7.14.26 Pasco County Board of County Commissioner Meeting (Morning Session)

He's in He's in the Zephr Hill chamber. I was not there during my vacation. They thought he was

Good morning.

I would like to call to order the Pasco County Commission 10:00 meeting of July 14th, 2026. At this time, please silence all electronic devices. Please rise for the invocation pledge of allegiance.

Good morning, honorable commission. Pasco County Fire Chaplain Anthony Ship here to give the invocation. Let us pray. Sovereign God, we thank you for this opportunity to conduct our civil business here in Pasco County. Thank you for our nation's birthday of 250 years, granting us blessing to raise our families, keep us safe in these coming years. We ask that you'll bless our fire police and doctors and nurses of this community. Also the Pasco County Commission and their families as well as community workers and government officials. Thank you so much for our blessings. In your sovereign name we pray. Amen.

Amen.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Madame clerk, please call the role.

District 1, Commissioner Oakley

here.

District two, Commissioner Weightman,

present.

District 3, Commissioner Starky. District four, Commissioner Joerger

here.

District 5, Chairman Mariano,

here.

Now is the time for public comment. Citizens are given an opportunity to comment on any current or future agenda item coming before the board and on other business under the board's purview. Today's public comment will be handled as follows. First, we will take public comment for those who are here in person. Then, we'll take public comment for those who are pre-registered for an online link and currently on Q. We request that when you address the board, comments are not directed personally against the commissioner or team member, but rather directed at the issues. This provides mutual respect between the board members and the public. After stating your name and address for the clerk, a three-minute timer will be activated. A green light will be shown in the podium. After 2 minutes, a yellow light will indicate you have 1 minute left. When your time is up, a red light will be displayed. Three beeps will sound. You should close your comments. Those online will be disconnected automatically when the timer is up. Madam clerk, do we have anyone signed up for public comment?

Yes, sir, we do. Um, Monica Sap is the first individual. You can come to the podium and your name and your address. And you have three minutes.

My name is Monica Sep. um 13117 Lauderdale Street in Hudson. And then I have a concern uh just a couple concerns of uh some things going on in our area. Um back in May, I had watched the commissioner meeting um and there was some concerns brought up about um people who have been displaced and were living in campers on the canals and there was uh about brought up about permits or a sticker or something being put on the campers to know that those people have been displaced. Um, and I do know that code was over there and they did clean up a lot of the campers. However, most of those campers now have come to the east side of 19 into our area. We have a lot of campers that have been moved into the area. Most people who use their campers for technically camping do not have them leveled, do not have the slide outs out, do not have electric to them. Most of them are ready to be able hooked up to a vehicle and pulled out. We have at least probably a dozen campers over there that have are leveled, blocked up, slideouts out, lights on at night. You know, people's living in them. And it's we are not a permitted campground over there. And I know that in May it was addressed as where are those people dumping their tanks? Could be in the canal water most likely over there. It's just into the ground. And that's something that, you know, code needs to really address in our area back there. They also I know code works on complaints and that's fine but when you are there for one complaint and you see another five violations and you do nothing about it you ride by with blinders on and code is paid by the county to enforce the ordinances set forth by you guys and they don't do it. We also have people on our in our area back there. It's called Terrace Gardens that have purchased empty lots. I've got boat trailers, boats, RVs, campers parked on empty lots without a homestead. That's against a violation of the ordinance. Am I not correct? I think so. I thought it was one of the ones I looked up. There's no home. You can't use that for just storage without a home. And if they are as a home, they have to be behind your home, not out in front. There's also carports being put up on empty lots so they can store their RVs and campers underneath of it out of the sun. Most likely they were probably not permitted because they don't have a home. So they did it in violation. And again, code comes by, they work on complaints, which is absolutely fine. But if you're being paid to enforce the ordinance, you should address those ones that you that that code officer visually sees as well. I mean, that's just it's one of my concerns that I had. Um, yeah, that's pretty much all I had is just the the campers living over there, people living in the campers. Um, they're set up, you know, they're not just being used for camping. They're set up, they're leveled, they're camp, you know, everything. And then again, the the empty lots we have.

Okay. And before you go, David Allen, there was Dave. Would you speak with David and have a conversation? Thank you.

Thank you.

Thanks for making the drive.

Okay. The next two signed up are Jose Garcia and Sharon Painter from Rebuilding Florida.

And did you want to bring that? So, a few years ago,

your poster board.

Oh, okay.

So, the board can see it.

Jose, name and address for the record first.

Sure. My name is Jose Garcia. I'm the CEO of Rebuilding Together Greater Florida, 36097th Avenue East, Tampa 33605. Uh, commissioners, Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to speak with you. Um, rebuilding together provide residential repairs and rehab services to low-income homeowners. We've been doing this for the last 25 years and we have seven office throughout the state of Florida. We serve approximately 500 homeowners in need to live in a safer and healthier home. One of the fundings that we starting to work with is residential um home resilency and disaster recovery. We had the opportunity to work with Chairman Mariano to help one of our homeowners, one of your homeowners in the county of Pasco, which is Fred. He's 100 years 102 101

101. Yeah.

101 year old veterans of World War II. Um he was one of the many heroes the disembarking Normandy back in uh in the Second World War and since then he's been just living the life I guess. thing. As you can see, unfortunately, his house was damaged by Helen and Milton as many of the homeowners that uh we uh have to help uh as a result of the disaster. And we were able to make sure that now he can walk freely independently uh throughout his house. We um replaced and tied flooring, his kitchen and make sure that his bathroom now has a shower and no a tub which make it easier for him. We want to thank um Chairman Mariano for his help, his support and making sure that we do our uh work and that we serve Fred as well as this is an invitation to help as many Pasco residents as possible in the next uh time that we have the money available I guess until we ran out of money. But uh hopefully we won't get any more storms that give us time to make sure that this house are resilient and they're ready for a potential storm in the future. We are here to serve the residents. We're ready to help the residents and if you need any help from us, please don't hesitate to contact us. Again, thank you very much.

