- October 11, 2024
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The Palm Coast City Council got to see what the city’s 2024 general fund budget will look like with a rolled-back millage rate on Aug. 8. The result was $2.7 million in cuts from the budget that city staff proposed last month.
“I would say that you're able to make these changes by shaving away what will become the growth component for the future,” Mayor David Alfin said after Director of Financial Services Helena Alves presented the proposed budget with a rollback rate of 4.2570 — or $4.2570 per $1,000 in taxable value — at an Aug. 8 workshop.
The $55.8 million proposed general fund budget is $3 million more than this year’s budget but about $2.7 million less than city staff proposed for 2024 on July 11 with a millage rate of 4.6100, the same as this year’s. With property values increasing, the rollback rate will still bring in more revenue.
The $7.36 million contract with the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office remained the same, as did the city attorney budget ($685,254) and the $529,382 economic development budget. Every other department was subjected to cuts.
“We will end up paying for it, because what we're doing is we're bare bonesing it so that we're not allowing any of these departmental budgets to account for growth for the future.”
— DAVID ALFIN, Palm Coast mayor
“We will end up paying for it, because what we're doing is we're bare bonesing it so that we're not allowing any of these departmental budgets to account for growth for the future,” Alfin said.
Many of the cuts came from not filling open positions or canceling new positions. For the Planning Department, a request for a planning manager was removed.
"The changes do have an effect on services provided to the community,” City Manager Denise Bevan said. “Overall, we suspended select programs, positions and activities across all departments, including enterprise fund departments.
“I just want to set the expectations that we are basically at almost below the baseline that we pride ourselves to be at.”
On the day that the city’s summer interns presented their comprehensive study on current employee satisfaction and ways to improve recruiting, interns were cut from several departments.
The council had agreed to the rollback rate believing it could enter into a franchise fee agreement with Florida Power & Light that would bring the city additional revenue.
But FPL did not agree to the city’s terms: The council had wanted the rate to be set by voters in a referendum during every general election.
The street maintenance budget of $9,366,829 proposed on July 11 is being trimmed by $278,901.
Among the other departments with the biggest cuts from the previous proposal were Planning ($172,000), Parks and Recreation ($162,000), Human Resources ($106,000) and Communications and Marketing ($93,000).
HR’s risk management position will be frozen.
The Palm Coast Aquatics Center will close in December and January under the proposal.
The Southern Recreation Center budget for the year was slashed by $90,000, removing a request for a second customer service representative and amounts allocated for advertising and supplies.
The Palm Harbor Golf Club budget was reduced by $110,000 through cutting staff hours and equipment and reducing repair and maintenance allocations.
Council member Nick Klufas said the success of Parks and Recreation’s summer programs made it hard to hear about the department's budget cuts.
“I want to commend all of our department heads,” council member Theresa Carli Pontieri said. “I know this was a tough endeavor. It’s important for our residents to see that we are trying to make sacrifices to be very fiscally responsible.”
Alfin challenged the council members to think about alternative revenue sources.
“I'm willing to look at any alternative source as long as we’re not competing with free enterprise,” Vice Mayor Ed Danko said. “We’re not going to open a bowling alley. So we need to look for some creative ways, and I think we’ll find them. But it’s a tough spot. The whole world is in a tough spot. It's not just us. I mean, Mick Jagger said it best. You can't always get what you want.”
