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BCC Minutes 09/22/2022 BSeptember 22, 2022 Page 1   TRANSCRIPT OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Naples, Florida September 22, 2022 LET IT BE REMEMBERED, that the Board of County Commissioners, in and for the County of Collier, and also acting as the Board of Zoning Appeals and as the governing board(s) of such special districts as have been created according to law and having conducted business herein, met on this date at 5:05 p.m., in BUDGET SESSION in Building "F" of the Government Complex, East Naples, Florida, with the following members present: Chairman: William L. McDaniel, Jr. Rick LoCastro Burt L. Saunders Andy Solis Penny Taylor ALSO PRESENT: Amy Patterson, County Manager Edward, Interim Deputy County Manager Jeffrey A. Klatzkow, County Attorney Crystal K. Kinzel, Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller Troy Miller, Communications & Customer Relations September 22, 2022 Page 2   CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Somebody decided I wasn't going to get to have a gavel anymore. It authorized me with too much power, so -- Trinity's back there smiling at me. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to our second of our budget hearings that are statutorily required at 5:05. And if we can, please, I'd like everybody to rise. And we're going to ask Commissioner Solis to lead us in the Pledge this evening, please. (The Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison.) CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: If you would, folks -- COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And, Mr. Chairman, I want to do this tonight and on Tuesday. Can we have a moment of silence for Dave Lykins' family? CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I'd be happy to. Do you want to just call for it, and I'll pass it over to you? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yes. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: If you would, folks -- COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I don't want to -- CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I understand. Do you want us -- do you want us to rise, or just can we do it -- if you all -- if everybody would rise. Commissioner Saunders, please. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yes. I think everyone knows that David Lykins passed away last Friday, and I just want to have a moment of silence for him and his family tonight, and I'll do the same thing on Tuesday. So thank you, Mr. Chairman. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Absolutely. Thank you, sir. (A moment of silence was observed.) CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Amen. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: You know -- and I'll say this September 22, 2022 Page 3   for all of the legislative aides -- not legislative aides, but all of our aides. You really don't know how much work they do until all of a sudden it's not getting done. I mean, it's amazing the amount of effort they have to put in. So thank you, Mr. Chairman. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Certainly. Our prayers are there. And I think I shared this with you when I spoke the other day, that I know that my Sue and all of our aides will pitch in and help as much as we -- as much as we can and as needed. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: All right. Ms. Patterson, do you want to lead us off into this discussion? MS. PATTERSON: Absolutely. Welcome to the second of our budget hearings. We're going to move right on into the agenda. This is the advertised public hearing for the Collier County FY2022/'23 budget. I am going to now hand the controls over to my Deputy County Manager, Mr. Ed Finn, who is going to take you through the agenda and his presentation. MR. FINN: Thank you, Ms. Patterson. I appreciate that. Mr. Chairman, members of the Board, thank you so much. I appreciate everyone being here. We're at the -- what I'm hoping is the positive conclusion of our long budget process. I appreciate everyone's patience getting through it. To a great extent, this is scripted tonight. So I know it will sound scripted, and I apologize. I'll do a little vamping here as best I can when I need to, but we'll do it that way. Mr. Chairman, Commissioners, this is the final public hearing on the Collier County Fiscal Year 2022/2023 budget, which begins October 1, 2022, and runs through September 30, 2023. This final public budget hearing must follow a specific format pursuant to truth September 22, 2022 Page 4   in millage guidelines. Your agenda contains the specific sequence of agenda items to be covered. Pursuant to Florida Statute, Chapter 200, the required advertisement for this final hearing was published in the Naples Daily News on Monday, September 19th, 2022. Agenda and speaker slips are available in the hallway. Anyone interested in addressing the Board of County Commissioners regarding the county budget must complete a speaker slip. Following some introductory remarks regarding tax rates and any changes to the '23 tentative budget approved at the first public budget hearing on September 8th, 2022, there will be an opportunity under Item 1C for public comment. Speakers will be called by name. The agenda -- I'm just going to enumerate the agenda a little bit here as we get going. The first item of business will be a discussion of the millage rate and increases over the rolled-back rate, next item is a discussion of further amendments to the tentative budget, then an opportunity for public comments, and the back end of the agenda deals with approving resolutions to amend the tentative budget, public reading of the tax authority millages, adoption of a resolution setting the millage rates and, finally, a resolution to adopt the final budget by fund. There may be a requirement -- depending on how the voting goes on the millage rates, there may be a requirement to have separate votes on some of those to achieve supermajority or a unanimous vote in some cases. Very good. Before we begin -- and this is going to be a bit redundant to our last meeting, but I'm just going to go over real quickly how we found ourselves here, if I may. A brief look at the timeline. The budget process begins in December of the prior year. September 22, 2022 Page 5   Your staff begins the development of that budget policy in February. This board approved the budget policy. March and April, the manager's agency and the constitutional officers developed their budgets. In May, the County Manager held her workshops to review those budgets. In June, the Board met and reviewed these budgets in detail, considerably more detail than the summary we're looking at tonight. July 1st, the certified taxable value was provided by the Property Appraiser. July 12th, at a regular Board meeting, the BCC approved the resolution approving the maximum millage rates that we could levy for next year. July 15th, we released to the Board the tentative budget reflecting those certified taxable values received on July 1st. July 19th, we provided back to the Property Appraiser the proposed millages. August 15th, the Property Appraiser sent out a TRIM notice to the public advising them of what their tax bills would look like if no changes are made at these hearings. That also served as the advertisement for the first public hearing that was held on September 8th just a few weeks -- a few weeks back. The adopted budget policy -- and just comments before we really get rolling on this. The adopted budget policy called for a millage neutral budget, and by "millage neutral" we mean the same millage rate as we levied in the prior year and, for that matter, relative to our main funds, the same millage that we've levied for more than 10 years straight without any change. The Board has not increased the rate of taxation this year. Any increase in individual county taxes -- property taxes to be paid is attributable to a rise in taxable value. As we've discussed previously, we have seen substantial increases in market value and, in some cases, taxable value that, for some property owners, can lead to a tax increase for next year. September 22, 2022 Page 6   Fortunately, for homestead property, the Florida Constitution provides the Save Our Homes 3 percent limit on the annual assessed value increase. This constitutional amendment shields homestead property from taxable-value-driven increases exceeding 3 percent, and it applies to all taxing authorities. It's our experience in looking through tax bills this year that individual homesteaded properties in Collier County, with a few exceptions that I haven't even seen -- I'd simply caveat a little bit by saying that -- are enjoying a small reduction in their overall tax bill going into next year. For non-homestead property, there is a constitutional 10 percent limit to the annual assessed value, and that applies to taxing authorities