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   Review of Proposed Departmental Budgets for FY2026-2027

   discussed

   Staff presented FY2026-2027 proposed budgets for three departments: Human Resources, Technology Solutions, and Parks and Recreation (including Aquatics). HR budget increases reflect higher labor attorney fees for a fire department arbitration and risk management consulting via Risk Strategies Inc., with health insurance being taken to market due to high claims. Technology Solutions adds an internship program and increases in cloud/data security consulting, backup/disaster recovery, and laptop replacements. Parks and Recreation includes a Master Plan update, biannual newsletter, 20th anniversary marketing, fitness center equipment upgrades, and a new inflatable outdoor movie screen.

   • direction:Council directed staff to continue evaluating basketball court access at Schwettman, with access from Grand sidewalk preferred. (none)

   📍Francis Avenue Park📍Railroad Square📍Schwettman (Sweatman) Center📍Sims Park🏢Active Net🏢Florida Blue🏢Kaiser🏢Marsh McLennan McGriff🏢Risk Strategies Incorporated🏢Tyler👤Arnie👤Mr. Track👤Mr. Wetzel👤Ms. Manns👤Ms. Rio#20th Anniversary of Recreation Facility#9/11 Event#Account 43112 Labor Attorney Services#Account 43199 Professional Services Miscellaneous#Account 44511 Liability Insurance#Account 44521 Building and Contents Insurance#Account 44522 Pollution Insurance#Account 44523 Automobile and Truck Insurance#Account 46399 Gymnasium Wall Paint#Account 64311 Special Purpose Equipment#CDBG funding#DART trolley#End of Summer Spectacular#FLGISA Conference#FY 2026-2027 Budget#Fire Department arbitration case#Light Up the Night#Parks and Recreation Master Plan Update#Spring Fling#Tyler Conference

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   Our budget discussion for fiscal year 26, 27, and this evening, we'll be presenting budgets to you for the first time on human resources technology solutions, the parks and recreation department, and the police department this evening. And as I indicated to you last night, and as a reminder to you this evening, these are budgets that you will likely see revisions to upon the second presentation because we do not have revenue estimates at this time. And we are also cognizant of the fact that there will be, uh, ballot issue, it appears, um, that may impact property taxes and additional cuts may be warranted, uh, before we have a second reading. So, we'll, um, with that, um, make our presentation to you as a first budget hearing, and I'd like to ask Mr. Wetzel to come forward and present for first presentation, the human resources, um, budget. Thank you, Ms. Manns. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, good evening, mayor and, uh, city council members. Uh, uh, tonight I have the pleasure of, uh, presenting to you the overview of the proposed fy 20 26 20 27 human resources budget. Uh, this rel this, uh, presentation, this overview should be relatively brief and straightforward as human resources department strove to control our expenses. Again, uh, per the directives put forth by the city manager this year. Uh, with respect to authorized personnel, salary and wages, uh, hr will remain at four ftes, uh, for this upcoming year. We will continue to look at, uh, the efficiency and production of our positions on an ongoing basis, um, but we believe the current staffing provides the appropriate level of efficiency and production to best serve our employees in the city. Next, I'd like to address account 4 3 1 1 2 labor attorney services, uh, which has been increased from 16,500 to 26,500. The increase over fy 20 25, 20 26 is reflective of the anticipated costs that are expected to be incurred as a result of the city's insurance deductible and related costs associated with an arbitration case involving the fire department next account, 4 3 1 9 9 professional services. Miscellaneous has been increased from 70,000 to 165,000 to account, uh, in this upcoming fiscal year for the fees associated with the contract and services provided by the city's risk management and safety consultant broker Risk Strategies Incorporated. Risk Strategies Incorporated, uh, provides the consultation and training services on safety matters, as well as they serve as our broker consultant for the, uh, evaluating the city's property and casualty insurances. With respect to accounts 4 4 5 1 1 liability insurance, 4 4 5 2 1 building and contents account 4 4 5 2 2 pollution insurance and account 4 4 5 2 3 automobile and truck insurance. Our current provider has indicated a flat renewal is extremely likely and should be used for the budgeting purposes. While this is acceptable, the city manager and hr are continuing to evaluate new providers and insurers, which may lead to reduce costs for these insurance coverages prior to the adoption of the final budget. Again, our risk management safety consultant broker Risk Strategies Incorporated is evaluating, uh, the city's coverages and is preparing to take our coverages to market to consider equal or better coverages and including potential savings for the city. Uh, I I can say that there'll, there'll be probably, there's an item that's gonna be coming before the city council on the agenda, probably the next meeting that will permit this formalities that we need to do to take this to market and to test the market for these, uh, these insurance [00:05:01] Costs. And finally, our health insurance broker consultants, Marsh McLennan McGriff has taken the city's health insurance, uh, plans to market. Uh, healthcare costs are continuing to climb every year, as, as we all know, unfortunately, you know, we have been able to hold a line for the last two years, but I, as I sit here today, I'm not confident that, uh, we'll that'll be the case this year. Uh, for us, it's very, very early on in the, uh, return process to forecast potential increases for the upcoming fiscal year. However, we are continuing to work hard to minimize, uh, any rate increases to our plans. You know, we've requested our brokers, uh, to review all of our plans, uh, and coverages again this year in an effort to provide the best level of coverage and affordability for our employees. Uh, while we remain committed to do controlling costs, we will continue our quest for the best, uh, you know, coverages, the best proposals and the lowest rates possible without sacrificing the quality of our plans. So with that, really kind of con concludes kind of the, the overview of the issues that, that may be arising here in this budget for the human resources department. And I, I'll be glad to answer any specific questions you may have. Good here. And arnie's done a very, an excellent job presenting the information. The impediment he has, um, with our health insurance is, is, and it's just without question. We have a number of very sick city employees and it hurts us with our