Venice City Council directs staff to trim reserves and hire 15 more people in 2024-25
VENICE – Frustrated by a draft 2024-25 budget city staff brought to Thursday’s workshop did not include 15 new hires – including seven for Fire and EMS and five for Venice Police – the Venice City Council sent the document back for revisions.
The council was presented with a proposed $177.9 million budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year.
The cost of the additional 15 positions – two in public works, seven in fire and emergency services, one in information technology and five with the Police Department – is about $1.6 million.
Council members pointed to robust reserves – more than twice the 25% of operating budget required by city policy – as a prospective source to pay for those new positions.
“I see this not as a revenue problem but as a priority and allocation issue,” Council Member Rachel Frank said. “I believe we have given staff clear direction to increase public safety personnel and it is unacceptable that is not reflected in this budget.
“I’m looking for some reallocation of priorities.”
The five other members in attendance – Rick Howard was absent, while Vice Mayor Jim Boldt attended virtually – agreed. Because it was a workshop, no formal vote was taken, but the direction was achieved on consensus.
“We’re going to walk away today and we’re going to hire these positions; I don’t see any ifs, ands or buts about it,” Mayor Nick Pachota said.
Frank noted that since 2022, the city's taxable property value – now roughly $7.3 billion – has risen by 52%.
This year the taxable value increased by 11%, which means the current property tax rate of 3.9041 mills will generate about $27.4 million, or more than half of the proposed $50.4 general fund budget.
Last September, the council cut the property tax rate by 0.4559 mills, which returned about $2.9 million to city taxpayers this year but also contributed to a 2024-25 funding shortfall that council members now seek to remedy by reducing reserves.
Council Member Ron Smith noted that if the projected $26.5 million reserve, which represents a 54% cushion, is reduced to 50%, that should free up about $2 million – enough to cover the cost of the added positions.
During her presentation, Finance Director Linda Senne noted that it wasn’t staff’s place to preemptively decide on those cuts to pay for those new hires, as that was the purview of the council.
Friday's budget workshop was cancelled. City staff will bring a revised budget to the council in August, after the board returns from summer vacation.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Venice to trim 2024-25 reserves to hire more public safety personnel
