Ward 3 Candidate Question of the Week: Reserve Funds

Voters will head to the polls on Tuesday, March 13, for a citywide vote to decide who will represent Gulfport City Council in Wards 3 and 1.

To help inform the community, Gulfport Patch will publish a City Council Candidate Question of the Week for both candidates.

Below you will find the answers from Ward 3 Candidates James Perry and Jennifer Salmon.

Gulfport Patch Question of the Week: "Where do you stand on using General Fund Reserves to balance the City’s Operating Budget?"

James Perry

"It is my understanding that the General Fund Reserves are to be used for unusual circumstances and emergency situations only, and this Fund is strictly regulated with repayment guidelines.   

I oppose the use of this Fund to balance the City's Operating Budget and any use of this Fund, in my opinion, would require the unanimous vote from all Council Members.  

As a City Council Member I will do my best to support the budget provided."

For more information contact James Perry at his home at (727) 384-1807 or via email at jperry4council@aol.com. Mr. Perry does not have a campaign website.

Jennifer Salmon

"By council resolution, we maintain a restricted general fund reserve that is 25% of our previous general fund budget ($2,475,000) and cannot be used to balance the budget. Our unrestricted general fund reserve is now $2,166,000, but was over $7,000,000 in 2003. Previous councils used unrestricted reserves to balance the budget; recent councils used enterprise funds. I am opposed to balancing the operating budget using either the restricted or our depleted unrestricted general fund reserves. 

Gulfport residents and property owners pay for most of city operations: 29% municipal franchise fees and utility taxes, 24% property taxes, 20% enterprise fund payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT) and overhead charges.  The remainder comes from intergovernmental (15%) and fines, permits, user charges, earnings on investments, and miscellaneous (12%). We need to increase revenues from outside sources.

Enterprise funds from water, sewer, and sanitation represent a profit on fees that all residents must pay compared to optional services such as the marina.  In either case, the enterprise fund should be required to have a restricted reserve for their expected capital expenses before transferring their profits.  Currently, they transfer their entire profit and then must get a loan from the city or use the Penny for Pinellas funds when they have capital expenses.  This would free up our Penny for Pinellas funds for large scale capital projects such as: upgrading our parks and playgrounds; increasing capacity in the Casino, Recreation Center, and Senior Center buildings so we can increase revenues to the city; and increasing public safety through security cameras.

Amendment 1, which passed in 2008, governs local property taxes and is in line with my own philosophy that when property values go down, the millage rate increases to garner the same revenues as the year before.  When values go up, there should be a decrease in the millage rate so that we have a stable budget and property owners have a stable municipal property tax.  Property taxes are tax deductible, while fees are not.

Each year, staff proposes ways to reduce expenses or increase revenues.  For example, last year the recreation center added voluntary pre-k to tot-time to increase revenues at no cost to our parents.  Next year, the fire department may increase revenues by extending their service area to include the unincorporated area between Gulfport and S. Pasadena.   We can also reduce our energy needs in city buildings and vehicles and find ways to use technology more effectively. We need to increase revenues from visitors.

We need a long-term sustainable general fund budget that is fair to residents and property owners and relies more on outside sources. One approach would be to compare our revenue sources with comparable full service beach towns based on Florida League of Cities data:  Atlantic Beach, Callaway Bay, Cocoa Beach, Destin, Key Biscayne, Niceville, North Palm Beach, St. Augustine, and South Daytona."

For more information learn more about Jennifer Salmon on her website.