City of Belle Glade Office of the City Manager Tel: 561-992-1601 Fax: 561-992-2221 City Hall Complex 110 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard West Belle Glade, FL 33430-3900 www.belleglade-fl.com Commissioners Steve B. Wilson, Mayor Mary Ross Wilkerson, Vice Mayor Michael C. Martin, Treasurer Gwendolyn J.L. Asia-Holley William A. Grear, Jr Lomax Harrelle City Manager September 26, 2011 To the Honorable Mayor and City Commission: It is with great pleasure that I present the Adopted Fiscal Year 2011-2012 Budget. This document is in compliance with the Charter of the City of Belle Glade and applicable State and Federal requirements. Copies of the Adopted Budget are available for inspection at the City Clerk s office and on the city website. BUDGET PROCESS Methodology The preparation and adoption of the Annual Budget is one of the most important actions carried out by the City Commission, citizens and staff of the City of Belle Glade. To achieve the best results in the planning and delivery of community services, key financial decisions must be made. The budget process provides a forum to accumulate financial and performance information concerning local services into a common format; analyze the merits of each service; and make decisions about the level and cost of service which will be provided. The budget is designed to provide the citizens of Belle Glade with an overview of municipal services available. This budget aims at providing the highest quality of municipal service to the community in an efficient and effective manner given our limited financial resources.. Review Budget preparations begin in April with each department submitting an outline of functions and goals to accomplish in the coming fiscal year. Then they prepare a detailed estimate of monies and personnel required to provide these services. These requests are reviewed by the City Manager and the Finance Director. Upon completion of this review and matching with the projected revenues available, the budget is compiled by the Finance Department. During the month of August, the City Manager submitted the proposed budget to the City Commission. The City Commission reviewed the proposed budget and conducted public workshops to obtain preliminary direction as to the probable approval levels of the budget. Adoption During the month of September, in accordance with the timing specified in State Law (F.S. 200.065) two public hearings are held. The time and date of the first public hearing is advertised on the Notice of Proposed Property Taxes sent to the property owners by the Property Appraiser.
The first meeting is to tentatively adopt the budget and millage rate. For the second hearing, in addition to normal advertising procedure, a general summary of the proposed budget is advertised in the newspaper along with a date and time for the statutory public hearing to adopt the budget and millage rate. Public Participation The public is invited and encouraged to attend and participate in all work sessions and public hearings. Two public hearings on the budget were held on September 12, 2011 at 5:45 pm and September 26, 2011 at 5:15 pm. BUDGET OVERVIEW The Adopted Budget is based on the adopted millage rate of 6.5419 mills, which is more than the rolledback rate of 6.5206 by 0.33 percent. The total Adopted Budget is $14,234,450 for fiscal year 2011-2012. It is a comprehensive budget including operating and capital budgets. While this budget provides a plan for maintaining most basic services at current levels, there is a reduction in capital projects from the prior year. FUND HIGHLIGHTS General Fund Total Revenues are projected to be $9,445,910, which includes transfers in from the Water and Sewer Fund and Garbage/Solid Waste Fund (enterprise funds). General Fund revenues are budgeted to cover all General Fund expenditures. Community Revitalization Agency (CRA) Fund Expenditures and revenues are projected to be $10,103. Funding is based upon the tax increment which will be received from the City of Belle Glade and Palm Beach County. General Capital Outlay Capital Projects are budgeted at $220,220. Carryover funds of $82,720 reserved for capital projects and grant funding from state government assist the City of Belle Glade in completing predetermined projects for fiscal year 2011-2012 budget. Stormwater Utility Fund Total projects, expenditures and reserves are budgeted to be $872,812 for fiscal year 2011-2012. The budget includes $359,813 in operating expenses and $512,999 in reserves for capital projects. Garbage and Solid Waste Fund Expenditures are expected to be $2,399,800, which includes transfers out to the General Fund in the amount of $262,090 and transfer to reserves for future capital equipment purchases of $100,000.
Water and Sewer Fund Effective October 1, 2009 the responsibility for water and sewer was transferred from the City of Belle Glade to the Glades Utility Authority (GUA). The Water & Sewer Fund budget for fiscal year 2011-2012 is $951,330 which includes a transfer to the General Fund in the amount of $856,052. Marina Fund The budget for fiscal year 2011-2012 is $260,644 and $228,770 of that amount is for Marina capital improvements carried over from Fiscal Year 2011. It should be noted that effective April 1, 2009 the Marina Campground operations were taken over by a private company. Community Revitalizing Initiative Program (CRIP) Fund Expenditures are projected to be $73,631. Revenues to cover expenditures are received from interest on monies granted from the State of Florida and transfer from reserves in the amount of $55,631. CONCLUSION I am proud to present the fiscal year 2011-2012 Adopted Budget. I am hopeful that this budget will serve as a financial tool for the City Commission and our community when discussing our municipal economy. The City continues to cope with declining property values and decreasing revenue sources available to fund the municipal budget. This challenge will affect the City s future financial planning efforts. The Commission should keep this in mind as you deliberate the budget. Our financial flexibility has been severely limited and the budget process will become increasingly challenging, especially in light of public demands. Finally, I would like to thank the Finance staff for the long hours and hard work they devoted to the preparation of this document. Thanks also to the City s department heads and their key staff for their contributions to the budget process. Belle Glade is truly fortunate to have such a professional and dedicated management team. Respectfully Submitted, Lomax Harrelle City Manager