City Council - First Public Budget Hearing — Sep 13, 2023

Good evening and welcome. The City of Plantation first public budget hearing for September 13th is now called to order. City Clerk, please call the roll. Council Member Anderson. Here. Council Member Andreu. Here. Council Member Fadgen. Here. Council Member Horland. Here. Council Member Reinstein. Here. Mayor Sortel. Here. Assistant City Attorney Quentin Morgan. Here. Thank you. Thank you. We will present the fiscal year tentative millage resolution for items one through six. Ms. Otaniana, would you like to do the presentation first before we begin? Yes. Please. Yes. Before I get, good evening, Mayor, Council President, Council Members, City Attorney Morgan. Before I get started, I just want to identify the proposed millage rates, the rollback rates, and the increase above the rollback rates. The City of Plantation fiscal year 2024 proposed budget is based on the general fund operating millage of 5.8000 mills. This is an increase of 8.21% from the rollback millage rate of 5.36000 mills. The voter debt millage rate for fiscal year 2024 is 0.2813 mills. This is the millage rate required to fund the voter-approved debt service. The Plantation Gateway Development District fiscal year 2024 proposed budget is based on the operating millage of 1.9160 mills. This is an increase of 8.77% from the rollback millage rate of 1.7615 mills. The Plantation Midtown Development District fiscal year 2024 proposed budget is based on the operating millage of 0.9707 mills. This is an increase of 5.26% from the rollback millage rate of 0.9222 mills. The City of Plantation Aggregate fiscal year 2024 proposed budget is based on the aggregate millage rate of 6.0272 mills. This is an increase of 8.29% from the aggregate rollback millage rate of 5.5660 mills. The increase in ADVILARM revenues in fiscal year 2024 are for the specific purpose of funding increases in operating costs, increases in personnel costs, and to fund capital needs. And now on to the presentation. Yeah. I'm sorry. Can we maybe just for the record make that disclaimer for the listening public if anybody is online? Yes. We're experiencing technical issues with the video portion of tonight's meeting, but the presentations are visible and the audio is operational. Okay. The fiscal year 2024 proposed budget for all funds is approximately $252 million. This is an 11.2% increase or $25.4 million increase over the fiscal year 2023 amended budget. A majority of the increase, as I said, it's an increase of $25.4 million. You can see from my slide here that the majority of the increases in the utility funds, which increased $21.4 million or 36.1%. The general fund increased 4.7% or $5.9 million. Stormwater utility fund, 38.9% or $591,000. The golf course, 2.6% or $153,000. Special revenue district funds, 6.4% or $297,000. Decreases for the other two funds, special revenue funds, decreased 7.3% or $1.3 million. And ad valorem bond projects decreased 30% or $1.6 million. As we go through the presentation, I will go through the details of the increases and decreases of these items. Starting with the general fund. The general fund has a proposed budget of approximately $131 million for fiscal year 2024. This is an increase of 4.7% or $5.9 million. The increase is primarily in operations, personnel, and capital costs. General fund revenue. So as you can see from this slide, general fund revenue, the largest source of general fund revenue, is ad valorem revenues. Ad valorem revenues increased 9.7% or $6.4 million over the fiscal year 2023 amended budget. This increase is related to property taxes, directly related. The intergovernmental category increased 14.8% or $1.5 million. This is the category that houses sales tax and half-cent sales tax. In previous years, due to COVID and due to looming recession, we actually maintained very conservative projections for the sales tax and half-cent sales tax. For fiscal year 2024, however, we're bringing them back to normal projections because the dollars that are coming in are reflecting more normal numbers. So we're increasing them 12.4% for fiscal year 2024. Also included in this category are the school resource officers program. This also increased due to a successful negotiation by the police department for increased pay for the officers. So that's also driving the increase in this category up to 14.8%. The charges for services category increased 6.2% or approximately $1 million. The increase is attributed to three different things. In this category is where we have the cost allocations that we charge to the building department, to the enterprise fund utilities department, and now also to the golf department. Also increasing in this category are the revenues for the recreation, which is another revenue source that was impacted by COVID. All the programs, all the programs when they closed, when they opened them back up, there was a surge in attendance for events. The popularity continues to grow, so you're seeing additional revenues there for 2024. Mayor, for those in the public, we have some budget books back there. And if you want to follow along, grab those books back there and pass them out if you don't mind. You okay with that? Thank you. And then the tennis revenues are also increasing for fiscal year 24. In fiscal year 2021, the tennis department actually offered new services. Those services have grown in popularity, and so you're seeing an increase there for 24. The utility service tax category increased 4.9% or $395,000. The increase here is directly related to utility service taxes for electricity due to FPL increasing their rates. The fiscal year 2024 general fund budget is based on a proposed millage rate of 5.8000 mills. City of Plantation property values increased 10.58% according to the Broward County property appraiser. The combination of the increase in property values and the proposed millage rate is expected to generate approximately $71.4 million. This will generate an additional $6.4 million over the fiscal year 2023 amended budget. Of the $6.4 million, 23.8% or $1.5 million is related to new construction. The proposed millage rate of 5.800 mills requires a two-thirds vote or four votes from council. As I stated, the city will get an additional $6.4 million if the 5.8 millage rate is approved. The residents, what's the impact to the residents? These are the same homes that I kind of track every year. I won't go over every one of them, but I'll kind of go through a couple of them. The Lauderdale West homeowner who paid $288.32 in property taxes in fiscal year 23. If the proposed millage rate is approved, they will pay $288.90 in fiscal year 24. This is an annual increase of 58 cents or a monthly increase of 5 cents. The historical plantation homeowner paid $837.93 in fiscal year 23. At the 5.8 mill for 24, they will pay $871.74. This is an increase annually of 33.81% or a monthly increase of $2.82. The Fox Run homeowner will see an increase of $83.11 annually or $6.93 monthly. So we get calls sometimes in the finance department from residents. They think that the total taxes that they pay on the trim notice comes to the city. So I like to include the trim notice so we can kind of explain to the residents what portion of the bill actually does come to the city. So if we go back to the other slide for a second, this historical plantation homeowner with a Save Our Home value of $200,300, this is their trim notice. So if you go up to the assessed value and move over to the municipal column, you'll see assessed value is $200,300. This homeowner has a homestead exemption and an additional homestead exemption. So both of those reduced their taxable value down to $150,000. So if you move down to the municipal section and you move all the way over to the right, you'll see this homeowner will pay $871. And I can't see what that's, 74 cents in property taxes. If you go back to the slide, $871.74. And you can see that they paid $837.93 in fiscal year 23. You go to the slide and you move over one column, you can see they paid $837.93 in fiscal year 23. This homeowner is going to pay $42, and I think that's $0.26 in debt, in 28, in debt service. Thank you. So they're going to pay $42.28 in debt service. In the previous year, they paid $49.02. So that's a decrease in debt service millage for fiscal year 24. The total property taxes this homeowner will pay is approximately $3,252.11. And if we go to the next slide, you can see of the tax bill for the homeowners, 35.66% goes to the Broward County School Board. 28.11% goes to the City of Plantation. 26.20% goes to Broward County. And the rest goes to North Broward Hospital District, Children's Services Council, South Florida Water Management District, and the Florida Inland Navigation District. Now, in the maximum millage meeting, there was some confusion about when the last millage rate had changed. So I did a look back seven years, and you can see in 2017, the millage rate for the city was 5.9 mils. In fiscal year 2018, the millage rate was reduced to 5.75 mils. And then in 2019 and 4, it was increased again back up to the 5.8 mils, where it stayed for the next five years and will stay six consecutive years if it is approved again tonight. I will say that the city has not increased millage. Even though cost of goods and services has gone up, cost of capital has gone up, the city has been able to contain those costs with the increase in taxable values and not increasing the millage rate. Also, conversation at the last meeting, the millage meeting, we had a conversation about reducing the millage. I have a slide here that if you go to the adjusted rollback rate, the city would lose approximately $3.5 million. That would be at the rate 5.5122 mils, and this is the adjusted rollback rate. The impact to the homeowner, the homeowner in Lauderdale West would see a reduction in taxes of $19.21 annually or $1.60 monthly. The historical plantation homeowner would see a reduction of $9.44 annually or $0.79 monthly. The Fox Run homeowner would see a reduction of $44.12 or $3.68 monthly. Moving on to the general fund expenditures. So, you can see in this graph the green, the big green portion of the graph that shows you that the personnel costs are the largest costs for the general fund. In fiscal year 2024, personnel costs increased 3.7% or $3.4 million. The increase is directly related to the request for 16 new full-time positions, 7 new part-time, 5% merit increases for current employees, and then increases for FOP and fire rescue, EMS personnel based on their contracts. The operations area increased 7.9% or $1.8 million. The increase here is across the board. Most of goods and services have gone up, so you'll see through a lot of the funds, a lot of the increases were across the board. I will go into those in a little bit more detail as we move through the slides. The capital, operating capital increased 6.3% or $471,000. The increase here is based on capital needs. So, moving into the personnel, I'm going to dig in a little deeper here. What I normally do is when I get to the slides, I kind of try to group the departments that are alike into one area, so you can kind of see how the personnel costs are spread among those departments. So, the total cost of personnel for fiscal year 2024, it's $94 million. Of that $94 million, $3.3 million is related to information technology. $9 million is related to public works. This public works is public works, central service crafts, facility maintenance, and landscape. So, that's all of those. Under the next one, the general service departments, this is where I grouped all the smaller departments. So, that's finance, HR, administration, procurement, planning and zoning, engineering, library, and museum. So, those are all in here. And the cost of those departments combined is $10.4 million. The Parks and Recreation Department, which includes Parks, Recreation, Tenex, Aquatics, and Equestrian, those all total $12 million. And then, last but not least, public safety, which is fire, fire, rescue, and police, cost $59.4 million. As I stated earlier, 16 new full-time and 7 new part-time positions were requested. Information technology requested 3 full-time positions, an application administrator, a system administrator 2, and a system analyst 2. The Human Resources Department requested 1 full-time position, a payroll specialist. Planning and zoning requested to remove a part-time licensing clerk and add a full-time licensing clerk in her place. The Police Department requested 4 full-time positions, 1 police officer, 1 senior code inspector, an assistant communications manager, and a digital records LPR coordinator. The Fire Department requested 1 full-time administrative assistant 3. The Engineering Department requested 1 full-time assistant city engineer, and Public Works requested 2 full-time public work specialists, and a maintenance worker 1. The Recreation Department requested 1 full-time and 1 part-time, a full-time recreation specialist, and a part-time assistant program supervisor. The Tennis Department requested 3 part-time positions, 2 maintenance worker 1, and 1 assistant program supervisor. The Aquatics Department requested 2 full-time and 4 part-time positions, 1 full-time superintendents of aquatics and racket sports, and 1 full-time administrative assistant 1, and 4 part-time lifeguard 2 positions. Sticking with the same groupings for operating costs, you can see $25 million in total operating costs for fiscal year 24. Of that, $1.7 million related to information technology, $3.2 million related to parks and recreation, $5.6 million for public safety, $6.3 million for general service departments, and $8.2 million for public works. Now, I want to point out, in the general service departments, 50% of that cost is related to property casualty insurance, risk