2003-25300 ResoRESOLUTION NO. 2003-25300
A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION
OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, SETTING THE
PROPOSED MILLAGE RATES FOR FISCAL YEAR (FY)
2003~04, THE CALCULATED "ROLLED-BACK" RATE, AND
THE DATE, TIME, AND PLACE OF THE FIRST PUBLIC
HEARING; FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER
TO TRANSMIT THIS INFORMATION TO THE MIAMI-DADE
COUNTY PROPERTY APPRAISER IN THE FORM
REQUIRED BY SECTION 200.065, FLORIDA STATUTES
WHEREAS, Section 200.065, Florida Statutes, has specified the method by which
municipalities may fix the millage rate and adopt an annual budget; and
WHEREAS, the City of Miami Beach is required to advise the Miami-Dade County
Property Appraiser of the Proposed Millage Rates, the "Rolled-Back" Rate, and the date,
time, and place of the first public hearing.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT DULY RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND THE CITY
COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, that the following
recommendations of the Administration be and are hereby ratified for transmittal to the
Miami- Dade County Property Appraiser, as specified in Section 200.065, Florida Statutes:
1) Proposed Millage Rates for FY 2003/04
General Operating
Debt Service
7.299 mills
0.874 mills
8.173 mills
2) "Rolled-Back" Rate 6.527 mills
3)
The first public hearing on the proposed millage rate and the tentative budget for FY
2003/04 shall be held on Thursday, September 4, 2003 at 5:01 P.M., in the City
Commission Chambers, City Hall, 1700 Conven/t~
Florida.
PASSED and ADOPTED, this 30t___bh day of ~.~, 20q
/ /
I -" v - ~ FORM & LANGUAGE
CITY CLERK & FOP,.F~.ECUTION
Cent/~r Drive, Miami Beach,
MAYOR
CITY OF MIAMI BEACH
CITY HALL 1700 CONVENTION CENTER DRIVE MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA 33139
http:\\ci.miami-beach.fi.us
COMMISSION MEMORANDUM NO.
TO:
Mayor David Dermer and
Members of the City Commission
DATE: July 30, 2003
FROM:
SUBJECT:
Jorge M. Gonzalez~ ,~,~v~/
City Manager , ~[2'/'~ ,.,. ~
A RESOLUT.O. OF T.E MAYOR A.D C,W COMM,SS,O. OF THE
CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA SETTING 1) THE PROPOSED
OPERATING MILLAGE RATE; 2) THE REQUIRED DEBT SERVICE
MILLAGE RATE; 3) THE CALCULATED "ROLLED-BACK" RATE;
AND, 4) THE DATE, TIME, AND PLACE OF THE FIRST PUBLIC
HEARING TO CONSIDER THE MILLAGE RATES AND BUDGETS FOR
FISCAL YEAR (FY) 2003/04; FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE CITY
MANAGER TO TRANSMIT THIS INFORMATION TO THE MIAMI-DADE
COUNTY PROPERTY APPRAISER IN THE FORM REQUIRED BY
SECTION 200.065, FLORIDA STATUTES.
SUMMARY
The Administration is recommending the City's operating millage rate at the current rate
of 7.299, and has calculated a decrease of 0.149 in the current debt service millage
rate of 1.023 to 0.874. Although the overall millage will decrease (0.149), due to
increases in assessed value there will be a net increase of $13.15 in the amount of
taxes that the average residential homeowner will pay to the City in the coming fiscal
year. The School Board has announced a decrease and while the County has
announced no overall increase in their property tax rate, (except that due to increases
in assessed values) they have added the amount of the reduction in debt service
millage to their general operating millage. The combined impact on the average
homeowner in Miami Beach will be an increase of $66.21. The Administration has also
considered the millage adjustment methodology implemented by the County, which is
discussed later in this memo under the caption "Millage for Maintenance."
ADMINISTRATION RECOMMENDATION
The Administration recommends that the Mayor and City Commission adopt the
attached resolution which authorizes the City Manager to transmit the following
information to the Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser:
Agenda Item Date
FY 2003/04 Proposed Millage Rate
July 30, 2003
Page 2
1) Proposed Millage Rates for FY 2003/04:
General Operating 7.299 mills (7.299 last year)
Debt Service 0.874 mills (.1.023 last year)
8.173 mills (8.322 last year)
2) "Rolled-Back" Rate (Truth in Millage)
6.527 mills
3) The first public hearing to consider the proposed millage rates and
tentative budgets for FY 2003/04 shall be at 5:01 p.m., Thursday,
September 4, 2003 in the City Commission Chambers, City Hall, 1700
Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, Florida.
