Flagler County Administrator Heidi Petito is requesting that the five constitutional officials in the county take into consideration lowering the anticipated 4 percent cost-of-living pay raise to 2 percent, which would virtually eliminate the $2.2 million deficit in the upcoming budget.
With some restrictions, the majority of constitutional officers are open to collaborating with the county in that regard. Among the constitutionals are Tax Collector Shelly Edmonson, Supervisor of Elections Kaiti Lenhart, Sheriff Rick Staly, Clerk of Court Tom Bexley, and Property Appraiser Jay Gardner.
When Petito last provided the figures to the County Commission on June 9, the deficit was $2.9 million. The property appraiser’s office released updated assessments on Monday, which increased the increase in taxable values sufficiently to improve the anticipated amount of property tax income and reduce the deficit to $2.2 million.
I’m looking for suggestions on how we may bridge this gap as we get ready for our workshop on Wednesday, July 2. Petito penned the constitutionals on Monday after work. These budgets were predicated on a 4% COLA, which was the same as the State’s proposal but which they lowered to 2%. According to our calculations, cutting all of the budgets to 2% COLA might result in a savings of $1,973,705. $226,120 would be the remaining sum, however this is [a] rather tiny sum. Petito s were the parentheses. COLA stands for cost-of-living adjustment, which refers to increases that account for inflation.
What recommendations do you have to help close the gap? How do you feel about a 2% COLA? The constitutionals were questioned by the administrator. She was merely seeking support and suggestions, not making a decision.
Petito provided the constitutionals with a chart that illustrates their requirements and the variations from year to year:
If we were to lower the COLA, could you kindly confirm the 2% decrease in your human services? Above a second chart that illustrates what each constitutional office would have to omit in order to lower the COLA allotment, Petito asked:
The Supervisor of Elections would suffer the least, while the Sheriff’s Office and the county government would suffer the most. However, regardless of whether one constitutional had a significant budget increase or not, the proportional cut would be the same for all constitutionals.
Lenhart stated, “I do not support a COLA of less than 4% for my employees, given the increase in medical insurance and inflation.” My entire budget increase is less than one percent, yet I employ eleven full-time employees. Despite the 4 percent increase, Lenhart’s planned budget only increases by 0.44 percent, or less than $12,000. The increases in other constitutional budgets are all significantly greater.
In an email to FlaglerLive today, Petito stated that this is not the finished product and has not yet been considered with our Board.
To discuss the budget, the commission will meet in the workshop on Wednesday at 9 a.m. As of midafternoon today, neither the agenda nor the accompanying materials were available on the county website. In order to avoid informed public input or, for commissioners, preparation, the administration has a tendency to keep budget documents secret until the very last minute or later. It has also occasionally delayed posting meeting backup materials until after the meeting or only provided some of the materials upon request. For instance, it’s unclear how line items like beach preservation or library financing, which have been the focus of acrimonious commissioner debate, relate to or do not relate to the statistics Petito supplied the constitutionals.
Even though the Tax Collector’s projected budget increased by 10.2 percent, from $4.7 million to $5.2 million, according to Petito’s calculations, Edmonson had not yet submitted her budget. Edmonson wrote to Petito, offering her a description of the office’s existing budget, “I am not sure where your staff obtained the estimated figures for our office.”
Additionally, the Tax Collector’s office operates on a fee basis and does not need county support. On the contrary, Edmonson stated that because revenue surpasses operating expenses, the office usually returns roughly $1 million to county coffers at the conclusion of the fiscal year.
Our current estimate for personnel services as we continue to prepare our FY25–26 budget is $4,902,221. Today Edmonson wrote Petito. Cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) are not yet included in this statistic. As you are aware, our people services budget is being further impacted by the rising expenses of health insurance, retirement payments, and other benefits. In order to maintain our competitiveness, we have made significant strides in recent years to align our compensation with market rates. Losing that momentum would be terrible.
“Wage gaps developed in years without cost of living raises, leading to turnover and the loss of experienced staff to neighboring agencies that offered even marginally better pay,” the tax collector stated. I firmly feel that balancing the budget on the backs of our employees would be a mistake. By doing this, we run the risk of undoing the progress we’ve made and running into problems with recruiting and retention once more. I would therefore be in favor of a least 2% COLA for the next fiscal year.
But Petito’s method would be satisfied.
Although Bexley’s budget request is less than $5 million, it represents the highest year-over-year increase (almost 32 percent). A decrease in COLA would reduce that amount by more than $100,000. Bexley warns but does not object: All constitutional officers received instructions at the start of the budget season that recommended focusing on staff retention. He stated, “I believe this is precisely what we all agreed to do, and as a result, we increased our budgets by 4%.” This would have been the perfect result, in my opinion, but it seems that the rise in net revenue and property prices will not be sufficient to sustain the entire increase at the present millage rate. I am happy with the board’s efforts and cherish our continued partnership, even though I believe this could be seen as a minor setback.
Like Edmonson, Bexley emphasized how crucial it is to keep luring and keeping talented workers.
The property appraiser, Gardner, is more than happy to accommodate Petito’s request.Although he doesn’t believe the government is targeting him, he stated that’s the one place where they may criticize me. If anything, he is concerned about the relationship between the County Commission and the administration, as some commissioners seem unable to recognize Petito’s struggles.
Gardner replied, “She’s doing what she can.” The commission doesn’t seem to be treating her well. I’m not sure if she has been enjoying her job because some of the new commissioners have agendas. (Commissioners Leann Pennington was elected more than two years ago, and Kim Carney and Pam Richardson were elected last November.)
I know money is tight, and I’m not here to mess with the system. Gardner remarked, “I’m never the problem anyway.” We have a very limited budget. Because we are so consistent, no one spends any time with me every year. His budget would rise from $3.7 million to $3.9 million, a 7% increase. A COLA cut to 2 percent would shave off $67,000. I m bound by the state or the county on that kind of stuff. They don t get to tell me much but they get to tell me that, Gardner said.
Staly could not be reached before this article initially published.