management, uninsured liability claims, and then risk management legal. So, that's 50% of that cost. During the budget process, administration usually directs the department heads how to move forward with their budgets. During fiscal year 24 process, administration with inflation and the cost of goods and services, inflation-directed departments that they could move, they could increase their budgets up to 5% for operations. Of the 24 departments in the general fund, 10 departments went above that 5%. Looking at the graph here, you can see the other general government, it increased 33.5% or $923,000. This is the category that has the property casualty insurance and the uninsured liability claims and so on. The property casualty insurance by itself increased about 60% or around almost $800,000 over the previous fiscal year. The resource recovery fund increased 7.4% or $346,000. This is for solid waste fees, so it's really a pass-through for us. We don't pay that. It's paid by the residents, so it's offset by a revenue source that comes in when the bills are paid. The fire department increased 9.6% or $225,000. Increase here is related to R&M structures, R&M equipment, R&M tires. And also they added a new retention incentive program for the volunteer firefighters for fiscal year 24. The planning and zoning department increased 26.3% or $161,000. The increase here is directly related to funds for a consultant to assist with an impact fee study and a comp plan. The information technology department increased 9.5% or $148,000. Increase here is in the line item contracted maintenance for computers. The city clerk increased 10.3%. Increase was in legal membership fees and transportation and food and shelter. The administration department increased 33.1% or $129,000. The increase here is related to four employees were moved into the department. It's not the cost of the employees, but more the cost of their resources that they need to do their job. So the social media individual has certain programs that they use. Those programs all have to be moved into administration. The cost of supplies, the cost of communications, membership schools, those all increased. In addition to those items, the administration added $30,000 for a citizen survey and $25,000 for community engagement. The Parks Department increased 5.9% or $71,000. Increase here, again, is the R&M structures and the R&M equipment. And then last but not least, engineering increased 47.7% or $31,000. Increase here was for consultant monies to hire a consultant for specialty projects. This is another nine departments, and these departments actually were less than or equal to 5% increases. They were able to contain costs. So we have facility maintenance, finance department, police, and fire were able to, and library were able to keep the costs below 5%. And then we had the crafts department, aquatics, equestrian, and human resources that came in at the 5%. So, again, sticking with the same groupings, and this is for capital. You can see, I won't go through all the numbers, but you can just see by looking at the chart that majority of the capital costs are in parks and recreation and public safety. Now we're going to go through the capital. So everything we've looked at so far has kind of been by department and groups. This is more about capital items that are similar. So I grouped all the asset management together. It's not by department now, and now it's more about the capital item. So for asset management, the city is really going to get off the ground with this in 24 and moving forward. We really want to get all our assets on a schedule, know when our life cycles are, know when things are going to need to be repaired or replaced, and we're starting with 24. So in 24, the fire station 3 has a metal roof replacement. Fire station 2 has a roof replacement. There is a citywide facilities hardening project, which is where the city is going to try and assess all the buildings and understand what's going on and what the needs are. Central Park pump room improvements is included. Jim Ward is going to replace floors and bathrooms both inside and outside. There's a new roof for a small structure in Sunset Park, some parking lot resurfacing in various parks, and then, of course, the ADA transition plan, which started in 22. That's still going. Public safety, capital equipment, excluding vehicles. These are all for fire. The fire department requested a fire truck lift with six columns, an air compressor, some rescue hydraulic equipment, and a fire training prop. General fund department vehicles. Now, the total here is $1.9 million. A majority of this cost is for public safety vehicles. There is one fire response vehicle for equipment for the fire department and 25 police vehicles and equipment for the police department. There is one vehicle for engineering, two vehicles for public works, five for parks and rec, but they're not all in parks and rec. There's going to be three in parks and recreation, one in, three in parks, one in recreation, and one in equestrian. Parks, capital item, not including vehicles. They have a lot of shade structures in there this year. Shade structures not only for playgrounds, but also for bleachers, the spectator bleachers. They have playground replacements, full lots, and partial units. They have public art, sports courts, and clay courts resurfacing, and then miscellaneous equipment, tractor loader, and a real mower. Technology capital items include a network file management software, a data silo, some managed wireless services, network of servers and device refresh, and an RMS CAD system for police. Special districts, the City of Plantation has two special districts. The first one is Plantation Gateway. The proposed budget for the Plantation Gateway District is, the proposed millage rate for the Plantation District is 1.9160 mils. The Gateway District property values increase 8.73% according to the Broward County Property Appraiser. The combination of the increased rates and the millage rate is going to generate approximately $838,000 in ad valorem revenue. This is approximately $51 above what was collected in fiscal year 23. The proposed millage rate of 1.9160 mils requires two-thirds vote, or four votes from Council. The Plantation Gateway development budget totals $485,000 in fiscal year 24. This is an increase of 0.6% or $2,925, increases related to electricity, water, and bank fee increases. The Plantation Midtown proposed budget is based on a proposed millage of 0.9707 mils. Midtown District property values increased 18.69% according to the Broward County Property Appraiser. The combination of increased property values and proposed millage rate will generate approximately $2 million in the ad valorem revenue. That's an additional $280,000 over the fiscal year 2023 ad valorem revenues. Of the $280,000, 79.1% or $222,000 is related to new construction. The proposed millage rate of 0.9707 mils requires a majority vote or three votes from Council. The proposed operating budget and construction budget for the Midtown Development District is approximately $4.5 million in fiscal year 24. This is an increase of 7.1% or $293,000. The increase is related to funds that were put aside for a consultant to help with the Broward Mall and Midtown Urban Plan. And then there's also, because the increase in revenues, there's a transfer out that increase that's going to go to the construction fund. Special revenue funds. The special revenue funds, there's nine. There's NSP, Library Board, CRA, Road and Traffic, SHIP, CDBG, federal forfeiters, state forfeiters, impact fees, and building. The total special revenue category for fiscal year 24 is approximately $16.8 million. This is a decrease of 7.3% or $1.3 million. The decrease is primarily in the road and traffic, CDBG, and building funds. Road and traffic decreased approximately $708,000. During the budget process, we actually took $1,000,000, $1,000,000 out of the paving program because they still have $1,000,000 in 23 that we're going to roll over to 24. CDBG decreased because we no longer handle that program. It's actually handled by Broward County, so you're seeing little funds there. The building fund decreased 8% or $675,000. Decreases in the capital projects due to the completion of projects. So there was projects budgeted in FY23 that are now complete, so that's the reduction right there. Debt service. City of Plantation has two types of debt service. They have a non-advalorum debt service or an advalorum debt service. The non-advalorum debt service in fiscal year 24 is approximately $2.1 million. This is a decrease of 0.3% or $6,670. The decrease is in interest expense in the CRA debt service. The advalorum debt service is approximately $3.9 million in fiscal year 24. This is an increase of 0.1% or $4,750. The increase is in principal expense in fiscal year 24. The advalorum debt service is supported by a debt millage, which is 0.2813 mils in fiscal year 24. This is a reduction from 2023 due to the increase in property values. Homeowner, the same homeowner, historical plantation with a $200,000 home, $50,000 exemption will pay $42.28 in debt service. That's $6.74 less than fiscal year 2023. Capital projects like the debt service, there is non-advalorum and advalorum. The non-advalorum capital projects in fiscal year 24 is approximately $403,000. This is a 0.1% increase or $500 increase, the increases in bank fees. The capital projects are the same as last year. Lighting at bus shelters, pedestrian amenities, gateway monument sign, and heightened pedestrian crossing. The advalorum capital projects, total budget for fiscal year 24 is $3.7 million. This is a decrease of 30% or $1.6 million. The decrease is due to the completion of bond projects. There are two silos left for fiscal year 24. The public safety silo has dropped off. There is still some projects in there as of right now, but we're hoping those will be done by the end of the year. So for 2024, you'll see Parks and Rec silo has a $2.6 million amount for projects for the Central Park Multipurpose Building, Pop Traverse Fields, Pine Island Park, and North Acres Park. The public works stormwater silo is approximately $1.1 million in fiscal year 24 for a stormwater vac truck and some miscellaneous stormwater drainage projects. Enterprise funds, the City of Plantation has three enterprise funds, utilities, Gulf Preserve, and the Stormwater Utility Fund. Utilities is the largest of the enterprise funds. In fiscal year 2024, utility funds total approximately $81 million. This is an increase of 36.1% or $21.4 million. The increase is in personnel, operations, and capital. Personnel increase 7% or approximately $1 million. The increase is due to the request for five new positions and also for 5% merit increases for current staff. Operations increased 18.8% or $3.3 million. We saw increases across all of operations. There wasn't anything really that stood out. The capital increase is 88.8% or $16.7 million. So this is for various capital projects throughout various utility funds. So the utility requested five new positions, as I stated, four crew leaders and one chief lift station mechanic. Capital projects, the total capital projects is approximately $36 million for the utilities across three funds. There's $3 million budgeted in the utility capacity funds, $8.9 million budgeted in the utility operating funds, and then $23.6 million in the utilities repair and replacement funds. The Plantation Golf Course Preserve Fund totals approximately $6 million in fiscal year 24. This is an increase of 2.6% or $153,000. The increase is primarily in the operations. Operations increased 9.1% or $405,000. The increase there was for outside services and also for, what is that other thing? An R&M equipment. Also, they have an allocation fee, which I told you was reinstated when they were first established. It was an allocation fee, but the revenues couldn't support the operations and the debt service, which was approximately $800,000 a year. So the administration that was in place in fiscal year 2014 said, let's stop it for now. We'll re-implement it when they can afford it. We're in a good place. They can afford it. So for fiscal year 24, they're going to pay off the debt service in 24, and we're implementing it at 50% for fiscal year 24, and then at 25 and forward, it will be 100%. The budget for stormwater for fiscal year 24 is approximately $2.1 million. This is an increase of 38.9% or $591,000. The increase is in personnel costs and operating. Personnel costs increased 22.8% or $271,000. The increase is related to the request for one new full-time stormwater manager position and the increase in payroll allocation. The operating budget increased 81.2% or $269,000, $270,000, and this is related to the maintenance costs, which is the cost to maintain the system. The stormwater utility fee increased 3.5% CPI. This was approved by City Council on 6-21-23. The new rate is $4.31 per ERU per month, which is up from $4.16 in fiscal year 23. The new annual rate is $51.75 per ERU, which is up from $50 in fiscal year 2023. The summary of recommendations for Council tonight are to adopt the tentative mirage and final assessment rates for the City of Plantation, 5.8000 mils, which requires four votes from Council. The voted debt mirage of 0.2813 mils requires three votes from Council. Gateway Development District, 1.9160 mils requires four votes from Council. The Midtown Development District, 0.9707 mils requires three votes from Council. And the stormwater assessment of annual 51.75 requires three votes from Council. Additionally, recommendations are to adopt the tentative budgets for the City of Plantation, the Gateway Development District, the Midtown Development District, and the Community Redevelopment Agency. The second