DECISION-MAKING PROCESS
The budget development process has included participation from within and from outside
City Hall. An economic overview was presented to the Finance and Citywide Projects
Committee on April 21 st and Commission Budget Briefings were held on July 18th, July 22®
and July 24th to inform the Commission and the citizens of preliminary General Fund
revenue projections and department expenditure requests for FY 2003/04.
The Budget Advisory Committee (BAC) reviewed the proposed budgets of all major
departments and offered comments and suggestions throughout the process. The
Administration will make a presentation today for the purpose of informing both you and the
citizens about the status of the proposed budget which will include an overview of the
budgets for General Fund, Enterprise Funds, Resort Tax Fund and the Internal Service
Funds. In addition, we will provide information on both enhanced services and service level
reductions..
Maintaining the basic service level into FY 2003/04 will translate into a total operating
budget (net of RDA) of $152,362,436 which is $8,371,322 or 5.8% greater than the
adopted budget of $143,991,114 ( net of RDA).
This proposed General Fund budget includes new or increased services in the net amount
of $1.2 million.
In the Police Department, several enhancements are being proposed. To increase police
visibility on the streets and promote stronger community partnerships, several officers will
be reassigned to proactive uniform patrol positions throughout the City. One sergeant and
four officers have been reassigned from the Criminal Investigations Division, Special
Investigations Squad. This transfer will not eliminate the services currently provided, but
will enhance specialized field operations. Two officers have also been reassigned from the
School Resoume Office to assume uniform patrol duties. Their duties as police liaisons to
the schools will be assumed by two retired police officers who will be contracted to provide
a continued presence in the schools. One sergeant from the Support Services Division will
FY 2003/04 Proposed Millage Rate
July 30, 2003
Page 3
be reassigned to uniform patrol. In addition, fifteen new sworn officers will be hired for the
two Redevelopment Areas within Miami Beach as part of our continued community policing
initiatives. These efforts will result in a total of twenty three additional sworn uniform
officers for the Patrol Division.
The Parks and Recreation Department will undergo a reorganization that will enable the
department to be much more responsive and accountable for quality recreation services. A
key component of this reorganization is the creation of designated facility managers who
will have the responsibility for the management and the offering of services in their
respective facilities. The larger City facilities, including the new North Shore Park and
Youth Center, the expanded Scott Rakow Youth Center and Flamingo Park will each have
their own manager. Each of the facilities will also have additional resources to deliver the
services desired and requested by our citizens. The North Shore Park and Youth Center,
Normandy Isle Park and Pool and the expanded Scott Rakow Youth Center, will receive
approximately $1.1 million in staff and resources to open and operate under our new
structure and service levels. Programming at Fairway, Tatum and Normandy Shores Parks
will be eliminated and those resources will be used for the newer expanded facilities.
These parks will be used for athletic programs, open field play, and as satellite facilities
when needed to accommodate program volume needs from the newer facilities in North
Beach. These closings are a conscious effort by the department to effectively manage
their resources and provide quality programming throughout the City.
The City's Beach Patrol will be supplemented by a new Park Ranger program which will
provide additional security and monitoring of our parks and beaches, improved customer
service and enhanced public safety. This program will deploy 11 full-time Park Rangers
throughout our parks and beaches and two part-time Park Rangers to provide support and
relief. These enhancements are being funded through our community policing program
from the Redevelopment Agency and with reallocated security funds from Parks and
Recreation. As a result of thisprogram, it is recommended that the City close two lifeguard
towers located on 81st and 83ra Streets and shift remaining area lifeguard towers located on
77th, 79th, and
85th Streets to provide coverage in the North Shore Open Space Park. It is
also recommended that the Beach Patrol shifts be reduced from ten hours to eight hours
during nine months of the year and that temporary lifeguard positions be reduced.
The Public Works Department will also undergo a reorganization that will streamline the
department and the services it provides. As a result, several enhancements are proposed.
The Sanitation Division has consolidated litter routes allowing savings to fund two crews
that will be dedicated to the operation of the new MadVac XL 600's and replace hand-
sweeping crews in residential areas. Mechanization of this function will increase the
frequency in these residential areas and allow the Division to reassign hand-sweeping
crews to areas currently being cleaned on an as needed basis. This service enhancement
continues to make the Division more proactive to litter control around the City. Additional
savings will be used to fund the South Beach Service Team Superintendent position; who
will act as a link between the business owners and the City of Miami Beach Departments.