And Jose, thank you for taking care of our veteran. Um literally, they came to us at the board here probably three or four months ago said, "We're looking to help people out in Pasco County." And I had mentioned to you, I had a resident right in mind and we met the next day. The next week you guys were out there, put the whole thing together. And the great thing about this program, it's a about a $25,000 uh bill for this whole thing. And it's done without any tie-ins where you don't have to have FEMA flood insurance later on. There's no government involved, any any conditions to it. they just come in and it's it's it's funded through some great people like the Red Cross that put the money into it to help people just get back that didn't quite make it back all the way. So, thanks for the great work you did. It was awesome and we look to help more people in Pasco County. Appreciate you coming on.

Thank you. Just to make sure I clarify also uh we did everything by the book. Permits were pulled and [laughter] inspections with us. Okay. And if there any construction individuals or companies here, feel free to contact us. we always will have work uh available to for you guys. Thank you.

And I will say they did it in less than 30 days. Oh, absolutely.

From the get-go. Just amazing. One time Yeah. [applause]

One time I was getting ice cream down the street at Hudson. Drove down just to see how things were looking cuz she hadn't seen it. And we get in there at 9:15 at night. They're still working on a Sunday night. That's they were dedicated to get it done for that Thursday. So they did a great job. It'll help anybody east, east east or west side with our knee strength. So, it's a great program.

All right. And then the last person signed up is Robert Jacob. Mr. Jacob. Name and address for the record once you get to the mic.

Yes. My name is Robert Jacob. Uh 26125 Gypsy Rose Lane 33544. uh that's in the Quail Hollow subdivision. And uh I want to say that uh we have been experiencing those of us that have been out there as long as we have uh a detrimental assault on our lifestyles. And with the unbridled amount of growth that's been happening out there, um it's it is definitely impacted those of us that wanted to move out into the country. Now, with regards to this particular facility that you people want to uh are are considering approving, um there are a lot of concerns and they come from all of the data centers that have been being put up around the country. Uh namely the amount of water they use, the amount of electricity they use, and uh the light pollution, as well as the uh uh the noise pollution. When I first got out on my property, I could see the Milky Way the way I did when I was a kid camping around natural Florida. I can't see that anymore just because the light pollution from all the construction that's happened. Now, with regards to the uh technology um that is being implemented, it's already obsolete before it's even been put in. Um China has already tried a lot of this stuff and failed. And uh some of the stuff that I see coming out in the next year to to three years is um going to make it so that uh you'll need 1,000th of the footprint that these facilities utilize on the water end of things. Um they figured out how to fix this stuff thousands of years ago with something called an earth tube. And in Florida, we can't use that. We have to use a a different version of it. It's a It's a poor man's geothermal where you dig a trench that's 8 ft deep in the ground and you put concentric coils of something like PEX tubing and run something like glycol like you do in a radiator through there and you can keep the building at a constant uh temperature with a just a mere pump and a radiator system. It's very inexpensive. Um, on the electrical side of things, you could put in something like a full-blown geothermal and you could have your own power plant there and not have to have all of the generators or disrupt uh people's homes by bringing in all the electrical um things that I've uh the facilities necessary to bring in the power consumption that this thing is going to use. Uh, and the the sheer footprint is unbelievable. And it it also addresses not only uh the water consumption and the lifestyles of the people that are out there, but also mother nature. Mother nature is going to suffer because here we are paving over our best farmland. And uh we're we're replacing the respiration for the um cycle of the rainy cycle with hot roofs and pavement. And uh not everything boils down to money. And I'd like you all to consider that. Thank you.

There was no one else signed up.

Anyone else like to address the board in public comment?

Go forward. Is there anyone else after this gentleman here? All right. So, this will be the last gentleman for public comment in person. Name and address for the record, sir.

Uh, my name is Ted Waller. I live at 38148 Michael Road in the Luchi area of Date City. Uh, good morning everybody. I'm reading off of the script, so I apologize for not making eye contact. My name is Ted Waller and I've been the privilege of serving as the president of Date City Main Street. I wanted to take a few minutes to introduce myself and our organization. Date City Main Street was recently reorganized and designated as an official Florida Main Street community. Our mission is to preserve and celebrate the unique historic character of downtown Date City while supporting local businesses, encouraging economic investment, and creating a vibrant downtown that serves residents and visitors alike. Although we're relatively a new organization, we've already begun building strong partnerships with the city, the Community Redevelopment Agency, downtown merchants, volunteers, and community organizations. Together, we're working to create meaningful events, support our small businesses, preserve our historic assets, and strengthen one of Pasco County's most recognizable downtowns. I wanted to introduce myself because I hope Date City Main Street can become a valued partner with Pasco County as we continue this work. We appreciate everything the board does to support our community and I look forward to building relationships with each of you in the months ahead. Commissioner Oakley, if I may, I also wanted to personally thank you for your long-standing support of Date City. Date City Main Street recently submitted an application to the Florida Division of Historical Resources for a small matching grant to complete a comprehensive historic resource survey of our downtown. We'd be honored to have your support through a letter of endorsement for our application. I've prepared a draft letter and it's been sent to your office. Hopefully, you'll have a chance.

Thank you. Thank you all for your time, your service to Pasco County, and your continued support of our historic downtown. I look forward to working with every one of you. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you. Anyone online?

No, sir.

Okay. That shall public comment. And now we're going to go to resolutions. Just with the sheer number of people are here for RS3, we're going to go and uh have Jesse Bednarrick for his 20 years of service. Jesse, you come forward.