experience modifier, and there's just no way around it. With a group our size, when we have a number of sick, very sick employees, and the medical costs are so high, it's difficult for us to compete in market for a more competitive price. And that is very true. Ms. Mann, like I said, again, as we have taken this to, to market through, through our brokers and stuff along those lines, uh, there's probably about, uh, close to 20 different, uh, I'll say high claims, but there really are eight that are kind of I'll, I'll use the term kind of extremely high, which is definitely impacting, you know, the renewal with our current provider, Florida Blue, uh, which is probably is gonna cause some, some major issues for us from that end on, you know, unfortunately, they, those eight claims, uh, have, have driven it up. Even though we are fully insured. It has a very direct impact on, on, you know, with their underwriters to, to renew and come in with some good numbers, you know, so again, that's why we are going back out to the market to try and test that and see if we can find something better. Anything else? No. Good. Alright. Thank you. Right. Thank you, mayor. Thanks. Thank you. Thank you Ms. Mans. The next project that we'll presenting to this evening is technology solutions. And so Ms. Rio will come forward and present that to you this evening. Good evening, city council members and mayor, can you guys hear me? Yes. Okay. Okay. All right. Um, so for technology solutions this year, um, for staffing, um, we're pretty much staying at the same levels as last year. Um, what we did request for this year is, um, to bring on an intern, um, so to create an internship program and partner with kaiser and some of the local, um, universities around here, um, to, again, just have a, a program part paid, uh, part unpaid, depending upon the program, um, to do that. So that's where the additional, um, employee is coming from. It's 0.14 of an employee. Um, and then we we're continuing with, um, just adopting tyler and just, uh, utilizing the, the technologies that we already have, essentially. So professional services that has gone up, um, from last year. Um, another big part of that, again, as we continue to move to the cloud, um, and, and, and away from infrastructure here is, uh, just data security and the consulting that we'll need, um, to help set that up, um, and bring on software to, uh, essentially help tag and classify our, um, unstructured data. Um, so that's where that major increase is coming from in professional services. 4, 3, 1, 9 9. Um, the next increase is for contractual services. Um, that is for our backup and disaster recovery, um, plan, or, uh, essentially our disaster recovery resources. Um, that will hopefully go down as we move to the cloud. So as we have workloads in a data center, we have to back up and it has to be reliable. As we move to the cloud, it'll obviously still be reliable and back up, but the type of backup strategies we have will different be different. So we did buy an increase because the more data we store, the more we're charged. So that number continues to go up each year. So that's where the 72,000 is coming from the jump. Um, we are asking for an increase in travel and training, um, as we did send some additional employees to the flo gisa conference this year. Um, that's just, it's increased along with the tyler conference, um, which is a very important conference for us. Um, the room and board, all [00:10:01] Of that has gone up, so we've asked for that additional cost so that, again, we can send more folks to these, these trainings, which are essential. Um, our next line item that was an increase was, um, computer supplies. We are at end of life or time to upgrade the laptops in the it department. So that's the 17,000. Um, that number will go down next year, but it's up this year because it is time to upgrade laptops for the team. Um, so any questions? I mean, that's the main highlights, but guys, anything? No, get up before we change your mind. Alright, thanks . Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Track will present the recreation and aquatics center budget to you at this time. Good evening. Evening everyone. It's a pleasure to be here tonight and present the, uh, recreation, parks and recreation, uh, budget and as well as aquatics. Um, I'll start with recreation and, uh, we will get started. Just to highlight, uh, the initiatives that we have in here are, are directly related to some of the increases that we have that I'll, I'll go into during the budget presentation. I'm excited to share those with you. Um, we'll start with personnel for recreation. Um, the fte count has slightly gone up. We're not asking for another employee, it's just working through numbers and, and reviewing actual hours work for employees. So there is a slight fte increase, but there's not an additional employee being requested at this time. And the actual part-time wages, um, decrease, again, reviewing actual hours work, some may work a 24 hour, some may work 26 hours. So reviewing actual wages and hours worked is the reason for that slight decrease. And that's it for, um, personnel for recreation increases. Um, start with professional services. Miscellaneous increase by 35,000 compared to this year, and that's to complete a parks and rec master plan update, which was last done in 2017. And we'll also have money this year to get that started and up and, and running here shortly. Um, in the rfp process and also utilizing a consultant, um, to conduct a fee analysis for the fees that the parks and rec department charges. There is money as well this year that we'll utilize. They capitalize on that time as well. Ads in marketing, as I mentioned earlier, the initiative, um, of making sure the parks and recreation is well known throughout the community. It's a beautiful facility. Um, there's a lot of different things that we have to offer. We are increasing that budget, um, by $8,300, specifically for two reasons, um, to send a biannual department newsletter through all city residents. We tend to have a lot of things going on, um, at the rec center. So we thought it was, um, beneficial to inform we can't just fit in in a small section of the bridge, although we'll continue to utilize that. We want to send, you know, a front and back to everything that we do on a biannual basis at important times of the year. I would suggest one in the fall and one in the late spring so we can capitalize on our busy season. Um, so that will include, um, the ads in marketing. We also have the 20th anniversary of the facility. It turns 20 in may, so we have a little bit of marketing for that. Um, that will help promote and some giveaways to celebrate that. And we'll be brainstorming ideas and share that with you as we get closer. Contractual services increase by 9,700. This is directly related to programs being offered. Um, for us at the rec center, uh, contracted