This enhancement is a vital part of the City's vision to consolidate the customer service
FY 2003/04 Proposed Millage Rate
July 30, 2003
Page 4
core, to restructure the organization to include a middle management layer and ensure the
success of the Sanitation, South Beach Service Team.
Additional enhancements in this department include the creation of an additional streetlight
maintenance crew to maintain the newly constructed capital projects and provide adequate
maintenance and repair of citywide lighting; the establishment of a waterway maintenance
program that will address erosion, debris, seawalls and docks; increasing the stormwater
drainage system cleaning capability through the use of additional contractual services;
continuing the development of an Infrastructure Management System which will integrate
all the maintenance efforts within the various divisions of Public Works Department into a
centralized maintenance management system; and continuing the development of a City
Geographic Information System (GIS) which would provide a detailed layered presentation
of all maintenance, construction and infrastructure.
In the Building Department, one Senior Building Inspector has been added to enhance our
Building Code Compliance program on a proactive basis. In the Planning Department, and
one additional Planner and an Office Associate III have been funded to staff the
concurrency function that is being transferred from the Public Works Department.
Additionally, a Code Compliance officer is being added to provide expanded community
interaction in the areas of occupational license, certificate of use and resort tax.
An enhancement in the City Clerk's Office will provide full funding of the Secondary Audio
Program (SAP) in Spanish which will provide better communication with our Spanish-
speaking residents through the live translation of City Commission meetings and various
other City meetings on the City's government-access cable channel 20.
STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS
FS 200.065, entitled "Method of Fixing Millage" establishes specific guidelines that must
be used by all local government entities in setting millage (property tax) rates. Under the
statute, the City is required, within 35 days of receipt of the "Certification of Taxable Value"
(received July 1, 2003), to advise the Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser of the
proposed general operating millage rate, the calculated"rolled-back" rate and the date,
time, and place of the first public hearing to consider the proposed millage rates and
tentative budgets for FY 2003/04. The required Debt Service millage rate must also be set
at the same time.
After setting the proposed operating millage rate, the Commission may, at any time
prior to the final adoption, lower the rates by adjusting priorities. Increasing the
millage rate may only be accomplished by an expensive mailing and advertising
process to every property owner on Miami Beach.
FY 2003/04 Proposed Millage Rate
July 30, 2003
Page 5
ANALYSIS OF PROPERTY VALUES IN MIAMI BEACH
On July 1, 2003, the City received the "2003 Certification of Taxable Value" from the
Property Appraiser's Office stating that the taxable value for the City of Miami Beach is
$12,094,161,830, including $483,118,130 in new construction, which is the largest
increase this City has experienced in its recent history.
The preliminary 2003 value represents an increase of 16.5 percent over 2002's final value
of $10,382,919,209. Alternately, the increase is 14.5 pement over 2002's preliminary value
of $10,560,066,688. The difference of $177,147,479 between 2002's preliminary and final
values represents the equalization loss of less than 1.7 percent due to appeals, etc.
The comparative assessed values for the Miami Beach Redevelopment Agency South
Pointe redevelopment district increased by $386,913,776 or 42.0 percent from
$920,742,376 to $1,307,656,152. The assessed values in the City Center redevelopment
district increased by $138,828,548 or 10.2 percent from $1,359,799,118 to
$1,498,627,666.
DETERMINING THE OPERATING MILLAGE LEVY
The first building block in developing a municipal budget is the establishment of the vaiue
of one mill of taxation, wherein the mill is defined as $1.00 of ad valorem tax for each
$1,000 of property value. For the City of Miami Beach, this value is determined by the
2003 Certification of Taxable Value and has been set at $12,094,161,830. Florida Statutes
permit a discount of up to five percent for early payment discounts, delinquencies, etc. For
the City of Miami Beach, the discount utilized is 3.5 percent. Therefore, the 96.5 percent
value of the mill is $11,670,866.
Preliminary budget estimates reveal that the current millage rate of 7.299 mills will be
sufficient to fund a current, basic service level as it presently exists, and selected service
enhancements, into the next year.
The proposed millage rate of 7.299 mills will generate ad valorem tax revenues of
$85,185,650 (of which $17,016,674 will be transferred to the Redevelopment Agencies) for
a net revenue total of $68,168,976 in the General Fund. The total amount is $10,805,446
more than the prior year levy of $74,380,204 reflecting a 14.5 % increase. The net General
Fund ad valorem budget has increased $7,118,062 (11.7%) from $61,050,914 to
$68,168,976.