[applause] [applause]

All right. So, this is resolution number 26278, a resolution by the board of county commissioners of Pasco County, Florida, commending Jesse Bednaric for his 20 years of dedicated service to Pasco County and congratulating him on his retirement. Whereas Jesse Bednarik began his 20-year career with Pasco County on June 26th, 2020, 2006 with the facilities management department as a plumber too and is concluding his career as the operations and maintenance manager in August. And whereas using his proficiency in different trades, leadership, and ability to connect with customers and co-workers, Jesse worked diligently on the county's buildings and structures to ensure all Pasco County team members were able to work in a safe and healthy environment. And whereas Jesse has obtained numerous awards throughout his career, including four constellation awards, two star performer awards, two point of light awards, the 2018 public service exemplar award from the American Society for Public Administration, the 2020 Internal Services Leader of the Year Award, and the 2024 Star Team of the Year Award. And whereas Jesse has received accolades from across the county, including a certificate of appreciation from fire rescue for unwavering dedication and commitment, a certificate of appreciation from the county administrator and assistant county administrators, and multiple letters of appreciation from constitutional officers. And whereas Jesse has shown great dedication to Pasco County's core value of innovation by implementing ICON water conservation devices at the jail in 2012 and was able to secure a grant that paid for the installation of these ICON devices. The ICON saves the county about $135,000 annually. And whereas on August 3rd, 2026, Jesse will officially retire from the Pasco County Facilities Management Department and will be greatly missed. Dedicated team a greatly missed dedicated team member who takes pride in his work, exemplifies professionalism, and is a great friend to those he works with. Now therefore, be it resolved by the board of county commissioners of Pasco County, Florida, that said board hereby commends Jesse Bednarik for his 20 years of dedicated service to Pasco County, congratulates him on his retirement, and wishes him the best in his future endeavors. Done and resolved in regular session with a quorum present in voting this 14th day of July, 2026. Move

approval. Second.

All in favor say I. I.

I. You can smile now. Good. [laughter] that was a celebration we're doing here today with all the great great great friends you have in the audience. Jesse, what a great career you've had. Uh your great service and taking those extra steps which go far beyond probably led to all those awards and letters and saving us 135 grand a year. Um thank you for your great service.

Thank you.

Tell me tell us about what you got planned for the future.

Uh well, this is kind of overwhelming. Uh, you know, I probably, um, you know, talking with my wife, we're just going to, uh, decompress for for a little while. Um, we have, you know, so many things that we'd like to do. Uh, you know, I I I love the county. Uh, [clears throat] I appreciate, uh, the fact that I got to work here for 20 years. Um, I I I have a script that I'm not going to go go into that, but uh um you know, I I uh I worked for 25 years on my own before coming to the county. Uh left New York, came down here and my father-in-law, late father-in-law, bet my wife that uh um I wouldn't last two weeks working for somebody. So, uh that's a that's a bet that uh I'm glad he lost. [laughter] Um I I you know my thought is you know uh um running out of time you know so I've got to spend some time with my wife, my family, and um I'm going to miss coming to work every day. I'm going to miss the people that uh I made good friends with. Um, you know, I've got a lot of support from uh co-workers, teammates, uh, uh, from my my superior, my bosses over the years have been great. So, um, I'm I'm living I'm leaving on a happy note and, um, I'm, you know, sad in one respect as well.

I'm sure you're happy. I know, Madam Clerk want to say a couple words. So,

I did. I was honored that I got to read your resolution today. Um,

thank you. When I be was an assistant county administrator, I wanted to see what the day in the life of facilities was like and and so uh Jesse gave me by far the best tour. He took me inside the walls of the jail and and who knew plumbing could be so exciting, you know, [laughter] but um Jesse deserves all the awards and accolades he's he's gotten over the years. He's a kind man and a true public servant and you will be missed.

Thank you so much. All right. And I know you're going to enjoy your family. That is most important. So, you've earned the time to go do it. So, I want you to enjoy it. Uh, everybody who's all of the friends of Jesse, please come on up as well. We'll line you all up in here and we'll stand down.

Going down.

Stay up here. Wait.

All right. I think there's enough here. Wow,

you guys got white.

I know you guys [laughter] and I dressed exactly last week. [laughter]

Hey, what does They don't make me look taller.

Oh, is it? All right, I think I got [applause]

a disaster. which is quick.

Yeah. Well, that should take care of the occupancy violations I was concerned about. [laughter] All right, we'll go to RS1.

All right, RS1 is for pre-trial probation and parole supervision week in Pasco County. So, if you will come to the podium if you are here for this resolution. Okay. So, this is resolution number 26276. Uh, a resolution by the board of county commissioners of Pasco County, Florida, declaring the week of July 19th through 25th, 2026 as pre-trial, probation, and parole supervision week in Pasco County. Whereas misdemeanor probation serves as a component of the criminal justice system by supporting courtordered supervision and promoting accountability while also providing individuals with a structured opportunity to rebuild their lives through meaningful engagement and guidance. And whereas misdemeanor probation has established and embraced a culture of hope, having one person engaged, recognizing that a single committed connection can inspire trust, accountability, and lasting positive change, a model reinforced through the supervision of 1,528 defendants in 2025. And whereas misdemeanor probation professionals bring the culture of hope to life through individualized support and consistent engagement resulting in effective supervision outcomes and demonstrated by the collection of uh $170,954.88 in restitution in 2025, directly aiding victims and reinforcing offender accountability. And whereas over the five-year period from 2021 to 2025, Mr. probation supervised 7,752 defendants, reflecting the scope and sustained capacity of the program to meet the needs of the courts and the community. And whereas only 2.41% 41% of those supervised during that 5-year period. 187 individuals returned for a subsequent misdemeanor probation term, a strong indicator of successful supervision. And whereas these professionals collaborate with law enforcement, courts, and community partners to ensure individuals meet their obligations while maintaining connections to employment, treatment, and supportive services. And whereas misdemeanor probation staff uphold high ethical standards and reinforce community safety by ensuring compliance with court orders, providing case management and promoting prevention. And whereas their engagementdriven appro approach strengthens lives, promotes rehabilitation, and contributes to a more just and supportive community. And whereas pre-trial probation and parole supervision week presents an opportunity to recognize and appreciate the contribution of Pasco County's misdemeanor probation professionals whose commitment makes a difference in the lives of those placed on probation. Now therefore, be it resolved by the board of county commissioners of Pasco County, Florida, that said board hereby re proclaims the week of July 19th through 25th, 2026 as pre-trial,

probation, and parole week in Pasco County and recognizes the dedication and impact of misdemeanor probation professionals and their commitment to a culture of hope. done and resolved in regular session with a quorum present in voting this 14th day of July 2026.