instructors get a split 70 30. It's a, it's a trend across all, um, public recreation facilities. Some vary here and there, but when we offer more classes, we have to pay them more. We also bring in more revenue. So that, uh, has a revenue increase as well with the addition. And it follows the trend of the last few years. If you look at actuals, postage, um, increased by 8,000. This is based on estimates that we send out the bridge. It's about 4,000 quarterly, so we'll send it out twice. So we're estimated about 8,000 in postage to send that biannual newsletter, um, to our city residents, we did reduce the rental equipment. There is no money in that and that's not needed anymore. That was used to be used for the chairs at the nine 11 event. However, the nine 11 committee has a rotary that now direct purchases those directly. We coordinate the pickup and, and delivery of it, but, uh, they pay them directly. So we don't need that line. We don't need any money in that. Line item, maintenance buildings and ground increase. Um, directly, if you look at the actual, as it currently stands, um, there was some needs at the tennis court. So that number of actual is close [00:15:01] To 17,000. However, we had to address some tennis court issues immediately. Um, we don't anticipate doing that. It's in the CIP for repair. So it'll be more in line with what was estimated, um, previously and the in slight increases due to, um, improving the signage specifically for the clot pepper, it's a white brick sign and we'll be updating that to city standards moving forward next year. Uh, just wanna point out the credit card charges that's directly related to fees that are charged from our Active Net, which is our registration software. Um, so just so you're aware of what that fee relates to. Special events, I did wanna highlight this. I know last night special events was shared, so special events and recreation is just recreation events. So some of those examples light up the night, which we include, um, that in that budget line spring fling. So anything the department specifically runs and of summer are spectacular. It's not related to the special events division that was discussed last night. Um, so there is a slight increase as we continue these events light up the night's one of 'em. We continue to try to enhance that each year. We also do the spring fling. We moved that from the rec center about two years ago, and we get about 2,500 to, um, 5,000 people that attend that. So we need to purchase more eggs. So I just wanted to point that out. Um, for clarification, if anybody had any questions about special events in the recreation budget, recreational trips that is field trips at the rec center. Um, we now take 150 kids and that is full capacity. We can't take, we can't take anymore. Um, and they're all there, right? Well, not anymore today, but they're there and they're having a great time this summer. Um, with that, you know, we pay for the field trip, but they also pay, so they pay, uh, for that field trip. So that's, that's reimbursed by the participant. Um, field trips are going up just like anything else. Um, we strategically try to, what I call in-house field trips. So we'll go to Francis Avenue Park and we'll go to Sims Park that only cost a bus. I know it sounds silly to maybe get a bus to go there, but rather not the kids walk, uh, on the roads to get there, 150 of them. So that's a small cost that we do in-house, um, to try to keep that cost down as best as possible. They'd all love to go to stop and play. It's still there and they still love it. So, uh, we try to utilize our resources as best as possible. And the parks we have are awesome. Uh, we did decrease the licensing and ID ID materials again directly related to some comments last night. Uh, the library carries those licenses to be able to copyright for copyrighted music. Um, so we reduced our budget and I believe there was an increase on their end. Uh, computer supplies. This is just, uh, one that we need to, we need to replace seven computers. Um, three of them specifically are at the front desk, so it's just the end of the lifespan for those computers. And next year I won't be replacing, uh, seven computers. So there is an increase, significant increase on that line item. Just to overview the, um, capital inside this account for recreation, um, 4, 6, 3, 9, 9 gymnasium, wall paint, it's needed. Uh, we intend to paint that. And as you guys know, there's a lot of people that utilize that facility. So we've recently resurfaced the courts, um, put the new logo on it. So we're just continuing to upgrade those facilities as we continue to utilize them. And special purpose equipment for 6, 4, 3, 1. Um, we have two items, fitness center equipment upgrades, and that's a big chunk of it. And just to highlight, um, what that'll cover. That's five new treadmills, which will put us at, uh, new treadmills. We'll have eight. We have eight total. Um, all treadmills will have been replaced within the last two to three years. Um, and those are highly used as well. All. And the next would be two cross trainers and two recumbent bikes. So that is the big chunk of change that we're spending this year in order to essentially maintain the standard of equipment operating efficiently, um, and having a fitness center that people can utilize it at any time, um, and, and have equipment that's not down. Uh, we anticipate the cardio equipment is equipment that you have to maintain a decent amount. Um, the, the weights you can continue to use throughout the year. So, uh, after this year, we'd be in a really good spot with our cardio, cardio equipment. And then, uh, also included that in that as a new outdoor movie screen. Our current setup, um, has, has done its useful life. Um, we'd anticipate to actually use an inflatable movie screen right now. It's best way to describe it. It's kind of a pulley system. Um, it's only used at sims spark, so we go with what, it's a more standard inflatable that could be utilized at the pools, it could be utilized at Railroad Square, and we'd utilize that to our advantage. Um, and it's much easier. You plug it in and it blows up and we'd be much in a be much better spot. Um, if you decide that's appropriate for this year. Um, that's it for recreation. I'd be happy to stop at this point and answer any recreation related questions I brought up to you. Um, the ball, um, basketball courts that, um, sweatman, if [00:20:01] You going to look at 'em or uw had any discussions on them yet. Yeah, we're working to review, um, that idea and, and determine what's best, um, that you shared, you know, trying to find opportunities to utilize that space. But those courts look in pretty good shape and by the time we open sweatman, they won't be in good shape. Right, right. Maintain, and I haven't moved on it only because we're waiting in large part to get the scope of services for the interior