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Board of County Commissioners Meeting Minutes -Final September 10, 2025 <br />million dollars already allocated and then take an additional six million from the <br />Reserve Fund, as previously discussed. She referred to Administrator Titkanich, who <br />explained that the Reserve Fund included all funds designated for specific purposes, <br />such as the Business Enterprise funds, Restricted funds, Utilities, and the Sand Ridge <br />Golf Course. At that time, the General Fund balance available was $15,226,936. If <br />they withdrew $6 million from this amount, they would have $9 million remaining. He <br />gave an example of a challenge in which the County used Reserves to balance the <br />Utility budget and had to recorrect the utility rates to avoid running out of Reserves by <br />2027. <br />Vice Chairman Lear stated that the theme of this overall budget was to raise deputies' <br />salaries to a competitive level, and he asked Administrator Titkanich for the <br />spreadsheet of numbers presented at the July Budget Workshop to determine the cost <br />of increasing deputies' salaries. He recalled the amount was $61,000 per deputy, <br />with an annual adjustment of $9,000 for each additional deputy, and a $3,500 <br />adjustment for civilian employees. <br />Administrator Titkanich asked whether there was anything else the Board would want <br />to consider regarding the General Fund, and Commissioner Moss asked how long it <br />took the County to accumulate the $15 million currently in reserves. Chairman <br />Flescher requested a rough estimate of the time required to replenish reserves to $3 <br />million, $6 million, and $12 million. <br />Administrator Titkanich, in response to Commissioner Moss, explained that the <br />scenario was highly hypothetical, as the County could not predict future changes in <br />property values or the overall outcome. He added that policies were enacted to <br />establish a rainy -day fund and stated that if an economic catastrophe occurred, the <br />County would be better prepared to weather the storm. He added that the reserves <br />should be only for one-time expenses or capital project costs. <br />Commissioner Adams reiterated that it was Business 101 that you do not use savings <br />accounts or reserves for recurring funding. She said that if the Board proceeded, it <br />would be prepared to increase the millage next year. The increase would need to <br />cover six million plus any additional amounts. <br />Commissioner Moss suggested allocating six million dollars from the reserve fund as a <br />one-time expense and being prepared to increase the millage rate next year, <br />understanding that this increase would need to cover the six million, plus any <br />Indian River County, Florida page 7 <br />