It’s time for revenue and spending talks for the county and municipal governments on Anna Maria Island.
That goes for all but Bradenton Beach, where Mayor Jack Clarke appears to have acted alone in setting the city’s tentative millage rate for Manatee County Property Appraiser Charles E. Hackney.
It remains to be seen if Clarke’s actions were appropriate.
At the very least, the commission was prevented from considering a higher millage rate, which might have allowed the city to avoid another year of deficit spending.
Clarke’s budget, as proposed, includes a deficit of $161,870.
According to municipal government law sources, the mayor can’t act alone on behalf of the taxing authority — the city commission — to set the ad valorem tax rate, or millage.
And, if delegated by the commission to set the tax rate on his own, Clarke would need to conduct all meetings regarding the budget, including those with staff and the city attorney, at public meetings.
More than one legal source told The Islander the Sunshine Law follows the authorization.
Clarke appears to have hijacked the budget process, holding no discussion on his spending plan, and setting the not-to-exceed millage rate without consultation — public or private — among commissioners, all members of the city’s taxing authority.
If Clarke, who was sworn in as mayor in June, had received proper authorization from the commission to set the tentative millage, any subsequent meetings would have to follow the open meeting requirements of the commission.
However, commissioners did not give authorization and also did not meet in public to discuss the budget or the millage. Instead city treasurer Sheila Dalton provided the commissioners with a PDF copy of the proposed budget in an email.
Further, in what she said was an action to meet the county deadline for the tentative millage, she polled commissioners separately July 23 by email, phone and in person for approval of Clarke’s action.
Clarke signed and submitted the state’s required not-to-exceed millage rate form July 29.
Dalton subsequently resigned, citing major problems at city hall in an Aug. 11 letter to commissioners, which was followed by an immediate dismissal by Clarke.
But polling for commission votes has been found to be illegal, in particular in a Manatee County case, Leach v. Bradenton.
Polling individually by phone, email or in person essentially denies the public of the process and input on the decision.
The commission did not authorize the mayor to act on its behalf as the taxing authority.
The city’s situation with its millage rate is similar to its situation with its pier lease, for which Barbara Peterson, president of the First Amendment Foundation, commented Aug. 13.
Applying Peterson’s argument about how Clarke and city attorney Ricinda Perry negotiated the pier lease — with Anna Maria Oyster Bay president John Horne — to how Clarke set the millage rate, he appears to have made the same mistake twice.
If an appointed official determines a millage rate on behalf of the commission and any meetings that were held in that process were not properly noticed under the Sunshine Law, the millage rate is at risk of being voided by a court — any action taken in violation of the Sunshine Law is “void ab initio,” as if it never happened.
The mayor, none the less, set the not-to-exceed millage for the 2015-16 fiscal year at 2.3329 mills in the document he signed July 29.
Florida statutes include four categories of millage rates, including a general municipal millage, “which shall be that nonvoted millage rate set by the governing body of the municipality;” and millages that are “fixed only by ordinance or resolution of the governing body of the taxing authority in the manner specifically provided by general law or by special act.”
The rollback rate — the millage needed to produce the same revenue as the current budget — is 2.1571.
In the event it is determined the mayor acted without authorization to set the not-to-exceed millage, the city may be required to develop its budget based on the rollback rate.
Millage rates determine how much revenue from ad valorem taxes a city has to work with in creating a budget. The property appraiser needed the rate by Aug. 4 to submit it Aug. 5 to the vendor printing the notices. Manatee County TRIM Notices were scheduled to be sent Aug. 17 to property owners.
A budget workshop has been rescheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 19, at city hall, 107 Gulf Drive N., Bradenton Beach.
However, there is no apparent remedy for an unauthorized millage rate or the failure to hold a public meeting on the rate.
The commission’s first of two public budget hearings to finalize the budget is set for 5:15 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 3. The 2015-16 fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
Mayor Clarke’s actions indicate that he has absolutely no respect for the laws of the city, county and state and even less respect for the citizens of Bradenton Beach and our tax dollars. The resignation of the city treasurer is a major loss to the city. The November election cannot come quickly enough. When are the rest of the Commissioners besides Janie Roberts going to act in the interests of the citizens.
The only reason the City of Bradenton Beach has a budget is to pay for attorney’s fees and lawsuits stemming from complete incompetence from its elected officials. Exactly how much $$ has the city paid Ms. Perry in the last 5 years??