General Government
Budget Overview
Budget Process
Year 1
Prepare complete budget document for years one
and two
 Adopt budget for year one and set millage rate
 Approve year two plan

Year 2
Adjustments to the plan
 Set tentative millage rate
 Adopt year two budget

General Fund
 Accounts for those resources and their uses
traditionally associated with government
 Funded by general revenues including
property taxes, licenses and permits, fines,
utility taxes, GRU transfers, sales tax and state
revenue sharing
 Includes expenditures for all departments
providing government services
 Expenditures are not specifically tied to
revenue sources
General Fund Revenues
 Four revenue sources make up over 75% of
General Fund revenue




General Fund transfer
Property tax
Utility Tax
Intergovernmental revenue
 Growth rate of these revenues over past years
declining or flat
 Starting to see uptick in total revenue
•4
General Fund Revenue
FY16 Budget $108.6 million
Other Taxes
6%
Other
4%
Utility Transfer
32%
Charges for Services
9%
Fire Assessment
5%
Intergovernmental
12%
Utility Taxes
9%
Property Taxes
23%
Utility Transfer
 Proxy for what GRU would pay if they were private
utility



Property tax
Franchise fee
Return on investment to stockholders
 Single largest General Fund revenue source,
approximately 1/3 of total budget
 FY15 New Transfer Formula
Base equals FY14 GFT level as determined by prior GFT formula
 Growth @ 1.5% per year
 GFT reduced by biomass plant property tax revenue received
 A decrease of more than $3 million

Property Tax
 Second largest General Fund revenue source
at 23% of budget
 Gainesville faces unique challenges to ad
valorem revenue generation

High percentage of government and public education
owned property creates tax base with the lowest
percentage of taxable property in state
Property Taxes
 Millage Rate



Tax rate set by the taxing authority each year
Rate per $1,000 value
FY16 rate is 4.5079
Property Taxes
 Taxable Value


Determined by the Property Appraiser
Various exemptions
 Up to $50,000 - Homestead Exemption
 $25,000 – Senior Low Income Homestead Exemption
 $500 - Widows/Widowers, Disability and Blind Persons
 $5,000 - Veteran Disability

Portability
 Ability of homeowners to transfer their Save
Our Homes benefit up to $500,000 to a new
homestead
Taxable Property Value
Trend in Taxable Property Value (in billions)
6.00
5.80
5.60
5.40
5.20
5.00
4.80
4.60
4.40
4.20
4.00
3.80
3.60
3.40
3.20
3.00
5.89
5.63
5.67
5.79
5.65
5.61
5.41
5.17
5.18
4.97
4.34
3.81
3.56
FY04
FY05
FY06
FY07
FY08
FY09
FY10
FY11
FY12
FY13
FY14
FY15
FY16
Millage Rates
Trend in Millage Rates
5.00
4.9416
4.9416
4.9416
4.8509
4.80
4.578
4.60
4.4946
4.5079
4.5079
4.3963
4.40
4.2544
4.2544
4.2544
4.2544
4.20
4.00
3.80
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Taxable Property
Peer City % of Taxable Property
Gainesville
Tallahassee
Pembroke Pines
Lakeland
Hollywood
Port St lucie
Cape Coral
Coral Springs
West Palm Beach
Ft Lauderdale
Miramar
Clearwater
Miami Beach
40.27
54.45
66.39
68.50
69.83
70.29
71.5
72.63
74.35
74.68
76.86
78.12
78.66
0.00 10.00 20.00 30.00 40.00 50.00 60.00 70.00 80.00 90.00
Utility Tax
Revenues are generated through taxes levied
on electric, water, and natural gas utility
customers who reside within City’s corporate
limits
Traditionally a function of three variables:
number of customers, consumption per
customer, and price
•13
Utility Tax
Utility Tax Revenue Budget (millions)
12
10.74
10
8
9.24
9.42
FY08
FY09
11.16
10.77
10.78
10.41
10.02
10.26
FY15
FY16
Budget
7.83
6
4
2
0
FY07
FY10
FY11
FY12
FY13
FY14
Intergovernmental Revenues
 Account for 12% or $12.6M of revenue budget

Half Cent Sales Tax and State Revenue Sharing is $10.2M
 Dramatically effected by recession


FY09-FY13 are approximately $6.10M or 12.4% less than
FY04-FY08
FY18 is when we return to same level as our peak in FY06
 Recovery is beginning and projections include
about 3% growth each year based on a
combination of population growth and CPI
growth
Fire Assessment
 Implemented in FY11 and must be approved
every year through separate resolution
 $78 per factored fire protection unit
 $5.4 million in revenue each year
 Starting in FY16, the City will pay the fire
assessment on behalf of religious and
charitable organizations ~ $120,000
General Fund Expenditures
General Fund Expenditures
 General Government service delivery
intensive organization
 Almost 60% of expenditures are personal
services
 More than 50% of expenditure budget goes to
Public Safety
General Fund Expenditure Budget
FY2016 General Fund
Uses by Function
0.17%
0.43%
11.00%
0.13%
51.44%
6.79%
General Government
Public Safety
14.88%
Physical Environment
Transportation
15.15%
Economic Environment
Human Services
Cultural & Recreation
Transfers/Cont.
General Fund Expenditures
 From FY08-FY12, cuts to General Fund budget totaled
$15M



$9.5M in departmental cuts
$5.6M in city-wide cuts and organizational efficiencies
81 Full Time Equivalent position reductions
 FY13-14


Relatively stable
Implemented Pension reform
 FY15 - another $2.2M in expenditure reductions


13 Full Time equivalent position reductions
No raises budgeted for employees
General Fund Expenditures
 FY16

Added some new programs and pilot programs into
budget including:
 New service level for RTS operations
 Development Services Center project
 Bike Share Program
 Sweetwater Wetlands Park
Questions