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Workshop - B.C.C. 2.25.20 Office of INDIAN RIVER COUNTY ATTORNEY Dylan Reingold, County Attorney William K. DeBraal, Deputy County Attorney Susan J. Prado, Assistant County Attorney MEMORANDUM TO: Board of County Commissioners FROM: Dylan Reingold, County Attorney Jason E. Brown, County Administrator DATE: February 19, 2020 SUBJECT: Children's Services Millage BACKGROUND. On January 14, 2020, the Indian River County Board of County Commissioners ("Board') voted to schedule a workshop concerning a referendum to establish a set millage for children's services. After the January 14th Board meeting, County staff had three lengthy meetings with representatives of the group supporting the referendum. One of the overarching issues raised by County staff was the issue as to whether the County is the appropriate entity to fund all of these types of services. It is important to note that Indian River County does fund a variety of programs, separate and apart from the children's services millage, that support children, such as recreational programs, literacy programs and swimming safety programs. For example, last fiscal year the County library system offered 741 programs for children and teens serving over 20,000 children. This fiscal year, the County has added two full time employees for a total of 6.5 full time employees dedicated to children's library services. More specifically, we discussed with representatives of the group supporting the referendum the millage amount, a phase in period, the sunset date, the make-up of the children's services advisory committee and the duties of the committee and committee staff. Below County staff presents various options for the different issues for the Board to consider. Please understand that this memorandum is not an analysis of each issue, but is focused on some of the key issues identified by the Board at the January 14th Board meeting and by County staff during the process. Millage Rate Currently, pursuant to section 103.26 of the Indian River County Code of Ordinances (the "Code"), the Board shall provide an assigned millage of up to 0.1250 to the children's services advisory committee. Over the past five years, the Board has increased the amount allocated to children's services from $851,965 in 2015/2016 to $2,062,611 in 2019/2020. See attached spreadsheet. The funding in 2019/2020 was 0.1250 mills of the prior year's taxable value. The amount allocated in 2019/2020 was able to pay for just over 80% of the funding requested. At the January 14t Board meeting, the Board was presented with a proposal to increase the funding for children's services with Indian River County being required ti levy C: IUsersllegisrarlAppagalLocallTempIBCL Technologies!easyPDF 8WCL@OCODOB811@BCL ae000D0B81.doc