Board of Commissioners Budget Workshop Meeting #6

MINUTES BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BUDGET WORKSHOP MEETING AUGUST 27, 2025 4:00 P.M. The City of Madeira Beach Board of Commissioners held a budget workshop meeting at 4:00 p.m. on August 27, 2025 in the Patricia Shontz Commission Chambers at City Hall, located at 300 Municipal Drive, Madeira Beach, Florida. MEMBERS PRESENT: Anne-Marie Brooks, Mayor Ray Kerr, Vice Mayor/Commissioner District 2 David Tagliarini, Commissioner District 1 Eddie McGeehen, Commissioner District 3 Housh Ghovaee, Commissioner District 4 MEMBERS ABSENT: CHARTER OFFICERS PRESENT: Robin Gomez, City Manager Clara VanBlargan, City Clerk Andrew Laflin, Finance Director Thomas Trask, City Attorney 1. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Brooks called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL The City Clerk called the roll. All were present. 3. PUBLIC COMMENT There were no public comments. 4. DISCUSSION ITEMS A. FY 2026 Budget Workshop #6 Deliverable – August 2025 Finance Director Andrew Laflin said he addressed feedback received from previous meetings regarding the need for better data on operating trends and the separation of one-time capital expenditures from recurring operational costs, to see the budget citywide at a total level from an operating perspective in the budget document presented. He wants the public to have a good understanding of that. He organized his presentation into several sections: an analysis of the cost August 27, 2025, BOC Budget Workshop Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 8 of operations using multi-year trend data, a listing of team members, and updated budget schedules for both operating and capital budgets. I. Analysis of Cost of Operations with Multi-Year Trend • Budget Trend – FY 2023 – 2026 • FY 2026 Operating Budget – Government Funds (Excludes Capital Outlay & Non- Recurring & Expenses o Government Funds – FY 2026 Operating Budget o Enterprise Funds – FY 2026 Operating Budget o Multi-Year Revenue Trend – Government Funds o Multi-Year Expenditure Trend – Government Funds o Archibald Fund – Multi-Year Operating Trend o Building Fund – Multi-Year Operating Trend o Debt Service Fund - Multi-Year Operating Trend o Gas Tax Fund - Multi-Year Operating Trend o General Fund - Multi-Year Operating Trend o Impact Fee Fund - Multi-Year Operating Trend o Local Option Sales Tax Fund - Multi-Year Operating Trend o Multi-Year Revenue Trend – Enterprise Funds o Multi-Year Expenditure Trend – Enterprise Funds o Marina Fund - Multi-Year Operating Trend o Parking Fund - Multi-Year Operating Trend o Sanitation Fund - Multi-Year Operating Trend o Stormwater Fund - Multi-Year Operating Trend Mr. Laflin presented a high-level budget trend analysis for the past four years, which shows the total expense trend over this period. The total budget had fluctuated from $37 million in FY 2023, $46 million in FY 2024, $42 million in FY 2025 to $47 million in FY 2026. After removing capital outlay and interfund transfers, the operating budget shows a more modest increase from $19.6 million in FY 2023, $20.2 million in FY 2024, $20.8 million in FY 2025 to $29.5 million in FY 2026 when adjusting for non-recurring expenses. There were five non-recurring expenses identified: fire station repairs at $1.2 million, fire station build-out at $4.4 million, John’s Pass dredging costs at $1.3 million, replacement of sidewalk on the Jetty at $230,000, and repairs to Snack Shack at $435,000. The total operating budget, less major non-recurring operating expenditures, is $21.8 million. There is no significant difference in the true operating budgets over the last four years, from FY 2023 to FY 2026. Vice Mayor Kerr commented that the operating budget had only increased by approximately 11% over the three-year period from FY 2023 to FY 2026, which was surprisingly low considering the employee raises during that time. That was brought into compliance based on the salary study they did. Property value increases had likely covered those operating costs without raising millage rates. Mayor Brooks opened to public comments. August 27, 2025, BOC Budget Workshop Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 8 Doug Andrews, a resident of Treasure Island, commended Mr. Laflin for the comprehensive presentation but expressed concern about the overall trends. Revenues appeared to be flat, while personnel services expenses were increasing significantly. From FY 2021 to FY 2026, personnel costs had risen from approximately $3.5 million to $6.7 million, which is a "massive increase." The expenditures for that same time frame increased from $3.9 million to $6.6 million. That is not just inflation. Before the budget is approved at the end of September, they need answers for it, and possibly do budget cuts. The census shows that the City has gotten smaller. Did they grow to the extent that it needs a 92% increase? They need to keep an eye on it because the trends cannot continue at their current pace to remain fiscally sound. John Hendricks, 569 Normandy Road, expressed concern about capital improvements regarding the recreation concession stand. For the concession stand, they budgeted $100,000 for FY 2023, $50,000 for FY 2024, and an unspecified amount for FY 2025. In FY 2026, the proposed amount is $500,000. The direction they are going, it looks like they will have