The first reading of the Bradenton Beach budget Sept. 10, like most of the recent city meetings, was not without controversy.
The gavel fell in the mayor’s hand to open the first of two budget hearings, one for the Community Redevelopment Agency and the other for the general city budget, and immediately Vice Mayor-Commissioner Jack Clarke brought up a point of order.
Clarke said he had researched the city charter and could find no authority for the mayor to chair CRA hearings.
Clarke suggested the CRA members — commissioners — “must formally appoint a chairperson.”
Mayor Bill Shearon responded by asking the city treasurer, Sheila Dalton, who was at the podium to present the CRA budget, to read from a prepared, highlighted section of the charter: Duties and powers of the mayor and vice mayor.
She read from Part 1, Article 3: “to prepare or cause to be prepared an annual budget document to be submitted to the commission for review and action as required by law.”
Shearon said he was assuming his authority to conduct the hearing, and he continued with the agenda.
The commission unanimously passed the first reading of both ordinances to adopt the 2014-15 CRA and general city budget, including the millage rate of 2.3329.
Dalton announced that the millage rate was a 4.51 percent tax increase over the rollback rate of 2.2323 mills — the millage needed to produce the same revenue as the current fiscal year.
A mill is $1 for every $1,000 of appraised property value.
Clarke summed it up as a 10.5 cent increase, or $10.50 per $100,000 valuation.
The budget also includes a cost-of-living raise of 1.5 percent for staff.
Commissioners quibbled over advancing cell tower funds to the stormwater utility account for work scheduled to take place prior to the collection of the utility fees, although Dalton insisted she would merely be shifting the balance to cover expenses.
Commissioner Jan Vosburgh was adamant that the $320,000 payment for the cell tower, already in the treasury, remain unallocated.
Commissioners opted to allow Dalton to come back at the second and final budget hearing with a comparison on shifting the necessary stormwater funding from unrestricted funds and approved the proposed budget for both the CRA and the city unanimously.
The CRA budget calls for $1,009,267 in revenue, $1,515,267 in expenditures, with $506,000 funded by the current year-end fund balance.
The total revenue expected in the city budget is $2,790,714 with adjustments for the cell tower revenue and other fiscal-year 2014 funds. The spending for the general fund is set at $3,038,536.
The city revenue is primarily from 10 percent of property taxes. The remaining ad valorem tax goes to Manatee County, the school district and other taxing entities. The fire district receives its revenue through an assessment.
If property taxes increase and the millage percentage rate does not, state law terms it as a tax increase.
As established by the state, the rollback rate is the millage rate needed to produce the same revenue as the previous year’s budget. Any rate higher than the established rollback rate is a tax increase.
Bradenton Beach by the numbers
2013-14 millage rate: 2.3329
Proposed 2014-15 millage: 2.3329
Rollback rate: 2.2323 mills
Percent of increase: 4.51
Proposed 2014-15 budget: $3,038,536.
2013-14 budget: $2,568,724 million