When the Palm Coast government administration initially presented next year’s general fund budget in June and July, it totaled $58.5 million, up from the current $52.7 million. The budget was planned on the assumption that the council would adopt a tax rate similar to the one in effect now, as it has year after year. That allows for some growth in the budget without increasing the tax rate, though property owners would see some increase due to improving property values.
The council upended those assumptions last month when it adopted the so-called rolled-back rate instead–the tax rate at which the government would take in the same amount of money next year that it took in this year, excluding considerable revenue from new construction. That meant the city had to eliminate nearly $3 million from its planned budget.
It has now done so. Next year’s general fund budget will be $55.8 million–still a $3 million increase over the current year’s budget, but a 4.6 percent decrease from the initial 2024 budget.
The large law enforcement and the modest economic development budget were left untouched. But all other divisions scaled back from their original budget, including public works, the fire department, planning, the city administration, construction management and engineering, and parks and recreation. But cost of living raises remain, and there will be no layoffs.
While these are budget cuts only in relation to the initially planned budget for next year, they nevertheless will have the effects of actual budget cuts in many regards, because they go against the grain of growth in the budget intended to maintain services and what City Manager Denise Bevan referred to as the city’s customary forward-looking approach. The usually publicly circumspect manager did not mince words today in a preamble to the budget presentation, which she read to the City Council.
“The changes do have an effect on services provided to the community,” Bevan said. “Overall we suspended select programs, positions and activities across all departments, including enterprise fund departments.” The city’s summer interns had just finished presenting their findings of an employee survey to the council, findings that left room for improvements in employee support. “To reflect on what the interns share today,” Bevan said, “it is important to continue to support our staff. They are our most important resource.”
To meet the necessary cuts without hurting employee ranks, out of state training has been suspended, so has attending conferences and other training, with some exceptions. Some vacant positions will be left unfilled or removed from the budget. Some parks and recreation programs will be eliminated.
In the finer details: the city manager lost $32,000–an intern, some travel and training, books and subscriptions. The city clerk lost an equal amount. Communications and marketing lost $93,000 by freezing an open position, decreasing some advertising, some travel and a vehicle replacement. An open position in human resources–a risk management coordinator–that has been vacant will be frozen. Combined with other travel and training reductions, that will cut the budget by $106,000. The planning department will not have a new planning manager or an intern and will lose some IT equipment, for a $172,000 cut. Code enforcement lost $40,000, the fire department $159,000–again, by losing its interns, among other reductions.
Street maintenance, a sore point this year–the department is in need of a lot more money to keep up with a deteriorating infrastructure–will lose $279,000. And the parks and recreation department will lose $162,000, with seasonal hours at some of the city’s facilities. The aquatic center will also lose seasonal staff and hours of operation: the facility will be closed in December and January. The Palm Harbor Golf Club’;s budget was reduced by $110,000, again by reducing seasonal staff hours, some advertising, reducing repair and maintenance allocations, and so on: cuts elsewhere followed the same pattern.
“I just want to commend all of our department heads. I know this was a tough endeavor and again to our city manager as well for getting us there,” Council member Theresa Pontieri said. “It’s never fun. I understand that but with everything rising around us, including our costs, I get that, I do think that it’s important that our residents see that we are trying to make sacrifices and be very fiscally responsible.”
The council had not planned to find itself in this position. A majority of council embers wanted a reduction in the tax rate. But they also wanted to offset that with a new utility franchise fee, which would have also ensured that some revenue would be drawn from non-profits, churches, schools and government offices that currently don’t contribute to the property tax. But the council made both tactical and strategic mistakes on its way to the two proposals. Tactically, it erred by approving the rolled-back tax rate first, before it had secured the approval for the franchise fee.
