The proposed 2018-19 Holmes Beach budget has grown $450,000 since the July projections were made — and Bert Harris is partly to blame.
“The major changes from the first draft to yester- day are the additional insurance costs, the addition of a consultant and the changing of the rollover amounts,” city treasurer Lori Hill stated in an email following the Sept. 13 first reading of the budget and millage ordinances at city hall.
At the Sept. 13 meeting, Hill said a new invoice from the Florida Municipal Insurance Trust, the insur- ance arm of the Florida League of Cities, required her to adjust the budget — now at $15,906,302 — which was proposed after July 10-11 workshops.
The new bill for insurance includes a $121,000 hike, which raises a $267,000 premium in 2017 to $377,000 in 2018, for city liability, worker’s comp and auto insurance.
In an attempt to reduce the cost, the city “went back to the league and there’s nothing that can be done,” Hill said, due to the risk inherent in the $25 million in claims filed against the city since 2016 under the Bert J. Harris Jr. Property Rights Protection Act. She said two policies will cover up to $2 million, including a policy covering litigation costs and another that does not.
Hill also highlighted other items new to the 2018-19 budget, including a $100,000 legal contin- gency, $400,000 in city field amenities, a $500,000 fund specific to Bert Harris costs and $217,000 in salaries and benefits for three new employees — a code enforcement officer, an administrative account- ing specialist and a permit technician for the building department. A fourth employee fo public works was eliminated.
For the police department, the proposed budget includes $101,000 for a license-plate recognition system, a $20,000 bulletproof window for dispatch and about $125,000 for pay increases and retirement contributions.
A $21,000 digital outdoor sign is proposed to replace the existing sign at city hall. A $31,000 code enforcement program to track illegal vacation rental advertising also is new.
Another new budget item is a $50,000 allocation for a land-development code consultant.
The first reading of the budget and millage ordi- nances passed 4-0, with Commissioner Jim Kihm absent with excuse.
After the hearing, Commissioner Carol Soustek and planner Bill Brisson said the planning commission will be looking at land development code changes after it reviews the city’s comprehensive plan.
At planning board member Scott Boyd’s suggestion, Soustek, who is liaison to the board, said the LDC consultant was included in the proposed budget and Brisson is reviewing possible candidates.
The revenue streams financing the new budget remain “relatively the same,” Hill said, including gas and sales taxes and revenue sharing. Although, she said, hazard mitigation matching funds of $235,707 from a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant are new to the budget.
The budget spending and revenue for the current year is $13,423,153.
The proposed 2018-19 budget is based on ad valorem taxes levied at a millage rate of 2.25 per $1,000 valuation. The proposed millage rate is 6.83 percent higher than the rollback rate of 2.1062 — the rate needed to maintain the same revenue as the current budget.
The yet-approved millage rate is a tax increase for property owners.
The final reading, hearing and vote on the budget was set for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 25, at city hall, 5801