a million-dollar concession stand. How did they get to a million dollars on the concession stand? Mayor Brooks said the concession stand will be addressed later in the budget. Questions about it can be asked at that time. Mr. Laflin proceeded to show departmental trends and fund-by-fund breakdowns. He highlighted that the general fund showed a $2.9 million deficit but explained that profitable enterprise operations offset it. He would love to see the stormwater fund become fully self-sufficient. They look to discuss stormwater fees and rates in a future workshop to determine what needs to be done in that area. There is a total profit of $3.6 million on enterprise funds compared to $2.9 million. Overall, from an operating perspective, the City’s budget revenues do exceed budget expenditures. Total citywide, comparing the governmental and proprietary. Mayor Brooks opened to public comment. There were no public comments. Vice Mayor Kerr said the enterprise fund is heavily funded by tourism. Mr. Laflin said parking and the marina are definitely affected by tourism. He can provide the Board with a separate deliverable to show tourist development taxes collected by the Pinellas County Tax Collector. It displays a breakdown by municipality, allowing users to view trending information and the flow of tourist development taxes. The more tourists that come in, the higher tourist development taxes, which directly correlate to higher parking revenue. Vice Mayor Kerr said much of the increase was attributable to the fire department, particularly with the addition of service to the Redingtons, but noted the increase was offset by additional revenue. He emphasized that when looking "under the hood" of the budget, the city staff hadn't grown significantly apart from fire and police contracts. They are probably the biggest. But including the service to the Redingtons it is skewing the numbers tremendously. Mayor Brooks said that, based on conversations, the fire department is skewing because they will gain a number of employees. They have increased their fire staff over the last few years. They will increase again for the Redingtons. They added a medical truck and staff to operate it. Someone would have to dig into the full budget to understand, as it includes many other items. August 27, 2025, BOC Budget Workshop Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 8 Vice Mayor Kerr said that, looking at the other side of the ledger, they are bringing in revenue to offset it. As far as the residents are concerned, their expenses are basically inflationary. The Mayor said that once the Redingtons are open, revenue will come into the City to operate the station, which will increase the City’s revenues to offset the cost. Mr. Laflin presented detailed personnel information showing a department-by-department breakdown of staffing levels and costs. For example, the fire department had grown from 15 to nearly 22 FTEs, largely due to expansion of operations into the Redingtons. They are hiring up for that. The City Manager's office showed an increase from 4 to 5 positions, reflecting the addition of a public information officer position. Based on the Board’s feedback, they included that position. There will be an increase in cost because salaries and wages have increased. Over time, the departments will also cause the actual cost to rise. They need to easily show where they are, which is the whole point of page 5, on operations over the years. They can look at the capital outlays from there, but the entire fire has made a public display that they have lost control of the budget, which he does not think is the case. He is just trying to get that story out. Vice Mayor Kerr commended Mr. Andrews for attending the budget meeting. It is not common for someone to come to the budget meetings. There is a story circulating in the community that the budget is out of control, so they need to provide the details in a clear and concise manner, rather than in a detailed graph, because no one would understand it. Fire Chief Clint Belk explained that the $4.4 million from the county for the Redingtons "comes in, it goes out, and it washes right out." After accounting for the pass-through funds, the department's budget was $1.6 million, "the lowest budget out of all 18 fire departments in Pinellas County." From the surface, it does look skewed, but they are being very good stewards of the residents' tax dollars. The Vice Mayor said that is the story he wants to be heard. Mayor Brooks opened to public comments. There were no public comments. II. Team Member Listing – FY 2026 Budget • Robin Gomez, City Manager (City Manager, Human Resources, Information Technology – 5 team members – 4 positions) • Clara VanBlargan, City Clerk (City Clerk, Board of Commissioners – 3 team members – 2 positions) • Marci Forbes, Community Development Director (Community Development, Building Services – 15 team members – 14 positions) • Clint Belk, Fire Chief (Fire & EMS – 25 team members – 24 positions) • Jay Hatch, Recreation Director (Recreation, Archibald – 18 team members – 16 positions) • Brian Crabtree, Marina Manager (6 team members – 5 positions) • Jamal Yahia, Parking Supervisor (Parking Management – 5 team members – 4 positions) • Megan Wepfer, Public Works Director (Public Works Administration, Archibald, Sanitation, Stormwater – 20 team members – 17 positions) August 27, 2025, BOC