public budget hearing to adopt the final millage rates and the final budgets for fiscal year 24 is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Wednesday, September 20, 2023 in City Council Chambers. Oh, I took it down. I didn't know you guys liked it, so I took it down. I still have it. Thank you very much, Ms. Otaniano. I want to thank you and your entire team for presenting a very balanced budget that reflects the priorities of all of the residents of our great city, highlighting, I think, public safety, asset management, the capital needs, parks and rec, and respecting the hard work of our city staff. I think keeping our millage rate at 5.8 and not creasing it again this year alleviates any additional financial burdens to our residents and preserves and keeps our financial stability in our city. So I want to personally thank you and your team for doing a great job. Thank you. Questions from any of the Council members? Comments? Council Member Fadgen. Here I am again. Hi. Well, first, thank you for your hard work. Thank you to the administration and all the directors and everyone involved in putting the budget together. This is my third go-around with this, and I appreciate the complexity, the seriousness that everyone takes when we're preparing this budget because there's a lot of hard decisions that have to be made. And the money doesn't go far, unfortunately. So, but I still believe that we should reduce the millage. There's a lot of great things happening in the city, and I do believe that the city, the directors, all the employees, we help foster this environment for the success that's being shown with these numbers because they're outstanding. We're fostering an environment where people want to live here, they want to maintain their homes, they want to improve their homes, which makes property values go up. We're fostering this environment, this community, where businesses want to come here, and there's a lot of businesses that took chances on us, and they're thriving, and they took the risk on us. And now other businesses are going to follow them, so it all builds on itself. So, you know, the property values increased 10.59% overall. Gateway, and I'm repeating a lot of things that you just said, but we didn't talk about what I was going to talk about, so. Gateway, the property values increased 8.73%. Midtown increased, property values increased 18.69%. You know, the general, you know, keeping the millage at 5.8%, and I'm glad you clarified what I was saying at the last meeting. The millage has been at 5.8% since 2019, and it represents an increase in revenue, which also represents an increase in taxes. We've had, this represents a 9.7% increase. We had a 9.7% increase in revenue last year, and that's fantastic. That's great. I think one of the things that we hear most from our residents are the congestion, the density, the traffic. This is the rebate for us, for us to have this opportunity to reduce the millage, to give them a break. And I know that you ran the numbers, and you showed the effect on a household per basis, and you're absolutely correct. And making this budget is extremely difficult if we vote it the way it is now. And I believe it should be difficult because it's not our money. It's our residents' money. It's our businesses' money. I think we should make it even more difficult on ourselves. I'm not saying we should be giving back the entire 10% revenue increase, but I do think our residents and our businesses are starting to struggle. I'm seeing it in my business. And, you know, you go to Publix, and you see the cost of eggs, and you see the cost of milk, and you have to buy a new car, and you see, or even a used car, you see what the cost of all that stuff is. So every dollar counts, and to say that it's only an $8 increase, well, yes, but we're getting a windfall, and our residents aren't getting that windfall. So I think any opportunity we can to give them a break to reward them for the great work that they've done to put us in this position, we should take advantage of that. So 9.7% increase in revenue for the 5.8, 16.7% increase in revenue for Midtown, and then 6.5% increase in revenue for Gateway. Which one do we have increase in the budget of, like, 0.6%? Is that Midtown, or was that Gateway? I want to say it was Midtown. I mean Gateway. It's here. Hold on a second. Sorry. If I can find it. I'm sorry. It was Gateway. Gateway. So what was the increase in revenue in Gateway was $51,000, where a budgeted increase to $3,000. Why not reduce that one? You know, we're not saying that we need the money. I understand building up the reserves for future things, but we're only increasing the operational budget in that district by $3,000, but we're taking in an additional $51,000 that we're not really going to utilize. So I think that's an even more prime one to consider a reduction in that, because particularly in Midtown, that's been, you said Midtown, right? Gateway. Gateway. Gateway. Particularly, well, both of them. But Gateway, there's this, it's starting to take off, and there's a lot of great things happening there, and it's, you know, that green grocer that is hopefully coming soon. And that's all indication that it's working, and we have a larger base coming our way that the people that have created this for that green grocer want to come here and other great businesses to come there and invest in that and be successful and transform the city, because, you know, I've been here since 1980, and 441 has always been kind of like, you know, let's go this way. So that's kind of my thoughts on it. I don't think it's a surprise to anybody, but I really would like to consider a rollback of these millages. So thank you for your hard work. Thank you very much. Councilmember Horland. Thank you, Madam President. And, again, I want to echo to you and your department, it is always an incredible job you did. It's a beautiful budget, and I always feel better, you know, when we sit down and have our conversations, because I know how responsible you are with our finances and how far we've come. So while I always respect my colleagues' position on the rollback, I'd like to explain why I don't feel that we should have the rollback. I feel that we also need to make sure that we're finding other ways to assist our residents. Are we really pushing out, you know, the additional low-income senior homestead exemption? You know, that's an extra $25,000. I think there's other ways that we can make sure our residents, and a lot of that is communication. Are we getting that information out there? Are we looking for ways to assist them with the programs we know are out there to make sure that they find some savings? My concern about rolling back, and we've been fortunate that the rate has been the same for the last six years. Once you roll it back, it's very hard to get it back. And earlier this year, the state legislature was pushing some legislation, and legal cities asked all of us to provide some information about how long it took our city to recover from an economic downturn. And I had to reach out to Ms. Otanano and ask that. And, you know, across the board, what they found, it wasn't just one year, two years, and we also got hit by a storm, but it took about 10 years for this city to really get back to solid ground. You know, I'm thinking about stormwater, and we talk about costing our residents money. I believe it was back in 2016, 2017. The council at the time did not feel they had the funds to fund a stormwater master plan. And now here we sit all the years later, and we finally have the funds to do that. Well, a stormwater master plan is important for this community for so many reasons, but it also costs our residents money when we have flooding like we did earlier this year, and they can't get out of their home to get to work, or they have water that's coming into their home. So I think that the responsible thing to do, and I'm not insensitive to rising costs because we're all being affected by it, but it's also there's a rising cost to us doing business in the city. Later on this evening with the agenda, we have an item on there about our insurance, which has gone up almost 50%. It's $1.9 million. So I think that we need to take that into consideration, and as I said, try to find other ways that we can assist our residents. I think that, I mean, when we talk about a $3.5 million loss if we have the rollback, that's a big chunk of money, and I'm excited to see that we're finally having the robust asset management program. I mean, that's something that the city has needed. We've set it up here before. We are 70 years old, and we have emergencies like we did with the library. So if we, you know, have that program in place and we're able to prioritize things, we have to take care of the infrastructure in this city. So I really feel that maintaining the 5.8 millage rate would be the responsible thing to do. The other thing that, other costs that are potentially coming down the pike, we talked a lot last year about sovereign immunity. We were able to beat that back. It's probably coming back in the legislature this year. Tort reform was passed. That is impacting the city in the number of litigation, the cases that are being filed. So I think that, as I've said before, you've done a great job in building back our reserves from where we were and responsibly handling those finances, and we've had administrations that have been very conservative. We run a pretty lean ship. When you look to other cities, and I know not everybody wants to hear that, but you compare and contrast, and we really do, we are pretty lean, and we're accomplishing great things, but I don't want to see us take a step back in where we are. So I would not vote for the rollback. Thank you, Madam President. Thank you, Council Member Horland. And I agree with you and have to also add, I hate to even say it, the H word, but in the event of a hurricane, right, and we want to make sure that we have a healthy reserve, and so. I think they don't just say that word. But, you know, all great points. Council Member Fadgen? Just a couple points. And Council Member Horland, I enjoy our conversations. I'm going to phrase this conversation, not debate, because debate's adversarial. So I just want to say a couple things to a couple points you said. How long does it take to recover, you know, to reverse a rollback? Well, 2017, it was 5.9, then it went to 5.75, and then it went to 5.8. So it's not permanent. So that's my first point. It's not permanent. Things are well. Things could be taking a dive next year, and then we might find it necessary to correct the millage to be what, to get to where we need it to be. Second thing is, I think you were saying that it took 10 years for the city to get to financial stability, build up our reserves after the last hurricanes, and I don't disagree with that. But I also feel like we're in a much better position to handle a storm situation. And, yes, it will take a hit, and we're going to have to rebuild what we've been saving. But like you said, we run lean, and I appreciate that. But very few times I have an opinion that I don't feel like we're being efficient or we're not using the money as wisely as we should. But there's just a couple comments to what you had to say. So that's all. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member Horland? Thank you, Madam President. No, we won't have a back and forth because we have a lot of respect for one another, and we just have – we happen to disagree on this issue. But it did take us a long time to build up those reserves. And to your point, I think it – again, while I don't want to be insensitive to the residents, the rising costs, because, again, we're all being impacted by it, but when we're talking about – we look at those numbers that Ms. Otanyana put up there, you're right. Every dollar counts. But when we're looking at the amounts per household, those are relatively small amounts. When we take it collectively and look at the impact on the city of $3.5 million and what we can accomplish, and I think it's much easier to have the status quo – retain the status quo than to come back in a year, as you said, if we have a storm, God forbid, or an economic downturn, and then say, you know what? Guess what? We know you're hurting, but we're going to raise the millage back up. So I'm much more comfortable staying where we are, and I always enjoy our conversation. Absolutely. Return on investment. I think that's the – those are the key words. Council Member Weinstein. Yeah, thank you very much, and thank you for the presentation and putting the budget together and taking the time to meet with us and discuss it. I, too, enjoy your back and forth, and so I wanted to listen to it a little bit. But, you know, I looked at the 5.8, and I agree that there's been great management, and I think the tight budget is the reward to our residents. So, you know, when we talk about whether to, you know, roll it back, reduce it, or leave it as is, I think that we've seen some great management, and I think the 5.8 is where it should stay at this time based on that management that I've seen up here and from out there. But in looking at the Midtown and Gateway, I also think that there's a little bit of a different point of view in terms of, you know, Gateway is on this brink that we're talking about, this revitalization, and, you know, I don't see a full rollback, but talking about some reduction in order to, you know, help spur some growth and continued growth in Gateway and help the businesses in Midtown. And even a small amount where we can, I think, sends the right message to our residents that we can reduce it, that it's not simply let's just keep going as we've been going without further analysis. And I think everybody has analyzed it and