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BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS July 10, 2020 Board, of County Commissioners Indian River County 1801 27th Street Vero Beach, FL 32960 Dear Commissioners: 1g1vE,1 C\ . As required by Florida .Statutes, transmitted with this message is the recommended budget for Fiscal Year 2020/2021 (FY 2020/21). The proposed budget represents the general operating framework for providing all County services for the forthcoming year. As presented, it reflects the County Administrator's plan of implementing and funding the recommended service levels. The budget has been developed with a combination of guidelines provided by the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) throughout the year, critical input from all 'epartments, Budget Department guidance, the Administrator's perception of needs, responses from the community, and requests from the Constitutional Officers. Major Issues Impacting FY2020121 Budget Development COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the proposed budget. The County has incurred additional expenses to respond to this public health crisis. Additionally, it has caused a significant reduction in various revenues that the County depends upon to fund the provision of services to the community. County staff has constructed the budget based upon conservative revenue estimates, per our normal practice. However, there is much more uncertainty in future projections due to many unknowns about COVID-19 and its potential impact on, the economy going forward. We could experience a stronger rebound than the projections included here. For instance, recent job gains have been stronger than expected. However, continued increases in cases could result in more negative future financial impacts. Staff will continue to monitor conditions throughout the fiscal year and stands ready to make adjustments as needed. Additionally, the County has received a CARES Act allocation that may be used to fund some of the additional expenses necessitated by COVID-19. Staff continues to develop the CARES Act funding plan and will adjust the budget as appropriate when details are finalized. The County continues to focus on catching up on deferred maintenance and capital item replacement in the proposed budget. Funding for these items was drastically reduced to absorb the funding reduction - during the previous economic downturn. While a concerted effort has been made to catchup on these 3