Budget Workshop Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 8 Mr. Laflin reviewed the “Team Member Listing - FY 2026 Budget” on pages 18 & 19. He said it was the roster of employees, which shows position titles, the first and last name, and whether positions have been filled or not filled as of a couple of weeks ago, when the document was prepared. It also shows the number of hours budgeted for each position: 2080 hours, indicating full-time; 1040 hours, indicating part-time; and 520 hours, indicating seasonal. Mayor Brooks opened to public comment. Doug Andrews, Treasure Island, emphasized that the fire department accounted for only $2 million of the $4.8 million total increase in personnel costs since FY 2021, with significant increases also evident in the city manager's office and the community development department. From FY 2021 to FY 2026, the city manager’s department went from $239,000 to $601,000, the community development department went from $314,000 to $566,000, and the fire department went from $1.5 million to $2 million. The bottom numbers indicate a range of $5.1 million to $9.9 million, which is $4.8 million. The fire department takes $2 million of that amount. Therefore, there has been a $2.8 million increase in the budget since FY 2021, and it is not solely due to the fire department. He did not cause the public outrage. He never said that the budget was $45 million or $48 million; what he is saying is that the trends must be looked at carefully because if trends are not stopped, they continue. For the record, he never once brought up the fire department. He is well aware of what they are doing, and it is just $2 million out of $4.8 million that they are discussing as the increase. It is not just the hurricanes; the other numbers show exactly everything. The number of staff has also grown from FY 2021 to FY 2026. The City is growing faster than its revenues. III. FY 2026 Operating & Capital Budget Schedules • Summary of Revenues by Fund • Summary of Expenditures by Fund • Budget Summary by Character – City of Madeira Beach – Fiscal Year 2025-2026 • Operating and Capital Analysis by Fund – City of Madeira Beach – Fiscal Year 2024- 2025 • General Fund Revenue & Other Inflows Summary o Revenues & Other Inflows by Character o General Fund Revenues & Inflows • General Fund Revenue by Account o General Fund • General Fund Expenditure Summary o Expenditure & Outflows by Character o General Fund Expenditures & Outflows by Character o Expenditures & Outflows by Department o General Fund Expenditures & Outflows by Department  Board of Commissioners  City Clerk  City Manager  Community Development  Finance  Fire/EMS August 27, 2025, BOC Budget Workshop Meeting Minutes Page 5 of 8   Human Resources  Information Technology  John’s Pass Village  Law Enforcement  Legal Services  Non-Departmental  Parks  Public Works Administration  Recreation  Archibald Park Fund  Building Fund  Debt Service Fund  Gas Tax Fund  Impact Fee Fund  Local Option Sales Tax Fund  Marina  Parking Fund  Sanitation Fund  Stormwater Fund • Total Funded Positions • Historical Capital Outlay o Total Capital Expenditures – 10 Year Trend • Capital Improvement Plan – FY 2026 • Capital Improvement Plan – Multi-Year Mr. Laflin reviewed the FY 2026 operating and capital budget schedules. The differential is what they will need to draw from reserves to fund the shortfall in departments. The table on page 25 shows the total sources, which include all revenues and other inflows, plus what they might need to pull from reserves versus uses, personnel, operating capital outlay, debt service, transfers out, and then if there is an excess, they will use it to increase reserves for the future. On page 26, it shows the total expenditures less capital outlay, followed by other sources and uses. On page 77, the historical capital outlay is shown. They fluctuated wildly in their capital outlay expenditures. They sometimes budgeted quite a bit, but the actual expenses turned out to be significantly less. In FY 2017, they expended $5.5 million, and in FY 2023, they expended almost $900,000. The trend has not been consistent on capital outlay. Mr. Laflin reviewed the capital improvement plan for next year on page 78. It summarized the project name and the associated funding. On page 79 is a multi-year capital improvement plan that shows the same type of information and what it looks like over a five-year time horizon, from the FY 2026 budget to the FY 2030 budget. Mr. Laflin said that he had concluded his presentation. If there was anything the Board would like to adjust, he could prepare that for the first public hearing in September. Otherwise, he could include the information in the final budget book. Then, upon adoption in September following two separate public hearings for first reading and second reading, it will be posted to the City’s website. August 27, 2025, BOC Budget Workshop Meeting Minutes Page 6 of 8 Mayor Brooks opened to public comments. There were no public comments. Commissioner McGeehen thanked Mr. Laflin for the great job on the budget documents. It was very thorough. Commissioner Ghovaee said it was a very comprehensive report. Mayor Brooks inquired about specific items in the capital improvement plan for FY 2026. The items on the list are not on the multi-year plan. Mr. Laflin said on page 78 shows the total for FY 2026, which is $13,740,000. On page 