Good evening, everyone. Bill, let's spend some money. All right, Randy. I'm about ready to do it. Thank you, Mr. Chair. The first items are the final assessment resolution, the public hearings on the final assessment resolution, non-advertal assessment rows. Just to remind the board members, this is the only hearing on these items. There's 10 of them plus a request to designate the deputy county attorney. No, my love to certify the assessments to the tax collector, and at this time I'll turn it over to Mr. Mylove to present these items. Good evening. Noah Mylove with the county attorney's office. If you'll recall, back on July 2nd of this year, the board adopted certain tentative rate resolutions for the fiscal year 2024-2025 special assessments. The adoption of these final rate resolutions presented this evening following a public hearing is the final step in the process to place the assessments on the 2024 tax bill. Accordingly, there will be no further hearings on the matter, and the rates set by these resolutions and adopted tonight will be final. So the first item is the request for the board to adopt the final rate resolution for fiscal year 2024-2025 street lighting assessments. The proposed assessments are determined by calculating the projected electric costs, maintenance charges, and administrative costs for each assessment area. The proposed assessments for all street lighting assessment areas are set out in the proposed resolution, and the county attorney's office recommends the board adopt the proposed final rate resolution for the 2024-2025 street lighting assessments. Any questions? Seeing none, I'll open a public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak of this matter, please come forward. Seeing no one, I'll close the public hearing and bring it back to the board. Second. Motion and a second for approval. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, like, signed. Motion carries. Item A2 is a request the board adopt the final rate resolution for the Skyview Utility Municipal Services Benefit Unit, or MSBU, for fiscal year 2024-2025. The MSBU was created to reimburse the costs over a 20-year period for the capital improvements made to the potable water and wastewater systems for the Skyview area, so they may be incorporated in the City of Lakeland utility systems in accordance with the court order. The costs of the capital improvements are apportioned on a per-equivalent residential connection basis. The proposed assessment for a single-family residence is $95.28. The county attorney's office recommends the board adopt the proposed final assessment resolution for the Skyview Utility, MSBU, for fiscal year 2024-2025. Questions? Seeing none, I'll open a public hearing. If you want to speak on this matter, please come forward. We'll need your name and address for the record. Regarding the waste collection and, um... No. Not yet? Not yet, okay. Let me know when that's working. All right. Anybody else? All right. Seeing nobody, I'll close the public hearing and bring it back to the board for... Second for approval. Got a motion and a second for approval. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, all the likes and a motion carries. Item A-4 is a request for the board to adopt the final rate resolution for the Island Club West Utility, MSBU, for fiscal year 2024-2025. The MSBU was created to reimburse the costs over a 30-year period for the capital improvements to the potable water, reclaim water, and wastewater systems for the Island Club West development so they may be incorporated in the county systems in accordance with the court order. The proposed assessment for each parcel is $280.88. The county attorney's office recommends the board adopt the proposed final assessment resolution for the Island Club West Utility, MSBU, for fiscal year 2024-2025. Questions? Seeing none, I'll open a public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak on this matter, please come forward. Seeing none, I'll close the public hearing and bring it back to the board. Motion for approval. Second. Motion is a second. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, all the likes and a motion carries. Item A-4 is a request for the board to adopt the final rate resolution for the East Bimini Bay Utility, MSBU, for fiscal year 2024-25. The MSBU was created to reimburse the costs over a 30-year period for the capital improvements to the potable water, reclaim water, and wastewater systems for the development portion of the Bimini Bay developments. They may be incorporated in the county systems in accordance with the court order. The proposed assessment for each parcel is $319.82. The county attorney's office recommends the board adopt the proposed fiscal assessment resolution or final assessment resolution for the East Bimini Bay Utility, MSBU, for fiscal year 2024-25. Questions? Seeing none, I'll open a public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak on this matter, please come forward. Seeing nobody, I'll close the public hearing and bring it back to the board. Motion for approval. Second. Motion is a second. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, like, sign. Motion carries. Item A-5 is a request for the board to adopt the final rate resolution for fiscal year 2024-25 fire services assessments. The assessments levied fund the fire rescue budget and allow Polk County to provide essential fire rescue services to the citizens within the fire service district. The recommended rates for the 2024-25 fire services assessments are set out in the proposed resolution. The proposed rates are based on single-family residence assessments of $281. The county attorney's office recommends the board adopt the proposed final rate resolution for the 2024-25 fire services assessments. Any questions? Seeing none, I'll open a public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak on this matter, please come forward. Seeing nobody, I'll close the public hearing and bring it back to the board. Second. Motion and a second for approval. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, like, sign. Motion carries. Item A-6 is a request for the board to adopt the final assessment resolution for nuisance abatement assessments for fiscal year 2024-25. Pursuant to Polk County Ordinance 08-047, Polk County has undertaken a program to improve various properties throughout the unincorporated area of the county by requiring the abatement of certain nuisances and for the property owner to reimburse the county for the cost of abatement. The parcels on the proposed roll are for those parcels in which the property owner has failed to reimburse the county. The county attorney's office recommends the board adopt the proposed final assessment resolution for nuisance abatement assessments for fiscal year 2024-25. Any questions? Seeing none, I'll open a public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak on this matter, please come forward. Seeing nobody, I'll close the public hearing and bring it back to the board. Motion and a second. Second. Motion and a second for approval. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Those like, sign. Motion carries. Item A-7 is a request for the board to adopt the final rate resolution for the 2024-25 Residential Waste Program Services Assessments. The Assessments Collected Fund Residential Waste Program Services. The recommended rates for fiscal year 2024-25 are $264.21 for collection. It's $73 for disposal of the first cart. The county attorney's office recommends the board adopt the final rate resolution for fiscal year 2024-25. Any questions? CNN, I'll open up a public hearing and you can... Hi, good evening. How are you? My name is Shannon King. I have a question regarding this. It seems like for the collection, it's an 80% increase approximately for this. Last year's FY was about 22-442-151. This year it's proposed for 39-594-250. And that's for the collection. And then it seems it's approximately 30% increase for the disposal. So just inquiring, are we building a new dumping facility? What would be the justification for almost double the cost? I can answer that real quick. That's a 6% increase every year since the last time we raised it. That's all it is. You haven't seen an increase in seven years. I don't like the way we do that. We're not going to do it that way anymore, but that's what it is. Okay. So we're factoring all the years in one. Is that what you're saying? Yeah. Yeah. And can we get your name and address for the record? It's Shannon King, 8200 Campbell Crossing Circle. Thank you. Thank you. No problem. Thank you for answering that. You bet. Anybody else? All right. I'll close the public hearing and bring it back to the board for a motion. Motion for approval. Got a motion and a second for approval. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, like sign. Motion carries. Item A8 is a request for the board to adopt the final assessment resolution for excessive bulk waste assessments for fiscal year 2024-25. Pursuant to Polk County Ordinance 18-016, Polk County has undertaken a program to collect excessive bulk waste after giving notice to the property owner. The parcels on the proposed roll are for all those parcels in which the property owner has failed to reimburse the county for the cost of collection and disposal of the excessive bulk waste. The county attorney's office recommends the board adopt the proposed final assessment resolution for excessive bulk waste assessments for fiscal year 2024-25. Questions? Seeing none, I'll open a public hearing. Anyone wishing to address this matter, please come forward. Seeing no one, I'll close the public hearing and bring it back to the board. Approval. Second. Motion and a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, like sign. Motion carries. Item A9 is to request the board adopt the final rate resolution for the Southwest Inwood Street Lighting MSBU for fiscal year 2024-25. The MSBU was created to reimburse the cost of capital improvements, electric, maintenance, and administrative costs for street lighting in the Southwest Inwood assessment area. The costs are apportioned. Noah, I believe this is actually A9 is for the Central Inwood Street Line District, not the Southwest. Oh, I'm sorry. I had it for Central? Okay. Yes. My apologies. Item A9 is a request for the board to adopt the final rate resolution for the Central Inwood Street Lighting MSBU for fiscal year 2024-25. The MSBU was created to reimburse the cost of capital improvements, electric, maintenance, and administrative costs for street lighting in the Central Inwood assessment area. The costs are apportioned on a per-equivalent residential unit basis. The proposed assessment for a single-family residence in the MSBU is $71.34. The county attorney's office recommends the board adopt the proposed final assessment resolution for the Central Inwood Street Lighting MSBU for fiscal year 2024-25. Questions? Seeing none, I'll open a public hearing, and anyone wishing to address this matter, please come forward. Seeing no one, I'll close the public hearing and bring it back to the board. Approval. Second. Got a motion and a second for approval. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, like, signed. Motion carries. Item A10 is a request for the board to adopt the final rate resolution for the Southwest Inwood Street Lighting MSBU for fiscal year 2024-25. The MSBU was created to reimburse the cost of capital improvements, electric, maintenance, and administrative costs for street lighting in the Southwest Inwood assessment area. The costs are apportioned on a per-equivalent residential unit basis. The proposed assessment for a single-family residence in the MSBU is $64.68. The county attorney's office recommends the board adopt a proposed final assessment resolution for the Southwest Inwood Street Lighting MSBU for fiscal year 2024-25. Questions? Seeing none, I'll open a public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak on this matter, please come forward. Seeing nobody, I'll close the public hearing and bring it back to the board. Motion. Got a motion and a second for approval. All in favor say aye. Opposed, like, signed. Motion carries. The final item, A11, does not require a public hearing. The item is a request for the board to designate me, Noah Milov, as assistant county attorney to certify the 2024-25 final assessment rules to the tax collector. The certification is required by September 15th, pursuant to section 197.3632 Florida statutes. Motion to designate Noah Milo to certify the FY24-25 final assessment rules to the tax collector. Second. Got a motion and a second. Any questions? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, like, signed. You are appointed. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. At this time, we'll start going to the public hearing regarding the attentive rate and the budget. The purpose of this hearing, the hearings are primary for the purpose of explaining the budget, proposed tax levy, and any proposed amendments, as well as affording the public the opportunity to participate in the budget process. At this time, I'll turn it over to Mr. Beasley for the budget presentation. Good evening, Mr. Chair, members of the board, members of the viewing audience, especially those staff members that are here, as well as members from the general public here. I think it's important that that occur. Mr. Chair, similar to what I said back in the July time frame, these past 12 months, I think, continue to reflect unprecedented growth dynamics within Polk County and to several of our neighboring counties, all within Central Florida. Coupled with what I think are some labor shortages and some inflationary impacts, there continues to be a tremendous strain being placed upon local governments throughout the state, including those within Polk County. Despite such challenges, I believe Polk County continues to be a stabilizing factor in providing core services to the businesses and citizens who live and work here in Polk County. I wanted to express my sincere appreciation to the men and women of our staff, to the constitutional officers, to the state court systems, and to the medical examiner's office. All of these entities have yet again worked for the last six consecutive months, helping to prepare their respective portions of the proposed FY24-25 budget. Let me also say thanks to those citizens who have directly or indirectly participated in helping to shape this budget by serving on citizens' advisory committees, participating in public hearings, making phone calls, sending emails, or through other social media contacts, I assure you their voices have been heard. Preparing a reasonable budget that I think truly reflects our community's needs and elected board priorities is a challenging process under normal circumstances. As we continue to assess the demands brought on by population growth, our goal of serving the businesses, the citizens, and the visitors of Polk County has not and will not be diminished. The proposed FY24-25 balanced budget totals $2,984,670,147. This budget does reflect the board directed 1% decrease in the current countywide general fund millage rate. This budget reflects receipt and continued community distribution of various federal and state funds associated with our community development block grant program, the emergency solutions grant funds, the home investment partnership funds, the American Rescue Plan investment funds, and the state housing investment partnership funds. This budget maintains the board's commitment to public safety, public health, infrastructure, technology, tourism, and community support by way of adding critical positions and maintaining current priority programs and services. Consistent with the board policy, this budget maintains the general fund operating reserves at a level which continues to be a positive reflection of our fiscal solvency and financial health. This budget will continue to make investments in technology upgrades in order to improve operational efficiencies and strengthen system security. This budget maintains the board's commitment to needed capital infrastructure to support public safety, public health, public water supplies, transportation capacity and intersection improvement projects, stormwater management and water quality improvement projects, as well as environmental stewardship. As approved by the Polk voters in November of 2022, this budget continues to reflect the full 0.2 millage assigned to the 20-year environmental lands program. This budget continues to address quality of life issues that relate to affordable housing, behavioral health, opioid abatement, recreation and leisure services, economic development, Medicaid contributions, and broadband initiatives. In keeping with the board's priority commitment to public safety and public health, this budget reflects a continuation of a cost indexing of the current fire assessment fee. This budget will also allocate approximately $60 million of one-time funds to address capital project needs directed towards public safety, transportation, recreation, and related support facilities. This budget reflects an increase in the residential waste collection and disposal fees to reflect current pricing consistent with new collection contracts to begin in October of 2024, with future adjustments to reflect a 5% indexing for the remaining contract term. This budget reflects an updated comprehensive rate structure within the utilities division to address increases in demand for water, wastewater, reclaimed water, and to address growing regulatory compliance and alternative water supply initiatives. And finally, but equally important, this budget invests in our employees by way of a 4% phased salary increase beginning in October. Also, for employees participating in our health