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Board of County Commissioners Meeting Minutes - Final April 9, 2024 improve literacy was crucial, but maintaining progress in later grades was equally important. Ms. Mehiel suggested that the encouragement to pursue trades instead of college was great. She also stated that, instead of significantly increasing funding, it would be good stewardship of taxpayer dollars to assess whether the new databases and evaluation processes were working and producing concrete results. It was her opinion that simply granting more money without solid evidence of effectiveness was not a wise approach. Doug Demuth, Vice President of the Taxpayer Association and CSAC member, presented the Taxpayer Association's (TPA) stance. He emphasized that providing additional funding to CSAC before it resolved its duplicate funding issues and accountability problems would be premature. The TPA recommended maintaining the current funding levels for the year. He stated that before considering increasing CSAC funding, the Commissioners should demand program -by -program requests for proposals from CSAC. This would outline CSAC's steps to address each program's mission statement, ensuring complete transparency for Indian River County taxpayers. The Board engaged in discussion, expressing its appreciation for the transformative changes implemented at CSAC. It commended the unwavering dedication of the CSAC committee, subcommittees, the needs assessment committee, the grant review committee, and staff and affirmed that CSAC had diligently fulfilled all their obligations. The Board underscored the importance of transparency and oversight, ensuring the community's trust and confidence. The Board agreed on the importance of investing in the children. They recognized that such investments could pave the way for them to become good citizens and active members of our communities in the future. The Board envisioned a future where these children could potentially become entrepreneurs, community leaders, teachers, firefighters, and more. They also acknowledged the long-term affordability of investing in charitable causes versus re-entry programs after release from jail or prison. Chairman Adams stated that it was the County's primary responsibility to ensure the communities' health, safety, and welfare. This underscored the importance of the Board's decisions and the impact they could have on the lives of residents. Commissioner Loar moved to approve staffs recommendation to keep funding for the CSAC at the current 0.1250 millage rate. With a motion on the floor, County Attorney Bill DeBraal sought clarification of Indian River County Florida Page 17