other than the school taxes. As a result, non-homestead property is limited to a 10 percent increase as it involved county taxes, but they -- the school portion of their tax bill can go up pretty much in proportion to the market value increase in their property. So those properties have seen some increases. If I may, our budget is based on a philosophy of flexibility and trying to fund what we need to fund in terms of infrastructure in terms of the funding necessary to continue our operations, to maintain continuity with the growth that we experience every year, and to achieve a level of service here that's expected of government services that really is an envy of most of the country. I think that the level of service that we provide is quite outstanding. But in order to do that, it does require a commitment to funding. This year, as we prepared our budget, we're struggling with not only the remnants of COVID and supply-chain issues, but as this slide shows, significant inflationary impacts that impact both our capital -- capital budgets quite substantially as well as our day-to-day budget operational expenses, as well as personnel costs. September 22, 2022 Page 7   I think most of you know we're fortunate enough to kick off a contract for the Vanderbilt Beach Road extension. As an example of inflationary pressures, particularly in construction, just a few years back that project was estimated at approximately $100 million. The Board recently approved a contract for that job at in excess of $150 million. I won't say every dime of that was, per se, inflation, but it certainly is an indication that inflation is having a significant impact on the budget we're looking at tonight. Having said that, I'll give you an opportunity to look at that. I'll be happy to just move on to Agenda Item 1A if it -- if it suits the Chairman. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: It suits the Chairman. Item #1A DISCUSSION OF FY 2022-23 MILLAGE RATES AND INCREASES OVER THE ROLLED BACK MILLAGE RATES MR. FINN: Very good. Thank you, sir. This is a discussion of the '23 millage rates and increases over the rolled-back millage rates. State law requires that the first substantive issues to be discussed are percentage increases in millage over the rolled-back rate needed to fund the budget and the reasons ad valorem tax revenues above the rolled-back rate, as calculated by truth in millage law, are being increased. The rolled-back rate is defined as that tax rate necessary to generate prior year tax revenues, and this tax rate is calculated not including taxable values associated with new construction, additions, deletions, and rehab improvements to existing property. In February 2022, the Board adopted budget guidance for the September 22, 2022 Page 8   fiscal year we're dealing with, FY'23, including a millage-neutral operating levy position, meaning the same tax rate as last year. Budget guidance also included the reinstatement of the Conservation Collier tax levy that was originally reinstated in 2022. For the General Fund, the millage-neutral rate is 3.5645 per thousand dollars of taxable value, as it has been since 2010. For the Unincorporated Area General Fund, the millage-neutral rate is .8069 per thousand dollars in taxable value, as it has been since 2017. Pursuant to Board guidance, some of that Unincorporated Area General Fund millage does support median beautification maintenance requirements. It no longer supports any capital component of that, but it does support the median maintenance. The reinstated Conservation Collier tax levy is included in the '23 budget with a millage rate of .25 per thousand dollars pursuant to a voter preference referendum in November 2020. The .25 millage is an up-to number. It is not a requirement. Tax levies for the General Fund, Conservation Collier, and Unincorporated Area General Fund together represent the majority of the taxes levied by the Board of County Commissioners. The FY'23 tentative General Fund and Unincorporated Area General Fund operating and capital budgets, as presented, are based upon Board-adopted budget policy. Both the General Fund and the Unincorporated Area General Fund proposed tax rates are higher than the rolled-back rate. Collier County taxable value has increased for FY'23 by 16.85 percent and 17 percent within the General Fund and Unincorporated Area General Fund respectively. With an increasing taxable value environment under a millage-neutral policy, the rolled-back rate will be lower than the millage-neutral rate, and this is the case for FY'23. Our budget model and philosophy places a premium on fiscal September 22, 2022 Page 9   flexibility, preserving and protecting required cash balances, maintaining adequate emergency reserves for a coastal location, and allocating resources to maintain our substantial public safety, capital infrastructure, and operational investment. Mindful of this model and fiscal philosophy, the Board enacts budget policy and includes tax rate policy and budget decisions crafted around these concepts. Referring to Exhibit 1A, Packet Pages 9 through 11, millage rates for each Collier County taxing authority controlled by the Board of County Commissioners has been established pursuant to Board guidance. The roster of tax rates which represent the maximum rates which can be levied were approved at the first public budget hearing on September 8th, 2022. I will note that there are some millages that will require a supermajority or a unanimous vote. We'll return to that at the right time. The cumulative aggregate rolled-back rate for all Collier County taxing authorities, exclusive of debt service, totals 3.9129 per thousand dollars of taxable value. The proposed aggregate tax rate for all Collier County taxing authorities, exclusive of debt service, totals 4.4391 per thousand dollars of taxable value. This represents an increase of 13.45 percent over the aggregate rolled-back rate and necessitated a notice of proposed tax increase advertisement for TRIM purposes rather than a simple budget summary advertisement. As had been mentioned, that was published in the Naples Daily News. That concludes my comments on that item, sir. If it suits the Chair, I'll move on to Agenda Item 1B. Item #1B September 22, 2022 Page 10   DISCUSSION OF FURTHER AMENDMENTS TO THE TENTATIVE BUDGET CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Any other discussion? (No response.) MR. FINN: Thank you. As provided in Exhibit 1B, Packet Pages 12 through 17, there are a handful of small housekeeping changes to the '23 tentative budget that have been made subsequent to the September 8th, 2022, budget hearing. Changes involve CRA funds and stem from Board action at the meeting of September 13th, 2022, that reallocates funding into projects within the Bayshore and Immokalee CRA funds. The third change -- appropriation change increases the Conservation Collier Land Acquisition Fund due to lower FY'22 incurred land acquisition expenses. This resulted in adjustment to the funds carrying forward into FY'23. Those funds -- those funds are being reappropriated into the land acquisition component of their budget. These changes were detailed within the resolutions attached and provided in Exhibit 1B. There are no changes to the roster of millage rates approved at the September 8th, '22, budget hearing. Mr. Chairman, if you'd like, we could at this point go to public comments under Agenda Item 1C. Item #1C PUBLIC COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I think that would be appropriate, September 22, 2022 Page 11   and then we'll have our Board comments. MR. MILLER: I have no speaker slips. I do have one speaker online on Zoom. I'm going to warn everyone right now I'm going to horribly mispronounce this name. Vaibhav Lohiya, you are being prompted to unmute yourself, if you'll do so at this time. Vaibhav? MR. LOHIYA: I see that. Thank you for that. MR. MILLER: Yes. You have -- MR. LOHIYA: I'm sorry. Can you guys -- can you hear me now? MR. MILLER: Yes, you have three minutes. MR. LOHIYA: Thank you very much. I won't need the full three minutes. And I appreciate the (unintelligible) join the first hearing. On September 8th, unfortunately, the Zoom functionality didn't seem to be working that day at the hybrid hearings, so thank you for providing that opportunity right now. I apologize for the background noise here. I think -- I am a new property owner in Naples Park, and my home is not homesteaded because I do not live in Florida. In hearing everything that I've heard with respect to the changes to the taxes or effective taxes on new homeowners where the millage rate is kept the same as the prior year despite increases in the value of the property, it appears to me -- and this is just my summary or my observation -- that the county's using, essentially, non-homesteaded properties to fund the capital budget as well as other expenses for the county. The 3 percent increase is reasonable