insurance program, there will be no increase in participating employee premiums for the third consecutive year. So, Mr. Chair, I know Christina Johnson is the head of our Budget Management Services Office. She has a brief PowerPoint, I think, that will help explain the various components that make up this budget, some of the factors that are involved in accounting for both the revenues and the expenses, as well as some of the prior year comparison data. And after Ms. Johnson's presentation, I'd like to add a few final closing comments before we get to the public hearings. All right. Good evening, Commissioners. To start with some of the key takeaways that are included in this proposed tentative budget, the total all-inclusive budget is $2.985 billion. That's a 17.1% increase over the current year. The general fund component is $653.4 million. That is a 13.4% increase over current year. The countywide property value increase was 11.39%, which represents the third consecutive year of double-digit growth. While this growth is not as high as the past few years, it's still a year of double-digit growth, and we've not seen that since fiscal year 05-06 through fiscal year 07-08. Finally, this budget is built around growth. The growing and urbanizing population results in demand for service expansion, and the fiscal year 24-25 proposed tentative budget addresses that growth as well as legislative and regulatory requirements that we also have to follow. So most of the items on this slide, Mr. Beasley has already touched on in his opening comments. The board approved a 1% decrease to the general fund portion of the countywide millage rate. That's a reduction of 0.0504 mills in total. This is the third consecutive year that there has been a millage decrease. The 5% index to the fire assessment. This addresses staffing and equipment needs to continue to provide adequate service across the growing county without having to increase the amount of subsidy that the general fund provides to the fire fund. The waste collection assessment increase. This is based on the new hauler contract costs as well as the costs associated with the county expanding its own collection area. And as Commissioner Braswell pointed out, this is the first time since 2017 that there has been an increase to this rate. But if we had continued to do an indexing each year, it wouldn't be so hard to swallow. So the next five years under this contract, we are anticipating maintaining a 5% indexing each year. Finally, there's a 6% index to water and waste water rates for Polk County Utilities customers. This was based on a comprehensive utilities rate study conducted earlier this year. And that takes into account expanding operations, the need for alternative water supply, and increased regulatory demands. This slide is a quick recap of the one-time project funding that the board approved on August 16th. The total funds available and allocated for one-time projects were $60.7 million. All of these projects are reflected in the CIP portion of the proposed tentative budget. This chart compares the current year revenue from ad valorem tax to the proposed tentative budget. The countywide property value increased by 11.39%, as I pointed out, with the unincorporated area increasing by 11.14% as well. Again, this is the third consecutive year of reductions. In a board work session, back at the end of July or the beginning of August, the board made the decision to reduce the millage by 1%. This affects only the general fund portion of the countywide millage. That's the portion that's circled here. At that point in time, we already had certified the millage rates to the property appraiser, the tax collector, and the Department of Revenue. So the trim notices were mailed out with the prior current year millage rates being reflected. That's not what we're going into these public hearings requesting. As statute points out, you are able to adopt a lower millage rate than what is certified in the July-August time frame, but you cannot adopt a higher millage rate. So this millage rate that is being requested for adoption now, it is lower than what was certified and does reflect the 1% reduction to the general fund component of the countywide millage rate. The total proposed budget in this chart is broken down by major fund group. Each one of the fund groups is balanced revenue to expense. The largest one of these pieces is special revenue funds at about $1.3 billion. These are revenues that come from specific sources that have to be used for specific uses and accounted for as such. Almost a quarter of that is attributed to transportation-related activities, and some other significant portions would be impact fees, the indigent health care fund, public safety, and grants. The general fund makes up about 22% of the total budget, and we're going to talk a little more in detail about the general fund in a few slides. The enterprise funds, this is made up of utilities and waste at about a $56-44 split between the two. These are areas that are financed and function like private enterprise. They provide goods and services to the general public in exchange for payment that covers the cost to provide these goods and services. Capital funds, this portion makes up about 7% of the total budget, and this is where we account for general capital projects in accordance with our CIP policy. The internal service funds make up about 6%. This is fleet, IT, and employee health insurance. These are programs that provide goods and services to other county divisions in exchange for reimbursement of costs. Finally, the debt service funds. These are the resources for the repayment of long-term debt that isn't associated with the enterprise funds. So the utilities bonds that we just went out for, that we just received, those are located in the enterprise funds, not in the long-term debt funds. Back on July 12th, Mr. Beasley presented his proposed balanced budget as required by statute. And