Move approval.

Second.

All in favor say I.

I.

Okay. Commissioner Waitman.

Morning commissioners.

Thank you. Commissioner Waitman, please.

Welcome.

So tell us if your job's gotten any easier or not over the last year.

So good morning commissioners. Paul, the director of support services. This morning I have the unique pleasure of introducing this amazing group of professionals including Tracy Toner who's a standard of professionalism in this industry in our community over 30 years of service and without them our community wouldn't be as safe and individuals in our community wouldn't have a second chance and better outcomes at a better life in Pasco County. So with that I'd like to leave the floor now to Tracy.

Good morning commissioners. Um on behalf of the team that's standing behind me I just want to thank you for recognizing um pre-trial probation and parole supervision week. The work this team does helping individuals navigate the court-ordered requirements um supporting them through their challenges, promoting accountability, it requires heart, it requires patience, and it requires hope. Um in our division, um like the resolution had had indicated, having that one person engaged, it defines the culture that we strive to uphold. Um, it reflects our belief that every individual that we supervise should feel that we are fully engaged and invested in their success. And I'm very proud of the positive impact that this team makes each and every day from the $170,000 in restitution collected to the low very low repeat um offender percentage. It it's all a reflection of the passion and the commitment of the team. And again, I just want to thank you for your support and for this resolution. Thank you, Tracy. Kathy Pearson, assistant county administrator of public services. These are awesome individuals. They care for every person that comes in that door. They have become case managers. They're not probation officers. They're case managers. And they truly do make a difference in these folks lives. And I just want to personally thank them because it's not an easy job. They never know who's going to come into their office. They don't know what kind of state those folks are going to be in. and they handle it with professional and charm. And I just want to say thank you.

Okay, put a picture.

Very good. Yeah.

Yeah.

You want to come all up in here or line up?

I think most people don't even realize this is part of the county, one of the county functions,

right? They're right in front of me. [laughter]

Eclipse. [applause] Hey, RS2.

Yeah, RS2. Yes. All right. So, if you are here for uh parks and recreation month, if you will please come to the podium. All right. So, this is resolution. I'll give you guys a minute.

You got a brought a crowd with you, Keith. Yes, you did. [laughter]

All right. This is resolution number 26277, a resolution by the board of county commissioners of Pasco County, Florida, declaring the month of July 2026 as park and recreation month in Pasco County. Whereas Pasco County's parks, recreation, and natural resources departments, programs, and facilities are essential services that enhance our quality of life by providing a balance of athletic, social, cultural, and recreational opportunities, building self-esteem, teaching life skills, encouraging environmental awareness, and providing public spaces for every citizen to enjoy. And whereas Pasco County celebrates the power of connection, recognizing that parks and recreation are where relationships grow, cultures meet, and communities bond through programs such as volunteer cleanup days and other community building efforts. And whereas Pasco County embraces the power of play by offering playgrounds, youth sports leagues, and summer camps that inspire creativity, spark joy, and support lifelong learning for children and families. And whereas Pasco County demonstrates the power of community by providing recreation centers and public gathering spaces that allow residents to come together, celebrate and support one another. And whereas Pasco County highlights the power of nature through its wilderness and coastal parks, conservation lands pro protected under the environmental land and acquisition management program and reus robust outdoor programs ensuring that all residents can experience the restorative and inspiring benefits of the natural environment. And whereas Pasco County upholds the power of belonging by offering inclusive and welcoming programs for residents of all ages such as the Pasco adaptive and inclusive recreation program, inclusive summer camps for children, senior programs such as pickle ball and bingo, and recreate your mind mental health programming, ensuring that every individual feels valued and supported. And whereas Pasco County promotes the power of well-being through fitness programs, wellness challenges such as Auto Move and the Pasco County Hiking Challenge, as well as a wide range of recreational opportunities that advance health, resilience, and shared community benefits. And whereas the local and state parks maintained by the Pasco County Parks, Recreation, and Natural Resources Department are vital to the well-being and quality of life every citizen and visitor of Pasco County. Now therefore, be it resolved by the board of county commissioners of Pasco County, Florida, that said, board hereby declares July 2026 as Park and Recreation Month in Pasco County and celebrates the dedicated work of the Pasco County Parks, Recreation, and Natural Resources Department done and resolved in regular session with a quorum present in voting this 14th day of July, 2026.

Move approval.

Second.

All in favor say I.

I.

Mr. Turkey.

Well, I'm really glad I'm sponsoring this one today. I don't think I got to do it last year. I think this one did it. I'm not I'm not sure, [laughter] but this is mine. This is always mine. Uh so, um as you notice, we're keeping our comments very short here. Um but I just want to say, um we all love our parks and we're so so grateful and proud of the work that you do and we just know we have just awesome parks and more to come. So I'll turn it over to you.

