don't know if it was a revenue or cutting. The airport? I think Vice Mayor said airport or pilot, something. A pilot is a payment in lieu of taxes. So historically, the airport has paid a payment in lieu of taxes to the city of Fort Lauderdale. We stopped doing that several years ago. The FAA allows it. It's common practice throughout the country. It's something we could reinstitute. Okay. Okay, great. Love the idea. Raquel, can we do that? Well, some future time, not in this budget, though. We can explore the fiscal impacts of doing that, yes. Okay. Are you familiar with this concept or what's... I am not. Yeah. Okay. So that would be something to consider, I think, for a future fiscal year. It's a policy sometimes with nonprofits where we negotiate a payment in lieu of taxes because nonprofits are not taxed, but they rely on our services. I'm not familiar with it with regard to the airport, but certainly look into it in the next fiscal year. Yeah. Pat, are you familiar with this concept? I haven't seen that as stated. I think I've seen that with some real estate type of transactions, but not with the airport. Okay. Okay. Do you want to say anything? Do you have a thought on this? No, you just turned yourself up. Okay. Good evening, Mayor and Commissioners. Laura Reese. So the city used to charge a pilot to the airport, and we were audited by the FAA, and we were told that we couldn't. We had to repay the airport for prior payments. We did a study, but this was years ago. We haven't recently looked at it, but we had to have Matrix Consulting come in and look at what we could have otherwise charged them through cost allocation. And we did a true-up for a number of years where we did charge them pilot. The problem, as I recall, then, is that our methodology for how we were charging the pilot was not consistent with the Code of Federal Regulations, the CFRs, that the FAA uses. So I think it's something we can go back and revisit. We can revisit it. Because, again, it's done around the country and other municipal airports. So the FAA allows it. It's just a matter of making sure that what we do and how we do it is consistent with the regulations. Absolutely. We can look at it between budgets and get back to you. I love the idea. I mean, I think that's fantastic. Great idea. How does that work? Great. So how it would work is the airport properties have a value where there's no taxes paid, and we would apply our millage rate. How we did it before is we applied our millage rate on that value. That doesn't otherwise get taxed. Who pays that? The airport. So it would be taking funds from our airport fund and moving them into our general fund through this pilot charge as a revenue. And, again, we're limited in moving dollars from the airport fund into the general fund, or we can't do that at all is my basic understanding. Only as allowed by the FAA. Exactly. So this would be a way to – We'd have to explore the eligibility. Correct. Okay. Yeah. Great. Okay. Thank you, Laura. That's great. Next – thank you, Laura. Thank you. Great. Next one, Vice Mayor Reyes, which, again, always a good point to talk about reserve. So what – Raquel, remind me where we are in terms of reserve dollar amount. Just forget that. Fund balance. Fund balance. I'm glad that this came up in the discussion because we actually are planning to bring a budget amendment at the October 7th meeting to utilize almost $14 million. In our fund balance to advance capital projects so that we aren't as stressed next fiscal year. We're also planning to incorporate the PFAS settlement funds in that budget amendment. So we're looking at about a $34 million budget amendment to advance capital projects to decrease our need for funding for next year. Okay. And what impact is that on the reserves? So we typically look at a fund balance – we're looking at a 25% based on our target. And so we're in a healthy position with our fund balance and our reserves, and I would like to continue along that path. Yep. Okay. And so when you say just flesh that out a little bit more, give us 25% means how much money. Give it – if you could, please. And then, Pat, I'm going to – I'd like your guidance and feedback on this, too, please. Sorry. So 25% is actually the number that the city manager just referred to. So we're taking the full amount over the 25%, which is about $14 million – or $13 million to appropriate to capital projects. That still leaves us about $110 million – $120 million in fund balance. And the one thing to keep in mind is our fund balance commitment goes up as our budget goes up. So you'll see that our fund balance is growing, but as our operating budget is going up, we want to ensure that we have sufficient funds to cover any of our obligations going forward. Great. Thanks. And who mandates or suggests the fund balance amount? You guys get to do that. So we look to the commission for guidance on what we would do. Our minimum target is the 16.67%, which is two months of our operating budget. That is a policy decision, but it's also best practice as recommended by a number of professional organizations. As a city, we've also started targeting the 25%, and really this allows us – we just finished our bond rating calls, and each bond rating agency that we met with applauded us for having such strong reserves. As they look at other organizations that are not in the same position and are going out for debt, they really aren't able to get as favorable ratings as we are. Great. Great. And, again, we're AAA rated, right? Is it