since then, we've completed the CIP process, and we've made those final tweaks with things that we know now that we didn't know then. So this chart is going to take a look at what the proposed budget was back on July 12th versus the proposed tentative budget as we stand here today on September 9th. We didn't have a lot of changes. In total, the budget decreased by $6.9 million, which is a total reduction of 0.23%. The general fund reduction, most of that is attributed to the decrease in the millage rate. $3.2 million is the reduction that came from that reduction in millage. The rest of that is just adjusting revenue projections as provided by the state. Special revenue funds went up slightly, about $4.8 million. Most of that is attributed to the local hospital provider participation program. We got some new numbers on that program. If you recall, this is a pass-through for us. This is a voluntary, non-ad valorem assessment to the hospitals that gives them the opportunity to participate in a federal program. It leverages those funds and sends money back to the hospitals in order to help close the Medicaid reimbursement gap. There were no changes to the debt service funds. The capital funds did decrease by $14.1 million, and that was all in the carry-forward category. As we go through the CIP process, the divisions take a look at their projects, and they determine what they believe that they're going to spend before the end of the fiscal year versus what they need to carry forward into the next fiscal year. This just represents projects that are spending down current year, so less money is needed to carry forward into the fiscal year 24-25 budget. On the enterprise funds line, there's a $2 million increase. That represents nothing but a transfer of $2 million from one utilities fund to another utilities fund. There's no actual increase in revenue, but when you move money from one fund to the other, it creates a revenue and an expense from an accounting standpoint, so that's all that that represents. Finally, in the internal service funds, the increase of $4.9 million, that occurred in the Employee Health Insurance Fund. Obviously, that's a fund that we keep very close tabs on. That's assessed from month to month as we look at claims and payouts. This is an increase in carry forward of $4.9 million, which is a good news item. That means that there's less money that's being spent in the current year for claims and that can carry forward into fiscal year 24-25. So now we want to take a look at the general fund. Mr. Chairman, can I ask just one question, Christy? The hospital assessment that passed through, what is the total value of that in the proposed budget? I believe it is about $78 million, if I remember correctly. It's between $70 and $80 million. I don't know the exact number off the top of it. $70 and $80, too. But I can get that number for you. I'm going with $78. That's good. Okay. So the general fund represents 22% of the total budget. Again, the total budget is $2.985 billion, and the general fund is about $653.4 million. The 22%, that's a pretty normal, pretty expected percentage-wise. So when we look at the operating, when we look at the general fund, we want to kind of strip back the pieces that represent obligations that are already in place. So to go from the total all-inclusive general fund, we want to get down and take a look at the operating budget. So we take the total general fund, we take out those transfers that go to different funds, and we take out reserves. Those are not monies that we're anticipating to spend. They're committed to other purposes. So when we look at the operating budget, that's the part that we're actually budgeting to spend during the year. So that takes us from $653.4 million down to $505.5 million. That's an increase of about 8% over the current year general fund operating budget. So these charts break down that operating budget. So on the right-hand side, these are the operating budget expenses, and on the left, these are the revenues that cover those expenses. On the revenue side, Ad Valoram makes up the biggest chunk of that at 60%. We have some other taxes that we receive, such as sales tax, public service tax, communication services tax, and other major revenues. We have charges and fees that are received by the general fund. The biggest one of those is going to be ambulance fees. And we have some sheriff and court fees, code enforcement fees, probation fees. You know, a lot of other smaller revenues go into that slice. And then finally, all other revenues. These are indirects. This is interest, parking garage fees, scrap sales. Everything else goes into that pipe. On the expense side, we have the sheriff and the other constitutional officers that make a budget request to us each year. About 60% of that operating budget goes towards funding all of those offices. We also have some mandates that we're required to pay for, the inmate outside medical being a piece of that. We have some other items, the CRAs, the medical examiner, Article 5 court technology, indigent cremations, the county audit, and several other pieces that go into that slice. Then that leaves us with about a third of the total general fund operating budget for BOCC expenses. So that's about $162.8 million that you really have purview over in terms of running the BOCC. The biggest piece of that goes to public safety programs. About 60% of that is invested in public safety. The next largest piece would be facilities at about 15%. And then we have numerous other divisions and programs that are funded by the remainder of that money. So this next slide is actually a good news item. For the fourth consecutive year, the general fund days of operating reserves are funded at the policy maximum of 45 days. That equates to about $1.38 million per day. So this metric covers about 85% of the reserves in the general fund. And that represents what we would have available and unrestricted should