Um good morning Keith Wy, director of parks, recreation, natural resources. Thank you for acknowledging the team mostly uh the efforts that you know right now literally this is a small fraction of the team. Um they're out there preparing uh every day to make sure that um you know we maintain the level of service that uh our citizens come to expect. Whether it's a 250th celebration, whether it's um a wedding proposal on Cruise Lake Tower,

whether it's the, you know, prepping the fields for that first T-ball hit, right, to maybe setting the nets for senior pickle ball, um to buying

2,000 acres at $60 million for conservation to protecting [laughter] a single wetland for an individual homeowner or helping them relocate a gopher tortoise. um to providing that first camper experience all the way to the camper then transitioning to a counselor in training. Uh I I could stay up here for a long time. So the team is very special [laughter] and tournaments. Yes, as Mr. Thomas references, but uh but we we don't do it without a dedicated really uh very very professional team that cares coming to work every day doing the very best that they can. So thank you to the team. I know not everyone's here, but thank you to all of them that are out there in the field doing the hard work every day.

All right, I'll come down and [applause]

thank you. Details Shut up.

Good job. [applause] And now we'll go to RS4.

Okay. RS4. So if you're here from Florida Sports Coast, Yep. Adam

and the board members.

Okay. It is freezing in here and I have a jacket on. Oh, okay.

All right. So this is resolution number 26279, a resolution by the board of county commissioners of Pasco County, Florida, recognizing Florida's sports coast for achieving the destination marketing accreditation program accreditation. Whereas Florida Sports Coast, Pasco County's destination management organization is responsible for promoting Pasco County as a premier destination for sports, leisure, and group travel. And whereas the Pasco County Tourism fiscal year 24 through 28 strategic destination plan identifies achieving destinations international marketing accreditation program DMAP accreditation as a priority initiative in support of the strategic goal to attain optimal resources and performance results. And whereas Destinations International is the world's largest and most trusted resource for destination organizations representing more than 10,000 members and partners from over 770 destinations worldwide. And whereas the DMAP is an independent globally recognized accreditation body that defines excellence and destination management across a comprehensive set of standards. And whereas DMAP's nearly 100 accreditation standards cover a wide variety of topics including governance, finance, management, human resources, technology, visitor services, group services, sales, communications, membership, brand management, destination development, research and market intelligence, innovation and stakeholder relationships. And whereas achieving DEMAP accreditation requires a destination organization to successfully comply with rigorous mandatory and voluntary standards that evaluate nearly every aspect of organizational performance, accountability, transparency, and industry best practices. And whereas on June 5th, 2026, Destinations International formally notified Florida Sports Coast that they had achieved DEMAP accreditation [applause] and recognized the organization as part of a distinguished group of accredited destination organizations worldwide. And whereas by earning this accreditation, Florida's Sports Coast joins nearly 200 accredited destination organizations worldwide, including 23 in Florida, demonstrating Florida's Sports Coast leadership, credibility, and commitment to operational and strategic excellence within the tourism industry. And whereas this achievement strengthens Pasco County's position within the global travel and tourism community and affirms that Florida's sports coast meets the highest standards of destination management benefiting residents, visitors, industry partners, and the broader community. Now therefore, be it resolved by the board of county commissioners of Pasco County, Florida, that said board hereby commends the Florida Sports Coast team for achieving the destination marketing accreditation program accreditation and extends its appreciation for the

organization's continued commitment to excellence, accountability, and the advancement of Pasco County's tourism industry. done and resolved in regular session with a quorum president voting this 14th day of July 2026.

Move approval.

Second.

All in favor say I.

I.

Adam, quite an accomplishment. I know it takes the team to do it all uh to put it together, but it takes a leadership from the top to make sure we want to see it happen. So for you, I know you've been smiling all morning long uh about this me for about three weeks now.

Uh but it's a great accomplishment. It shows government working the way it's supposed to work and the and the way you can hold your head high that you're running a great organization. Yes,

sir. Thank you. Thank you so much uh Chairman Mariano for uh for recognizing this and and sponsoring this resolution. This is a monumental day for for Pasco County and the Florida Sports Coast, but specifically for Pasco County. We've done some tremendous things um during my tenure here. I mean, I'm looking at it. I'm coming up on 10 years next year, but we've rebranded, we've repositioned, we've won [clears throat] awards at the state level, at the national level, at the international level. We've built uh a world-class facility in Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus, which is now managed by a premier operator that's bringing in events from all corners of the world. We have a marketing uh team that is very creative in positioning and and telling the community story to the global marketplace. So, we've done a lot of things leading up to to this point here. But this this moment is so monumental because it tells at the whole industry of of the tourism industry that we're doing things the right way in Pasco County. That we're governed by a board by a TDC board that oversees all of our policies, all of our expenditures, all of our initiatives, all of our programming to make sure that we're good stewards of the tourist development tax and we're good stewards of this industry. Um, I can't I am very humbled uh to to stand here and and work side by side with with this amazing marketing team uh with Florida Sports Coast. But but more importantly, we get to present every single month to the tourist development council that that that that's here with us today. And um we couldn't do it without their support, without Mike Carbara support, without Cath Kathy Pearson's support. But there's a couple other uh departments that were were left out that I really want to highlight because this is even though we we champion this accreditation, we wouldn't have been standing here today if it wasn't for the many different departments, IT, OM, fiscal purchasing, HR, facilities, fleet, parks and recck, county attorney's office, the county administration's office, the clerk's office, PIO office, it all everyone had a hand in in making this accreditation possible. So, I can't thank them enough. I can't thank you enough for your support and the team behind me. We stand again with giants across this industry of Florida and Pasco County is shining brightly. So with that, I'll turn it over to Kathy or or Canuelo if you have anything else you want to add.