from a bond rating agency, which I think has – we've been AAA rated since 2018, possibly? And we have some clear indications that, you know, we're in a good position for going forward. Might continue. Great. So if I heard you right, you're saying a certain level of reserves supports and helps maintain that high level of bond rating. Our reserves as well as the diversification of our revenues as well. Okay. Okay. Great. Just to add to that, Commissioner, in the recent calls with the rating agency, they also applauded our new emergency reserve fund strategy that we're implementing as part of this year's budget. Okay. That's good to hear. I haven't heard that before. What did they say specifically? Well, they noted all of the uncertainty surrounding emergency management across the country and how that is to be handled. And so they thought it was a creative strategy to put in place. Okay. Great. Thank you. So, Vice Mayor, what percent do you think is good for our fund balance to be? Where would you like to head? So the fund balance percentage that I advocated for all along and I still support is the GFOA's recommended fund balance allowance of 16.7%. We've exceeded that for many, many years. And frankly, I've always thought it was excessive. And I've always said that. I've been very, very vocal about that through the years that I think it's excessive. Essentially, we're taking money away from the taxpayers' bank accounts and we're putting it in our bank account. Now, there is a certain amount of validity to what we just discussed about the bond rating agencies, but let me tell you what the bond rating agencies would love to see. They'd love to see 100% of our spending in reserves because the only thing they care about is the ability of the city to repay the bonds. It's a bond rating agency. It's about protecting the creditors. It's not about what's good for the city. And so they don't care how much we overtax our residents as long as we have a multitudes of funds that if we're in a catastrophe, the bonds still get paid off. And so I've actually gone to Wall Street and I've made presentations to Standard and Poor's and Moody's and Fitch's. And I can tell you that there are a multitude of factors that go into our rating agencies. It's not just what we have in reserves. In fact, probably the strongest thing that they look at is the willingness of elected officials to raise the millage rate because that's how we pay our bills. And so the fact that we haven't raised our millage rate in 19 years actually works against us when you talk to the rating agencies. Again, I don't look at the rating agencies as the end-all and be-all of what constitutes good fiscal management. Again, they're out there to protect the bondholders and nobody else. How would they react to lowering the millage rate that you recommended? It's one of a multitude of factors, and if there is a reason and a plan for why we're doing it and we're trying to provide fiscal relief to our residents, then they would look at that favorably, I believe. Okay, great. Hey, great feedback. So, Raquel, I'd be very interested in having – so bond rating agencies, in my view, but open to anyone's feedback on that. Very important, our rating matters, and why our rating of bond agencies matters as a municipality is because that allows us to go to the marketplace and get lower rates for borrowing money and thus investing in our infrastructure and all the important things we're doing. So if we were to lose or have a degraded scoring from a bond rating agency, that impacts our ability to go to the marketplace, get dollars to invest in our infrastructure. Am I capturing that flow correctly? Absolutely. Okay. So what I'd be interested in is – look, I'm completely open to the idea of reducing our reserves. What I'd like to hear – Even when they're about to defund FEMA? Yeah, I mean, look, I'm open to the conversation. Yeah, and so what I'd like to hear is facts and data on that. So, Raquel, I'd really appreciate it if you could have some conversations with bond rating agencies, and I'd love to hear what percent reduction could we get to where they are still completely supportive of our fiscal position and policy. Sure, we can have those conversations and report back to the commission. Yeah, that'd be great because that could help inform kind of where we're heading as we think about this. Could I add a little something to that, Commissioner, too? So while you're doing that, let's look at how many basis point reductions we're looking at when we go from AAA to a AA plus and things like that. I mean, at that level, really, the differential is minor when we look at it. So let's see if we can get that information. Typically, they don't like to share their models. You know, they have an algorithm. They've got a black box that they throw all this stuff into, and they're generally for – it's considered confidential business information because Moody's wants to know how Fitches does it, and they want to know how S&P does it. But if you can get that, that would be helpful, too. We'll do our best. Yeah. You're persuasive for Kelly. I know you can do it. She can do it. She can do anything. Great. Okay. Thank you. Good conversation. Thanks. Okay. Oh, yeah. Sorry. I was just going to add that, as mentioned, the GFOA recommends basically two months expenditures, although there is the option, which most people don't use, is two months of the revenues. But the city has chosen the expenditures. But I know we're a little bit higher than the two months, but