has, you know, wants to do what's best for the residents based on what's being presented to us. So, you know, from my analysis of it, it's not a full rollback, but some reduction to Midtown and to Gateway. And I'd like to see how, you know, what the administration can do with that. Good evening. Jason Unnemaker, CAO. So I think on that, for Midtown, we would probably push back a little bit only because we've got some provocative things coming up with regards to the mall, some things that we would look to utilize Midtown funds to help support. So when we look at pedestrian overpass opportunities, different studies we might need to do, I think we need to preserve our capacity there. But on Gateway, I think some good points have been made, and we're very confident that there's a lot of good things that are going to be happening there. Plus, we've got the CRA to support it. We've got until 2030 that that instrument will be available to us. You've got an item that's going to come before you on the 20th that will be a substantial revitalization of the area. We're still going back and forth on the plantation end, but it is shut down right now. We have the HCA hospital emergency room that's been submitted for DRC. We have some other items that are going to be happening, so we're very confident. But we agree that that might send a positive signal to the Gateway area that, all right, we want to work with you. I'm sorry, Mr. Unnemaker, I think some people can't hear you. Can you maybe talk into the mic a little bit more? So we're confident that the area is going to be on the upswing that would send a positive signal. It will probably take a dip in the near term because you're going to see some demolitions, but overall we're very confident in the area. And because we've got the CRA to support it, which I would also note we're scheduled to add, assuming you pass the budget as it is, an additional code officer for that area. And that's both a carrot and a stick, so that's not just somebody to go out there and poke the business owners, but to also say, hey, you've got a violation, but we've got funds available. We want to encourage you to step up with the area, the improvements we're seeing. We've also programmed in $2 million of catalytic funds. We want to be a part of that transformation, and we want to be very aggressive to capture the moment because right now we've got a lot of demand. We really have the wind at our back throughout the city, but we don't know how long it's going to last, so we want to take advantage of it. And particularly this coming year, I think throughout the budget, you're seeing a full court press on issues that all of y'all have brought up in the past few years. So, Mr. Neumaker, based on what you're sharing with us, if there was to be some type of reduction for the gateway, that could spur some positive growth, as opposed to Midtown, where you'd be more concerned in terms of the needs that you foresee there? Yes, sir. Plus, it's a higher millage rate you're talking about, and I think this was the point that Councilmember Fadgen was stating. They've been struggling through the years, so they've kind of felt that burden. No, I agree, and I just want to hear that that is something that you could live with based on the work that you've been doing preparing this. Yeah, 100%. Yeah, because we've got that support of the CRA and because of what we see coming online, I think that is something we can work with in the gateway. Thank you. Thank you. At this time, I would like to ask Attorney Morgan, can I do a motion for extension because we are not going to make our 7 o'clock cutoff time? We have not taken public comment yet, so I don't think we're going to make our 7 o'clock cutoff. Yes, you can. I don't know if it's necessary, but just for protocol, I think it would be a good thing to do. Motion. Motion to – you want to do it? No, I'm going to allow you. You want to argue? No. Motion to extend. Second. Ms. Thompson, call the roll, please. Council Member Anderson? Yes. Council Member Andreu? Yes. Council Member Fadgen? Yes. Council Member Horland? Yes. Council Member Reinstein? Yes. Thank you. And as an ancillary point to that, once we do reach 7, make an announcement that the next meeting will be starting a little bit late. Thank you. Because we're continuing the prior hearings. Thank you, Attorney Morgan. You're welcome. So, are there any further comments, questions from the Council before we open it up to the public? Madam President, may I just ask you, we're talking about the millage right now, so at what point do you want to have discussions about the budget itself, if there are some questions we have about individual departments? I think we should have those first. So, if Ms. Otaniano is – that's okay. I know you're multitasking. And I think it probably would be for specific departments, because we've had the conversation. Okay. If that's all right. Please, go ahead, Council Member Horland. Thank you. Who's up first? I canceled. No, what department would you like first? Well, I was disappointed to see that Dr. Edsel was not here for human resources, and I tried to get her last week, and then we missed one another. So, I think it's going to be Mr. Neutemacher. Yes, ma'am. All right, so, just a couple of things, and I know that we discussed them in our budget meeting, but I want to hear how my colleagues feel about it. So, when I looked at the HR budget, I was surprised, because we've had discussions, I know, in strategic planning, and I know one of the things that I've asked for is some leadership development training. So, we're talking about the assets in our city, and we talk about that personnel budget, which is over $90 million. The biggest asset in this city are employees. And I know that administration and HR both value the employees, but I was a little surprised when I saw, and I think your comment to me was we can have both, but I was a little surprised when I saw the employee engagement events go from 6 to 18. And my comment during our budget meeting was, I think they're phenomenal, I think everybody has a great time, but I likened it to Disney World. If I'm taking my kids every single month, then it's not special anymore, and it's, you know, it may be fun, but, you know, at some point, I think it tends to be not as meaningful. What I really wanted to see was some leadership development, where we have a lot of incredibly talented directors in our city, and leadership development is ongoing. What are we doing to support them so far as developing them as leaders, again, which is ongoing, so far as, you know, and that there's a host of competencies that go along with that with true leadership development training. It could be everything from how to run an effective meeting, how to effectively communicate with your staff, how to build morale and develop your staff. So I was surprised that there wasn't anything in there, and I want to know how we're going to continue, not just to do the fun stuff, but really invest in, you know, because we have long-term employees here, too, who may feel a little stagnated. And what are we doing to make sure that we are growing the organization, supporting the organization in a very robust way? Fair question. We're doing a number of things. In addition to those employee engagements, I think you're all aware we've opened up education opportunity. We've increased reimbursements, whether it's the bachelor's, master's, there's more opportunity there for employees. Also, in speaking to Dr. Edsel, she's working on three modules that will be supervisory-based, and we'll bring more information back on that. But that will be available to employees as well. Because we acknowledge we've got several departments that are transitioning, if you will, and so we recognize that need, and that is something we'll be pushing out. And I also want to emphasize that the mayor makes a concerted effort to engage the employees where they're comfortable. So going to the departments, having candid conversations in a way that everybody's comfortable to give feedback, and that's everybody in the department. So I think that gives them the opportunity to engage us on issues that they feel is important. So if there's something missing, and just kind of leading by example to create a certain atmosphere. But to your point about technical improvements, leadership improvements, education improvements, all that's on the table. We could look at converting some of those events, maybe transferring some of those dollars, if that's needed, in addition to what Dr. Edsel has proposed. But certainly it's valuable to us. More training as far as sexual harassment, anti-discrimination, all that stuff is baked in. And that's something we take seriously and will be pushed out citywide. Well, and I think that's what I have been talking about, was the sexual harassment training. And I know that we were hampered by the state legislature a little bit. But I think that, again, going back to that strategic planning session in March, I think that we're all moving in the same direction, and it's an exciting direction. But I think to have the organization that we want to see, it starts top down. And, again, it's ongoing because, you know, you can put somebody in a position and say, okay, go lead. But, you know, what about conflict resolution? If something arises in a department, what are we doing to support that director to make sure that their department's firing on all cylinders? And I know that's what we all want, but I just want to make sure that, you know, organization-wide, that we're all, obviously, communication. Sure. I think it's a healthier work environment, but I just want to make sure that we are doing this in a very, you know, a more structured and collaborative and organization-wide effort to make sure that we're developing not only the leaders that we have, but the potential leaders within those departments. No, absolutely. I think collaboration, I was just thinking that word when you were mentioning this because it's important to us, administration, to stress the availability of, say, HR. Because in the past, it may have been felt that that, for certain departments, wasn't available as a resource. And so one of the things that these multiple events throughout the city does is make sure and underscores that everybody can avail themselves of resources. Nobody is to be throttled. When we talk about open-door policies, we mean it. Folks have access to myself, the mayor, and they routinely avail themselves of it. Does that mean they'll necessarily get what they want? No, but their voice will be heard. So it's, I think, already played an extremely valuable role. We've seen a huge shift in morale that's palpable. I mean, we'll continue those efforts. Yeah, and don't get me wrong. We have, and I think we're moving in the right direction. I just want to see us get to where I think our potential is. Absolutely. And that's in supporting our directors as they support their departments and really just, as I said, fire on all cylinders. Absolutely, and we appreciate all y'all's support on that. Thank you. Thank you. I've got a couple of quick ones. Chief Harrison, you want to come off? If you can just allow me, Councilman Moreland, to make that general statement and just to the listening public and those in attendance in person, that our first public budget hearing is running late. And so we will push our City of Plantation CRA meeting and our council meeting back probably about at least a good 15, 20 minutes. So please bear with us. They're not. She is optimistic. At least. At least. And I'll go quickly so everyone can get their comments in. Chief Harrison and I had a conversation today, and I, again, want to get the temperature of the council. One of the things that I was asking was we've been frustrated and trying and planning and zoning is trying very hard to get the short-term rental situation under control. It is a large undertaking, and I think Marlene Rivera, the clerk, is working very hard on registrations and all the paperwork. But we all know that an ordinance is only as good as enforcement. So one of the things that I spoke to the chief about, and I wanted to get his feedback and see how everyone felt, there is a city that's utilizing noise meters. And they've provided noise meters for their code enforcement officers. And what we talked about today was perhaps doing that for officers. They're just under $300 for the noise meter. And what they have found is that it helps them. They have not lost a case with the magistrate because they have the documentation with the noise meter, and they just go out. And what I liked about it, because I think we've talked before, enough with the warnings. You know what? It's got to be punitive, and it's got to be punitive right away. They go out. If the decibels are too high, it's automatically a $100 fine. And they come back. I know the city attorney is probably going to want to weigh in on this, but I think it's something worth exploring. And I spoke to the chief today to see how he felt about it. They actually go in, and they train the officers, and that gives them a little bit more. They actually get certified when they go to the special magistrate. It gives them a little bit more oomph when they go in there. So, chief, if you wanted to respond to that. Yeah, as you know, we'll go out to a complaint of a party. It doesn't take a lot for the officer to get out of the car on the street and realize that the music is affecting the quality of life for the residents around that house. That, in itself, is evidence enough that the officer testifies to the fact that I got out of the car, can clearly see that the music was loud. This would just be another added piece of evidence to support what the officer observed, what he heard, but specifically