renovations of sch wepman. I just didn't really wanna activate the space when we're gonna have a lot of contractors in and out of the building. Well see, I was talking, I was thinking it should be just accessible off of grand, not off of any other, any other way. Oh, I didn't think about that. I didn't want to access it from the, any other piece of the property. Just off the sidewalk on grand 'cause because it tends to be put people in places. We don't want 'em on the property. I just thought people would probably park over across the street off of, um, golf and probably walk through the property. Well, I mean, they could park over across the street. Might be complicated by his house if they used it. I just think, you know, we've got courts that are in pretty good shape and they're just, they're gonna deteriorate waiting around for sweatman to open. Mr. Mayor, uh, hi. Hello. Hey, uh, at the end of recreation, I'm not gonna try to go over anything you already did, but I do wanna make a pitch for something I've spoken to the city manager about, which is in all the research to understand the money that's available for, um, potential improvement of our city after the hurricane. They are looking at, uh, acting on plans based on how many low to moderate income folks are employed. So they're like really on the ground with what's more like a career source approach because it is cdbg money, which I personally disagree with. But the way they're going to evaluate requests for funding, uh, is gonna be based on promises of future employment and to include incentives, uh, to create those spaces. So because the recreation center is currently running the, the trolley, the, um, dart and based on comments we've heard already about expanding our transportation and our walkability and our, and our access of the river, um, I really believe that we should be putting money in the budget for employees that we're not intending to have immediately, but for improvements that will gr that will create employment, that can be the city's employment. So for those who remember the obama job, uh, area, which went back quite a ways, um, governments and nonprofits were able to hire folks or make provisions to hire folks. And then education is the other part of it. So I'd really like to see us recruit, uh, potential tenants for that site, including our own employees so that we can put in a capital improvement that's on the ground that's gonna be able to be filled with some employment. So employment centers, uh, I've never seen any real great, I think return on investment for these career things. Sometimes they spend like 50 grand just to help somebody get a job in terms of some of those job programs. But actual new things that everybody's trying to imagine in our economy, I think, um, for the city to put something in and say subject to grants or something, I, I would rather have it in the budget because that's always a critical part of any application. So as we move through the budget process, not right now, but if those things come up, I'd like to just let you know that that might be a pitch along the way. If we come up with a good strategy, uh, that again, could hire employees that could then also be on CRA property and and covered by that revenue stream and not have to come out of the limited general fund dollars. I think that the trolley folks are paid for through the CRA, am I correct? They, that's correct. So, you know, there's money there for some employees, but we need to have jobs for them and there's money for us to create jobs. So this is our chance, I think, to try to follow up on that over the month, the month ahead, uh, then the planning process ahead. And to that end, I've heard, uh, you, Mr. Mayor, suggest to the folks in the audience in the past that we're gonna figure out what we're gonna do. So when you sit, uh, and say that you're [00:25:01] Ready to activate that court and save it so that it continues to be used, that's making the assumption that it will still be a court when, at the end of the day. And so, you know, if planning is important, we have to go after that planning and get that plan embedded so we know what it's gonna be before investing in it or use it right away. I'm with you. If it's there and it's in good shape and we can use it, we should, you know, and if that means putting somebody out there, I'm with you. So I think designing what it's gonna be, there's a lot better than any one of us trying to say what it's gonna be. Thank you. I'll, I'll move, I'll move on to aquatics. Okay. Aquatics, um, excited to report, um, swim lessons has become an important part, uh, and, uh, it's extremely successful on many, many ranges. Um, leadership and the aquatics team, lifeguards all the way up to manager, uh, programming swim lessons is extremely important to myself and our team there. So, uh, we're doing the best we can to provide as many opportunities as possible. And to me that's diverse. Diversifying some need, one-on-one instruction and some need, uh, group instruction. Um, and, uh, we are working to do that for as often as possible to Florida. So we try to do it as much as possible minus maybe a few months. Um, and we'll continue to do that. Um, with the progression of swim lessons, um, we're hopeful it'll continue to progress. There's only so many lessons of, of swim lessons, you know, we hope to a community center, you know, swim teams and all that come to mind when you think about that. So you gotta build a base, and that's what we're currently working on. And, uh, we'll continue to strive for that. Uh, in this next fiscal year. Uh, personnel, I'll, I'll talk about personnel. There are no, uh, changes to the work chart, uh, or the fte count. We're maintaining the same, uh, staffing levels. And again, in just reviewing the budget and looking at spreadsheets, um, as we prepare for this, just reviewing salaries and, and staff hours, um, there are some slight reductions in part-time wages, again, just based on some accounting, um, where we reduced, uh, part-time wages by about 6,700, and we reduced temporary wages by about 3,600. We can still accomplish everything we do. It's the people that we currently have on board. So nothing really changes, but there is slight re decreases there. Um, we'll go into the operating, um, of aquatics. Contractual services increases by 6,400. Um, due specifically to, uh, a deficiency analysis at the water slide. It's a concrete, a half of it is concrete and the other half is metal. Uh, so over the last few years, again with chlorine, it just eats away at basically anything. Um, so there's some signs of, um, repair that need to occur. So we're gonna get an analysis of that. And it's been noted in our inspections. Um, nothing that's pressing, nothing that's alarming. Um, but we just want to do that, uh, this upcoming fiscal year and ensure that we're at the right spot for that. We will transition down to gas. Um, I