That boxed it into the lower rate, no matter what happened next, Strategically, it failed to prepare the grounds for a discussion about the franchise fee, and gave Ed Danko, the reigning anti-tax council member who is running for a County Commission seat, free rein to grandstand against the maneuvering for a franchise fee in exchange for a lower tax rate. In the end, the lower tax rate was sealed, but the franchise fee was lost, leaving the city administration with the required cuts from its original budget.
The errors also leave the council in a difficult position for next year’s budget, which is why Alfin said that budget “scares me.” He was not happy abouit today’s cuts. “You were able to make these changes by shaving away what will become the growth component for the future,” he said, “so we will end up paying for it because what we’re doing is we’re kind of bare bones-ing it so that we’re not allowing any of these departmental budgets to account for growth for the future.”
Bevan echoed the worry: “Your term, ‘shaving’ on programs that really bring innovation to the city and challenge our staff to excel in different places,” she said, “just want to set the expectations that we are basically at that almost below baseline that we pride ourselves to be at. So looking forward, just want to leave you with that sentiment looking into next year.”
Alfin challenged his colleagues to come up with “alternative revenue sources.” Council member Nick Klufas immediately mentioned electric car chargers (which happened to be in the city’s strategic action plan).
“You know, Ford just laid off a ton of people, Ford, in their electric car division, their EV division” Danko said. “There’s a reason. People aren’t buying them.” Danko was wrong on both counts while overstating the size of the cuts, which are in the hundreds. Ford did not cut ranks in its EV division. To the contrary: it is refocusing on its EV division, and cutting employees who, as the AP reported, don’t have “the right skills as it makes the transition from internal combustion to battery-powered vehicles–and it is hiring in such areas as software development. The claim that people “aren’t buying” EVs is flat-out wrong, with EV sales again breaking records in the last quarter.
“This is the right time to be thinking about how to broaden our lens for potential revenue,” Alfin said. Danko and Council member Theresa Pontieri said new businesses and industry would help.
Pontieri, calling it “the F word,” returned to the franchise fee: “That was a way to do it,” she said. “Unfortunately, the messaging I think from up here could have been better as far as getting out and educating prior to really moving forward with it. But I do think it is incumbent upon us to educate, if we are going to put it on the ballot, because just like with the half cent tax that went for our schools this past election, that people voted for, if our residents know that it’s going to infrastructure in their current city and that it will help their roads, it will help the potholes, it will go to a place that provides visibility as far as how it’s being spent, the residents very well could vote for it. We don’t know.”
While she disagreed with Alfin over the notion that the cuts are stunting growth, she said she was still open to finding a way to capitalize on EWV charging stations. “If our staff can do what it’s done this time in the toughest place that we’re in,” Pontieri said, “it only goes up from here.”
protonbeamexposure says
Read very carefully what just happened – cuts were ultimately made that only affect citizens and taxpayers – the fat salaries and benefits and all that involves city employees was not only not touched – but raised. People, – this problem was shuffled off another year on the backs of taxpayers and will only get worse as there are no plans nor any capability or leadership at the city to work toward lasting solutions. As far as new business and industry – they run from this county as everyday some idiot is screaming about corruption and the track record of how we have treated every business here from wastepro to the colleges to boston whaler is tragic – the school district saga also shows how dysfunctional it is here – we fire the superintendent and essentially crippled the flagler youth orchestra – you think people will want to invest in 2.0 with all this nonsense? we allow car washes and minis storages on our most profitable commercial land corridors and Florida is thriving in so many metrics and yet Palm Coast cant take advantage of that? Our cell service is abysmal- yet we have a 20 or 30 million sheriffs building and a multimillion dollar bridge to nowhere – a splash pad in shambles and a new tennis building that will open with an operating loss with no business plan – maybe we outta stop attacking each other and focus on actual solutions to our problems – but alas we seem to destroy any competent leadership or anyone who will not bow to the holy chamber racket.