at what decimal was the reading at the time. So, I looked into it. We could certainly get that to our officers on the night shift. And I do have the funds this year to do that. That would be great. Thank you. I first asked for a code enforcement officer for just STRs, but the chief was much more amenable to the noise reader. But I appreciate that, chief, because we've got to do all we can to get these short-term rentals under control. Yes, ma'am. I appreciate that. Thank you. I think I discussed the noise readers months ago when we were having one of these conversations. And, you know, then we started talking about the placement of them and where they had to be in the home. So, I like the idea of you bringing this portable one even better. So, I think that's a great addition to enforcement of these short-term rentals. Yes, ma'am. Thank you, chief, for being amenable. I've got two more quick things. Madam President, Parks and Rec. Thank you, chief. Oh, my God. Wrong. I know that we have. And, again, these are conversations that I've had with Ms. O'Toole, Mr. Noonemaker, and Ms. O'Toole and I just did talk about it. So, one of the things that was in the budget this year was the funding for public art. And Mr. Goodrich knows that I've been supporting his initiative on public art since the very beginning. It's a big jump in funding this year. It's at $100,000. And my question was, who decides what the art looks like and the placement? Because that's a lot of funding. And I think that it's an important inclusion in our public spaces. But I have not made a secret about how I feel about the golf ball on Broward Boulevard outside of the golf course. Right. Okay. So, my question is, and I don't feel that everything has to come to the city council, but typically if something's on the right of way, it does come to us. So, I want to make sure if we're expending and approving $100,000 in the budget for public art, that there is either going through the advisory board, or if we could have some comfort that there are more people looking at it. Sure. Sure. The initiative came from our 2020 master plan, which you probably recall. And ever since that came into effect, the way the process works, typically we have discussions internally within the department of specific projects we might want to see come to fruition, such as the murals on the tennis walls were kind of our first tipping of our toes in the water. But ever since that initiative took place, we did – and then, of course, we bring it to city administration for their input and approval. But we also worked with Mr. Morgan, I feel, about a year and a half ago or so to add the selection and input of public art to our advisory board. So, that actually became part of their responsibilities. And ever since we've started this, we have brought certain projects or proposals to them for their feedback. So, there are different eyes looking at it that sit on the advisory board. So, that's how the process goes now. Okay. I just want to make sure with that large amount of funding that there is some other eyes because what you might like, I may not like. Yeah, maybe I love that golf ball. I don't know who liked the golf ball, but so I appreciate that. And I think one of the things that we talk about, and I know how much we talk about the infrastructure in the city and asset management, and that's always the balance with parks. When people look at an expenditure like that, and then we had talked about the linear trail, and there were some questions about the maintenance, which Mr. Ambrosio had responded to. When residents go out, and they have a question about, hey, this doesn't look like it's being maintained, but we're going to spend $100,000 on this. Right. So, I know the maintenance is important to all of us, but we want to make sure that we're doing the fun stuff, but we're also taking care of that. Understood. Thank you, Ms. Toole. You're welcome. I appreciate it. Last thing, Madam President. So, when we talk about funding for leadership development, one of the things was administration and the extra $25,000 for community engagement. So, my question was, Mayor, if you had any more details about that, because we do have a pocket of money in P&Z for community engagement. And unless there is a plan for that, and I think what you're doing with the marketing is excellent and putting money into the survey, the resident survey. But I'd like to hear what the details are on that and if that could be utilized elsewhere. Thank you. So, are you referring specifically to Black History Day, the 25? In here, it's marked as 25K for Black History Day. I think we received a revision about that when we... Okay, you've got to revise, but it's the same line right there, right? That's what we're talking about. Yeah. Let me give you the story behind it because I'm fine that if it goes away, I'm not going to fight you real hard on it all, but maybe we all have a better idea of how to do with it. So, let me spell it out and let's figure out what we can do with it. This all kind of started, I went to a Black History Day celebration, a county-wide one, and they said, we're here to celebrate Black History Day, but there's no education involved. And I said, let's try to find a way where we can make this more educational, more meaningful. And also, I'm concerned that there's not enough black and brown people that come into City Hall and, for example, look around the room right now. There's no person of color that is here with the public. So, how can we engage in terms of serving the entire community? I want to serve the entire community. So, that's where this is coming from. So, the idea was to have a Black History Day event here. Ten speakers have restaurants, African-American-owned businesses out there and everything. From there, though, and do the same for Hispanic Heritage Month and have it here and hold it here. The thing is, I don't have tangible plans. So, if I don't, it shouldn't make the budget. So, it's got to go anyway. Second of all would be, admin should probably not be in the business of putting on days. That's what everybody here can be doing anyway. So, I proposed it here. I don't have the goods to back it up. But I do think an idea like that to engage, the idea, I think, is very pure and the idea needs to be addressed. How can we serve more elements of our community than we're serving now? So, that's where it's coming from. May I respond? Yeah. It's going to take you all. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you for the explanation. And I know your intent is a good one. And you want to see more inclusivity in the city, as I think we all do. I do think that it probably would be more appropriate to either have that in planning and zoning. I know Glenn Hall has done some great things, or Parks and Rec. I, for one, and I don't know how anyone else feels about it, but I think a start is to take our Juneteenth celebration. And I think some of the things you're talking about could be incorporated into Juneteenth. Yes. Because I think that needs to be bigger and better. We do a great job, Parks and Rec, with the Martin Luther King Day. And I don't think we need to be adding events. We have enough events. I agree. So, why do I need to add more events to them? So, I think that you're in time. So, it was an idea that I had and I wanted to do, but looking at it and how we do it now, I think it could be done better elsewhere. So, maybe you can take that money and move it into leadership development. Yeah, we'll talk about it. I'm punched in here to talk about that. I'm going to try. When she calls on me, I'll talk about that. Okay, all right. Thank you, Mayor. And thank you, Madam President. I'm done. Thank you. And, Mayor, you buzzed in. Did you want to make some additional comments? Yeah, let me get a couple of quick updates that she addressed so we can get a full picture on the budget. Sure. Can I ask you one question, too? Because maybe you'll address it as part of your comments. Yes. So, I was going to ask about that as well, but then I started hearing about the citizen survey and a very large price tag with that line item, too. So, can you elaborate more on the citizen survey? Yeah. There's so many. Jason's been working on it. He'll get you. Okay. Because there's so much software that's available for free or nominal costs. So, why, what is the citizen survey entailing? Well, it's going to be an annual effort where we go out for citizen survey, then business survey. And what we want to do is develop a baseline of data so that you can kind of see trends on certain variables throughout the years and also provide an opportunity if there are particular issues you want to touch on. Could be solid waste. Could be growth management issues. But there is definitely a skill to the development of these instruments. And $25,000 to $30,000 is about what you're looking at. And we're winding down a procurement that we hope to put into implementation. This coming year, because we, frankly, would want to do this in the prior fiscal year, but we couldn't quite get it off the ground. We think there's going to be a tremendous amount of value for you all to see this and to make sure that, again, you can see it over time. And we want an honest reflection. I mean, we looked at some of the other instruments, and sometimes the answers you get back are not comfortable, but it gives you good insight on what your residents or your businesses are thinking and an opportunity to address it. But if we want a statistically valid sample, that is the type of money you're going to need to spend on it. Can I ask a follow-up question? The survey that we are currently undertaking for the strategic plan, are we using a third-party vendor for that, or is that internal? I think that was developed internally. Okay. But, again, that's not statistically valid. It's not something where we're ensuring the representation of the city. I would say that's more of an ad hoc effort, if you will. Okay. A few people buzzed in. Thank you for your patience. Council Member Reinstein. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Mayor Sortel. Thank you. Two notes following up from Council Member Horland's notes. Wednesday is our first magistrate for short-term rentals, so we're going to address, we're going to find out what happens. We absolutely do need the noise meters, and before we have that meeting, we're going to meet with everybody involved in vacation rentals and enforcement citywide, police planning and zoning, code enforcement, to kind of review the cases to see if we're getting the cases that we want to be getting. You know what I mean, that we're going after the party homes, and so we're going to sit and review that beforehand, and then Wednesday. Everybody's welcome. Come and watch and see what happens and see how we do on enforcement. What is it, 2 o'clock? We'll let you know when I get it. Anyway, that's enough of that. The other one, Council Member Horland is 100% correct. We need better training and some kind of training program. Look, we got, count them how many, three, four, five department heads in drop, and those middle managers, we want them ramped up in training. So especially, I look at training middle managers, or whatever you want to call them there, and Dr. Ed Solon, I did talk about this, and I think we talked about it even a week ago. So it might have been a response already to what you were all talking about, that we need training. But there's a more robust plan. She walked me through what we're doing, and we absolutely 100% have to do hard skill training for people like that so that they know everything they can about management, 100%. Thanks. Thank you. Council Member Weinstein. Thank you very much. Actually, I was hoping to go right before because I wanted to follow up with Mr. Nunamaker, and I actually had a question about the survey. You've answered some of it, but I heard statistically valid survey. How many surveys are we talking about, and what period of time? I mean, how many topics? I mean, what are you actually thinking about in terms of this citizen survey that is being budgeted? The current conversation has indicated you don't want, the max you want to do is six pages, because there's a threshold at which you lose folks' interest. But one survey at a time, we're not talking about multiple surveys with different topics? No, sir. So one annual survey, a max of six pages. We're going to ensure at least 600 responses. So that effort will be the responsibility of the folks doing the survey. They'll have to fulfill that obligation. As we build that instrument with them, it will come back to y'all, so you'll kind of see what's going out. And also, if we have particular questions, there might be something we want to vet with y'all. Are there particular issues we want to touch on, whether related to growth, solid waste? There's some issues there I think all of y'all might think of that we might want to test out with the public. Okay. Thank you. And maybe just to follow up in terms of the survey is that what's the period of time that you're thinking about? What is – when do you – how long would it take to put something like this together, and when would we expect results? I think we're looking at about a two- to three-month process from start to finish. Does this include door-to-door? Is this all online, or is this paper, anything more? It's a combination. It's a combination of mail, phone call. It also will be offered in multiple languages. So we can't send it out in every language available. What we can do is send it out in English, but with also Spanish and maybe Creole. So there's a guide there. And then if we need additional follow-up, the company will have that fluency to be able to engage residents in those languages. And we think, at least right now, those