I think it's good to be – you know, we're around 25 percent. It's a little bit higher than the two months, but I think that's not a bad thing to have to have additional – for example, this year we had some expenditures that we took out of the general fund, the pay expenditures out of the general fund related to the PD building. So it's good to have a little bit more. Two is what's good, but I think the 25 is kind of more – a little bit more conservative that, you know, you're not really sure what can occur in each year. So I think I like a little bit more than 2 percent myself. Okay. Then two months. Two months. Remind me of our monthly expenditure. What's our average monthly expenditure? And that's going to be my first question. And then my next question, Pat, for you is give me the percent that you think is – if you had to say this is the exact percent fund balance that I think is the sweet spot, what would it be? Sounds like 25 you're saying is a little bit high. Yeah, I think that's good. It's good, though. Well, you know, in our letter this year on the budget, we had recommended some possible uses. Again, we're not making policy, but we had made some recommendations, maybe paying down a little bit more debt, maybe paying down the additional pension, COLA item that was approved this last year. So, you know, we saw a little bit that could be brought down a little bit on the balance of it. Okay. Fair enough. Thank you, Pat. Thanks. And when we do our calculation, we really look at the year-long. But if you were to divide our budget by the 12, it would be about $43 million. The thing to keep in mind is that we remove some expenses that we would not be required to do in an event of emergency. So some of the transfers out that we do, we don't include them in our fund balance 25% calculations. Okay. Okay. Great. That helps. So two months would be maybe if we add in maybe $86 million to $100 million in range-ish. Okay. For two months. Okay. Great. Thank you. Thanks, Mayor. Okay. Thank you. So the final total all-funds budget for the City of Fort Lauderdale is $1,194,366,687, which will fund the various operations of the City of Fort Lauderdale for the fiscal period beginning October 1, 2025 and ending September 30, 2026. Someone please introduce a resolution adopting the final budget for the City of Fort Lauderdale for the fiscal year, 2026. Introduced. It's been introduced. Please call the roll. A resolution of City Commission of the City of Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Florida, adopting and approving the final budget of the City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida for fiscal year beginning October 1, 2025 and ending September 30, 2026, which includes the budget for the general fund, water and sewer central regional wastewater funds, self-insured health benefits funds, stormwater funds, sanitation funds, debt service funds, central services, ITS unified customer service funds, parking funds, building funds, fleet funds, city property and casualty funds. So the insurance funds grant bond and reserve funds, airport funds, community redevelopment agency funds, cemetery system fund, project management fund, transportation surtax fund, cemetery perpetual care fund, arts and science district garage fund, marine facilities fund, school crossing guards fund, beach business improvement district fund, nuisance abatement fund, sunrise key neighborhood improvement district fund, and police confiscation fund. Adopting and approving the final City of Fort Lauderdale personnel complement for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2025 and ending September 30, 2026 and providing for an effective date. Vice Mayor Herbst. Commissioner Glossman. Yes. Commissioner Beasley-Bittman. Yes. Commissioner Sorenson. Yes. Mayor Trent-Tiles. Yes. And the budget is now approved for fiscal year 2026. Is there any further business of this meeting? Mayor, I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank you, the vice mayor and commissioners, for your support of my first budget with the city. I'd like to acknowledge the budget advisory board for all of their assistance and the chair, Bill Brown, who is here today. I'd also like to acknowledge the executive team, department directors, my fellow charter officers, the city attorney, city auditor, city clerk, Yvette Matthews, assistant city manager, Laura Reese, director of the Office of Management and Budget, Parth Patel, Keith Farrell, Charmaine Crawford, Michael Dudley, Tamika McGibbon. You're not getting an Oscar. Daniel Murray. Daniel Murray now with DSD. I'm sorry. Go ahead. Laura McCoy, Ahil Rajpari, Erica Johnson, Michael Cam, Richard Morris, Jr., Jamie Connolly, Matthew Carino, and Donna Samuda. Thank you as well to all the budget coordinators and liaisons in the various departments. Without this strong team, we could not have done this. So thank you so much for your support, and thanks to our team. And, Raquel, I'd like to echo that. So I spent a couple of years in the budget office in Jacksonville, and it was probably the hardest job I've ever had in government. It is labor intensive. It's time crunch. And in this last month, things are coming fast and furious, and things are changing on an almost hourly basis. I know we pulled a book halfway through printing one time, and it was just horrible. So you have my sympathy and my admiration. So thank you all for what you do. I really do appreciate it. Okay. There being no further business, this meeting is now concluded. Thank you.