DETERMINING THE DEBT SERVICE MILLAGE LEVY
The debt service payment for FY 2003/04 is $10,200,337 and requires a tax rate of 0.874
mills. This rate is 0.149 mills, or fourteen and six tenths percent (14.6%) less than the FY
2002/03 rate of 1.023 mills. This rate includes the debt service of $62,465,000 of General
Obligation Bonds which were sold and closed during July 2003. These bonds represent the
FY 2003/04 Proposed Millage Rate
July 30, 2003
Page 6
final issue of the $92,465,000 of bonds authorized by the voters in November 1999,
completing this authorization.
COMBINING THE OPERATING AND DEBT SERVICE MILLAGE LEVIES
Illustrated below is a comparison of the combined millage rates and ad valorem revenues
to the City of Miami Beach for FY 2002/03 (final) and FY 2003/04 (preliminary).
Tax Rate Tax Levy
FY 02/03 FY 03/04 Inc/(Dec) FY 02/03 FY 03/04 Inc/(Dec)
General Operating 7.299 7.299 0.000 $73,132,455 $85,185,650 $12,053,195
Debt Service 1.023 0.874 (0.149} 10.249.966 10,200,337 (49,629)
TOTAL 8.322 8.173 (0.149) $83,382,421 $95,385,987 $12,003,568
If these recommended millage rates are tentatively adopted, then the combined tax rate will
decrease by 0.149 mills, or 1.79% less than the current year. The operating millage will
remain constant, and debt service millage will decrease by 0.149 mills, or 14.6 pement.
OPPORTUNITY TO ESTABLISH A MILLAGE FOR MAINTENANCE
For the upcoming FY 2003/04 the City has an opportunity to establish a restricted account
for the maintenance of City parks, streets, sidewalks, buildings and other facilities. This
concept is in response to concerns expressed by our citizens throughout the development
and implementation of our Capital Improvement Program and the Administration's desire to
maintain the City in a "world class" manner. This opportunity would result in a restricted
amount for FY 2003/04 of approximately $1.4 million to be used exclusively to provide for
additional infrastructure maintenance over and above the $13.1 million already included in
the City's Proposed FY 2003/04 Budget.
The funding of this restricted account could be accomplished by adding the amount of the
FY 2003/04 Debt Service Millage reduction (1.023 - 0.874 = 0.149 mills) to the FY 2003/04
General Operating Millage (7.299 + 0.149 = 7.448). Therefore, the Total City millage would
not increase but would remain at 8.322 as it was in FY 2002/03. City property owners
would pay the same total tax millage for FY2003/04 as they did in FY 2002/03. The chart
below illustrates the "Millage for Maintenance" concept.
"Millage for Maintenance"
Tax Levy
FY 02/03 FY 03/04 Incl(Dec)
General Operating 7.299 7.448 0.149
Debt Service 1.023 0.874 (0.149)
TOTAL 8.322 8.322 (0.000)
FY 2003/04 Proposed Millage Rate
July 30, 2003
Page 7
As assessed values in the City continue to rise over the upcoming years, the cost of debt
service on outstanding general obligation bonds will be spread overa larger value resulting
in a decrease in debt service millage each year. If the City were to continue this process,
thereby, adding the decrease in debt service millage each year to the general operating
millage until the amount of the millage associated with maintenance reached 0.5 mills, it
would generate (based on today's value of a mill) a minimum of $4.6 million for additional
infrastructure maintenance each year.
COMBINING JURISDICTIONAL OPERATING AND DEBT SERVICE MILLAGE LEVIES
City of Miami Beach property owners must also pay property taxes to Miami-Dade County,
the Miami-Dade County School Board, the South Florida Water Management District, and
the Florida Inland Navigation District. In FY 02/03, the Miami Beach portion of the total tax
bill was 33.2 percent. The recommended millage rates for FY 2003/04 will place the
Miami Beach portion of the tax bill at 32.99 percent based on tax rates announced by
other jurisdictions.
Revised FY 2003/04 tax rates may be considered by Miami-Dade County on September 3,
2003. The countywide tax rate will increase to 5.994 mills; the County's debt service will
decrease to 0.285 mills. The Library District has announced that the millage will remain at
0.486 mills. While it is not possible to determine the exact amount returned in
additional services, it should be noted that Miami-Dade County returned $10,788,150
during FY 2002/03 in tax-increment funds for the Redevelopment Agency and its two tax-
increment districts.
The Miami-Dade County School Board is scheduled to discuss its final tax rate on
September 10, 2003 but has tentatively announced a rate of 9.100 mills; a decrease of
0.152 mills.