would be the three primary. Thank you very much. And I have some questions for Parks and Rec. Thank you. If Assistant Director O'Toole, please. Thank you. Thank you for all you guys do. I was hoping Director Goodrich was going to be here so I could first thank him for – and thank you and the Parks and Rec for the plans for the Rock the Park Concert Series. It's something that – I think from day one and actually before that, when I was on the Parks and Rec Advisory Board and even before that. And so I know that in the schedule, you've added some additional nights, some Saturday nights in addition to the Friday nights. And one of – in some of our conversations throughout the past six, eight months or so, there were some different concerns about how to make that happen, whether it was personnel, cost, marketing, the whole works. And so what I wanted to ask – and really, I think the answer is going to have to be yes, because it's already in the plan, right? Is that everything that we're seeing in the budget and the requests are everything that you need to make that happen and to continue with that, you know, evaluation of the programs that we have to make sure that if there are opportunities to attract more people by maybe changing them up some way, everything's in there. Yes. And I know we've had six concerts in the past. I believe this year there will be seven, and I believe two of those seven will be Saturday nights. I know with the addition of Placer AI that we'll be able to track some of the data, the analytics of people that are attending all those nights so we can make decisions going forward. Fantastic. And I'm sure it might require a little more marketing for those nights to let people know they exist. And particularly in the request, it was for one full-time specialist and one part-time assistant program supervisor. Are either of those roles needed or going to be involved with these type of additional programs that are being added? Yes, so not the part-time position. That's mostly just a summer camp position, but the full-time parks and rec specialist. We added a parks and rec specialist to our parks division this current year that helps with work orders, assisting with administrative duties in the parks division. So this person would actually be assigned to the recreation division to help with the administrative tasks associated with the special events and programs that we run in that division. Fantastic. And so it's as much as me asking you to confirm those so that I can thank you for listening. And it's appreciated. I also wanted to ask, you know, the question was raised about the art, and I had a note about that as well. And, you know, the time that I served on the Parks and Rec Advisory Board, I don't recall any issues of looking at art opportunities coming before the Parks and Rec Advisory Board. And it's one of the things that I've talked about and others have talked about, about the need to further empower our advisory boards, give them more opportunities. So I was glad to hear that that is actually something that you're bringing to the advisory board. Is that something that will be a line item on the agenda so that we can see it and the residents, if they want to attend one of those advisory board meetings that's particularly looking at the art, would know about it? Yep. It's always on the agenda. I actually looked back prior to this meeting to see that it had been on there the last, maybe the last year, year and a half. I can't remember exactly when you left the advisory board, but, no, it is on the agenda. And we always provide the backup material that will be part of public records if people want to look at it online. Perfect. Thank you very much. You're welcome. Appreciate it. And so, too, before you leave, go ahead, Council Member Reinstein. Just, this question is not for Parks and Rec, so you're going to stay there for somebody else, but my question is in terms of, this is to the administration and maybe to the mayor, because the discussion about the heritage months and doing things to further create programs for our community and for our residents to make them feel that they are as much a part of the community as everybody else from all walks of life, right? That's what I'm hearing, and I like that idea. What I'm wondering is that this goes back to the comment regarding empowering our advisory boards, is that that may be something that we could bring to the educational advisory board and give them the opportunity to come up with some of these programs and to work with the schools as well. And that may be something that, you know, we've talked in the past. There's no budget for our advisory boards, and we've had discussions about whether that's necessary or not, but it may be something that if the educational advisory board was to look at some type of programs for these heritage months, maybe they would come to us and make a special request, and then it's on a case-by-case basis. We let the residents create it. Instead of it being top-down, it's bottom-up. Thanks. I think that's a great suggestion. I would be willing to move the survey dollars or the other dollars that we discussed earlier that the mayor said, you know, he didn't really necessarily have a plan for to the advisory boards. I love that idea. I think it would be wonderful to get their input. They've been very creative. We saw it with EAB and having the businesses come out this past Monday. So I think that's a great suggestion, Council Member Reinstein. Ms. Holtuk, quick question for you. I wasn't sure if it was a typo or we're bringing it back, but I did see Art in the Park. Is that coming back? We've been trying to come up with a replacement event for Art in the Park. Phil and I have been in talks back and forth with the folks that organized the Del Rey Beach Art Festival, as well as Las Olas, to see if we could bring something to plantation. Maybe in the Midtown District, nothing is set in stone at this point. We're just still in communication with trying to bring an art event back. And then what I didn't see that we discussed, though, and maybe I just missed it, so correct me if I missed it, was we talked, I think, to the mayor's point and what Council Member Reinstein just mentioned about doing, like, a multicultural event also. That I'm not aware of. I can certainly check with Shannon, some of our rec staff, to see if that's scheduled at all, but I'm not aware of it. And we are doing it for this next fiscal year. Okay. I'm looking forward to that and what it looks like, but I'm sure that they're planning it. They just didn't let you know yet. I don't know. Yep. We'll find out, though. Thank you. Thank you. Council, oh, I'm sorry. Mayor Soto? I forgot what it is. The survey we've got going and we're finalizing. We've already put it out for bid and we got the agreement on it. I don't know if that's money from last year or what the story is. Yes, because technically we were programmed to do it this current fiscal year, but couldn't do it previously, so we did get that underway. And we'd encourage this to be looked at as a multi-year effort so we can really track the data. So are we to assume then you had the money in the budget for last fiscal year? Yes, ma'am. Okay. So why are we caring? We'd move it forward for requesting for another. Subsequently, we would do a business survey and we would alternate every year. Oh, that's right. Yes. That's right. Okay. And the other thing, 9.30 a.m. for Wednesday. Thank you, Magistrate. Magistrate. Any further questions or discussion? Attorney Morgan, do we need to, I would like to open it up first before I ask you to read the resolutions. Is that okay? I think we should read the items and then open it up for the public hearings on each of the items. Okay. If someone has the same comments that they would have, we can impute those to the other items so they don't have to get up and say the same thing. Okay. So please, you don't have to be redundant if you've said it for item one. You don't need to necessarily repeat it for all six items. And we'll be part of the record on the other six items if that's what they want. Thank you. And again, for anybody attending and listening, I just want to say that we are running behind, so we will start our CRA portion of the meeting as soon as we adjourn this first public budget hearing. Attorney Morgan, can you please read legislative item number one, the tentative millage resolution? Yes, it's resolution about the tentative millage rate of 5.800 mills for the city of Plantation and tentative voted debt millage rate of 0.2813 for the operating fiscal year October 1, 2023 through September 30, 2024. Identifying the city millage rate, the city only rollback rate, the aggregate millage rate, and the aggregate rollback rate. Otherwise, directing the city clerk to advertise a public hearing and finalize the tentative city millage rate, the tentative voted debt millage rate, the city only rollback rate, the aggregate millage rate, and the aggregate rollback rate on September 20, 2023 at 6 p.m. in City Council Chambers and Plantation City Hall, providing findings, providing a savings clause, and providing an effective date, therefore. Thank you, Attorney Morgan. I would like to apologize because our speaker cards this evening were not updated for the actual budget portion of the meeting. So I'm just going to call all of the speakers that I have, and you can let me know if you wanted to speak to this, or you know what, in the interest of time, it might be more efficient. If you're interested in speaking to item number one, if you would just please come to the microphone, and I'll just ensure that I do have a speaker card for you and note it. So if you're interested in speaking to item number one, the tentative millage rate. Mr. Conklin. Ms. Ward. Carol Sward, 1621 Northwest 82nd Avenue. I'm requesting a rollback in the millage rate to 5.36 mills in order to keep our property taxes the same this year as last year. It was stated that the residents of Lauderdale West would only see an increase of around $10 under the same millage rate. However, that is only true if you are a senior with a low-income discount. There is a home in Lauderdale West that will pay $127 more because the home is a rental. Last year, the owner paid $115 more than the year before because the City Council, we refused to rollback the rate. So you can see how the expenses are adding up. Another homeowner in Lauderdale West will pay $156 more because the owner does not qualify for the senior and low-income discounts. Under a rollback, he would pay only $26 more. The acres is also a part of plantation. As an example, a homeowner there would pay $75 more without the rollback. All of these examples are trims that I found under the Broward County property appraiser. Many of us are living on a limited income, and we are being hurt by inflation. We are having to tighten our budget, and the City should do the same. A vote to keep the millage rate the same is a vote to increase our property tax. For all of these reasons, I am requesting a rollback in the millage rate. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Conklin. Dennis Conklin, 4581 Northwest Sixth Court. She says it really good and concise. I wonder. After all, what we're talking about is our money here, and just because you make a budget, it doesn't automatically make it the City's money. And we're familiar with, well, some of us are old enough to remember, they used to call a windfall tax on the people's profits. But this is, and it was mentioned, this is a tax windfall for the government. And it's basically because of the accelerated appreciation values of the properties. I urge the rollback rate, and I'd like to draw your attention to the CAFRs for 2021 and 2022, page 18 in both. If you are looking for $6.4 million, which is the bump you get because of the appreciation, on page 18 of both, in 2021, the unrestricted money that the City has, cash, CDs, all sorts of stuff, was $117 million. And that means that, quote, which may be used to meet the government's ongoing obligations to citizens and creditors. Now, this last CAPRA, which is 2022, the unrestricted amount was $141,327,230. That's an increase of $24 million in the unrestricted funds. The net assets increased by $45 million between those two years. So you can do this a couple of ways to skin the cat. You can tap into the, if you want to keep the budget the same, you can tap into the unrestricted funds, which grew astronomically. Or you can trim your budget. $6 million out of a $200 million budget, it ain't too much of a percent. And I would like to thank the City for this. This, this is gold, everybody. It's probably available online in about a week. That and the CAFR, it's gold. And I yield back my time. Thank you. Mr. Buehler, this is only for the tentative millage. Is that, go ahead. Oh, okay. I will call you back. John Marciniak? John Marciniak, 11320, Northwest 27th Street Plantation. I agree with our councilman, Tim Vagin. You know, roll back the millage rate, the 5.3600. Times are tough. You know, my cost of living is not going up. Inflation is going up. Gas prices have been at over $3, close to $4 for the last three years. We all see what the prices are on groceries. You know, it's great to hear that you run a lean ship already. I worked for the Bower Sheriff's Office for 30 years. I know there's money to be cut. There's a lot of waste, even when you run a lean ship. And I urge you to look, you know, and help us out. You know, maybe instead of, I'm hearing like, let's start these new programs. Maybe put those on hold. You know, wait for the economy to come back. Wait for us to get money back in our pockets. You know, you know, it's not going to stay. The pendulum always swings back and forth. So give us, you know, some consideration. You know, programs are great when things are flourishing. But, you know, when times are tough, we all got to pull up our bootstraps, you know, and get, you know. I talked to a lot of my neighbors who didn't know about this meeting, and they're all in agreement with it, you know. It's tough. I just got my insurance bill noticed. That's going up the roof, you know. I'm hoping our legislation does something about that, you know. You know, so, again, strongly urge you to consider, you know, consider this and vote for this rollback, you know. So that's all. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. McIntosh. Good evening. 601 Northwest 82nd Avenue. I'm actually going to speak out in favor of maintaining the millage rate of how it has been for the past five years. I think it's very reasonable. It might not be what everyone wants, but I think it's fiscally responsible. You know, there's always going to be kind of struggles, but relatively speaking, this is actually a good economic time. I think the unemployment rate is, like, has been at its slowest for the past, like, four or five decades, pretty consistently over the past two years. We just made it out of a pandemic. We're thankfully not hit by a hurricane yet. Knock on wood. I knocked on wood, so it's all okay now. And, yeah, there's, like, yeah, you know, there's always going to be struggles, but I think right now this is actually one of those good economic times. You don't want to raise the millage rate when we're going through another pandemic. You don't want to go through the millage rate of other matters that I've previously covered. So, yeah, I think this is the time to still hold our ground. When there's an actual crisis, that's when you would want to kind of alleviate a little bit for the millage. But right now, I mean, it's been working the past five years, despite all that's happened the past five years. I think it would be good to keep it at the sixth year. Thank you. Those are all of the speaker cards I have. Did I miss anyone, though? Is there anyone who would like to speak to item number one? No. This is, we are on item number one, the tentative millage resolution for the City of Plantation. Okay. Hearing no other speakers, is there a motion? Motion to approve. Second. Ms. Begro, can you, I knew I was going to do it, Ms. Thompson. Ms. Thompson, can you please call the roll? Sure. Council Member Anderson? Yes. Council Member Andreu? Yes. Council Member Fadgen? No. Okay. Council Member Horland? Yes. Council Member Weinstein? Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Item number two, a turning working? Two people have come to me and said there's children in the lobby. They're supposed to say the pledge, and they're ex-children. I already ran down and talked to them. That's their option. And they asked me to let the Council President know. We know. Okay. Okay. Yeah. I thought Council Member Anderson told you. I thought he told you already. Oh, I'm so sorry. I thought you knew. I thought you knew. I'm so sorry. We'll ask them to come back next week. Next time I'll tell you directly. I won't trust Eric. Already delivered the message. Paul revered it. I am very sorry to those students. We'll ask them to please have them come back on the 20th, and they, I think we're also having South Plantation students. They can do it together, in collaboration. Okay. Item number two. A resolution adopting the tentative millage rate for a plantation midtown development district of 0.970 mills for the operating fiscal year October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2024, identifying the computed rollback millage rate, providing findings, providing for a hearing on September 20, 2023, commencing at 6 p.m. in the City Council Chambers to finalize this military, providing a savings clause, and providing an effective date, therefore. If you would like to speak to item number two, I think I have one speaker, and that would be Ms. Cynthia Bush. Good evening, Council Mayor. Cynthia Bush, 700 Southwest 78th Avenue, Plantation. I am a 28-year resident of the City of Plantation. I am also a resident of the Midtown District, and I serve on the Midtown Advisory Board. And so I wanted to concur with administration. I didn't plan to come and speak on this item this evening by hearing Councilmember Reinstein's comments. I wanted to concur with administration's view not to roll back the millage in the Midtown District. I was appointed to this board by Councilmember Andreu when she was elected. It was something I specifically requested because I felt there was a need at that time that we didn't have a resident on that board. And I can tell you that we have had a real change in that board. It has become a board that's really focused on the issues that are important to that district, issues that many people complain about, traffic, making it more pedestrian-friendly, making it more deliverable, talking to the mayor, routinely comes to the meetings, about challenges that we're facing. And I, as a resident, have always been speaking on behalf of residents, which is, I think, was a revelation, I think, when I came to that board. So the resources, the money that's available is very, very important right now. I think that we have a lot of things that need to be addressed. And so I would hope that we would keep that millage the way it is so that we can continue to work on those challenges and make Midtown a real shining place that people would, that we all know we want, it can be, and what it should be. Thank you. Thank you. Any other speakers to item number two? Please. Hey. Yeah, I know I just spoke, but I felt like I should come up since I am also from Midtown. And I heard that the Midtown. What's your name again, Mr. McIntosh? Oh, Nafty McIntosh, 601 Northwest 82nd Avenue, apartment 531. Yeah, so I'm a Midtown resident. I know there was some, like, talks of maybe just doing the rollback from Midtown Gateway. Once again, I think it should remain the same. You know, if businesses are moving in already, let's kind of keep that financial stability for the relative good times that we're going through now and not get ourselves in a sticky situation where we cut back during the good times and then we're looking to increase it back during a bad time. So that's all I had to say on that matter. Thank you. Any other speakers regarding item number two? Motion to approve the tentative millage resolution for Plantation Midtown Development District. Are you making the motion? I'm making the motion. Motion to approve. I second. Seconded by Council Member Anderson. Ms. Thompson, please call the roll. Okay. Council Member Anderson? Yes. Council Member Andreu? Yes. Council Member Fajan? No. Council Member Horland? Yes. Council Member Reinstein? Yes. Thank you. Item number three, Attorney Morgan. A resolution adopting the tentative millage rate for Plantation Gateway Development District of 1.9160 mills for the operating fiscal year October 1, 2023 through September 30th, 2024, identifying the computed rollback millage rate, providing finance, providing a hearing on September 30th, 20th, 2023, convincing at 6 p.m. in City Council Chambers to finalize the millage rate, providing savings clause and provide an effective date, therefore. Thank you. I have Joe Nguyen signed up to speak. Hey, good evening. Joe Nguyen, 944 Northwest 92nd Terrace. Again, I'm kind of kind of echo a lot of what you've heard already. The thing is, in each of these areas, each of these zones, we are essentially in the best of times, because moving forward, we have to consider that the environmental impacts of climate change are not going to go lower, and those impacts are going to be falling, excuse me, essentially on the city, because residents are going to ask the city to assist when things go wrong, which is fair. We're going to need that base now and start to invest for our future now and today as best we can, in addition to help making those areas even better, fulfilling some of these visions, these cohesive plans that we have laid out. I understand and I do empathize with people who are in fixed income situations where it does truly affect them, and again, that's something that I encourage you guys to brainstorm any ways to assist them, because there are those of us who have no issue with an increased military, there are those in the society and in your communities that do, excuse me, do have substantial issues, that that does have a tangible impact on their lives, and we need to just consider that, we need to be empathetic for that, but at the same time, we do need to keep in mind that those impacts and those costs, both for homeowners and for renters and for the city and municipality are going to continue to increase. At the same time, some of those improvements that this can help fund may actually be able to reduce people's costs. If we can do things that reduce the amount of traffic or that increase walkability, that could potentially save people, say, a tank of gas per year. We know gas prices aren't going to go down more than likely, they're probably only on their way up, and then at the same time, not everybody's going to be able to afford to switch to EVs initially. So if we can do things that essentially make it cheaper to live, then we can negate out some of those impacts of those millage rates that we're keeping now. So I encourage you to maintain those rates and essentially invest in our future. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Nguyen. Any other speakers for the Gateway Development District and the tentative millage rate? Mr. Conklin. Dennis Conklin, 4581 Northwest Sixth Court. I wish to, again, encourage you to cancel the millage rate, excuse me, cancel the extra millage rate on the Gateway District. And I've asked this since the CRA, and you are all board members of the CRA, all six of you. The CRA has a tax increment fund, and basically that keeps the increased tax value, ad valorem value, in the district each year. And after about the third year, the CRA having been formed in 2000 for 30 years, after about the third year, the TIF greatly exceeded the millage rate. And that's when I began to say, you can help the businesses most by not making them pay two times a property tax, but just a tax that everybody pays on their property one time. So, I ask you to eliminate the millage rate for number one. You're going to have, for the TIF, again, this is going back in the capper for 2022. The TIF was $2.5 million, over $2.5 million. You've already heard the report that the property increased in its value this year. That means the TIF will be larger than that, maybe even $3 million, with an 8%. I don't know what that is. The millage rate addition to what they're already paying is going to raise another $837 taken out of those businesses. Now, when the city carted us all over the state trying to find out what would work best for a CRA, we went to cities as far up as Central Florida. And a number of them included the businesses and residences, because not all of them were exclusively business CRAs. And we thought the Flexone 73 was going to be in the CRA, okay, the residences. We got a short end of the stick on that. But Plantation chose to only include the businesses and not the residences. So, cut the businesses a break. You've only got seven more years left on the CRA. You can cut them a break. And I'll yield back my time. Thank you. Thank you. Any other? Ms. Swart? Carol Swart, 1621 Northwest 82nd Avenue. And I'm going to be very concise. It will be very hard to attract businesses to the Plantation Gateway Development District if the taxes are increased. I yield back my time. Thank you. Any other speakers to item number three? Hearing none, is there a motion? I'd like to make a motion that would reduce that $50,000 excess to $10,000, so that we're only going $10,000 over our proposed budget. Could you repeat that? I want to reduce the millage to, instead of the, we basically have $51,000 increase, and we have like a $3,000 increase in our operating budget. I want to reduce it so that the millage would calculate to be like a $10,000 increase over last year. Well... Point of order? I'm sorry. Let me have Ms. Otaniano speak, and then I'll go to Council Member Reinstein. I would just say that if there was going to be a reduction, the city administration would recommend the adjusted rollback rate. And we would lose $45,000, but it would be the recommendation of administration to do that. What's the recommendation? To go to the adjusted rollback rate. Okay. If you are going to reduce it, we would recommend that you use the adjusted rollback rate. And why is that? Because that's the, it's the easiest calculation to make. It's $45,000 would be the loss. We would still be coming in. It would be, instead of getting $51,000, we would only get a few, a couple of, yeah, $6,000. About $6,000. I don't want to cut it, but I'm just saying, if you're going to cut it, I would recommend you. You're like-minded. So, then I may make the motion to go back to the rollback rate. Adjusted rollback rate. Adjusted rollback rate. What is that for purposes of just clarity to the motion? What would the millage rate be? The millage rate, the adjusted rollback millage rate is 1.8,115 mils. 1.8,115. So, the resolution would be adopting the tentative millage rate for plantation gateway development district of 1.8- 1.8,115. 