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Board of County Commissioners February 19, 2020 Page Two each year an ad valorem tax of one-quarter of a mill in 2021, one-third of a mill in 2023 and one-half of a mill in 2025 and thereafter. The change in millage would represent an increase from $2,062,611 in 2019/2020 to an estimated $10,229,028 in 2025/2026. Based upon the rapid increase in funding for children's services in the past five years and the amount of funding that has been requested in 2019/2020, County staff does not support an increase of $8,166,417 in just six years. The Board may wish to consider either setting a required millage allocation at 0.1250 as opposed to the current permissive language. The Board may also consider less dramatic increases to 0.2500 mills or 0.3300 mills. Another millage option could be the rate which would have provided full funding for all CSAC agency requests for FY 2019/20, which totaled $2,550,234. A millage rate of 0.1403 would generate sufficient dollars to fully fund all such requests. The Board may want to consider a millage rate of 0.1500, which is a 20% increase from the current 0.1250 limit. The Board may also wish to consider 1/6th of a mill, which is 0.1667 mills, an increase of 33% from the current amount. See attached spreadsheet. It should be noted that a mandatory millage will not allow the Board flexibility during economic downturns. County staff recommends that the Board approve a millage rate of 1/6th of a mill (0.1667 mills). It is also important for the Board to consider other potential ballot initiatives for 2020 when making a decision on the proposed children's services millage. Currently, a group is working to place a referendum on the ballot in 2020 to consider a new millage rate to support the issuance of another environmental land acquisition bond issue. Additionally, the Indian River County School District is planning to place a referendum for voters to consider extending a Y2 mill levy for essential operating needs that was originally approved by the voters in August 2016, and which is set to expire in fiscal year 2020/2021. Sunset At the January 14th Board meeting, the Board discussed the option of having a term limit on the use of the millage for children's services, thus requiring approval of the voters to continue the millage. It was discussed at the meeting that a 15 year sunset date would be appropriate. After the Board meeting, County staff discussed the different options for a sunset date. Since the matter would be brought back to the voters for re -authorization, County staff and the representatives of the group supporting the referendum discussed the concept of having a term that ran in conjunction with another presidential elections, such as 2028, 2032, or 2036. County staff recommends a 12 year term. Millage Phase In Depending on the millage rate and the sunset term, the Board should also consider the appropriate phase in for any millage rate. A mandatory 0.1250 millage would not require a phase in, however, time would be needed to phase in a 0.5000 millage set aside. Considering the recent five year increase, the Board may wish to maintain the 0.1250 millage for at least two or three years. The Board may also wish to consider a more gradual increase from 0.1250 to 0.1667 to 0.2000 to 0.2250 and 0.2500 with each step lasting two to three years. A gradual increase will allow non -for-profit entities to better plan for future programming and to scale services accordingly. Additionally, it may make sense to have a longer, more gradual phase- in period for larger proposed millage rates. For instance, it might be appropriate to have fewer steps than would be appropriate for a phase-in to 0.5000 mills. Based upon the recommended 1/6th of a mill rate, County staff would recommend a 3 -step phase in over 5 years. ".gislar 4ppDomlLocallTempBCL TecMologieslen vPDF 81a BCLQOCODOB821 a(BCL@OCODOB82.doc 2