Gulfport City Council Meeting - September 17, 2024: Millage Rate and Budget Ordinances Adopted
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Gulfport City Council Meeting - September 17, 2024: Millage Rate and Budget Ordinances Adopted
The Gulfport City Council met on Tuesday, September 17, 2024, at 6:00 PM at City Hall. The meeting featured two public hearings for the FY2024-2025 millage rate and budget ordinances, both of which passed unanimously. The council also heard public comments on various topics, received updates from the city manager, and approved the consent agenda.
Consent Calendar
- Item 6.A: Approved the meeting minutes from the City Council meeting held on September 3, 2024. The motion carried unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Kirsten Strang asked whether the city could allocate funding for nonprofit events that unite communities (e.g., seniors, mothers, homeless) across multiple municipalities.
- Andrew Turner, a 16-year resident, asked about plans to fix potholes and road conditions, noting that potholes reappear in the same streets.
- Lauren Stern expressed excitement about the Tonkin Park playground project and requested that the city obtain multiple bids from vendors and include parent input throughout the design process.
- Ms. Love (speaking during the budget public hearing) supported volunteer groups like Fusion 49th, noting that many community groups operate without city funds. During open public comment, she raised concerns about homeless encampments at the beach (pavilion 3) and the need for enforcement, and asked for an update on removing boats damaged by Hurricane Debby.
- Alexander Dunsing (a Michigan resident) accused Councilmember Thanos of violating the Gulfport City Charter by directly ordering city employees and requested an investigation, citing emails. The mayor noted that the council could not take action on the matter.
- Victoria Doyle thanked the council and staff for listening to parents' input on the Tonkin Park playground and expressed hope for continued involvement despite scheduling challenges for parents of young children.
Discussion Items
- Ordinance 2024-08 (Millage Rate) – Second Reading & Public Hearing: Set the ad valorem tax levy at 4.0258 mills for FY2024-2025. City Manager O'Reilly explained that the millage rate is the same as the previous fiscal year but is advertised as a tax increase because the rolled-back rate (3.6865 mills) would generate the same revenue; the higher revenue from the unchanged rate is due to growth in property values. The ordinance passed unanimously with no public comment.
- Ordinance 2024-09 (Budget) – Second Reading & Public Hearing: Adopted the operating budget for FY2025 (October 1, 2024 – September 30, 2025). Councilmember Thanos proposed allocating $10,000 to the Fusion 49th organization, but Mayor Henderson and City Manager O'Reilly opposed giving cash to any organization, citing a policy of providing in-kind services only. Thanos also requested that the city join the Homeless Leadership Alliance's Continuum of Care for $300, and suggested removing the leisure services director salary ($113,000) from the budget if the position would not be filled. Councilmember Brown praised the finance department's work. The budget passed unanimously following public comments.
- City Manager Report: Reported progress on removing 16 storm-damaged vessels; the contractor is mobilizing and an emergency purchase order will be brought to council. Discussed enforcement of homeless encampments at the beach. Announced plans to bring an ordinance amendment to Chapter 6 to prohibit anchoring in the submerged land off Veterans Park (owned by the city). Also noted that holiday decorations on 49th Street are being expanded with additional power drops and brackets.
- Council Comments: Councilmember Brown invited Justin Shea to announce the city's 114th birthday celebration on October 12, 2024, from 10 AM to 5 PM at Chase Park, featuring free food, bounce houses, music, and department activities. Councilmember Thanos proposed a town hall in mid-November at the Casino. Discussion also covered extending the trolley route for major events on 49th Street.
Key Outcomes
- Ordinance 2024-08 (Millage Rate): Passed 5-0 (all present: Ray, O'Hara, Thanos, Brown, Henderson).
- Ordinance 2024-09 (Budget): Passed 5-0.
- Consent Agenda: Approved unanimously.
- Directives: The city manager will bring a revised anchoring ordinance to council. The council will consider the Homeless Leadership Alliance membership request ($300) separately. The Tonkin Park playground design is expected on the October 1 agenda with recommendations from staff and the parent group.
Meeting Transcript
Alright. Welcome everyone to the September 17th. Please join us in Ryan. No work or love will flourish out of guilt, fear, or hollowness of heart. Just as no valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now. Alan Watts. I pledge allegiance to the flag. And to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. All right. Thank you. Roll call, please city clerk. Councilmember Ray? Here. Vice Mayor O'Hara. Councilmember Thanos? Here. Councilmember Brown? Here. Mayor Henderson. Here. City Attorney Salzman. Here. City Manager O'Reilly. Here. City Clerk Carico present. All right. We've uh again we've got a little different setup than normal because of the state mandate on when we have our public hearings for uh related to millage rate and budget. So we have two ordinances before we come uh to our open public comment. There will be public comment on these two specific items individually. So when we get to those, we'll have an explanation from the city manager. Uh council weigh in and we'll have comments uh from you as well. So our first ordinance being 2024-08. Ordinance number 2024-08, second reading and public hearing, an ordinance of the city of Gulfport, Florida providing for the ad valorum tax levy for the fiscal year beginning on October 1, 2024 and ending on September 30th, excuse me, 30th, 2025, and providing for an effective date. Section one does state that a levy of 4.0258 operating mills be placed upon the total assessed valuation of real and personal property lying within the city of Gulfport, Florida, and said monies raised by the 4.0258 mills shall be used for the general operation of the city of Gulfport for the aforementioned fiscal period. The adoption of the 4.0258 mills is a 9.20% increase over the rolled back rate of 3.6865 mills. All right, thank you very much. Uh City Manager. Mayor, um, this establishes the mill tax ad velorum tax rate for next year. Um just for clarification purposes, as you so eloquently explained in the article today, uh, in regards to the rollback rate, the city last fiscal year for this present fiscal year had brought back the ta millage rate from 4.0390 to 4.0258. Yep. So that's okay. The rollback rate is the rate that you would charge to generate the same amount of revenue that you passed for this year. With so it's advertised as a tax increase. The legal ad that you was in the St. Petersburg, excuse me, the Tampa Bay Times on Sunday, the half page, is basically has to be by statute requires it to be advertised as a tax increase because you are maintaining the millage rate and it will generate additional revenue as you explained earlier in your article. And I appreciate the Gabbard correcting that for you and basically that would generate additional revenue due to the growth in property values. Right. Yeah, and they were you know, and accidents happen anywhere, so they were they were quick to correct it. We just figured there might be some folks here tonight that think that we uh adjusted the millagerate upward when that was not the case.
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