1.8,115 mils for the operating fiscal year October 1, 2023 through September 30, 2024. Identifying the computed rollback millage rate, providing finance, providing hearing on September 20, 2023, commencing at 6 p.m. in city council chambers to finalize the millage rate, providing savings, and providing an effective date. Just to clarify what the resolution and motion would be approving. And I'll second that motion. Any other further discussion? How many votes do you need? How many votes do you need for this to pass? This one just needs three. Okay. Ms. Thompson, please call the roll. Councilmember Anderson? No. Councilmember Andrew? No. Councilmember Fadgen? Yes. Councilmember Horland? Yes. Councilmember Reinstein? Yes. Thank you. So, the item that passed is the 1.8,115 mils. Thank you. Item number four, Attorney Morgan. Yes, ma'am. A resolution providing for the adoption and approval of the tentative consolidated estimated revenue and appropriation budget of the city of Plantation for operating fiscal year October 1, 2023 through September 30, 2024, establishing a time and place for a budget hearing to consider finalizing such tentative budget, providing findings, providing savings clause, and providing an effective date, therefore. Thank you, Attorney Morgan. I don't think anyone signed up for item number four. Oh, Mr. Buehler, please. Kyle Buehler, 6831 Southwest 11th Street, Plantation, Florida. Last week, after the AHEC meeting, I had the opportunity to speak with a city council member and two city planners regarding the budget and solar panels being installed on a city property. And I was sort of discouraged to find out nobody was in support of that. The statement was made that the technology... Hold on a second. I didn't say I was not in support of that. But I said there's things that we have to look into it. Okay. Okay. But the statement was made that the technology is not there yet. Okay. And I know one of the city planners said that five years ago they had looked into putting solar panels on their property, personal property, but it wasn't viable. And I have to say that five years ago in the world of technology is a lifetime. The cost of solar panels has come down 60% in the last five years. Their efficiency has gone up 50%. And that actual cost of producing electricity now with a renewable resource of solar is actually equal to that of producing electricity with fossil fuels, non-renewable resources. And then the question was, well, the cost of batteries. That makes it too expensive. And it's true. Batteries, backup batteries are expensive. But then again, the cost of batteries have come down and the efficiency has gone up. But you're not required to have battery backup to operate solar panels on a roof. During the day, you utilize the solar panels. You create renewable energy, electricity. You sell the excess you don't use to FP&L. And then at night, you get to use the electricity the FP&L sends back to you. Then the question came up, well, we have a problem with whether or not the roofs are structurally engineered to support solar panels. Now, the city just built a couple of new projects costing millions of dollars, a new fire station, new buildings out at Pine Island Park, which I took pictures of. They have beautiful metal roofs that are just gleaming in the sun, hot as hell. You could bake an egg on them. And again, is there any proof of that? I mean, I'm sure the city engineer, the new city engineer, she could tell us right now if those roofs are structurally sound for solar panels. But there's no cost to find out because you can call up any FP&L license contractor. And by law, they're going to send out a certified engineer to certify that your roof is structurally stable enough to support solar panels. Then the objection came up, well, insurance is going to go up. Well, insurance goes up anyway. In fact, if you're going to worry about insurance going up, then you shouldn't build a new fire station or you shouldn't build a new building on Pine Island because that created a whole lot more insurance. In the end, I was interrupted, so may I finish? Yes. Thank you. You'll have one more minute. Okay. Thank you. So in the end, it's basically, is it viable cost-wise? And the question is, how are you calculating these costs? Because, again, what are the downstream costs of not putting solar panels on the roof? Because now you're going to have more heat and energy generated. You're going to have more hurricanes. You're going to have the air conditioners running more. There's a lot of costs downstream that you're not figuring in to the actual cost. You're just considering the installation cost. And that's not a way to do it. I just think that we're a little bit behind in technology ourselves, the plantation is. And this is a crisis situation. What do you mean wait until the technology catches up? I mean, do we have to wait to put a man on the moon? Wait a minute. We did put a man on the moon. That was 50 years ago. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Buehler. Mr. Marciniak, you signed up also for item number four, sir? John Marciniak, 11320 on the old 27th Street Plantation. I was just going to say again, I trimmed the budget. You know, voting has consequences. Those who vote to increase my rates, three guys are up for election next time. I'll do my best to see that you get votes against you. You know, save all acres is going to save your butts all the time. You know, I yield my time. Think wisely. Thank you. Any other speakers for item number four? Mr. Conklin, 4581 Northwest Sixth Court. I didn't know I was going to get into solar. I'm here again to encourage you to find $6.4 million to shave from the budget. Once again, we'll be back next week. So you still have a chance to look at this budget and especially look at the CAFRs at pages 18, as I mentioned, and look at that unrestricted cash that you have because that is growing year to year. I don't think, and it's been mentioned here by a few people, I don't think that the residence position has been increasing year to year. Not when I hear that you have your school loans, student loans, I guess they call them, up over a trillion dollars. When you have credit cards being opened every doggone day and they're over a trillion dollars. That tells me that people in their homes and in their families are not, are not coming out ahead like the city is coming out ahead with a windfall of taxes. So you have another week to look at this. I encourage you to roll back or find the money or find the courage to use this growing unrestricted cash that's in, you can, you can look it up. This is probably even more for 2023. We'll find out in April next year when, when they produce the CAFR. About the solar, when you're talking about electricity, you have to have on-demand sources. Solar, if you're lucky, 18% availability of power, wind even less. So it's, it's not, it's not real. All you have to do is produce regular energy. Are you back my time? Golly, golly, golly. Look at that. I've got about three minutes of yield time. Thanks. Thank you, Mr. Cochran. Any other speakers to item number four? Hearing none, I'll entertain a motion. Motion to approve. Second. Ms. Thompson, please call the roll. Councilmember Anderson? Yes. Councilmember Andreu? Yes. Councilmember Fadgen? Yes. Councilmember Horland? Yes. Councilmember Reinstein? Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Thompson. Attorney Morgan, item number five, the tentative budget resolution for Plantation Midtown. A resolution providing for the adoption and approval of the tentative estimated revenue and appropriation budgets of the dependent taxing district of Plantation Midtown Development District for the operating fiscal year, October 1, 2023 through September 30th, 2024, establishing a time and place for a public hearing to consider finalizing such tentative budget, providing findings, providing a savings clause, and providing an effective date, therefore. I don't see any speakers to item, oh, I'm sorry. Mr. Nguyen, you are signed up for item number. Okay. Any other speakers for item number five? Motion to approve. Second. Ms. Thompson, please call the roll. Councilmember Anderson? Yes. Councilmember Andreu? Yes. Councilmember Fadgen? Yes. Councilmember Horland? Yes. Councilmember Reinstein? Yes. Thank you. Attorney Morgan, item number six, please, the tentative budget for Gateway. A resolution providing for the adoption and approval of the tentative estimated revenue and appropriation budgets of the dependent taxing district of Plantation Gateway Development District for the operating fiscal year, October 1, 2023 through September 30th, 2024, establishing a time and place for a public hearing to consider finalizing such tentative budget, providing finance, providing savings clause, and providing an effective date, therefore. Madam President, I recommend that you ask the city's finance director to come up and kind of explain how that transition is going to be from the millage reduction earlier. Okay. Can we close this one out and then we'll go back to item number three? No, we've passed number three, but the budget is going to be affected. Oh, I'm sorry. Yes, you're right. Okay. Okay. Thank you. So, in the budget that was presented to Council for Gateway, the Gateway District was actually adding funds to its fund balance reserves. So, we will just reduce the amount that's being added to reserves. There's no need to make any cuts in the budget. It's just going to reduce the amount that's going to be added to the reserves this year. Okay. Okay. Any additional questions regarding that or comments? Hearing none, we'll, did we do a motion? No, we have to open it up. Okay. Thank you. I'll entertain a motion. Motion to approve. Well, we have to open it up if there's a... I did. Okay. I can open it up again. Oh, I didn't hear you. I'm sorry. Any other comments from the public on item number six, the Plantation Gateway Development District and the Tentative Budget Resolution? Apologies. No, that's okay. I think we had a motion from Council Member Horland, but not a second. May I ask, point of order, does it have, does the motion have to reflect the reduced, because the budget as proposed was with the more money in, and so approving that's going to have the higher money in. Should it be at the rollback rate? Well, that's what Anna kind of explained. She explained that the motion doesn't, and you're passing something that's not in the motion. The item is for the pool. I understand the question. I think the motion intended to do that, but you may want to just restate the motion to reflect the reduction in the fund balance, consistent with the rollback rate that was approved for the millage. I'll restate the motion. Approving the budget at the new rollback rate. Second. It's not the rollback rate. At the new budget. Adjusted rollback rate. Right. Yes. Just want to make sure we're clear. Second on the adjusted rollback rate. Okay. It's been properly moved and seconded. Ms. Thompson, please call the roll. Council Member Anderson? Yes. Council Member Andreu? Yes. Council Member Fajan? Yes. Council Member Horland? Yes. Council Member Einstein? Yes. Thank you. That takes us to item number seven. Attorney Morgan. This is for the final stormwater management utility fee. A resolution of the City Council of the City of Plantation Florida relating to the levy and collection of the city's stormwater management utility fees for fiscal year beginning October 1, 2023, approving, confirming and adopting the stormwater management utility fees and the management utility fee assessment role, providing for other matters relating to the levy and collection of the stormwater management utility fees, providing for conflict, providing for servability, and providing for an effective day. Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. You're welcome. Any additional comments from the public? I don't have anyone signed up, but any comments from the public regarding the item number seven, the stormwater management utility fee? Mr. Nguyen? Hey, good evening again. Joe Nguyen, 944 Northwest 92nd Terrace. Once again, I just want to reaffirm the idea that we need to keep in mind that stormwater management is only going to get a lot harder and a lot more expensive over time. So, essentially, whatever budgets we have, we need to be focusing to ensure that we're managing that as best as possible and implementing mitigation solutions along the way as we go in stormwater management. And initial projections from the – I believe it's NOAA has this area essentially dealing with underwater conditions in just a few decades in some of their worst situations and scenarios, which tend to be the ones that have been playing out over the past decades in the past. So, we need to keep that in mind that essentially the rains that we had like earlier this year that took out the airport for a day then flooded a lot of people and whatnot around here, flooded over canals. Those are going to be more common to where those will become more normal, and we may even be dealing with areas that are essentially chronically underwater for long periods of time, and we need to have plans and funding to be able to deal with that. Otherwise, we don't want to be put in the situation of telling residents, we can't service you, we can't provide you sewer, water, electric, internet, or even roads that you don't need a mega truck to get through. So, we want to be able to have those resources and those plans available today so that we can manage those challenges that we know for a fact are coming, not necessarily tomorrow, hopefully not tomorrow, but sooner than we like to think. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Nguyen. Is there a motion? Motion to approve item 7. Second. It's been properly moved and seconded. Ms. Thompson, please call the room. Council Member Anderson? Yes. Council Member Andreyu? Yes. Council Member Fajan? Yes. Council Member Horland? Council Member Reinstein? Yes. Thank you. That exhausts our first public budget hearing agenda. I am going to adjourn this portion of the meeting at 8-12, and if you can give us until 8-15, allowing Ms. Thompson to just make a few internal changes, we will start the City Council CRC. Thank you.