Dennis C Rathsam says
Stupit is as, As stupit does! Does anyone in this town care anymore? Greed, Lies, backroom deals….all this on the tax payer dime! And 1/2 of it you all dont know, & the other 1/2 you wont find out! Hazel Green Al looking better and better… Anyone looking to live on the deepest lake in P/C great fishing, comes with dock, boat & motor!
Deborah Coffey says
I couldn’t have stated it better.
Greg says
Outstanding
Laurel says
Looks like Danko, Pontieri and Alfin are not going to get streets named after them this year. What a shame. A kink in that all important, never ending “growth.”
“Westward Ho!” (suckers).
Tj Melton says
Yep, big cuts…they still get their cost of living raises & the law enforcement budget goes untouched. Does this mean the Harleys & Mustangs are staying? And, my goodness, cuts to code enforcement? Horrors! And city council salaries? Is there not some credible increase in all the new overpriced real estate developed? Their property taxes could really be exploited.
Shark says
You forgot about the half of a million spent on boats to just ride around in the canals by Cadavers On Patrol for advertising purposes with no enforcement powers.
Carol Caso says
You cut all the services, yet, you approved your hefty payroll for council member & the Mayor’s, plus your pay raises. you don’t care about Palm Coast or its people. You’re just concerned about changing building codes and building homes on all plots of land to increased our population adding to road damage, wear and tear and more traffic. Of course, you don’t care, you just want to keep your hefty income, that is the highest of all other counties of the size of ours!!! Instead of bringing in businesses, you continue to build communities. By the time you finish your term, there will be NO land for businesses to build on.!!!!
palmcoaster says
What about my fair suggestion of levying a fee in vacant lots who’s right of ways our overworked and understaffed public works department mow and maintain for free, from litter to hurricane debris clean up? We residents have to pay or maintain our right of ways by mowing, litter free and hurricane debris as well. Why the vacant lot owners in the incorporated city limits get a free ride? We have over 7,000 vacant lots in this city that if a fee of $50 a month or so during the growing or hurricane season of 8 months will generate over 2 millions a year to be used for road pavement. Is okay nit charging in unincorporated agricultural lans owners right of ways but in city limits those average 100ft by 15 wide or so has to be maintained and should not be for free. Anyone owning vacant land does it for investment…don’t they? I also noticed today our city public works crews mowing and detailing ( line edging and debris cleaning) the middle school right of way across from Wawa….Isisn’t that supposed to be done or paid by the county or schools? Or is the city being paid for that? Did the crew also worked on the Town Center right of way section there? Hope not, as a CRA they have to have their own contractor and not the taxpayers one right?
Denali says
Please elaborate on why you maintain city property. Do you have a contract with them to perform this work? Do they pay you for doing their work? Did you sign some kind of agreement saying you would provide a free service to the city? Or is there some hidden ordinance which requires you to maintain this city property?
And you need to keep a few key words in mind; city owned property, right-of-way, and public or utility easements. Each would be treated differently in terms of who performs what maintenance.
TPPC says
As a veteran of our city public works department I will tell you that our only problem over here is awful management! A real bright idea to hire a director who has no experience at all in public works!!!!.Just wait until the mayor and city council come over here and see all the money we’ve spent on facility upgrades after Matt told them that there’s no money or people to do any work around the city. The marble tile bathrooms and custom epoxy concrete floors and offices we installed on the clock with city employees sure do look great while the rest of the city looks like crap lol!
Igor says
Considering that 2 city council and mayor from NY, I am not surprised that they rising taxes.
This is genetically in them.
They know no other way to govern.
Harmony, Hamann, hamanny...... says
Lol, lol, lol, lol!
Let me sum it up for you;
There is only one person on Council that has challenged staff, that was Councilwoman Pontieri.
Staff, Beven gave up junk, cheap give backs. Fluff that was in the budget that not used would mean very little for those budgets. These things were put in place to be cut as to show cut were done.
Mayor Alfin- he wants to build in the woods.
