City Budget Discussions Continue

Marco Island city staff met with city council to continue discussions on the 2022-2023 budget. This time, their discussions revolved around the plans for capital spending that staff presented for the next budget cycle.

City Finance Director Gil Polanco gave an overview of how staff proposed to fund the capital costs. Once again, they looked at funding the bulk of capital projects by utilizing the budget surplus from 2021-2022 that was created through savings over the last year, and the use of reserves. The funding proposal follows the same criteria used over the last few years, plus funds derived from successful grant applications.

According to Polanco, the city likes to carry approximately $10 million in operating/emergency reserves. Answering an inquiry by Councilor Rich Blonna, Polanco advised that the city presently carries close to $12 million in that fund.

Should council follow the finance director’s recommendations, $11 million would be left in reserves at the end of the 2021-2022 budget year, and approval of the capital plans for 2022-2023.

Police Chief Tracy Frazzano was the first to address council, requesting the purchase of a second “Speed Trailer” to supplement the one purchased last year. She advised that the police department has seen the “educational benefit” to drivers regarding their driving habits and the successful utilization of data collected through the Speed Trailer. That unit was paid for by impact fees.

The second item Frazzano requested was a small marine vessel to help identify code violations along the city’s extensive waterways. Last year, that request was rejected by council, who did not see the advantage of purchasing a boat and hiring an additional employee to operate it. This year, the request opened a wide-ranging discussion among council members.

“Our citizens are concerned regarding water quality, and this allows us to be more proactive,” said Chief Frazzano. Some of the violations listed by Frazzano included illegal discharges into the canals, lack of silt fences (allowing more pollutants to enter canals), boats and trailers illegally parked in backyards, and illegal application of fertilizers.

The initial discussion was driven by Council Chairman Erik Brechnitz, who questioned adding additional personnel and whether the department or staff could show the cost-benefit of such an addition. “That cost is with us forever,” said Brechnitz.

“The waterways committee has recommended this for years and our citizens want this, as indicated in the recent Citizen Survey,” said Councilor Blonna. Brechnitz inquired, “How will this improve our water quality?” Blonna replied, “It would act as a deterrent. If people know we are out there, just like the speed trailer, it will help.”

“We are at a point of strategic tension between the desire to keep to the roll-back rate and providing what our citizens want. Code enforcement is the poster child for this, it is driven by citizens’ desires and our citizens are looking at a more proactive approach. Our approach so far has been mostly reactive, almost 100%,” said Councilor Claire Babrowski.

Councilor Becky Irwin agreed with Babrowski. “I am glad you brought this up and I am 100% in agreement with you. What we hear from citizens is our laws and regulations should be enforced,” said Irwin.

“Are you willing to forego the roll-back rate? You might not have to this year, but in the near future you’ll be faced with this question if we continue to add full time equivalent employees, we will be hard pressed to do that,” said Brechnitz. 

City Manager Mike McNees commented, “It is clear that the citizens want us to tackle this water quality issue and to that we must tackle it comprehensively and well, and you can’t do that without people.”  

“This should be of a higher priority than many of the other things we may be funding,” said Councilor Greg Folley. However, it was Councilor Joe Rola who continued to ask how the success of the proposed program could be measured.

Chief Frazzano left the council meeting with the much-discussed boat still in the budget, as it was clear to Chairman Brechnitz and others that there were four votes in favor of her presentation.