there be an emergency and we have to go into reserves. This is the result of good fiscal stewardship and planning on the board's part. It indicates excellent financial solvency. And it shows that we're well positioned for any future uncertainties that might befall us. This is also something that rating agencies will look at. And it helps us if we go out for a bond issue, we're going to get more favorable rates because of metrics like this. So this is just a quick recap of the CIP. That was presented to you back on August 20th. This chart shows the total five-year CIP, which is close to $1.8 billion. $695 million of that is actually within the 24-25 budget. And you can see roads and drainage makes up the biggest portion of the entire five-year CIP at about 45.5%. So with the county growing and urbanizing and federal and state mandates being imposed at the local level, this budget includes 104 new positions, but these were offset by positions available for reclass with the closing of the Roar Home. So for that reason, it's a net position increase of 81 that's included in this budget. The biggest piece of that falls in the public safety and public and environmental health category, with 64 of those positions being reflected there. There's 29 in the infrastructure area and then 11 in support services and other. With those new positions, we exceed our prior peak position count of 2,273 from back in fiscal year 07-08 for the first time. We exceeded by 3.4% in this budget. So through the years, we've leveraged technology, we've leveraged outside partnerships, and worked smarter, not harder, in order to keep staffing growth minimal through the years. So the increase in this budget is measured growth, and it's not including any positions that we don't feel that we need, that the divisions haven't been able to make a solid business case for, that Mr. Beasley agreed need to be in this budget. So when we look at the population growth over the same time period, population has increased by 38%. However, employees per 1,000 residents has actually dropped from 3.4 to 2.87. So if we grew the BOCC in tandem with the population growth, this budget would have about 800 more positions in it than it does now. So again, the total proposed tentative budget that we're coming to you with this public hearing this evening is $2,984,670,147. Mr. Chair, if I could, before Christia moves into the final portion of tonight's process and procedure that's heavily scripted by statutory requirements, I wanted to just say a few closing comments about the budget. When you look back overall, you got to, certainly staff has acknowledged Polk County is changing. While the 24-25 proposed budget does represent a substantial investment on the part of the citizens and the businesses of Polk County, it is truly a direct reflection of the demands for services generated by a significantly growing population. These increased demands will continue to remain a significant challenge for Polk County in the coming years. This budget is expanding in direct relation to the various services demands generated by, that the growing demands are generated by this kind of population growth. Some of our traditional rural landscapes of the past are transitioning into what I think is a more urban, suburban, rural landscape. And those environments are glossed. They're gone. This growth dynamic continues to drive citizen and business expectations regarding, I think, the types of services that we provide, the quality of the services that we provide, and the cost of the services that we provide. Finally, I wanted to thank the board for providing what I believe is needed policy guidance for allowing and allowing staff to think creatively in developing this budget, but also for having confidence in the staff to rise to the occasion during these unprecedented growth demands that I think Polk has seldom seen in our history. The FY24-25 proposed budget is put forth as a reasonable budget intended to address reasonable citizen and business expectations, along with what I believe is the board's long-term values and priorities. This proposed budget truly is a formal expression of our plans, our goals, and our objectives for the upcoming year and is a reflection of the services that we promise to the citizens of Polk County. So, Mr. Chair, members of the board, on behalf of the county staff, the constitutional officers, and all those related agencies who had input into our budget, we present to you the FY24-25 proposed balance budget. And just very quickly, Commissioner Cumbie, to answer your question, $74.5 million in the local hospital provider program. Thank you, Christia. So next up is item C-1, discuss the fiscal year 24-25, Board of County Commissioners' proposed tentative operating millage rate. So under Florida statute, there are a number of items that I am required to read into the record. So please bear with me through both of the items under Section C, as there's a lot of data that I am required to cover. And while we break out the four components that make up the countywide millage rate internally for our discussion purposes, we only report that aggregate number to the state. So under Section C-1, I'm only going to be reading the totals into the record. For current year, fiscal year 23-24, the adopted millage rate countywide was 6.6852 mils. The fiscal year 24-25 proposed tentative millage rate is 6.6348 mils. That is a reduction of 0.0504 mils. And that percentage change is 0.8% reduction. The rollback rate is the millage rate that we would have to adopt for fiscal year 24-25 ad valorem revenue to be the same as the current year revenue. So the rolledback rate is 6.2763 countywide. And the fiscal year 24-25 proposed tentative millage rate is 6.6348. That's a difference of 0.3585 mils, which is a 5.7% increase over the rolledback rate. The total rolledback rate revenue for the countywide millage rate is 416,278,660. The total revenue generated by the proposed