Vice Mayor Dicko- is a rebirth of the Jackie Gleason show,” to the moon Alice to the moon..”
Klufas- can double talk as fast wooperwills ass moves.
Cathy Heighter- once awake generally ask the same question as the person that just spoke.
And the City Lawyer well let’s save that one for another day.
The good news is I’m not going to be paying more money for nothing!
The Sour Kraut says
Wow! Having to live within a budget, just like the residents of PC! All except for Staly, who gets whatever he wants. Going to have to look into that and see why.
DI says
They should look into charging the lot owners for cutting their grass it is not al0t of money but if you add up 40.00 a cut by how many litsn they cut that will give them some money.
Fernando Melendez says
Proponents of tax cuts argue that cuts increase an individual or family’s disposable income, spur spending, and help grow the economy. All of this at the expense of our fire departments, code enforcement, road maintenance, and parks and recreation. Ok let’s see how that’ll work out in a few years from now. Palm Coast is growing and so are our services. So, let’s see what the frequent complainers are going to complaint about next in a few years from now when our quality of life starts diminishing.
Let’s keep Palm Coast Strong 🌴
Igor says
What about done more with less?
Do you ever have financial problem and deal with it?
City budget always have reserve. Year over year at the end of the fiscal year spend money like drunk sailor to request more next year. Are they accountable for what was not done. Storm water fee will triple by 2028 or so, but who take care of that system?
Celia M pugliese says
Fernando you sound like “Ed” always opposing or lashing at the residents request while praising the city no matter what, because of course his wife works for the city as a Dept. Director’s position that pays about 130,0000 or more? Plenty reason to be always so appreciative to council, mayor and staff right? I agree as you say “Palm Coast is growing and so our services” but we should not pay 100% of that growth only around 20 % as per the law the rest of the growing services, etc. needed are to be funded by impact fees and the new taxes generated by the new homes once they get their certificate of occupancy…unfortunately city sees only 24 % of the ad valorem when county gets 44% and school the rest. Yes lets make Palm Coast strong but not in the overwhelmed residents pockets that are not in the city payroll for over 100,000.
Celia M Pugliese says
Eleven to twenty millions to dredge 13 miles of the very center of shoaled canals looks really overpriced…like the 7 million non working splash pad and God knows how much we are paying for the walkway bridge next to the school never ending project on Belle Terre over a “non responsive contractor” that with by the way has been given other projects to work in the city.
City should buy its own dredging equipment like one of many in https://piranhapump.com/mini-dredges, that starts at $10.800 a each and up, offering dredgers of all sizes for all types of work. City should buy its own equipment and train its own crew for a continue dredging program on our salt and fresh water canals that been built by ITT to originally drain the whole city as part of our storm water system needed in a city that was built in what was originally swamp land. In our 26 miles of salt water canals the dredging as presented is now only needed for about 13 miles of them as the main canals except their very endings are okay as reported by your consultant hired by Mr. Cote. The dredging will be in the very center of the canals as any shoaling underneath docks is the property owner responsibility to address, as as any caved in seawalls as well. Dredging should be a continue maintenance like our city mowing public right of ways in our roads and will be very cost effective to be done in house with city owned equipment. Will also create some few more jobs and should be funded with our storm water system fee in our utility bills and any grants available from the Inland Navigation Fund and State or Fed grants that we all contribute to. This equipment and crew will also to be used with the same dredgers maintain the saltwater canals free from weeds and shoaling (sediment built up) as well. City is much better at doing its own work with owned equipment than contracting out at gouging prices for less than acceptable work like is happening now too often. For personal reasons yesterday after 4 hours of meeting on which even the sheriff representative was forced to endure as well over agenda items as usual given priority to what are not to the residents
example: Interns study of city staff and before the sheriff short budget presentation? Lack of consideration to our law enforcement? As should have been at least second agenda item, if not first. And Mr. Alfin the residents “do not assault” the council, some of them come to council frustrated of asking for years of concerns to be resolved to no avail and have to endure long hours meetings and from you, your couple of same sympathizers, the 180 members regional chamber rep with vitriol and venom from residents on minute 2.3820 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBI9i3rRTew&t=4648s, residents endure these additional innuendos like assault, virulent, venomous, ignorant, loudmouth minorities. The residents that at no pay attend these long hours meetings when have voted this council and mayor instead to represent our needs, also need respect, as the taxpayers we are attending and asking to receive the services that we are NOT receiving while paying in advance. I also recall a time when back then I believe, the sacrificed residents attending these workshops were given the chance to speak in every item on it. When was this policy changed, if I am correct? Council and mayor should be very aware that specially the Regional Chamber of Commerce with total 180 members of which about 50 are out of the area interest, their rep is describing as vitriol and venomous the residents lobbying for their needs as after all we were maybe 9ver 180 residents present on a full overflow attendance and all of us representing thousands that do not attend and have the same concerns.