for people who live there. For me, it will be a 20-plus percent increase. I also notice that there's about a $100 million, about 20 percent over the $500 million budget that the county has additionally that are September 22, 2022 Page 12   expected to be raised through keeping the millage rate the same as the prior year with increases in property values that the area or region has seen. And that is yet again concerning because that's a massive increase in the tax levy. As we all know, taxes don't seem to go down. In my view, the increase in values of properties could potentially be temporary and, as we enter a recession, we'll probably see those property values go down. Once a certain amount of a tax gets levied and gets used up, the chances are the millage rates will have to go up next year when the property values come down, or the year after that. And so I personally would object to the -- keeping the millage rate the same instead of using the rolled-back rates such that the taxes only increase slightly but not the 20 percent increase that I'm going to see on my property. That, to me, is in line with the (unintelligible) post budget that was put in place which, again, largely makes sense because that's based on the actual expenses and estimated costs of the maintenance that's required by the county. I don't know what else is required to be done, but I think that's the end of my comments. I just wanted to state my objection and the reasoning behind the objection. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Thank you. MR. MILLER: Mr. Chair, I've been handed one speaker slip here in the room, Michelle Woodman. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Did they have those speaker slips hidden in a separate spot for you? MS. WOODMAN: They must have. MR. MILLER: I'm going to have to dock someone's pay. MS. WOODMAN: The invisible ones. Hi. My name is Michelle Woodman. I was here on September 22, 2022 Page 13   September 8th as well. I just have one question, and hopefully it can be answered, because I had three questions last time, and nobody addressed my questions. So it's very simply. I just wanted to know what is a reasonable percentage increase for a property tax for the year 2021 to 2022? And then, also, what is a reasonable property tax increase overall, just on average, historically? CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Okay. MS. WOODMAN: That's all I have. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: And I apologize -- did you send me an email? MS. WOODMAN: No, I didn't send anybody an email. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Just for your edification, this format is not for you to come and ask us questions and us to turn around and answer them. MS. WOODMAN: Right. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: So, typically, what I ask folks, when they do come here and you have a question, send an email. Send an email -- any one of us. MS. WOODMAN: Okay. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Any one of us. MS. WOODMAN: Well, I mean, the only reason is because people did address in general what people were talking about, inflation, and they were out of town, they moved in here -- you know, they moved to Florida, blah, blah, blah, so you were addressing sort of a general kind of -- gotcha -- so that's why I was kind of questioning that. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: We'll get you that answer. I mean, it's just data. But we can certainly show you the percentage increase from one year to the next and so on and forth. September 22, 2022 Page 14   MS. WOODMAN: Okay. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: And as a matter of fact, our dutiful staff is doing it right now. MS. WOODMAN: Okay. Great. Thank you. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: How about that? MR. FINN: I hate to do this from memory, because I really can't -- COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Come on, Mr. Finn, you're on. MR. FINN: 5.45 percent last year. MR. MILLER: Your mic's not on. Ed, your mic's not on. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Your mic's not on. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Your mic's not on. MR. FINN: Eye test for me, 5 point -- CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Six. MR. FINN: Thank you. 5.6. Last year was the -- CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: It was 16.9. And I think her question was, you know, in 2021, was 5 -- and, by the way, we can be happy to supply you with a copy of this graph just so you could have it. This is the -- this is the graph that I regularly discuss going back in history 10, 12 years ago as well, so... But this gives you a history of what our taxable values, in fact, have done since -- since 2005, so... Commissioner Taylor. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yes. To the speaker that we heard from before who called in -- and I think, Mr. Finn, you can answer that question -- I do not believe we have changed the millage rate since 2011; is that correct? MR. FINN: Yes, ma'am. 2011 or 2010 for the General Fund, yes, ma'am. September 22, 2022 Page 15   COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: So we have not changed the millage rate in all that time? MR. FINN: No. And if I may, Mr. Chairman, as I tried to describe earlier, non-homestead properties are, in fact, protected to the tune of 10 percent relative to the taxes this board can levy. If that property owner has a 20 percent increase, the majority of that order of magnitude -- 70 percent of that increase is attributable to school taxes rather than county taxes. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: And, oftentimes, folks throw us into the government bucket, and so it all comes on our tax bill, and that's -- we don't have anything to say about what the school district does with regard to their taxation or the -- or their levies. MR. FINN: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Anything else, Commissioner Taylor? COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: That's it. Thank you. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: And, sir, you're done, I'm -- I don't mean to be rude, but you had your three minutes and shared with you -- shared with us your -- the discourse isn't going on after that. So if somebody would make sure that he's taken care of. I appreciate you calling in, and if you would like to have further discussions, I'd be happy to. You can call me or the commissioner of your district, and I'm sure they'll be happy to set up some time and speak with you as to what's going on. MR. LOHIYA: Thank you. MR. FINN: Yes, sir. Item #1D RESOLUTION 2022-142: RESOLUTION TO AMEND THE September 22, 2022 Page 16   TENTATIVE BUDGETS – MOTION TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER TAYLOR; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER LOCASTRO – ADOPTED MR. FINN: At this point, sir, we are at Item 1D, the resolution to amend the tentative budgets. And if there's -- probably if there's going to be any discussion among the Board members, this would probably be an opportunity to have that discussion prior to doing that particular resolution. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Well, I haven't changed -- no one's lit up, so I'm going to go first. And I'm not going to make this a long, drawn-out discussion. This is pretty simple math. Except for voting on some of these approved rates and things along the lines, I would like for us to effectuate some kind of a tax rate reduction for our community at large. I had talked at our last budget meeting about the Fund 111 that was -- that was raised back in '16, but I'm not stuck on Fund 111. As a matter of fact, money's fungible. We have -- we have several top-line General Fund, Conservation Collier, stormwater, and the like, that are -- that are all experiencing large voluminous tax increases, bottom line. I have said it before. I'll say it -- but, again, I'm not going to sit up here and debate it. I just -- I think it's past time for our board to do something for our residents. It's -- as I said before, we didn't do anything in '17 when Irma came through, and not a person was not negatively impacted. We didn't do anything during the pandemic, and there wasn't a person that wasn't negatively impacted because of the pandemic. And now, I don't know about you-all, but I'm actually getting September 22, 2022 Page 17   phone calls from constituents that are having to choose between electric bills and mortgage payments. And electric has doubled. My electric bill at home doubled. My fuel's doubled. My milk and food sources are 20 and 30 percent higher than what they were. And I, as local government, don't really have anything to say other than a revenue increase that comes with the property assessed value increase. And the only help we can afford is a rate reduction. It takes three of us to effectuate that rate reduction in some form or format. Where'd you go, Ed? Okay. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: He fainted. MR. FINN: I'm just trying to hold on, sir. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Yes, I understand. Commissioner Saunders. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I just need to get some information from the County Attorney in terms of the votes that are needed on whatever motion's ultimately being made. To maintain the existing millage-neutral position, what is the vote requirement from the County Commission to -- MR. KLATZKOW: It's going to depend on the funds. Some of your funds are going to be five votes. Some of your votes are going to be four votes. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: So it does take at least a supermajority on the funds on all -- any of the funds, and some require -- MR. KLATZKOW: Yes. The only time majority would be required would be for the rolled-back rate. Anything above the rolled-back rate requires at least supermajority. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: If you go somewhere between the millage neutral and the rolled back, somewhere in the September 22, 2022 Page 18   middle of that, does that require just three votes, or does that still require -- MR. KLATZKOW: It's still four votes. And anything above the rolled-back rate is four votes. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Okay. Thank you. MR. KLATZKOW: Unless you get 10 percent, then it's everybody. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Commissioner, are you good? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Uh-huh. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Commissioner LoCastro. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: So, Mr. Finn, you know, as we discussed, if we stay millage neutral, you know -- I mean, we're all getting emails from people, why are you raising our taxes and whatnot? The reality is that if we stay millage neutral -- the reason why the rate has gone up is property values, school board things, non-homestead. I mean, you sort of have gone through it. I don't disagree with the commissioner as far as figuring out where we can make an impact, but I think as we said at the first meeting, there's some areas here where we could pat ourselves on the back that we have a lower millage rate or we affected it in a smaller way. But the reality is, the change to the average person would be nickels and dimes. I'm not saying every dime isn't important, but, you know, I guess that's where we're looking for your guidance. I'm wide open to hearing the proposal of where we can effect change. But in some case, the change is minute to invisible to the average, you know, citizen. And citizens that are watching get excited about us saying, hey, there's a few areas here where we're going to tighten our belts and not raise your taxes as much, but the reality is, if we pick the wrongs one, it's minimal to zero impact, correct? Correct am I, you know -- September 22, 2022 Page 19   CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: And let me say this -- COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: And I'm sure you wouldn't pick those, but -- CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Number 1. Number 2, in my other lives where I have served on board of directors and given direction with regard to expense or revenue increases or decreases, as the case may be, I'd like to stay up here (indicating). I'd like for us -- I don't want to go, as Commissioner Solis wanted to two weeks ago, and go into the actual Fund 111 and start pointing at the line items that's in there. I would rather -- if it is the will of this board to give direction to our staff to effectuate a tax reduction, I'd rather we do it in aggregate. Let them get in a huddle and figure out where it is that they're going to manage that and go forth. And if it is not the will of the Board to do that, then let's make a vote and get on with our world. So that's my thought, sir. I mean, it's pretty -- in my mind's eye, it's pretty easy when you're -- well, I say it's pretty easy. It isn't pretty easy. Somebody's going to not have as much money as they thought they were going to have to have, so -- and moving it up to the General Fund is a larger pull. And Conservation Collier is sitting there with a very large increase in revenue that's coming at us and semi-fungible as well. So, Commissioner Saunders. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: A question for Mr. Finn. If we go to the rolled-back millage rate on Fund 111, what is the impact there? Because we do have to consider that as -- if there is a motion to do that, we need to know what the impact is. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Right. MR. FINN: The impact in Fund 111 would be about $47 on an average $500,000 taxable value. The order of magnitude would be $7.3 million. It would zero out the capital program for all our September 22, 2022 Page 20   community parks, and it would have some other very significant impacts. I would be disingenuous if I were to say we could not make adjustments somewhere in the budget, but I would ask the Board to consider making an adjustment somewhere. If they are going to insist on making an adjustment, to do so in the family of General Fund or countywide funds rather than Fund 111. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Then, on the countywide fund, if we went to the rolled-back millage rate, what type of impacts would you have to deal with there? I understand the Chairman saying that, you know, we can just sort of set the policy but, in reality, we're -- we need to know what the impacts are if we do set that. MR. FINN: Even in the General Fund, rolled back -- rolled back is quite significant. Order of magnitude, it's 52-, $53 million. That magnitude of adjustment would impact public safety operations or budgets. It would also impact the other constitutional budgets because it is such a significant piece of the General Fund. That would have very, very significant implications both in the next fiscal year but, more importantly, as we move forward, a changing economic environment, starting that off with a low millage and then attempting to get a board -- let's say we were in a slow economic situation, to try to get a board to properly adjust that back to where it needs to be to properly fund things, it would be a very, very difficult lift to accomplish. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well, to do -- if we had that scenario where we did the rolled-back millage rate on the countywide fund tonight and then next year needed to increase that millage, that would require a supermajority vote. MR. FINN: In all probability, it would. September 22, 2022 Page 21   COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Would that be a -- to increase the millage rate, you need a unanimous vote? MR. KLATZKOW: When you stay at the rolled-back rate, it's three votes. When you go from the rolled-back rate up to 10 percent, it's four votes. After 10 percent, it's unanimous. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: So we would, at a minimum, need a supermajority vote to increase the millage. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Who -- MR. FINN: Yes, sir. That would, indeed, make it more difficult to rightsize our millage to achieve the goals that your professional staff believes we should be striving to achieve. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well, I guess I would say that if there is a motion and a second to go to the rolled-back millage rate, that would be an indication that we don't have four votes to stay at millage neutral. And so we will be -- if there is a motion and second, we will be rolling the millage rate back. And I just caution my fellow commissioners that that's -- that there is an impact. There was a comment from a gentleman who moved here from northern Virginia, and then there was a comment from a woman that moved here from California. The gentleman from northern Virginia said that the term "taxes," that's a dirty word. Well, we've had taxation forever. So that's the only way that government can operate. But they both said that this was a wonderful community, a lot of amenities, a beautiful place to be, and there's a reason for that, and the reason is that the -- that this board, going back to 2016 when we got on the Board, but even prior to that, the Board has seen fit to keep the millage neutral, use those funds to do the roadway improvements, to beautify the roads, to -- we're in a process now of trying to upgrade all of our parks to a really high standard. September 22, 2022 Page 22   And so I just caution the -- my fellow commissioners, if there's a motion and second to roll the millage rate back, it will pass. And that will -- I think will be a problem down the road. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Commissioner LoCastro. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: So, Mr. Finn, when you say if we went to the rolled-back rate on the General Fund, oh, parks would go to zero, I mean, that's not really a responsible comment, right? Because we would take a look at the fund, and we wouldn't let that happen. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Correct. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I mean, hypothetically, if we did that, then we would move a bunch of money around so that the parks didn't implode. So it's easy to sort of, you know, zero in on that number and say, wow, the amount that we would lose is equal to what we would need for our parks but, I mean, the statement of -- right? I mean, fair statement? MR. FINN: Yes, of course that's a fair statement. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I mean, you were trying to package that -- you were trying to quantify what that number could equate to. It basically would be the amount that we use to fund parks, but we wouldn't make parks zero. We would, then, sort of balance the scales, right? MR. FINN: We certainly wouldn't make parks zero any more than we would make any specific operational thing zero. In all probability, we would look at our actual needs and what is the priority. And, like you, I would agree, we need to keep our parks open. We need to keep the grass cut. However, I would, in all probability, make very, very large reductions in the capital maintenance side of the parks, and I would eliminate any new parks program or project funded with capital. But, yes, we would keep the September 22, 2022 Page 23   doors open. And while I would say that a model that would proportionately reduce budgets across the Board in the General Fund for that money would impact, for instance, the Sheriff's Office budget, in all probability, the Sheriff would not necessarily concur with my recommendation and, since they carry guns, he probably would win that. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: He wins. MR. FINN: That means that the adjustment that otherwise would go in his direction would fall heavily on the areas that this board actually manages and controls. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: I think it's important for people to realize -- I mean, we've been doing such a deep dive in this for so long, but we've also been getting a lot of emails from people that just sort of see the higher number in the chart, and it's easy to sort of draw false conclusions. By staying millage neutral, we're not necessarily increasing taxes, but because property values have gone up so much, that exact same amount this year brings us more money, right? Just because, I mean, property values drive that. So -- but also, too, this community is growing. We need more money to operate. I mean, you know -- I mean, as a new commissioner, but for all of us -- but, you know, when I first took the seat, I did a really deep dive so I could catch up to where everybody else was in knowledge, and I spent a lot of time with Dr. George and Jamie French and going around and looking at our infrastructure. You know, it's great to say what we did back in FY'15 or '16 or '17, but the one thing the slide doesn't show is none of our stuff got any newer. And so, I mean, I can tell you, you know, this is where I do put on sort of my previous hat from another life, and I'm very familiar September 22, 2022 Page 24   with infrastructure for really big cities. You know, we called them military bases at the time. But, you know, we've got transformers that aren't getting any newer. You know, I've been to our water treatment plants and all the other things that control, you know, the stuff that's sort of hidden behind the scenes. And correct me if I'm wrong, but we've also -- we've all gotten presentations here that our new County Manager and her staff and you really have your hands full with some things that you've inherited that I'm not saying other people neglected but are starting to really come up to the point of not repair but replacement, and these are really, really big heavy-lifting things. And this community doesn't have less people in it today than it did last year or five years ago. And, you know, I'm concerned that if -- and I'm not saying we are here, but we could do the popular thing that makes everybody feel good that they got a $47 savings on their tax bill, but when you add that across the entire county, we possibly could put ourselves in a really, really serious burden by having to put Band-Aids on things that should have been replaced even a couple of years ago. And I -- you know, am I overstating the scenario here? MR. FINN: No, sir. Perhaps by example I can describe a situation that we don't want to recur. The park system has a number of aquatic facilities. Going back about two years ago, this board -- two-and-a-half years ago this board was in a position of approving a $20 million bond item to renovate not even all but a large portion of our aquatic facilities -- our parks' aquatic facilities. It causes me to ask, are we going to then do nothing for the next 20 years and get another bond to do deferred maintenance? And my answer to that is, no, not if I can avoid it. If I can make the case for a pay-as-we-go appropriate maintenance program, I want the September 22, 2022 Page 25   opportunity to make that case, and I'm hoping I can sway the Board to agree with me. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: And, just lastly, I'll say, my biggest focus is on us not wasting the money that we have. And so we can sit here and play around with nickels and dimes and dollars and cents and even millions and go back and forth. But you've heard me say in private meetings before, and even here in public, there's a lot of times where we have overpaid contractors, in my opinion, where we have, you know, spent an excessive amount of money, maybe not through negligence, but we learned a few lessons the hard way or a contract, you know, got extended or, you know, we paid somebody that didn't necessarily deliver us great work. And so I sit here and say, you know, the added extra funds that are going to come into the county because property values have gone up so much -- and, unfortunately, some folks that are getting a higher tax bill -- you've already said it here, but I don't want to sound like a broken record. And we're not throwing the school under the bus, but there is a tax in their tax that isn't in our control. So there's other folks that have made decisions that increase your tax. But, you know, we're going to talk about what we control here, you know. But in the big scheme of things, I want to make sure, regardless of what we decide here -- and Ms. Patterson and I have talked about it. You were there, too. You, Mr. Finn -- is that sometimes the best way to get an extra 100 million or 50 million is to not waste the 50 million. You know, one of the biggest revenue streams you can get is lack of waste. And whatever we decide here, I can tell you -- and I think my colleagues, we're all going to ramp it up a bit under the new leadership and whatnot here -- is watching the day-to-day expenses as we go forward and making sure that, you know, we sat here and September 22, 2022 Page 26   fought over nickels and dimes, let's make sure we don't sit in here and waste $15 million somewhere or, you know, in some other areas, give away sort of free money here and there that we could have used to make our parks or our pools or our infrastructure -- replace our transformers better. So, you know, I think that's worth saying, because I think every time we talk about money, every time we approve something on the consent agenda, we should remember this meeting right here where we said we needed all this money, and we were going to do all these wonderful things and, you know, we've got all these bills to pay, and we want our county to stay as great as it is. Let's always remember this meeting right here regardless of what we decide, because it's the day-to-day stuff that spends the money. It's really not this meeting here. So this sets what's going to be in the bank account, but if it's wasted over a 12-month period, then this meeting was worthless. It was worthless. But I have seen firsthand some -- quite a few infrastructure things that I was flabbergasted, for lack of a better word, still actually are functioning. So there are quite a few things on life support in the county that are going to be big-ticket items that a lot of people don't see on the outside when it comes to water, sewer, stormwater, electricity, and a bunch of preparation things. So that's not lost on me. And I agree with Commissioner Saunders. I want to be very, very careful here about doing something that maybe is feel good for $47 but in the end leaves us -- and then we're sitting here 12 months from now having to pick up where we -- you know, having to make up for that loss because we, sort of, took too big of a bite of the apple trying to, you know, do something we thought was positive for taxpayers, and it was a small amount to each individual, but it was a September 22, 2022 Page 27   big, huge negative. Trust me, I'm not for raising taxes, but because property values have gone up, by staying, you know, millage neutral it does bring in more. If you look here, most of the millage rates are staying exactly the same or going down. The percentage change in the last column is because of property values -- MR. FINN: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: -- and a few other subtle things, correct? MR. FINN: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: So people -- you know, the average person needs to understand that. We're here actually trying to freeze the tax rate where it is, and I think, you know, we're going to have a lot of big bills come this calendar year. MR. FINN: Thank you, sir. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Commissioner Taylor. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Yeah. Obviously, I'm not going to be here next year, but I think one thing that I'd like to leave with this final budget meeting that I'm part of is that our -- one of our most important assets, one of the most important infrastructure Collier County has is its people. It's who works here. It's who faces the public, who carries out the work that staff directs to be done. It's -- so many of them are a face of our government, and they are hurting. They are facing the inflation. They are dealing with the fact that the rents are going up exorbitantly. They are paying more money on gasoline. We bring 45,000 people a day to Collier County, not necessarily to work for the government but to work in Collier County. So there's a balance that needs to be made, and I think -- I think, in my experience anyway, staff has shown prudence, conservative September 22, 2022 Page 28   values, fiscally conservative, and they are strategic thinkers, and that's the kind of budgeting we need. And I specifically like your change which is not to necessarily build new but to maintain what we have on a schedule that never gets us to a point where we have to look at asking the voters whether they want to have another one-penny tax because we're so far behind. Now, that wasn't the county's problem in 2016. That wasn't. That was a result of a recession. But if we learned anything about this recession, that recession, the Great Recession, we found out, you know, it hurts in Collier County, too. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Commissioner Saunders. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Thank you. I hate to age myself here, but I've been doing this kind of stuff for a long time. And one of the things that I know all of us try to do -- COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: No, we know. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: How long? How long? COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: No, we know. Yeah, we're aware. Yeah. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: The silence prevails. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: First elective office was in 1951. And, you know, it's always nice to try to do something that's popular, politically correct, if you will, and lowering taxes is something that's always popular. All Republicans want to lower taxes. That's a constant mantra. But I've always been guided by the principle that you have to do what really is responsible and really what is right, not necessarily what is always popular, maybe not something that is going to gain you political points. But I think the responsible thing to do is for us to continue with the millage neutral. I'm going to make a motion to do that. If it passes, fine. If it September 22, 2022 Page 29   doesn't, then we'll take up the next motion. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Second. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: But I'm going to make a motion to stay with the millage-neutral budget proposal that's come from our staff. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: And I don't want to sound naive, but I think we are maintaining taxes when we're millage neutral. Like I said, it brings us a higher amount because this happens to be an economy where property values are more and, you know, nobody's complaining about that. But I feel like by being millage neutral, we are holding the line on taxation. It's just that we're going to get a little bit bigger -- actually, a bigger of a bump due to property values but, like I said, nobody's complaining about that. I mean, we can also sit here and raise the millage rate, and that would be raising taxes. You know, we're keeping it at the same rate and, actually, there's a couple of smaller funds here where it's actually going down a little bit. You know, if the overall effect is more money coming in because of property values, I don't look at that as we raised taxes. We got in a higher taxation amount, but it wasn't driven by the -- by raising the millage rate. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Correct. And the only one who hasn't said anything is Commissioner Solis. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: And, Commissioner Taylor, even if you're here or not, you're still going to be a taxpayer, and we're going to get every cent out of you possible. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Commissioner Solis, how do you feel about this? COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: We'll see that next year. I might be in here complaining. September 22, 2022 Page 30   CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I started this process off by saying I wasn't going to sit here and lobby. I said my two cents. And if you folks are wanting to stay rate neutral, let's get on. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yeah. I haven't changed. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: All right. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I think staying with the millage neutral is the way to go. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: 10-4. And I'm going to make one final comment before I call for the vote. It's been moved and seconded. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Okay. Good, good, good. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: I'm going to make one final comment, and it's to be heard loud and clear. We're not going to continue to do what we've always done and expect magnanimously different results. Understood? MS. PATTERSON: Understood. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: The comment that I made the last time, when those who prepare our budgets give us the budget initiatives to those who are legally charged with the expenditure of the taxpayers' money and give it back to you as policy, there was -- there was direction in that policy of not more than a 1 percent increase departmentally across the board. No one adhered to that. So having said that, it's been moved and seconded that we stay rate neutral. Is there any other discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: All in favor? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye. September 22, 2022 Page 31   CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Opposed, same sign, same sound. Aye. MR. FINN: Thank you, sir. I appreciate -- I appreciate the discussion. I know these decisions are very important not just for today but for the future, and I appreciate it. Thank you. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Yep. MR. FINN: If I may, I think our next item -- that was kind of the wrap-up of public comments, including the Board's comments. Agenda Item 1D, a resolution to amend the tentative budgets. Commissioners, under Item 1D is the resolution amending the tentative budgets, as I elaborated on a few moments ago. Staff would request a motion to approve the resolution amending the tentative budgets. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: So move. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: It's been moved -- COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Second. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: -- and seconded that the tentative budgets be actually amended and adopted. Are we looking for adoption? MR. FINN: This is amending just the tentative budget. This is bringing us up to where we are tonight. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Yes. That we amended the tentative budget. It's been moved and seconded. Any other discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: All in favor? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. September 22, 2022 Page 32   COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Opposed, same sign, same sound. (No response.) CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: So moved. MR. FINN: Thank you. Item #1E PUBLIC READING OF THE TAXING AUTHORITY LEVYING MILLAGE, THE NAME OF THE TAXING AUTHORITY, THE ROLLED-BACK RATE, THE PRECENTAGEINCREASE, AND THE MILLAGE RATE TO BE LEVIED – READ INTO THE RECORD MR. FINN: This is the fun part. Agenda Item 1E is a public reading of the taxing authority levying millage, the name of the taxing authority, the rolled-back rate, the percentage increase, and the millage rate to be levied. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Are you going to make Chris do this again? MR. FINN: I will, I will. I will get to the "I will proceed part," and Chris will pick up. How's that sound? MR. JOHNSON: It sounds good. MR. FINN: Very good. Agenda Item 1E, millage resolution. Florida TRIM statutes requires a public reading of the taxing authority levying the millage. This includes the name of the taxing authority, the rolled-back millage rate, the percentage increase or decrease from the rolled-back rate, and the millage rate to be levied for FY'23. Please refer to Tab 1F, Packet Page 28, where you will find the resolution providing for the tentative '23 millage rates. September 22, 2022 Page 33   Mr. Johnson, perhaps, could read these for me and do us all a big favor. MR. JOHNSON: I appreciate the opportunity, Mr. Finn. Good evening, Commissioners. For the record, Christopher Johnson, interim director of Office of Management and Budget. If you guys are ready, I can begin. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Knock yourself out. MR. JOHNSON: All right. We'll start off with the General Fund 001. The proposed millage rate is 3.5645. The rolled-back millage rate is 3.1321. The percent change from rolled-back rate is 13.81 percent. Water Pollution Control Fund 114, the proposed millage rate is 0.0293. The rolled-back millage rate is 0.0257. The percent change from rolled-back rate is 14.01 percent. Conservation Collier Fund 172, the proposed millage rate is 0.2500. The rolled-back millage rate is 0.2191. The percent change from rolled-back rate is 14.1 percent. Unincorporated General Fund 111, the proposed millage rate is 0.8069. The rolled-back millage rate is 0.7127. The percent change from rolled-back rate is 13.22 percent. Golden Gate Community Center Fund 130, the proposed millage rate is 0.1862. The rolled-back millage rate is 0.1658. The percent change from the rolled-back rate is 12.3 percent. Victoria Park Drainage Fund 134, the proposed millage rate is 0.3814. The rolled-back millage rate is 0.3319. The percent change from the rolled-back rate is 14.91 percent. Naples Park Drainage Fund 139, the proposed millage rate is 0.0041. The rolled-back millage rate is 0.0041. The percent change from rolled-back rate is 0 percent. Vanderbilt Beach MSTU Fund 143, the proposed millage rate is September 22, 2022 Page 34   0.5000. The rolled-back millage rate is 0.4391. The percent change from the rolled-back rate is 13.87 percent. Ochopee Fire Control Fund 146, the proposed millage rate is 4.0000. The rolled-back millage rate is 3.5470. The percent change from the rolled-back rate is 12.77 percent. Goodland/Horr's Island Fire MSTU Fund 149, the proposed millage rate is 1.2760. The rolled-back millage rate is 1.1579. The percent change from the rolled-back rate is 10.2 percent. Sabal Palm Road MSTU Fund 151, the proposed millage rate is 0. The rolled-back millage rate is 0. The percent change from the rolled-back rate is 0 percent. Lely Golf Estates Beautification MSTU Fund 152, the proposed millage rate is 2.0000. The rolled-back millage rate is 1.7348. The percent change from the rolled-back rate is 15.29 percent. Golden Gate Parkway Beautification MSTU 153, the proposed millage rate is 0.5000. The rolled-back millage rate is 0.4418. The percent change from the rolled-back rate is 13.17 percent. Hawksridge Stormwater Pumping MSTU Fund 154, the proposed millage rate is 0.0318. The rolled-back millage rate is 0.0318. The percent change from the rolled-back rate is 0 percent. Radio Road Beautification MSTU Fund 158, the proposed millage rate is 0. The rolled-back millage rate is 0. The percent change from rolled-back rate is 0 percent. Forest Lakes Roadway and Drainage MSTU Fund 159, the proposed millage rate is 4.0000. The rolled-back millage rate is 3.5347. The percent change from rolled-back rate is 13.16 percent. Immokalee Beautification MSTU Fund 162, the proposed millage rate is 1.0000. The rolled-back millage rate is .9280. The percent change from the rolled-back rate is 7.76 percent. Bayshore Avalon Beautification MSTU Fund 163, the proposed September 22, 2022 Page 35   millage rate is 2.3604. The rolled-back millage rate is 2.0329. The percent change from the rolled-back rate is 16.11 percent. Haldeman Creek Dredging MSTU Fund 164, the proposed millage rate is 1.0000. The rolled-back millage rate is 0.8357. The percent change from the rolled-back rate is 19.66 percent. Rock Road MSTU Fund 165, the proposed millage rate is 1.3413. The rolled-back millage rate is 1.4686. The percent change from the rolled-back rate is negative 8.67 percent. Vanderbilt Waterways MSTU Fund 168, the proposed millage rate is .3000. The rolled-back millage rate is 0.2589. The percent change from the rolled-back rate is 15.87 percent. Forest Lakes Debt Service Fund 259, the proposed millage rate is 0. The rolled-back millage rate is 0. The percent change from the rolled-back rate is 0 percent. Blue Sage MSTU Fund 341, the proposed millage rate is 3.0000. The rolled-back millage rate is 2.7595, and the percent change from the rolled-back rate is 8.72 percent. Collier County Lighting Fund 760, the proposed millage rate is 0.1154. The rolled-back millage rate is 0.1154. The percent change from the rolled-back rate is 0 percent. 42nd Avenue Southeast Fund 761, the proposed millage rate is 1. The rolled-back millage rate is 0. As a new MSTU, there's no calculated change from roll back. Pelican Bay MSTU Fund 778, the proposed millage rate is 0.0857. The rolled-back millage rate is 0.0764. The percent change from the rolled-back rate is 12.17 percent. And, finally, the aggregate millage rate proposed is 4.4391, the rolled-back rate is 3.9129, and the percent change from the rolled-back rate is 13.45 percent. And with that, I'll give it back to Mr. Finn. September 22, 2022 Page 36   MR. FINN: Thank you, sir. That was very nice. MR. JOHNSON: Thank you. MR. FINN: Thank you, sir. Item #1F RESOLUTION 2022-143: ADOPTION OF RESOLUTION SETTING MILLAGE RATES. NOTE: A SEPARATE MOTION IS REQUIRED FOR THE DEPENDENT DISTRICT MILLAGE RATES; AND A SEPARATE NOTION IS REQUIRED FOR THE RENMAINING MILLAGE RATES – MOTION TO APPROVE THE DEPENDENT DISTRICT MILLAGE RATES BY COMMISSIONER SOLIS; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER LOCASTRO – ADOPTED; MOTION BY COMMISSIONER TAYLOR TO APPROVE THE REMAINING MILLAGE RATES; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER LOCASTRO – APPROVED MR. FINN: With that, Mr. Chairman, we'll move to agenda Item 1F. This is adoption of a resolution setting the millage rates. A separate motion is required for the dependent district millage rates, and a separate motion is required for the remaining millage rates. So first motion, adopting the dependent taxing district millage rates, please. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: All right. Motion for the dependent district millage rates. Someone want to make a motion? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: So move. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Second. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: It's been moved and seconded that we adopt the dependent millage -- the dependent district millage rates September 22, 2022 Page 37   as presented. Any other discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: All in favor? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Opposed, same sign, same sound. (No response.) CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: So moved. MR. FINN: Thank you, sir. Second motion, adopting the remaining millage rates, please. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: So move. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: It's been moved that we accept the balance of the millage rates as proposed. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Second. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Any other discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: All in favor? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Opposed, same sign, same sound. (No response.) CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: So moved. MR. FINN: Very nice. Thank you, sir. September 22, 2022 Page 38   Item #1G RESOLUTION 2022-144: RESOLUTION TO ADOPT THE FINAL BUDGET BY FUND. NOTE: A SEPARATE MOTION IS REQUIRED FOR THE DEPENDEND DISTRICT BUDGETS; AND A SEPARATE MOTION IS REQUIRED FOR THE REMAINING BUDGETS – MOTION BY COMMISSIONER TAYLOR TO APPROVE THE DEPENDENT DISTRICT BUDGETS; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER LOCASTRO – ADOPTED; MOTION BY COMMISSIONER TAYLOR TO APPROVE THE REMAINING BUDGETS; SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER LOCASTRO – APPROVED MR. FINN: Agenda Item 1G, a resolution to adopt the final budget by fund. Again, a separate motion. I'll ask for the dependent districts and a separate motion for the remaining budgets. If I may, first motion, adopting the dependent districts' budgets by fund, please. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: So move. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Second. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: It's been moved and seconded just what Ed said. Any other discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: All in favor? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Opposed, same sign, same sound. September 22, 2022 Page 39   (No response.) CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: So moved. MR. FINN: Thank you. A motion adopting the final budgets for the remaining funds, please. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: So move. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Second. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: It's been moved and seconded. Any other discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: All those in favor? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Aye. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. COMMISSIONER TAYLOR: Aye. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Opposed, same sign, same sound. (No response.) CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: So moved. MR. FINN: Thank you, sir. If I may just take a moment. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank the Board for providing sound budget policies supporting staff through the budget process. I know it's fairly arduous, a lot of long hours and a lot of study involved. You have my personal thanks for that. I think our community is truly blessed to have this board helping -- helping the community along. Thank you. I'd also like to thank the County Manager and all the professionals in the manager's agency and Court Administration for their dedication and hard work developing the budget. I also need to thank the Sheriff, the Clerk, Tax Collector, the Property Appraiser, and the Supervisor of Elections for their September 22, 2022 Page 40   professionalism and commitment to the budget process. Finally, my thanks to the staff in the Budget Office for their dedication and commitment. I couldn't do this without them, and they put in a lot of time, and I truly appreciate them as well. Thank you. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Certainly. Commissioner LoCastro. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yeah. I just want to make maybe a closing comment, or maybe somebody else wants to say something as well. But folks might change up here due to elections, but the real continuity in the county is the staff and, hopefully -- you know, we haven't had great continuity in some key positions over time, but we also have people that have a lot of depth that are in positions that you're either reigniting or they didn't need reigniting. They're already, you know, stepping forward. But when I get my chance, you know, to be Chairman in January -- and really, you know, it's a ceremonial type thing, but you are also, when you get a chance to sit in this seat, steering the ship a little bit, are focusing on things. And so, you know, I just wanted to reiterate things that are going to be very important to me. And I hope the commissioners, whoever they are that are sitting up here, it stays important to them. I'm going to be relentless to make sure we're spending things wisely. And so, as you already know, you know, Ms. Patterson -- and I'm not going to be shy about pulling stuff off the consent agenda that it sounds like, you know, one vote approves 500 things, and there was $50 million in there that went out the door that I don't feel comfortable that, you know, we've scrubbed. I'm going to be relentless to make sure we're not wasting money. September 22, 2022 Page 41   Every penny here counts. We could have sat here for two hours grieving over a couple of million dollars yet, you know, there's some days where we all circle the wagons, and we know we might have wasted some money there. I'm going to be relentless on contract competition. And I hope I'm -- I'm going to be speaking for the commissioners up here and that we all are, but at times, you know, when I hear there were two bids and we picked the best of the two bad ones, that's not going to float. You know, I'd rather see us let no contract than a crappy one. And at times I bet we could have examples of lessons learned here. And I'm going to be relentless to make sure that we're focused on priorities, that, you know, we're not, you know, spending money that -- because we have it in the beginning and then we're tightening our belts at the end of the fiscal year and we're thinking, oh, God, I wish we could have got that $15 million back that we wasted somewhere. And so I would hope that you're going to be doing that as well and there's not going to be frivolous stuff on the agenda because you caught it before we saw it. And someone that I'm going to really be leaning hard on because I really think that sometimes she might be, you know, a little relentless herself, but the Clerk of Courts does a really great job and has a really sharp pencil and has fresh batteries in her calculator. So at times when maybe somebody -- some people get their feathers ruffled. This is the big leagues here, and we're working with real money. So you might not like how she pitched it, but if it had merit, let's circle the wagons. And maybe we didn't like the technique -- although, I already see some huge improvements with the cooperation between Clerk of Courts and the County Manager, September 22, 2022 Page 42   and I think you both really deserve a lot of credit because there's a lot of merit that comes out of what Ms. Kinzel highlights for us. But if we sort of turn a deaf ear because we didn't like the pitch or what have you, you know, I think we need to be listening with both ears, because she has an important job, and it's easy to dismiss and just say, well, that's how she feels. You know, her job is to be a good steward of the taxpayers' money just like us, but sometimes she does a little bit of a deeper dive and tries to bring it to our attention. I think we could benefit from listening a lot more and from you all working closely together. And you know what, you're doing both already, which I think is great. So, you know, some of the money that we -- all of the money that we have here, if we don't do those things, then it doesn't matter how much money comes in if it's leaking out of the bucket in the back. And so, you know, we've got a calendar year coming up here where we do have to tighten our belts, and the way to do that is to spend the money wisely. And we've got a bunch of money coming in here, but if we waste it, then it doesn't matter how much is coming in. So we look for your leadership. And, Mr. Finn, we know you needed a whole bunch of help from a whole bunch of people. So that list of people you thanked, that was legitimate. MR. FINN: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: But I look forward -- what did we say, Ms. Patterson, when you got hired? Lead. Lead. This is a chance -- you know, this is -- this isn't county money. It's taxpayer dollars, right? There's no such thing as county money. So I look forward to working with you when I get a chance to September 22, 2022 Page 43   get my turn here, and, you know, we're going to lead from the front here in Collier County, continue to lead from the front, but maybe even a little more aggressively with you and your team in the seat. MS. PATTERSON: Looking forward to it. Thank you. COMMISSIONER LoCASTRO: Yeah. Thank you, ma'am. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: Anything else? COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yeah. I just wanted to quickly thank staff for a great presentation. The whole budget process has gone very smoothly. And I think the fact that we rarely get letters or comments on the budget, I think, says a lot. So I just wanted to thank all the staff for a great job on that. MR. FINN: Thank you, sir. CHAIRMAN McDANIEL: No further comments, we are adjourned. ***** September 22, 2022 There being no further business for the good of the County, the meeting was adjourned by order of the Chair at 6: 13 p.m. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS/EX OFFICIO GOVERNING BOARD(S) OF SPECIAL DIS UNDER ITS CONTROL (,e). WILLIA L. McDANIEL, JR., CHAIRMAN ATTEST CRYSTAL K. KINZEL, CLERK tst a:,to 4tial{ily 5 . These minutes approved by the Board on a ) .24 )-6Z3 , as presented or as corrected TRANSCRIPT PREPARED ON BEHALF OF FORT MYERS COURT REPORTING BY TERRI L. LEWIS, REGISTERED PROFESSIONAL COURT REPORTER, FPR-C, AND NOTARY PUBLIC. Page 44