79 is the multi-year plan. It includes FY 2026 plus future years. That total on page 82, in the FY 2026 column, is $13,740,000. Mayor Brooks asked about the concession stand. They haven’t received anything to approve, such as designs. It is just a placeholder for money. Recreation Director Jay Hatch said it was budgeted for the previous two years for design. They had no agreement. The biggest challenge is that, once the project is hopefully built, a significant portion will be funded by grants. That is, at least, the attempt with Visit St. Pete-Clearwater and other funding sources. The funding window was not open until last year and remained open for only a month. They missed the opportunity but had discussions about the future. From a planning perspective, they have $100,000 budget for design in the current fiscal year, with approximately $53,025 committed for design services with Colliers, of which $14,430 has been spent to date on design. That covers two of the three design aspects of the initial project. They have a community meeting about it next week. That will be the last continued conversation before it comes to the Board for discussion and to determine the next steps. Mayor Brooks said she saw on Facebook yesterday that the recreation department had posted a public meeting for next week, and she asked Robin about it. She asked Director Hatch if he had designs to present at the meeting, and if he would be presenting them to the Commission or showing what they would be presenting. Director Hatch said they had designs they would be presenting at the meeting. The purpose is to have individual meetings with the Commission. He had a few conversations and might have shown some the first design and some the second design. He would not be making any suggestions to Colliers without speaking to the public and consulting with each of the Commissioners on the feedback from the public, ensuring they are all on the same page. Mayor Brooks asked Director Hatch if he planned on showing the public what they have and what they are thinking. She plans to attend the meeting. Director Hatch said the design reflects his vision, and he has received some feedback from people. Colliers also have their design showing their vision. They will only present to the public the general floor plan of the layout, ensuring that what is presented from a beginning standpoint is sufficient for public use. He will provide feedback to the Commission, explaining why every aspect is necessary and what its purpose is moving forward. Mayor Brooks asked if they made a multi-net for the tennis court that folds and can be used for tennis and pickleball. Director Hatch said they have net adjusters, and both groups hate it. August 27, 2025, BOC Budget Workshop Meeting Minutes Page 7 of 8 Mayor Brooks raised concerns about previous projects that had been budgeted but not completed, such as a dog park and boat docks. She suggested revisiting the projects to understand why they hadn't moved forward and potentially fund them through grants or donations rather than tax dollars. She supports having a nice dog park that would be used by all communities around the beach. The grants are out there. They are contracting now with a grant writer. Let’s collectively put in some effort to the business or community people who would want to support it. There could be valid reasons for not moving forward, but if they were in their budget at some point, why did they remove them? The community may have been in support of it, or it would never have reached the point of getting drawings and having that whole conversation. It is not fair for them to do the work under a commission, and they make it go away. It is in the budget and is being looked at. They could go back and review other projects that they have already invested a lot of effort in and see how those projects could come to fruition for the city. Or maybe they shouldn’t, and they could go on record as to why they are not doing it, instead choosing something else. That is not saying she is against the basketball court Vice Mayor Kerr said that, as far as the dog park is concerned, he loves their library, but it is funded through and used by our neighboring cities. If they are allocating property for a dog park, it should be shared by our neighboring cities to use. They could talk about it at a workshop. If residents are going to pay for docks, what benefit would the docks serve them? Vice Mayor Kerr said regarding the basketball court, he would suggest that, prior to coming to a final design that would be presented to the public, please speak with Brian at Visit St. Pete- Clearwater. Brian had asked that they talk to them prior to doing anything to bring in tourism. If they are going to allocate tourism dollars and give grants to substantially benefit the building of such a facility, he would want to be included in the conversation. Director Hatch said Visit St. Pete-Clearwater is a tenant that utilizes the fields. For at least 10 years, prior to Brian joining Visit St. Pete-Clearwater, they have been told by them that we need more bathrooms. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Brooks adjourned the meeting at 5:16 p.m. ______________________________ ATTEST: Anne-Marie Brooks, Mayor _____________________________________ Clara VanBlargan, MMC, MSM, City Clerk August 27, 2025, BOC Budget Workshop Meeting Minutes Page 8 of 8