Mark says
Backward thinking on both sides.
Celia M Pugliese says
By the way I need to correct I big error made on the current membership of the new Regional Chamber of commerce tin my prior post as only totals 129 members not 180, of which listed in only 43 categories of businesses.
” ONLY THREE CATEGORIES REACH DOUBLE DIGIT MEMBERSHIP.
THEY ARE, 22-FINANCE AND INSURANCE, 21-NONPROFITS, 10-REAL ESTATE- MOVING-STORAGE.
THE CITY OF PALM COAST AND FLAGLER COUNTY ARE LISTED MEMBERS, WHY?
OUR TAX $DOLLARS$ PAID TO A LOBBY GROUP ? ?
RATIOS:
THERE ARE 7000 COUNTY BUSINESS ENTITIES LISTED.
129 CHAMBER MEMBERS VS. COUNTY ENTITIES 7000 = .OI8444 PERCENT,
THERE ARE 4000 CITY OF PALM COAST ENTITIES LISTED.
129 CHAMBER MEMBERS VS.CITY ENTITIES 4000 = .03225 PERCENT.
This entity director consistently uses different innuendos of negative critique directed to sacrificed residents attending long ours of meetings to present their issues to council and mayor as can be seeing using vitriol and venom, to describe our 3 minutes of appeals. Not very civil or conducive treatment of taxpayers demanding the services they pay for in advance. If civility is expected to be observed from all the taxpayers attending council meetings, the same need to be afforded from our council members, mayor and lobby entities attending these meetings while all are presenting their cases or appreciations.
Gina Weiss says
Celia, this same chamber of commerce which played a significant role in getting a great
superintendent of our schools fired and leaves us searching for another at a much
higher salary to their surprise, duh, than what she was making. Just proves how incompetent
and out of touch they are and has the nerve to get up and speak so poorly about taxpayers.
They want to dictate while the citizens should sit back and obey, remember this at
voting time folks.
Bill Golding says
what ever happened to MedNEx. I never hear anything about it after all the expectations a year of so ago.
Celia M pugliese says
The taxpayers residents of Flagler County and Palm Coast are not unique in their 3 minutes request attending city meetings when at least comes to intended higher fees or taxes or other quality of life and safety preservation request and as such we deserve some respect: https://beacononlinenews.com/2023/08/08/tax-revolt-in-deltona-angry-crowd-coaxes-city-commission-to-scrap-fee-hikes/.
By the way we consider a serious conflict of interest when the spouse of a city departmental director since 2020 making probably upwards of 130,000 a year, uses the podium to criticize the sacrificed residents attending these long meetings at no pay to request the services paid and not provided and of course always applauds the council mayor and city staff. After all instead should be very appreciative that the residents pay the spouse.
shark says
If they taught whoever is in charge of the swales that water flows down hill they could save millions and also get rid of code enforcement because it only applies to the little guy. Out where Alfin lives in the land of the five acre lots owned by other realtors are loaded with boat trailers and RV”s and code doesn’t touch them but when I had my boat trailer in my driveway for four days they wrote me up.