don't necessarily have much to do with this. It was actually, uh, we have two highly functioning, uh, heaters. Um, but the meter has been throwing us off for, I, I think the past year or so, and, and Clearwater gas. Uh, we were made aware of that. They came out and replaced it, and now it is actually ac accurately reflecting our gas usage. So the number that you see compared to the estimate, um, and the, but, and the proposed for next year is significantly different. Um, so I can't take credit for that with, essentially it's, uh, you know, we got some things corrected and Clearwater gas has handled it, and we're all there. So that money will be able to run two highly efficient heaters as we move forward. So, uh, happy to report that, just the messenger. Um, then, uh, next is maintenance of buildings and grounds. And that's in increased, um, to cover preventative maintenance, um, for both the heaters, which we continue to do. And pump room equipment, specifically the center pumps, there's eight of 'em that essentially feed your chlorine and acid to all the pools. So having a maintenance program for that is essential. Uh, we recently did this slide, it'll be about two years, um, come this next year's season. Um, so it's time to kind of give it a, just a nice bath and an inspection as well. Um, so we'll plan to do that again, that'll prolong our slide as we move forward. Um, and there are some miscellaneous fencing repairs that we've noticed that need to be repaired. So that's for the, that $10,000 increase. We'll cover those items. Uh, the repair of maintenance of equipment we did slightly reduce, um, based on our past few years of, of preventative maintenance programs, we feel confident that we can, um, maintain our operations as well as some of the, uh, repairs done at the diving board the last two years have had, uh, costs associated with them. And those, uh, diving boards will be up and ready and we should be good to go, um, by the end of this year. And no, no future issues with diving boards, uh, [00:30:01] For the foreseeable future, uh, clothing and wearing, um, it's funny to say in Florida, but, uh, this is directly related to winter clothing for lifeguards. Uh, we need to buy some new parkers for 'em, so parkers aren't cheap. Um, and we, we do staff the pools year round, the lap pool specifically. So they are out there in some colder temperatures. Um, not too cold, but they do need some new parkas out there. Uh, recreational supplies, um, that's, uh, related to programming the pools year round. Um, the examples I will give for that is essentially any holiday we have, probably minus Christmas, but we might be able to do a polar plunge. So if you think of, uh, you know, July 4th, labor day, memorial day, Halloween, all those will be programmed labor day. Um, and we, we assign a budget for those to just small pool parties that we do. Um, and also just increasing, um, swim lesson supplies as more people participate in that. Operating supplies increase by $8,100, and that's directly related to known replacements that we need. Chlorine, again, as it does with many things, just eats away at things. And we have a really beautiful facility out there with the new turf, um, shade, awnings, um, planters and all that. All those items, um, are looking good. So there's a couple other items that we need to tend to. Um, this would specifically be the trash cans. We'll be replacing the trash cans and then the shade canopies that are rented. Um, if you guys can picture the pavilions that are in the park at Sims Park, there's a, a board that's, uh, city branded. It says Sims Park, and it's, it's where it's reserved. So we'd like to brand our, um, shade canopies as well, um, to include that. So that's for the, uh, increase for operating supplies, uh, an aquatics. And I will highlight just capital expenses. Real quick. Slide and dive pool is scheduled to be resurfaced this upcoming fiscal year, and as you guys are aware of, uh, a few meetings ago, we did reject a bid for that. So we're working in the process of updating that document and getting that back out so we can capitalize on the right time to get that done during the cooler season. And it's also includes $12,000 for two new deck showers. Um, they're, they're needed. There's only two out there, but they're needed and it's time to replace those. And then, uh, last but not least, the special purpose equipment. The last two filters, um, slide pool and lap pool. The filter media needs to be exchanged, and we're going from sand to glass. And then that'll complete our, uh, media exchange for all our filters and we'll be, be good to go moving forward. And I can answer any questions that you guys may have related to aquatics. Okay. I, I just have to say how wonderful the rec center and the aquatic center is and just what a gem it is in the city and how well managed it has been. Well kept up, um, really is something to be proud of. And thank you. Okay, thank you. I know Kevin works very hard at it. Thank you, Kevin. Thank you. Thanks adam. Thank you. Our final presentation to you this evening is the police department budget, and chief cochen is prepared to present it to you this evening. Back up. Well, the first page is police, police supervision, cochen and deputy chief la first one is police supervision. Yeah, supervision. Thank you, Ms. Mads. Uh, mayor council members. So, um, tonight we are presenting the fy 27 police department's budget. Why is that doing it? You should. That mine off. So simply put a budget. Really it's just a financial plan to achieve your vision, vision, mission, goals and objectives. Um, the budget before you does just that. And I wanna just start off by giving a very brief overview of what's going on in the police department. So really, it's an exciting time for us because this is a team, city manager's office, police department, this council. Um, we really are continuing to build a high performing machine at the police department. There's never a finish line to being better. I, I totally believe that. So you always look to achieve. As you know, we became fully accredited in february, which is, which only 50% of all departments in the state are accredited. So big achievement for the team. Um, we successfully integrated two years ago into the cad rms system countywide. So that enhances our abilities to work with our municipal, state, and county partners. That's a, that's a big networking pool that really helps our community out. Um, last year this council approved the one solution plan with axon, um, which upgrade all of our body cameras, tasers in-car cameras. It's a state of the art contract. These, this equipment automatically gets updated at 30, 60, 90 and 120 months. So that [00:35:01] Was a big, um, a big move for the police department. And again, now we're in what we call our re-accreditation process. So now we have a full-time accreditation manager, and that was just