I like to put things in perspective. So I figure that it's important to mention that this is an international recognition. We have over 195 countries in the world. Just in the United States, we have over 3,100 counties and yet we are one of the only 200 destinations globally that get this certification. So this is a tremendous undertaking from our team. Many hours, hundreds of hours dayto day for over h probably six months. Meanwhile, we were traveling, promoting our destination, uh dealing with day-to-day operations and projects. So, I'm very proud of our team, very proud of the support of everybody here. But most importantly, the certification is just not one paper. It's basically a validation that we're doing things the right way. So, thank you for your support. [applause] Kathy Pearson, Assistant County Ministry of Public Services. I am so proud of this team. Um, I have watched Adam for a long time. I've watched Consuela, Kayla. Oh my gosh, that girl has done a trans. She has become known in the industry. I watched how shy they were when they first started. To see them grow and blossom into an amazing team is I am probably the most proudest assistant county administrator today with all the teams I have. And I just got to say thank you to all of them. Thanks.

[applause]

And our newest board member, Roger's got a good thing to show you at the uh at the break here. So, I'll take it down and show you something that's going to be really cool to elevate a little bit more for that international tourism, which you guys are doing such a great job with. So, I'll come down and take a picture. Hey, bend your knees. [laughter]

Well, look at the mayor here. Deputy mayor.

He's bigger.

[applause]

My rank up.

Yes. Yes, sir.

No.

Really? Congratulations. Congratulations.

Don't get me killed. [laughter]

Beat you.

Turn out for you. like to the right. [laughter]

And now it's time for the consent agenda. Um, I have a few items to be pulled and withdrawn. Item C29, pull and discuss. Item C48, pull and discuss. C50, pull and discuss. C69, pull a revise. C27 has been withdrawn. And C72 withdrawn. Any other items to be drawn from the consent agenda?

Move approval.

Second.

Other items.

Okay. All in favor say I.

I. And we'll start with Commissioner Starky. C29. It's a rare poll for me, but um I wanted you all to see the significance of what we're doing here. Um can you zoom out? So, um Blueberry Drive.

Uh and so, zoom out even just a little more. So, to get your bearings, uh there's the veterans new veteran center on Little Road. And to the left over here, you have um uh what do they call that now? Wendel Krin, Marchman, and and Pepin's over there. There the arrows on the Pepin. Um and to get into this all these schools before you had to go all the way around and come in off of um Ridge or over there on uh Congress, right? And and now um we're going to connect these two roads here. It's one of a a few connections we hope to make into this area and people who are bringing their kids to Pepin and they come from all over the county in other counties will just have to go up Little Road and come across here on Blueberry and turn left. I mean, it's it's it's such a great addition. And um so we're buying that a little piece of land there so we can connect Blueberry. And by the way, this is right near where the um uh uh Habitat for Humanity community is coming in. So all those kids that are moving in there to get to school, they just have to turn left there on on Blueberry. So I'm really excited about this purchase. I want to thank Christy Sims for working on this. I think it was No, it was Nikki.

Nikki

Nikki. Um, and um, it's a it's a great addition and uh, and it shows the importance of connectivity. So, I don't know if you want to say anything. That's that's just all I wanted to say on that.

You covered it.

Yeah.

No, it's a it's a it's a great addition and I I was the other day at Oak Lake trying to get back over here and I go up and around whatever and took an extra 10 15 minutes from where it could have been straight across. So, it's going to be a good addition for the network.

So, we'll take a motion.

No, that's it. Yeah.

I move to approve.

Second. All in favor say I.

I.

Okay. C48.

Um I just wanted to pull this just to say it's another great sidewalk project coming through for Ranch Road.

Um I'm going to pictures on the committee reports about Johnson Road and and Rampart that just got done. Two of the probably worst roads in the county being done for the community. But all this uh improvements in here make a difference and and people are just like like Nancy Bonitez who's a uh one of the directors out there for a safety group and they're coming up to her and say are you Nancy? Are you Nancy? Thank you. Thank you. And she put passes on thanks to the board as well. So it's a great partnership. But with that I'll I'd like to see a motion for someone to make

move approve.

48.

Second.

All in favor say I.

I. I.

And C50. Commissioner Waitman.

Yeah. Same uh same highlight here. Sidewalks for safe routes to schools for Curly Road. Uh tie into Wells, which will uh provide sidewalk gap funding for uh West Chapel Elementary, Weightman Middle, and West of Chapel High School, and then event and tie into Boyette Road and all up on the way up to West Chapel District Park. This work couldn't be done without our our support from Senator Burgess and Rep. Maghard at the state uh in helping us capture a matching appropriation uh for this work here and it was the second this location is the second most dangerous route to school in the county. So within the last uh three years really we've been able to uh capture sidewalks for the most dangerous route school which was Pine View Middle uh area there and get that fully funded with help from the fed and the state and local matches here and then the second uh right here at the West Chapel um uh schools there on Wells Road. So great work team effort. Thanks for the school board for supporting us uh through the legislative process lobbying team that's here. Uh thank y'all are here today. Foster more um working with working with the team to get this done. So very proud to move approval on C50.

Second.

All in favor say I.

I.

And Keith Wy C69 pull and revise.

Yes sir. We uh we had to update the actual time of the public hearing in both the agenda memo and the resolution to 1:30 p.m.

Have a motion.

Move to approve.

Second.

Second. All

in favor say I.

I.

And that does it for the consent agenda. We'll go to regular R75 federal action plan and state lobbyist update.