On my way out! says
On the scale of Land governed in Palm Coast verses the high property taxes here are outrageous!
Everywhere you drive, there’s hundreds of city vehicles all over! Have no idea what the city payrolls are but it seems Top Heavy!
Feels like a 3rd world country in many areas, as the infrastructure here is unbelievable.
Most properties are 10K sf with homeowner swale problems, Neglected! I watched 4 homes built in 2 years next to me, now we have standing water for days because the city doesn’t could care less about the older homes they affect.
Islands built and not kept up, just extra parking for these homeowners I guess.
Telephone wires everywhere, power outages when it rains hard or wind blows. Not much improvement, only in the fancy Town Center Hill.
Nothing but a huge HOA hosting Tons of Storage Units.
palmcoaster says
Shark 4 or 5 acres land are subject to different ordinances I believe are under agricultural land. Residential lots within city limits given the proximity with neighbors logically are under different ordinances. Is “residential” not agricultural. Even in NJ were I lived before here, we had 5 acres and I could keep my boat and also a backhoe that we used in the property as long as was stored away from view as had plenty natural bushes there was not visible from street that anyway was over 500 feet from road.. Down the same road residential area with small 80 by 100 lots they were not allowed the same type storage. Is about the same here. If in small residential lost storage of boats, trailers Rv’s , commercial vehicles, cows, horses, goats, chickens, turkeys, ducks allowed will substantially affects the price of our homes and additional noise and odors will abound. We can’t expect to buy residential property convenient close to shops, etc. and turn it into an agricultural mini lot.
City has ordinances created observing the city charter and charter needs a referendum of the people to be changed.
Charlene says
Palm Coast’s aquatic center will close in December and January as part of the budget reductions presented today. What are you going to do for the citizen who already paid for the yearly fee?
Seems only fare to add those two months you close the aquatic center to when we have to paid again.
Instead of having to paid the yearly fee again in March make it due in June.
jeffery c. seib says
Looking at the budget cuts presentation we can see that city services to us the current residents are where there are making the cuts. Economic Development, as a separate department(?), which is helping all the massive developments coming into town, is not touched. Raises for the salaried employees conducting all the help to the developers in, say, getting a project with a zoning change to add more units through the Planning Board and then the city council are still in the budget. The former councilman Jack Howell called for a reasonable 10% cut spread over all departments. That’s s a lot fairer than picking and choosing to cut the services that we all rely on and need.
Robert B. says
The City of Palm Coast, its government leaders and administration are currently in the process of developing a budget with little or no technical increase in property taxes and no increase in sales tax. As a result, the City of Palm Coast is looking to reduce city services by $2.5 million. Furthermore, according to reports, City administration has identified a $55 million dollar need over the next 5 years for street/road maintenance. In spite of this up coming bill, the City of Palm Coast has seen fit to give the City Commissioners a substantial pay increase; installed street lights; make various improvements to city parks including $2.5 million for the Lehigh Trailhead complex; spent over $5 million for the splash pad that no one has been able to use; have gone over budget on the Belle Terre Parkway going from $1.86 million to $3.4 million; increasing the cost of providing law enforcement on the whim of the Flagler County Sheriff and without requiring a needs and cost analysis; and approving numerous apartment and housing complexes that increases infrastructure needs without long term budget planning and resulting traffic gridlock.
Looking back, the City Commission and Administration has demonstrated the lack of long-term budget planning and prioritizing infrastructure needs over less important capital projects. For every mile of road, there should be funds set aside for future maintenance needs. Funds that are not and cannot be raided for politician pet projects. Remember, in Palm Coast, each City Commissioner is from different districts they are elected by ALL registered voters in Palm Coast and therefore owe no allegiance to a particular district but to the city as a whole.