an internal organizational move, uh, when we moved sergeant patch into that position. And now we've weaned out our consultant, so that's saving us money. But sergeant patch is off and running, he's fully trained. Um, this is gonna be even harder for us to become re-accredited in three years, but we are up to the task. And I said, uh, city manager and, and the deputy chief and all of us were up before the cfa and, and we both said, with a team like this, all of us in this together, we can't fail. Um, so I firmly believe that we're well on our way. We also, as you know, have a victim advocate, a lift team. Um, we also have a full-time social worker through the opioid funds. Um, those are excellent, uh, programs that services this community. Um, one of the things I really am proud of, of the police department and working with the city manager and this council, over the last two years, we've, we've attained over $800,000 in grants. And we've also utilized because you want to be creative in how you find revenue sources, because we love to find non general fund revenue. Um, we've also utilized approximately $400,000 in police equitable sharing or forfeiture funds to help, uh, augment our operations. So again, never finish line to being better. Uh, police department is doing very well. I can't be more proud of all the folks there and, and all of us working towards this effort. Um, an overview, our, our depu our budget is divided into six divisions. Uh, division 61, division 62, division 63, division 64, division 65, and division 67. Um, if you look at our fy in its totality, if you look at our fy 27 budget, it is in line with expenditures and our fy 2026 budget. Uh, we're proud of that working with the city manager's office and now this council to keep that budget in line and, you know, and then I think I've heard that this count, uh, at council meetings. I mean, this city is very successful, but there's always a price with success and, and it's a, it's a good price to have because for us it's more service. Um, and we're finding ways to do it. Um, so I'm really proud of the department for that. So I believe on your page 21, we'll start off with division 67, and that is police supervision 61. I'm sorry, 61. My bad. It should be, should be on 21 of your, of your book, if I'm correct. Mm-hmm . Okay. So we'll flip through to the three, I'm sorry, 23. 23. We're off. The financials are on 23, correct? Yeah. Okay. So on page 23, you have your financial breakdown. With this division, it's actually a slight decrease. It'll be the chief, the deputy chief, our admin assistant, um, basically this, this budget right here in this division is the same as last year. There's really no changes for us. Um, nothing notable to really talk about. Um, so if you have, um, if you have any questions about this division, um, I'm here. Anso okay. To move on. Yep. Dc I'm 62. Yep. Dc's got division 62. Okay. Division 62 is our police support services, and that encompasses communications, our records, crime scene tech and victim advocate. You'll see there's roughly a, a 4.7% decrease from last year's budget. Um, we were able to do a substantial decrease in overtime, and that's due to the consolidation with Pasco county communications and becoming a secondary piece app. So our staffing needs have changed. Um, there is a slight increase in printing and binding, and that's line 4 4 7, 9 9. Um, I conducted analysis and I spread it throughout all of the departments. So that is just consistent increased costs built in there. So we wanted to provide you an accurate number with that line item. And then we had a slight increase in software and licenses and support in that division, but that is, again, spread throughout all divisions and those are just expected software increases. So other than that, there was nothing really remarkable in that division as far as changes go. So I could answer any questions. The victim advocate coordinator, that person's coordinating with the baycare facilities or how does that coordinate? She does, but are you linking the lift baycare worker that we have with her? I'm just her wondering how that com, how that, uh, compliments the lift or, or, or? Yes. They both compliment each other. They work together, yes. Is an in-house, uh, it says coordinator, so I'm just wondering. Yeah, she's our, she's a full-time employee, um, and she handles all the cases that need services, [00:40:01] Um, as far as victims go. Right. Um, and, but she also coordinates with the baycare to make sure that everything flows smoothly. If I may add to that, um, not many departments our size have a victim advocate and it really is an essential position, so I'm really proud of that. Are we good? I'll move on to 63. Okay. So division 63 is our police criminal criminal investigations division, and that is our detective division. You'll see roughly a 3.8 decrease from last year's budget. Um, you see, we, um, pretty much remain consistent with last year's costs, so if you have any questions in that division, I can answer them as well at this time, not the time. It's back to you. Okay. Um, division 64, the lion's share police patrol of this budget. Um, so division 64, if you look at it in comparison to last year's budget is flat. Um, there were some very minor increases, um, in police pension funding, and those are estimates that were given to the city by the actuaries. Um, this division, um, obviously is the largest division in the police department. Um, and our capital, uh, our capital equipment, uh, for the department is mostly housed out of this division. And that's the axon 10 year one solution plan for tasers body cameras and car cameras. Um, so patrol does does a great job for what they have. They cover the downtown beat, they cover obviously patrol operations, all the concerts at the parks. Um, they work all the off duties in the city. And by the way, when you see, um, you know, money budgeted for off-duty expenditures on the other side of the, of the general fund ledger is reimbursements through vendors. So those funds are all reimbursed back to the city. Um, but, you know, patrol is, is essential. It's the backbone of the police department. Um, they are well equipped, well trained, um, and for this division accreditation is essential. Um, all of our policies are constantly being updated to follow best practices with things that go around the country. So at, uh, you know, patrol is, uh, is, is key to this department and key to every department. So, you know, with that, if there are any questions about this division, I'm, I'm here to answer 'em just on the coding. Um, your pd 2 0 5 and there's one two, oh, we used to be 2 0 5 and 2 0 2. Are those significant meaning anything with your, so those are, that was the old pay plan. Yeah, it's pay plan, what pay plan they're on. Yeah. It's codes for the old pay plan. Correct. Thank you. Yep. Any other questions? I would like to just point