Mary Esther dilemma: Raise taxes, cut law enforcement or close library?
"We have a half-a-million (dollar) shortfall in our General Fund budget, and we have to do something to fix it," said Stein, who has served as mayor of
The new fiscal year starts
Stein said the city's money problems stem largely from years of poor financial planning.
"We've been overestimating our revenues" such as property tax and state-shared revenues "and have been pulling money out of our reserves," said Stein, who added that the city's expenses have not really changed much.
The city had roughly
"We have to build the reserves back up to about
He also said that during the Great Recession, the city reduced the millage rate for fiscal 2009 to 2.69 mills (or
"We kept it at 2.6 for too long," Stein said.
Options
He said City Manager
One way would be to increase the millage rate, Stein said.
"If we bring it to 5.03, we could get about
Another option, he said, would be to decrease the level of law enforcement services that the
"We pay the same amount of tax money as the unincorporated areas for basic
Each year since at least fiscal 2007, most of the calls for service in
Another option to help balance the budget is to close the
But talk at Monday's meeting about possibly closing the library has caused a public uproar, Stein said. For example, the library staff posted a message on the library's Facebook page Wednesday that urged patrons to tell Brown and each council member that closing the facility "is not an option."
Stein opposes closing the library.
"We don't have a pool, tennis courts, ball field, a
Stein, who does not have a vote on the council, said he and Brown favor using basic rather than "enhanced" law enforcement services and deleting a few new vehicles to balance the new budget without raising taxes.
"The problem is, the council has two members who are friends with the sheriff," Stein said, referring to Councilmen
Other views
Kitchens said a
"You need somebody (from the S.O.) here 24 hours a day in case something happens," he said. "We have six banks and multiple other businesses here."
Kitchens also said it takes seven employees to run the library, and seven for
"It doesn't matter if the library is open or closed or has reduced hours," he said. "Everyone (from each city department) is going to have to tighten their belts. How many people actually use the library?"
Bennett noted that the council has a ways to go before finalizing the budget.
"You're always looking at cutting things," he said. But some city leaders "are trying to cut law enforcement, and that's not what citizens want in this day and age. No one wants to lose any jobs, and I definitely don't want to lose any (law enforcement) protections."
The council's next budget workshop is set for
The meetings will be at at
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