And I believe we got the full team together today. Good morning, commissioners. Ralph Lair, intergovernmental affairs officer. Joining us today is Tracy Pew with Ballard Partners, our federal lobbyist to discuss our federal advocacy strategy going forward. On your desk, you'll have a copy of that as well as their PowerPoint. So again, the strategy plan PowerPoint. Tracy,

good morning. Thanks, Ralph. and it's a pleasure to be back here in this beautiful building. We were in the other building the last time. So, um just absolutely gorgeous. Um Mr. Chairman, commissioners, uh want to thank you for entrusting Ballot Partners with your um federal priorities representation. Um, as you all know, we are the the leading bipartisan government and public affairs firm in the country. We're led by Brian Ballard, um, who has expanded the firm from its Florida roots to Washington, uh, and beyond. And our DC office, you can go to the introduction slide, our DC office is managed by, uh, Dan McFall. um and he works closely with me on um and the team. Thank you. Okay, Dan, uh right in the center there, he works closely with um with me and the Pasco team uh on representing you all um in Washington. Um, and let me just add that it is a real pleasure to work with Mike and Ralph and the entire team uh for Pasco uh on on your priorities. Um, we prepared the federal strategy document that Ralph um mentioned that's in your fold in your briefing packet. Um, and you can review that in detail. But today, um, I want to highlight the key areas, um, of our work together as we, um, wrap up, uh, FY26 and begin preparing for, um, the next fiscal year and the 120th Congress. Um, I want to begin with, uh, appropriations. This is a um graph of just sort of the timeline and it's it's critically important that we talk about the timeline and I know that um we'll have a workshop going on in October, but there's some work that we should and can't do um before October. And let me just say that we're in we're in the process right now of the appropriation season. Um the House has completed its work. Um and all 12 bills um have been passed out of committee. Um the Senate has not heard all 12 bills in committee. And as you all know, with the um unfortunate passing of Senator Graham and some other um absences and illnesses, I'm not sure what that timeline may look like. Um so we could possibly find ourselves in a situation where um on September 30th which is the end of the federal fiscal year um we are in uh continuing resolution status [laughter]

and but that doesn't necessarily mean a government shutdown if they pass a continuing resolution and I think because we are in an election year no one on on either side is interested in having a shutdown. So, um, what that possibly could mean is that, um, we'll have a lame duck Congress after the elections in November and, um, some form of, um, a minibus or omnibus will be passed, you know, at the end of the year. But fortunately for you all, you have uh Representative Bill Arachus and Representative Lee who've um done really great by uh Pasco County in making sure that uh your federal priorities were included in their um appropriations request. So, if you look on the bottom of page one of your strategy document, you'll see that over 9 million uh in federal um funding has been submitted. And as I said, it has gone through the process um in the committee process in the House and we will continue to track and monitor those projects through the process. We'll make sure our senators, Senator Scott and Senator Moody, um their staffs are aware of them. We'll continue to track those um as as they uh and monitor those as they go through the process. Um and and as we prepare for the 120th Congress, I do want to emphasize that um Pasco will have a third representative and that benefits the county e even more because that means that you'll have three bites at this uh appropriations opportunity with um Congressman Bill Arachus who has been a long-term representative of this area and very familiar here with your priorities. Um, Congresswoman Lee, uh, and then, uh, Congresswoman Luna will represent a portion of the county, uh, as well when we go into the 120th Congress. Um so that's uh something that when we come back in October to start talking about the workshop um we will be in the interim meeting with their staffs, meeting with their teams. We don't have to wait until after November. We know they're going to, you know, be reelected um barring some major change. So, um, we'll start building those relationships with, um, Representative Luna's team that now and continue to, um, socialize Pasco's priorities with her office. Um, and we are doing that throughout the fall. And then when we come back in October, hopefully uh you all will have had an opportunity to meet with the team um and decide what you want to present for your CPFs for the next uh year in the 120th Congress. Um, I'm suggesting that we begin that process before the new Congress is sworn in because as soon as the new Congress is sworn in, if you take a look at the chart, you'll see uh the president submits his budget, the new Congress is sworn in in January. The president, if if this timeline were to work, you know, as it's laid out, the president submits his budget in February. Um in March the House and Senate budget committees um they set the budget amounts and then in April the process begins for appropriations hearings. And what that essentially means is that members begin

uh accepting requests. And so we want to have Pasco's request and all of our priorities ready to go for submission. The submission timelines vary depending on the member of Congress. Um but I would say anywhere between April um uh end of March to middle of May is when those submissions will be um required uh to be submitted to the members of Congress. Um, and in addition to the work that we do on appropriations, uh, Ballard will continue to work with you all to engage federal agencies directly. Um, we provide and flag grant opportunities that may be of interest to local governments. sometimes those um opportunities uh are a a good fit for your team and and we've talked with um with Ralph about streamlining that process so that it better aligns with um the priorities of the county. Um and now I want to talk a little bit about our timeline. Um we created a timeline just to sort of a work plan that will help us to guide our efforts and as you'll see it starts in July of this year which is now um in August the Congress takes a a monthlong recess. So during that time, we'll work with committee staff and continue to track and monitor the primary elections in the state of Florida on the 18th. Um once those primaries are done, we can pretty much uh get to work in terms of working with um the the new congressional delegation uh in September. That will be an extremely busy month. As I said, the fiscal year ends on September 30th. And um the uh it is very unlikely that the Congress will be completed with all 12 appropriations bill but again we'll continue to monitor that uh the entire month of October this year because it is an election year uh Congress is not in session in October um which will give us a lot of time to come to plan to identify the local priorities uh that you all have and to work with Mike and the team on getting those submissions together. We'll begin to socialize those projects, meet with congressional staff, and then hopefully by December we can finalize the projects so we'll be ready to go in the first quarter of 2027. In January, uh the the new Congress, the 120th, will be sworn in. I believe it would be really good to have some of uh the members of the commission to come up for the swearing in. Um you'll have a new delegation. So I think it's really important that they know you that you have an opportunity to meet some members of their team. Uh and I know in February or early March is usually when uh Commissioner uh Starky and Commissioner Mariano usually come up for Niko. um we'll do um meetings at that time. We'll meet with staff and appropriators. The one good thing about our state that we're very fortunate of is that even outside of the members that represent Pasco directly, we have quite a few members from Florida who serve on the appropriations committee and in the House and that um is very uh beneficial to to our state. Um, and so we'll make

sure that this goaround that we are not just meeting with the members who have submitted your project requests, but some of our appropriators um who are um we're fortunate that Flidians are very senior on appropriations. So, um there is a um scenario where we could potentially have um a an appropriations chair in the next Congress or two that's from the state of Florida. So, again, um all good things for for Florida. Um so after um those submissions are due like I said it's a um it varies by deadline for the office from March um through May. Uh and then the process starts with appropriations hearings. Um we track the submissions. We make sure if the committee staff or the congressional staff have any questions or clarifications, budget uh information that they need from you all that we're working with Mike and Ralph and the team to make sure that that information is provided um so that we can benefit and maximize the appropriations um opportunity. Um, I do want to also mention that at least this past year, um, the amount of requests that members were able to submit from their district was 15, uh, 20. It moved from 15 to 20. So again, that is beneficial because now we have three members that have 20 slots and uh, I believe and Ralph, if I'm not mistaken, I believe