tentative millage rate is 440,056,347. That's a difference of $23,777,687, which is a 5.7% increase over the rolledback rate. The increase over the rolledback rate is necessary to maintain services within the funds that this levy applies to. Item C2. Discuss the fiscal year 24-25 proposed tentative millage rate for the Polk County Parks Municipal Services Taxing Unit, MSTU, the Polk County Library, MSTU, the Polk County Stormwater, MSTU, and the Polk County Rancho Benito, MSTU. The fiscal year 23-24 adopted millage rate for the Parks MSTU is 0.5286 mils. The fiscal year 24-25 proposed tentative millage rate is 0.5286. There is no difference. The fiscal year 23-24 adopted millage rate for the library MSTU is 0.1985 mils. The fiscal year 24-25 proposed tentative millage rate is 0.1985 mils, and there is no difference. The fiscal year 23-24 adopted millage rate for the Stormwater MSTU is 0.0941 mils. The fiscal year 24-25 proposed tentative millage rate is 0.0941 mils, and there is no difference. The unincorporated MSTU total for fiscal year 23-24 adopted millage rate is 0.8212 mils. The fiscal year 24-25 proposed tentative millage rate for all unincorporated MSTUs, is 0.8212 mils, and there is no difference. The rancho Benito MSTU for the fiscal year 23-24 adopted millage rate, that is 9.1272 mils. The fiscal year 24-25 proposed tentative millage rate is 9.1272 mils, and there is no difference. The total for all MSTUs, the fiscal year 23-24 adopted millage rate is 9.9484 mils. The fiscal year 24-25 proposed tentative millage rate is 9.9484 mils, and there is no difference. The rolled back rate for the Parks MSTU is 0.4940 mils. The 24-25 proposed tentative millage rate is 0.5286 mils. That is a difference of 0.0346 mils, and that is a 7.0% increase over the rolled back rate. The roll back rate for the library MSTU is 0.1855 mils. The fiscal year 24-25 proposed tentative millage rate is 0.1985 mils. That's a difference of 0.0130 mils, which is a 7.0% increase from the roll back rate. The roll back rate for the stormwater MSTU is 0.0879 mils. The fiscal year 24-25 proposed tentative millage rate is 0.0941 mils. That's a difference of 0.0062 mils, which is a 7.1% increase over the rolled back rate. The total rolled back rate for the unincorporated MSTUs is 0.7674 mils. The fiscal year 24-25 proposed tentative millage rate for all unincorporated MSTUs is 0.8212 mils. That's a difference of 0.0538 mils, which is a 7.0% increase over the rolled back rate. The roll back rate for the Rancho Benito area MSTU is 8.9803 mils. The fiscal year 24-25 proposed tentative millage rate is 9.1272 mils. That's a difference of 0.1469 mils, which is a 1.6% increase over the roll back rate. So the total for all of the MSTUs, the rolled back rate is 9.7477. The fiscal year 24-25 proposed tentative millage rate is 9.9484 mils. That's a difference of 0.2007 mils, which is a 2.1% increase from the rolled back rate. On the revenue side, the rolled back rate revenue for the Parks MSTU is $19,062,578. The revenue from the proposed tentative millage rate for fiscal year 24-25 is $20,397,730. That's a difference of $1,335,152, which is a 7.0% increase over the roll back rate. The roll back rate revenue for the library MSTU is $7,158,114. The revenue from the fiscal year 24-25 proposed tentative millage rate is $7,659,761. That's a difference of $501,647. That's a 7.0% increase over the rolled back rate. The rolled back rate revenue for the stormwater MSTU is $3,391,904. The revenue from the fiscal year 24-25 proposed tentative millage rate is $3,631,151. That's a difference of $239,247. That's a 7.1% increase over the rolled back rate. The rolled back rate revenue for the total unincorporated MSTUs is $29,612,596. The unincorporated MSTU total revenue from the fiscal year 24-25 proposed tentative millage rate is $31,688,642. That's a difference of $2,076,046, which is a 7.0% increase from the rolled back rate. The Rancho Benito MSTU rolled back rate revenue is $9,271. The revenue from the fiscal year 24-25 proposed tentative millage rate is $9,423. That's a difference of $152, which is a 1.6% increase over the rolled back rate. The total for all MSTUs revenue generated by the rolled back rate is $29,621,867. The revenue generated for all MSTUs under the fiscal year 24-25 proposed tentative millage rate is $31,698,065. That's a difference of $2,076,198, which is a 7.0% increase from the rolled back rate. The increase over the rolled back rate is necessary to maintain services within the Parks, Library, and Rancho Benito MSTU funds and to fund upcoming water quality projects and other services related to the NPDES permit as mandated by the Federal Clean Water Act in the Stormwater MSTU. Item D. D1. Discuss the fiscal year 24-25 proposed tentative budget totaling $2,984,670,147. Item D2. Discuss the fiscal year 24-25 Polk County Parks MSTU proposed tentative budget totaling $44,425,096 of which $19,377,844 is from property tax. The Polk County Library MSTU proposed tentative budget totaling $10,177,281 of which $7,276,773 is from property tax. The Polk County Stormwater MSTU proposed tentative budget totaling $12,881,579 of which $3,449,594 is from property taxes. And the Polk County Rancho Benito MSTU proposed tentative budget totaling $55,387 of which $8,952 is from property tax. Any questions from the board? CNN, I'll open a public hearing. Anyone in the public who wishes to speak regarding the FY24-25 proposed tentative operating budget and millage rates which include the Parks MSTU, Library MSTU, Stormwater MSTU, and Rancho Benito MSTU. Please come forward. I have already Michael Freitag. Good evening. Michael Freitag, 836 East Palmetto Street in Lakeland. I'm not a tax accountant. I received this property tax, a notice of property tax form, as you mentioned before, that they went out. Thank you for sending these out. But when I read these, I find that it's a little deceiving in that when you look down at the property appraiser value, for some reason this year, it's not being discounted for the millage rates when it has been in the past. You have your market value and then the millage rates were a percentage of that. And I'm not sure if it's because of that, but I find that overall, my last year's taxes compared to what I'm going to be paying this year is over a 1,500% increase on my property. That includes the schools and the state laws and the local boards, et cetera, the whole thing. So I was wondering, as Mr. Braswell mentioned before, that there was a 6% increase on the wastewater. Is this backdating something that has all of a sudden exploded my proposed tax bill on my property? Your case, I really can't tell you, but I can tell you this. Did Todd, is Todd Vaughn? Oh, there you are right up front. See the guy right here? He can explain all that to you. Okay. Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you very much. And we moved here two years ago to Lakeland from Arizona, and I think everybody here is doing a great job. We love it here in Polk County, and we made a great decision coming here. Okay, we'll give you another three minutes if you'd like. Hang on, Bill. Hang on a second. Hold up. Go ahead. Explain to you one more time. Seven years, no increase. On the garbage? Yeah. He was asking about that. Well, I think he mentioned wastewater, but the deal was for seven years we did not raise the garbage fee. You missed five years of that. Yeah. But, yeah, so, and actually one year we reduced it a little bit in there, but that's why that jumped up so high because we're dealing with reality now, and from now on we'll continue to do that, but Todd will help you understand that trim notice, and this man over here will get them all straightened out next year. Anybody else? All right. Oh, yeah, come forward. If you want to address the board, please come forward. You can come up two, three at a time. Hello, my name is Craig White. I'm from 409 Chance Avenue in Winter Haven, 33881, and I also received the notice from the tax accountant, and I see that it's a significant increase over what I was paying before, and that's not even counting the building of the house. It is true that there's more expenses with more people coming in, but has it been accounted for that there's going to be more tax revenue with more people moving in? There's going to be more people buying property, property taxes are going up, we are all paying for like waste removal, sewer, and I'm in a community where it charges an HOA fee, which takes care of some of that, which reduces the strain on the county budget. Yeah, I mean, we have a lot of mechanisms to account for all that. You said one thing there about building a house. That certainly makes a big difference in your taxes, but the same thing. Todd will be happy to look it over and see if it's correct. He's an expert on that sort of thing. Thank you. Thank you. Anybody else? Go on once. All right, I'll close the public hearing and move to option and resolution. I think at this time, Chrystia has F1. I have to read it first. You've got to read it. Record. So for the next three sections, I'm going to read the staff recommendation and then stand for the board to make a motion and approval. So under section F, to set the tentative millage rates for fiscal year 2425. F1, staff recommends that the board adopt the resolution establishing the fiscal year 2425 tentative millage rate of 0.0941 mills for the Polk County Stormwater MSTU, which is a 7.1% increase over the rolled back rate of 0.0879 mills. Move approval. Got a motion and a second for approval. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, like signed, motion carries. Item F2, staff recommends that the board adopt the resolution establishing the fiscal year 2425 tentative operating millage rate of 6.6348 mills, which is a 5.7% increase over the rolled back rate of 6.2763 mills. The tentative millage rate of 0.5286 mills for the Polk County Parks MSTU, which is a 7.0% increase over the rolled back rate of 0.4940 mills. The tentative millage rate of 0.1985 mills for the Polk County Library MSTU, which is a 7.0% increase over the rolled back rate of 0.1855 mills and the tentative millage rate of 9.1272 mills for the Polk County Rancho Benito MSTU, which is a 1.6% increase over the rolled back rate of 8.9803 mills. Second. Got a motion and a second for approval. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, like signed, motion carries. Section G set the tentative budget for fiscal year 2425. Item G1, staff recommends that the board adopt the resolution adopting the fiscal year 2425 tentative budget of $12,881,579 for the Polk County Stormwater MSTU, which is included in the fiscal year 2425 tentative budget of $2,984,670,147. Move approval. Got a motion and a second for approval. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, like signed, motion carries. Item G2, staff recommends that the board adopt the resolution adopting the fiscal year 2425 tentative budget of $2,984,670,147, which includes the fiscal year 2425 tentative budget of $44,425,096 for the Polk County Parks MSTU, the fiscal year 2425 tentative budget of $10,177,281 for the Polk County Library MSTU, and the fiscal year 2425 tentative budget of $55,387 for the Polk County Rancho Benito MSTU. Move approval. Second. Got a motion and a second for approval. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, like signed, motion carries. Section H, set the fiscal year 2425 second public hearing date and time. Item H1, staff recommends that the board set the date, time, and place for the public hearing to adopt a final millage rate and budget on September 16th, 2024 at 6 o'clock p.m. in the commission boardroom. Move approval. Got a motion and a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, like signed, we'll be here next week. Anything else? We're done, Mr. Chair. All right. We're adjourned. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.