The Tallahassee City Commission and the Leon County Commission recently held budget workshops related to the 2023 budget process. The workshops are designed to inform elected officials and the public about local government finances and to seek input related to the challenges and opportunities based on the projected revenues and expenses for the upcoming year.
The City of Tallahassee
At the June 8 City Commission workshop officials addressed the projected general fund deficit of approximately $4 million in fiscal year 2023 (FY23). The FY23 general fund expenses are estimated to be $183.9 million with $179.9 in revenues. The $4 million deficit is driven by a $7.5 million increase in personnel costs.
In order to address deficit, staff proposed a 10% reduction ($445,300) in road resurfacing expenditures and a 20% reduction ($120,400) in sidewalk capital expenditures in FY23.
Staff also estimated that property tax revenue will be approximately $1.92 million over the prior estimate due to the increase in property values. In addition, staff recommended a delay in filling existing vacancies which will reduce budgeted personnel costs by approximately $540,275.
With these items, staff estimated the FY23 deficit would be reduced to approximately $619,000.
There were no binding votes taken by the city commission at the workshop. Final decisions will be made in the coming months.
Leon County
At the Leon County workshop, the Board of County Commissioners unanimously voted to balance the County’s preliminary budget without raising the millage rate. The proposed FY23 budget totals $316.2 million which is an increase of 7.5% from last year’s budget.
FY23 revenues are expected to increase by $22 million, with $14.3 million coming from an increase in property tax revenues. Preliminary property values provided by the Property Appraiser’s Office on June 1 indicate property values will increase by 9.24%.
The change in FY23 expenses totals $22.1 million with “Sheriff Personnel and Operating Expenses” increasing by $7,695,149. This increase includes the implementation of a new compensation plan to be completed over the next two fiscal years. The pay plan will accomplish competitive pay adjustments between Detention and Law Enforcement as well as increase the starting pay for sworn staff to $50,000. The estimated cost to implement part one of the pay plan and other personnel related increases (on-call pay, healthcare, retirement, work comp, etc.) in FY 2023 is $4.8 million.
In addition, the Sheriff’s contractual services increased over $1.8 million largely due to the increased cost of providing inmate medical, dental, and mental health services.
Other increases in expenses include “County Government Personnel Costs” up by $3,629,768 and Fuel and Vehicle Repair” up by $1,002,880.
City & County Provide Preview of 2023 Budgets added by Steve Stewart on
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It’s my understanding that the FY2022-2023 budget for the city was approved and became effective October 1, 2022. The $7.5 million increase in personnel costs were included in the approved budget. Has anyone seen details regarding this. Were employees given an across the board percentage increase, as in past years? I’ll seen zero details in the media about this. I believe last year it was a 4.5%.
Yes, everyone is on to Dailey and Bellamy. There are candidates coming out in full force who are new and fresh educated and not connected to special interests. Citizens have had enough of the corruption.
It appears Dailey and Bellamy are using a source called 4tlh funded with questionable ties to the Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce and the CSC.
It is spewing propaganda propping up the city manager’s questionable raises for certain employees and writing propaganda attempting to make Dailey look like he has followed growth management responsibly when yet he doesn’t follow it at all and bows to special interests causing an environmental nightmare…Welaunee for one.
It is not looking good for Mayor Dailey or Bellamy — citizens are on to them!
And again latest PR propaganda conduit is for 4 tlh where the funding sources are questionable if not illegal.
So a $60k raise for John Dailey’s aide for a nonsense position, bonding and finance costs for the Doak stadium giveaway, and less funding for road and sidewalk, the stuff local governments are actually meant for.
No wonder Dailey and his pal Bellamy are loading up so much special interest money. They’ll need it to distract from their records and Scott Maddox connections.
THIS is what really pisses me off with our Local Governments, especially Leon County Commission. I have always said, you have to look 5, 10 and even 20 Years into the Future on what you are doing, on Projects and on Developments. I saw that Property Values would be going up because the cost of Housing was rising thanks to all these Communities being built with Homes starting in the $250K Range and up so, tell ME why you felt the need to raise our Property Taxes last year for the CSC when even I saw you didn’t need to.
Local voters public information announcement:
Most of you have strong feelings regarding being publicly percieved as a Democrat in the Tallahassee/ Leon County area. And many with very good reason.
Say for example you aspire to obtain or even keep a job at COT, FSU, TCC, LCSB, STATE,
COUNTY or anywhere for that matter in this woke leftist island of blue in a sea of the common sense conservative voting area of the Florida Panhandle. Your party affilitation is just a few online clicks away for decision makers in hireing, promotions, and who to select to lay off when that time comes at :
flvoterrecords.com and some other reliable websites. Go online and see for yourself.
Yes it matters and for the backbone government workers in Leon County it matters a lot. My advice is to stay registered as a Democrat for your own good and your family you provide for. Probley you should avoid dressing like conservatives at work and posting anything online to suggest you are conservative in any way.
The above things will be checked by ALL woke hiring managers, supervisers, department heads, ect…ect…ect.
But they will not [at this time] actually know HOW you voted. Sure you will have only limited oppurtunity to even have a conservative choice in local races. But when you do is when it really matters. Like in the final POTUS vote, the final Govorners vote, ect.
By remaining perceived as a Democrat in all the serchable databases you can make a great life here for you and your family. By regestering Republican, having a NRA sticker on your vehicle, talking politics at work, ect…you paint a big target on you and your families ability to be successful here in this woke City and County.
Most of Y’all are smart and already figgured what I am telling you out. Good for you! But for you hard headed Rebels out there who’s carreers are stuck in a rut or find yourself bouncing from job to job…its simple change your registaration to Democrat…but vote conservative each time you can. You cant change the local system but adapting is easy without compamising your honesty or conservative values.
It would be great to publicly display your flaming conservative values here in Leon County. It would feel so good too. However take into account your carrer, your retirement potential, your loved ones you provide for. All that should be considered before you publicly hang yourself on a conservative cross. You live in Leon County and the woke establishment can and will make you pay for it.
The takeaway here is Mayor Failey has put the City in a deficit. A very important nugget of information for voters.
DAILEY = DEFICIT
I told you this would happen. Your property taxes are going to rise because the commissioners have/had NO Vision about the future. I told you increased fuel costs would cause a budget problem. A 22 million dollar increase in FY23 budget, duh! The cost of the electric buses is 22 million.
No mention of the extreme rise in black crime in the community. The past few days we have seen two random drive by shootings. The shootings continue along Adams St and Monroe. All coming from the black community.
Today, 6/28, the first 35 minutes of Fox49 reported on black crime committed in our community. Two nights in a row, armed home intruders, all black, broke into homes in Gadsden County. It is even worse in Atlanta where a black man shot two Subway employees because his sandwich was made wrong…no mayo.
What can we expect, Tally’s Police chief will continue giving out civil citations to criminals under the age of 18. Neither the Chief of Police or the Leon Co Sheriff will get tough on crime. Our local politicians will continue “income redistribution” to the black community in order to “lift them up”.
I cannot get it posted, but google South Carolina Congresswoman Krystle Matthews telephone call to a black prison inmate and see the honest side of her. No one has any legitimate ideas or intensions of doing anything about the black community’s crime problem. And neither does the black community. Crime has become a way of life. Human life has no value and anything of yours they will take just because they want it.
The future of Tallahassee will continue to see more and more black crime, higher property taxes and the continued waste of taxpayer dollars. And now you know why home sales are going flat.