Manatee County administrator proposes $568 million budget

Public safety investments, including funding for eight additional sheriff deputies, are among the priorities in Manatee County Administrator Ed Hunzeker’s recommended 2016-17 $568 million budget.

The other public safety investments include funding to continue the Community Paramedicine and Marine Paramedic Rescue pilot programs, partial funding for eight additional School Resource Officers at Manatee County middle schools and three new positions in the Public Safety department.

Hunzeker also is recommending no tax rate increase for the 10th consecutive year.

“It has always been a priority of the Board of County Commissioners,” Hunzeker said of the recommended public safety spending. “No. 1 priority is the public safety of the community.”

At 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Hunzeker began his presentation of his recommended budget to the county commission. The budget presentation is in the first floor commission chambers of the County Administrative Center, 1112 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.

The recommended budget, which is based on a 9 percent growth in property values, is $15 million more than the county’s current $553 million budget. Projected property tax revenue is $26.5 million less than in 2007, which means the budget is 11 percent lower than that time despite the increase in population, according to the budget message.

The net budget figure is a close estimate as property values for next year haven’t yet been finalized since the Property Appraiser’s Office will certify taxable values on July 1. The June 1 estimate shows property values will rise 8.16 percent, which means some property owners likely will pay more in taxes even if the millage rate stays the same.

While the budget presented to the commission Thursday is balanced, the county’s reliance on property taxes is not sustainable for the future, according to Hunzeker.

“This year’s budget is again reliant on reserves, albeit to a lesser extent than in years past thanks to increased property tax revenues,” according to the budget message. “However, because of our heavy reliance on property taxes to fund this government, and because voter-approved mandates have limited our ability to meet local demands through property taxes, by next budget year we face a very real possibility of needing to compromise the Board’s long-standing 20 percent reserves policy by 2018.”

A Citizens Financial Structure Advisory Board has recommended to the commission that a half-cent infrastructure sales tax is the best way to make the budget sustainable for the future. The commission, which is currently exploring whether to pursue a joint effort with the school board, will have to approve an ordinance to put the sales tax referendum on the Nov. 8 ballot at the June 21 commission meeting, according to Hunzeker. The ordinance would have to be advertized 10 days in advance of that meeting.

“We are not sustainable in our budget,” Hunzeker said. “We can’t maintain assets we built and can’t put money away for next recession and there will be one when we least expect it.”

Other funding recommendations in the budget include a 4 percent pay-for-performance employee raise, parks and preserves infrastructure upgrades and additional unincorporated road system maintenance. The budget also includes $6.9 million for health care, Hunzeker said.

Thursday’s meeting is the first in a series of meetings expected to take place during the next two weeks on the recommended budget. In September, the commission will adopt its budget in two public hearings. Thursday’s meeting was also the first time the commissioners heard the recommended budget.

This story was originally published June 2, 2016 at 1:29 PM with the headline "Manatee County administrator proposes $568 million budget."