The South Florida Water Management District has proposed no increase from the current
rate of 0.697 mills. The South Florida Inland Navigation District has proposed no increase
from the current rate of 0.039 mills.
Illustrated in the following chart are the current and proposed tax rates for the multiple
taxing authorities.
FY 2003/04 Proposed Millage Rate
July 30, 2003
Page 8
Adopted Proposed % % of
FY 02~03 FY 03/04 Inc/(Dec) Change Total
Miami Beach
General Operating 7.299 7.299 0.000 0.00 32.99
Debt Sen/ice 1.023 0.874 (0.149) (14.57)
Miami-Dade County
Countywide Operating 5.889 5.964 0.105 1.78 27.31
Library 0.486 0.486 0.000 0.00
Debt Service 0.390 0.285 (0.105) (26.92)
School Board 9.252 9.100 (0.152) (1.64)
36.73
Other 0.736 0.736 (0.000) (0.00)
2.97
Totals 25.075 24.774 (0.301) (1.20) 100.00
COMBINED MILLAGE LEVY IMPACT ON THE HOMEOWNER
Amendment 10 to the State Constitution took effect on January 1, 1995 and limited the
increase in assessed value of homesteaded property to the percentage increase in the
consumer price index (CPI) or three percent (3%), whichever is less. For 2003, the CPI
has been determined to be 2.4 percent and therefore, the increase is capped at 2.4% for
increased values as of January 1,2003. The $25,000 homestead exemption is applied
after the increase in value as follows: assuming that the average residential property in
Miami Beach was valued at $200,000, that value is increased by the 2.4% to a new value
of $204,800. The homestead exemption of $25,000 is then deducted, yielding a taxable
value of $179,800.
Using the proposed tax rates, that value is then taxed as follows:
Proposed Millage for
Taxing Millage Maintenance
Jurisdiction @ 7.299 @ 7.448
0.874 0.874
8.173 8.322
Miami Beach $13.15 $39.94
Miami-Dade County 32.46 32.46
School Board 17.08 17.08
Other 3.52 3.52
Totals $66.21 $ 93.00
At the combined proposed millage rate of 8.173, the total dollars for both operating and
debt service paid to the City when compared to the prior year's taxable value of $200,000
and 8.322 millage rate, would increase by $13.15. The overall taxes would increase by
$66.21. This, of course, assumes that the other taxing jurisdictions adopt these millages.
FY 2003/04 Proposed Millage Rate
July 30, 2003
Page 9
For illustrative purposes, under the previously discussed "Millage for Maintenance" concept
at the combined millage rate of 8.322, the total dollars for both operating and debt service
paid to the City when compared to the prior year's taxable value of $200,000 and the FY
2002/03 8.322 millage rate, would increase by an additional $26.79.
BUDGET RECOMMENDATION
The Administration recommends that you adopt the operating millage rate of 7.299 mills
and 0.874 mills for debt service, which will maintain current basic service levels, fund
operational costs for projects as they come on-line, and fund enhanced service levels as
possible. In addition, you may select any millage rate up to the constitutional cap of 10
mills.
FIRST PUBLIC HEARING
The first public hearing on the proposed millage rates and tentative budgets for Fiscal Year
2003/04 must be held no later than 80 days (September 18th) or earlier than 65 days
(September 3rd) from the start of the TRIM ("Truth In Millage") calendar (July 1st). Other
guidelines ars: 1) the public hearing cannot be scheduled on a Sunday or on those days
utilized by Miami-Dade County or the Miami-Dade County School Board for their public
hearings; and 2) if on a day other than Saturday, the public hearing must be after 5:00 P.M.
Based on these guidelines, the first hearing must be held between September 3rd and
September 18th. These dates are unavailable for the following rsasons:
September 7 & 14
September 3 and 17
September 10
Sundays
Miami-Dade County Public Hearings
Miami-Dade County School Board Public Hearing
Of the remaining days, it is recommended that the first public hearing be set for 5:01 P.M.,
Thursday, September 4, 2003 in the City Commission Chambers, City Hall, 1700
Convention Center Drive.
I wish to take this opportunity to thank the Office of Management and Budget, the Finance
Department, the Department Directors, Assistant City Managers, and all City personnel
who worked so diligently on this budget. The Administration looks forward to continued
assistance from the Budget Advisory Committee, the City Boards and Committees, and
community groups upon release of the Proposed Budget and at the public hearings to be
held in September.
JMG:PDW:JC