out, uh, on page 37 where you have the overtime and the overtime special events and the downtown beat. Just want to suggest that of, uh, and I understand the need for overtime and I know the way that it works and I'm not complaining about the numbers that you've put in here. Um, in fact, they're pretty consistent with the amended budget for this year or maybe a little less. Um, uh, I just want to make the argument that it is so important that we have the, um, you public relations arm of your beats and your, uh, nighttime events and special events. And we've talked on the diaz about that sort of blended downtown now. So back in the old days when we had festivals in Sims Park, there was nothing going on except for at jill's and in a couple of other bars in town now, uh, with Railroad Square and the need for you to, your over your downtown beat really hasn't changed much. Um, I'm guessing, um, it's sufficient, but, um, I'm happy to have you use that over time for special events. Does that also include, um, when you go to tarpon or zephyr hills or, 'cause sometimes we have these big events, you guys are everywhere. Yes. And so, so because we go everywhere and they come everywhere, um, I'm, I'm gonna be an advocate when it gets around to our special events that we take a different look at that and not try to recover all those costs just by billing the volunteers who are putting pres presentations on. In fact, just saying it out loud, I really would like to see the city be the lead of all these events and managing those security rather than having to depend on all of that interaction and maybe make, put our nonprofits in a different position where they are truly supportive and still engaged in having some, you know, ownership over the content, but participation as a partner versus as, uh, the way [00:45:01] It has been. Because once again, the special events is only a quarter almost of the total overtime for your not nighttime beat and the special events happen at nighttime. And so I think it's reflective of the fact that it's one city that you have to manage all at the same time. So, um, you've, you've gotta figure out where to dispatch and where to put those, those, uh, resources. I'm, you know, of your profession better than I am, but this is really more of a revenue discussion to the city manager and to my colleagues to say, you know, let's, we just fund this. If you are 40,000, it's already in the special events is already in our budget and there's no really reason to move that in, kind figure over and increase it. Uh, if it's gotta be more, let's increase it. And I'm sorry to say, but, um, uh, we have so many events and there's so many other costs involved in them, uh, logistical costs, we gotta break those. We gotta pull those logistical costs down. Um, there's been talk about whether to charge fees or not. Um, I think chasco fiesta is a citywide event. It's an outdoor, uh, street parade. It's a all up and down the river boat parade and it's events that, uh, uh, even outside the city. But, um, it's becoming problematic, I think, to have losses in fear and, and reductions of quality of entertainment. Um, so I see that as enhancing events with them versus, um, trying to manage them, let them work with us and let you all set those security protocols. Once again, we had security and collecting people's bags and opening them up when we had less than a quarter of the people coming in, not allowed to bring any bags or any backpacks. And when we have city events, they're coming in with bags and backpacks and, and so I think some consistency with the security really belongs to them to tell us what we need. Um, and I think we may find that you can give us a better distribution of your, uh, employment of your, uh, forces. Just a thought, debbie, I don't know if you have any comment about that, but it seems like we're just holding on for dear life to our process, and some of us have said we really wanna talk about changing it and, and I continue to read things and hear things that, uh, indicate that we're just gonna make some tweaks here and there. So I think it's time for us to really think about security as a provision from the city. Yeah. Um, citywide. And I do think that it is appropriate for us to have a bigger conversation and we need to stage that with the council and I, and not necessarily part of this budget discussion tonight. But if you're asking the question of the chief that I think you're asking how do we pay when the officers serve in another community? No, no. I, I accept that and I think that's a right, that's a mutual aid. I approve, I approve it. Okay. In dave city, they're looking at the budget and the chief there is saying the same thing, right? And the point is, if, if I'm a finance officer there, and if I'm a city, you know, official and policy maker here, I've gotta say, you know, don't worry about it. We're gonna pay you for it and we're gonna make sure that you have the resources you need. And, and so I understand that you're going out for finding all these other dollars, but I hate to be at cross purpose, you know, at cross with you or talking to other community members who volunteer, who, who b***h about it, for lack of a better word, or complain, you know? And I think that just look at the budget. I mean, nighttime especially, you know, that's where our overtime is and needs to be. And so there were, I'm telling you, there were more people in Railroad Square sometimes than there were in the park mm-hmm . And so it just seems, you know, so my point is in the city council budget, where you keep having in kind contributions, right? That it's time to tell us, tell those events what you need in terms of money for the operation of the, uh, of the other elements because that'll be more reasonable to, to, to reimburse if that's, if those are costs. Uh, because the police budget is the, it just sticks out like a sore thumb when anybody looks at what the city is charging [00:50:01] Mm-hmm . And so I'm personally just, it's what, it's a city service, the others is an additional, and I think you can follow somebody from one place to the other more freely than having to have designated and keep track of hours and all of that stuff. It, I, I think administratively we could relieve, uh, some of that, some of that activity and leave it for out doing the police work. Personally, I don't know how anybody else feels. So just in kind of response to what you were saying, uh, in a roundabout way, I do think we need to have a bigger discussion, obviously not here, but a bigger discussion on just special events in general and how we're gonna handle security. And so I think we should have maybe a discussion about that because obviously with more places and more events, it's just gonna become more work for them. So I think we need to be conscientious of how we're gonna handle that. And I'd be in favor of scheduling something. Yeah. Let's, I