Longboat commissioners unanimously approve fiscal 2024 budget

Commissioners unanimously approved Longboat Key’s 2024 fiscal year budget at the second hearing on Sept. 26, after no changes were made from the first public hearing. 

The approved mill rate for the town remained at 1.9600, which was recommended at first public hearing on Sept. 11.

Town commissioners originally voted to set the maximum millage rate at 1.9900 on June 30. In Town Manager Howard Tipton’s budget report on Aug. 1, he recommended the millage rate be reduced to 1.9850. 

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Now, with the town’s millage rate officially set at 1.9600, the total millage rate for the Gulfside District is 2.6712 and 2.1708 for the Bayside District. That’s a decrease of 2.90% for the Gulfside, and a decrease of 2.09% for Bayside residents. 

Total revenue for the fiscal year 2024 budget came out to $21,124,125, which is a 14.2% increase from fiscal year 2023’s revenue of $18,503,848. 

Total operating expenditures increased by 15.7% from fiscal year 2023, from $18,606,242 to $20,595,614. 

The largest portion of the operating expenditures comes from personnel costs. Wages and benefits for employees make up 81.5% of the operating expenditures. 

In the budget memo, Tipton pointed to inflation and increases in benefit costs as key drivers in the overall increase. 

On top of that, the town manager added seven full-time employees to the town’s payroll. These positions include a grants coordinator, IT security analyst, IT business analyst, support services for the Fire Rescue Department, plans examiner/building inspector, parks service worker and an additional finance employee. 

There was also a total of $5,100,000 in transfers out. The transfers move funds in order for the money to be used elsewhere. In this case, the money is being transferred to the streets fund to be used for future infrastructure projects, such as roadway resurfacing and the Broadway Roundabout. 

As Tipton mentioned in the last public hearing, these one-time transfers can be misleading, as they cause a large increase when looking at year-to-year trends, but will most likely not be the same the following year. 

With the transfers, that brings grand total in expenditures to $25,695,614. That is a 44.4% increase from the previous year, which was $18,625,408. 

With that all said and done, Longboat Key commissioners approved the mill rate and fiscal year 2024 budget with a 5-0 vote. District 2 Commissioner Penny Gold and District 5 Commissioner Debbie Murphy were not in attendance.