- March 14, 2025
With just two counties in the state set to move forward with a hearing against the state of Florida to dispute back claims on Medicaid bills, the Flagler County Board of County Commissioners decided to accept a compromise with the state in a unanimous vote Monday at its workshop and special meeting.
The state originally told Flagler County it owed $1,047,395 in back claims. Through negotiations and adjustments, that amount has been reduced to $668,105.
The state of Florida has offered counties disputing their back charges an additional 15% discount from their bills if they agree to stop fighting the bills. The terms of this compromise say that one-third of the remaining claims owed must be paid by the end of the fiscal year, with the other two-thirds to be paid in the next two years.
By accepting these terms, Flagler County will reduce its amount owed to the state to $567,810.
County requests that splitting of urban, rural roads be minimized
As of the 2010 Census, large portions of Palm Coast, as well as some parts of Bunnell, have been declared as urbanized areas. This newly urbanized land was combined with the Daytona Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area, which gives Flagler County no choice but to join the Volusia County Transportation Planning Organization.
Accordingly, the board approved a letter to the Volusia TPO, which first requests that Flagler County be granted a seat on the TPO and voices support for Bunnell’s request to be a part of the Flagler County Small City Rotation Seat.
The letter also asks that the splitting of roads under the TPO's urbanized planning area be minimized. Many roads in the county have been partially included in planning areas, but this splitting makes projects and maintenance complicated because the TPO and Flagler County will get funding for projects from urban and rural funding sources, respectively. These funds cannot be used in one another’s areas. Coordinating timing and priority of projects will be difficult, so the board decided to request that such splits in roads be minimized.
County considers reduction to general fund policy
The county’s policy of reserving 15% of its budget for its general fund, meant as a buffer for expenses, was adopted in 2006, and since then, it has never been met. The closest the county’s budget came to this figure was in the 2009-2010 fiscal year, when 13.51% of its budget was put in this fund.
Kristi Moss, the board’s financial services director, recommended reducing the required reservation to 10%. Commissioner Alan Peterson said that with the economy in such an unstable state now, a 5% reservation would be preferable. Craig Coffey, county administrator, said he was uncomfortable with such a low general fund policy, especially since historically, the amount set has never been reached.
The board considered settling on a range of 7% to 12% for the fund and will discuss the policy change at a future workshop.
County commissioners consider moratorium on impact fees
In an effort to boost development in Flagler County, county commissioners on Monday debated instituting a moratorium on impact fees for new construction. Coffey said this move would be largely to better market the county to potential developers by sending the message that the county is open to new growth. Coffey said this would expedite economic recovery. The topic was debated briefly, and will be returned to at a later workshop.