said let's put something together. Yeah, we just, that'd be great. We were just growing, I mean from, you know, great preserve to francis park to, you know, Railroad Square to Sims Park, I mean grand boulevard. Yeah. If I could say for the record, being in law enforcement for a very long time, over the last couple of years, our security has tripled and become much more effective with the sheriff's department. All the partnerships we've developed. Yep. The amount of resources sheriff's department gives us is off the charts, guys. Um, so we're very proud of that. When you go to Christmas parade, when you look ka chasco, right? All these things and, you know, those accounting terms in kind, I mean the sheriff's department by far, they, they are amazing to us. Um, and we couldn't do it without 'em. Mm-hmm . So, you know, I'm very proud to watch chasco and Christmas parade and, and all the other events to include our concerts. And, and by the way, since we're accredited, we have to have operational plans for everything that we do. Mm-hmm . And it runs right up the chain of command and we think everything through. But it's always a good discussion to have. There's no doubt. And it's become increasingly important that we make sure that we have the security plans in place for every event because we see nationally the unthinkable happening at events and we have to guard and protect to a degree shoot, shooting in a kroger today, . Um, that, uh, yeah. So my request is we should probably eliminate the in kind and actually have real dollars that people have to know they're gonna pay, uh, when it comes to the expenses of renting the park or renting the band. Shell if it's a private event, and then we should look at how we deal with it. But, uh, the in kind thing is not a cash basis. And it's, uh, as it's been explained, and I pushed in the past, if, if you bill us and then you remove it from the inkind, um, there's no money changing. And so in order to balance the financials, uh, it shifts or whatever it does. So just a clean, this is the overtime, whatever you need. If it does increase, then I, I, that's one area I wouldn't push against and more staff as well, because I don't know that there's even the time that you'll come in and say, hey, I, I need a couple of people to work that beat, you know, specifically and then treat that against the overtime. 'cause overtime, real overtime increases pensions and there's, there's an unfunded liability that we receive when, uh, and in the past that had been abused before you guys were involved in it, where, uh, folks were taking turns to get their highest couple of years in so they could really, you know, retire. Yeah. Yeah. Great discussion. Shannon. Just for the record, some of the big events that we have, wait, the christopher, we cannot do it right without our partners. Yeah, it's impossible. Yeah. So you wanna go on to code? Thank, thanks for that segue. We, yes, we can we move on? Yeah. Code. Alright. I like, I get code enforcement and you get 67 as well. All right. Um, just finish it up. So code enforcement, um, you know, like, like we said during, um, code enforcement officers appreciation week, um, we have a very professional code enforcement division of, of the vast majority of all the cases that these folks work, you never, you never hear a word about 'em, you never hear one peep about the vast majority of the cases we work. It's, it's the select few that you hear. And, and, and like I said, a lot of those folks, not all of them of course, and we're not perfect, but a lot of those folks won't take ownership of their violations, nor will they work with us. Um, so code enforcement, um, sl increases, um, some of the things that we do, we pay [00:55:01] For animal control services outta code enforcement. Um, we pay for the nice program, we pay for other programs. Um, we pay obviously for the division, for the code officers, for the, for the code clerk, although she's in special traffic enforcement. But this division, um, is adequately funded for what we do. Um, there is a lot of work to be done in this city through code enforcement and every day they go out there, um, and they do their job. Um, so, you know, with that said, it's really not a big division, um, expenditure wise, but, uh, especially when you look at animal control services, which is, you know, the city manager and I have had this discussion is the best practice to let the county handle this. Uh, it's a smart move to farm that out. Um, but you know, that's $156,000 and that's what they charge, but they're here all the time, um, you know, for animal complaints, which, you know, which are a problem. So, uh, you know, with that said, I'm, I'm hearing any questions or answer any questions that you may have on this division for the professionals. It's, it's good to bring the professionals in. The automobile lease is only 15,000 a year. Is that because, is is that because you have some owned vehicles regard yes. Financial owned, so yeah, there's some of the older yes, correct. I believe that's two lease. Yeah. Some of the older vehicles they're owned and vehicles just like one vehicle or two? Probably two. It's probably two, yeah. Yes. Um, special traffic enforcement. Okay, moving on. So that is, that is the final division, um, that is division 67. So special traffic enforcement, um, is our, is our code clerk, our traffic infraction enforcement officer. Um, obviously they run the red light camera program, but now as you know, um, this division, um, is gonna get interesting and, and in partnership with the city manager's office, we're trying to figure out, you know, how we build out because now we have, uh, red speed that we've contracted with for red light cameras and for the school zone cameras. So that is going to, um, that is going based on the experience that we've seen in sarasota and other, um, jurisdictions that have school zone speed cameras. Um, this is gonna really increase the workload on this division exponentially. So we're working on all that right now. But right now the budget that we have before you is flat from last year. Um, the division's pretty straightforward, um, you know, but again, um, working with the city marriages office, we may be making some revisions to this division as we build out these programs. So I'm here gonna answer any questions we may have on this division. Moving on. That's it. That's it. That's it. That does conclude our presentation of the budgets for you this evening. And, and unless are further questions or topics that you want to cover with us this evening, communication, anybody? I save mine. Thank you. Good. Thank you. I'm good. Thank you. Job. Great job. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.

   Original caption was ALL CAPS; this page lowercases and capitalizes sentence starts. Names from the meeting’s entity index are restored. For exact wording, consult the video or the city clerk.