M E M O R A N D U M
To: Honorable Mayor and Town Council
From: Rafael G. Casals, Town Manager
Date: September 9, 2014
Re: Fiscal Year 2014-15 Proposed Budget (1st Council Budget Hearing)
Title
A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF CUTLER BAY, FLORIDA, ADOPTING THE TENTATIVE MILLAGE RATE OF THE TOWN OF CUTLER BAY FOR THE FISCAL YEAR COMMENCING OCTOBER 1, 2014 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 30, 2015 PURSUANT TO FLORIDA STATUTE 200.065 (TRIM BILL); PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
Body
Please find attached the updated preliminary Fiscal Year 2014-15 proposed budget, which includes the changes to both revenues and expenditures and items discussed during both the July 23rd and August 20th Council Budget Workshops. During these Workshops, the Town Council provided staff direction to utilize the "rollback" millage rate of 2.3907 mills versus the Town Manager's proposed mileage rate of 2.5702 mills (the rate currently in effect). The "rollback" millage rate is defined as: the millage rate necessary to raise the same amount of Ad Valorem tax revenue as the previous fiscal year, excluding taxes from new construction. The "rollback" millage rate will not result in an increase of municipal taxes to the Town's property owners. Utilizing the "rollback" millage rate, as opposed to the current millage rate of 2.5702 mills, will result in an additional planned dip into the Town's reserves of approximately $326,000.
The preliminary Fiscal Year 2014-15 Budgets presented during the two (2) Council Budget Workshops were based on the Town Manager's proposed millage rate of 2.5702 mills. Town staff worked under the premise of "holding the millage rate steady" when developing the preliminary Fiscal Year 2014-15 budget reports for the Budget Workshops.
As per State TRIM notice Law, the Council adopted a higher "ceiling" millage rate of 2.7202 mills for TRIM advertisement purposes (via Resolution 14-53). All Property owners received their individual notices which clearly illustrated both the "ceiling" millage rate (2.7202 mills) AND the lower "rollback" millage rate (2.3907 mills) for comparison purposes.
As previously discussed during our Council Budget Workshops, the 2014 property values of the Town, as certified by the Property Appraiser's Office, increased 8.07% from the 2013 property values. The increase in property values take to into account several factors, one of which is the positive impacts resulting from the Town Council's policy decisions and improvements to our existing infrastructure.
The updated Executive Summary & Department Worksheets (Attachment "A") includes changes to our projected Revenues/Expenditures and items discussed during the Town Council's two (2) Budget Workshops. Additionally, the Executive Summary provides the Council a report per Department of the Town's budget, highlighting some of the significant changes and items for the upcoming 2014-15 Fiscal Year.