20 20

20 each

each. Wow. each. So, um, a total of 60 and I'm thinking that for each one of them, you know, you all should at least submit five, but we can certainly talk about that as we go through your priorities. So, that could be potentially 15 requests that um that you all are submitting. Um, and one other, um, thing I know that there's been a lot of talk about, and this is more so along the lines of the federal agency, uh, funding. Uh, both tracks are important, the congressional appropriations process is an important funding source as well as, uh, opportunities uh, for the federal grants. our senators, our two senators, they don't submit uh appropriations requests, but they're very supportive in the federal grant process. Uh so we want to make sure that we take advantage of that. Uh I know there's been some talk about um changes to different um rules and um opportunities as it relates to federal grants. Let me just say that those federal grant opportunities have not disappeared. The rules for winning those grants, uh, some of those have evolved, um, and they'll likely continue to evolve as the administration priorities change or are redefined. Um, we'll work with Pasco to stay engaged with the agencies to make sure that you all are familiar with those priorities uh from the Trump administration. Um, we can um work with your team to align the projects, but it doesn't mean that the money is not there. The money is there and we certainly go after the money that makes sense for Pasco County. Um, and lastly, uh, I just want to point to, um, uh, in your document, there's an appendix on on page nine. It sort of lays out our strategy overview for the grant process. And uh I think we're going to be much more u aggressive and rigorous in going after federal grant dollars um as we move into this next fiscal year. There are like as I said we had great meetings um earlier this year with uh Commissioner um Starky Mariano and Mike and the team. We um have developed relationships with several agencies including HUD, Department of Labor um and and several others. Uh so we will be looking uh vigorously at opportunities for funding through those uh projects as well and through those agencies. Uh Mr. Chairman.

Okay. Any questions? Mr. Starky. Um, do you think it's Mario who's going to be I just looking him up because I I know him a little bit and he's vice chair now. So,

well, like I said, we have very senior appropriators and I would say on both sides of the aisle, there is a possibility. Awesome. um that um we could end up even with the chair and the ranking member depending on who is in the majority

both being Flidians um because that's just how senior the Flidians are on appropriations.

Excellent. Um [clears throat] uh I was just talking with the county administrator this week about working on our our trip up and some of the things that we want to accomplish. So, I'm looking forward to us setting a date when we go up with Nico. We, you know, we like doing our rounds, but we know we need to go up more often and at not necessarily in addition to that time.

Um, also, as I'm chair again of the federal committee at FAC and I think we are also planning a fact federal fly in this year. Um just to let you know that we I get well in my committee at NAO Community Economic Development and Workforce um we're sponsoring I'm sponsoring two resolutions which we all approved of here. One is to work on the HUD I might have talked to you about this last year. the HUD uh section 8 vouchers

and uh and and the other one um it has to do with capital gains uh when you sell your house uh right the last time it was touched was in 1992,000 for a single filer 500,000 for joint filer and um working to double that to 500,000 for a single filer and 1 million for joint filers. that will free up a lot of money for for a lot of folks in the housing arena. The council mayors has passed that and I've got NAHB, National Homebuilders Association and the National Association of Realtors also getting on board. So, I know we'll we'll want to talk about that. And for sure, we want to talk about when we have folks that go into our jail and they lose uh their um their health insurance and we have to pick up the tab. We must fix that. And

that's right.

Yeah. So, we're going to really make a big push on that. So, let me just make one suggestion, Commissioner, and I know how involved you are in your leadership in Niko. Uh, and coming up during Niko is a is a good time, but I will say that because there's so many other counties up during that time, it makes it a [clears throat] little bit more challenging for some of um some of the meetings. I mean, we always have good meetings with our delegation, but with the agency meetings, I would say that if we can look at possibly doing some virtual meetings or having you all come up um maybe a little bit later in the spring as um or early summer, um that would be a really good time as well to get sort of more in the weeds on some of the uh regulatory and policy issues.

Okay. Um yeah. So

are y'all going to tackle the procurement?

Is that a federal or

the um

Davis Bacon which eats away

Oh, the Davis Bacon funding.

Yes. Um well,

I I want to tackle that in my committee. Um but I think we have to do it outside of that committee. So that's one of the issues that we want to talk about when we're up there.

And we did have a conversation with labor u Mr. chairman about that issue.

Yeah.

Um the last time you were here, it's um

it's a challenge just to be real frank with you.

Even if we just change the floor from 3,000 to 500,000, it'll go a long way. But um I I kind of feel that with the administration we have now, now's the opportunity.

They they were actually, I think, fairly receptive. They were going to do some research, so we need to follow follow back.

That's right. That's right. I I believe they feel that there needs to be some uh statutory changes so that we'll take some congressional action as well.

Yeah.

Okay. Um so I like your idea as far as this on the swearing in. Uh and I think the timing of it's good. It might be even just fly in for a day and fly back the same day, whatever it may be. Uh but I think it's a really good idea. It's before the February. And if we can get some meetings in during that point for a quick fly up fly back it'll be quick and easy and then we kind of like better than February because when February they got so many people coming in and at them they don't have the full attention. But this way here it may be just they may you know what they were here to support me when we got elected. So I think that that's some good merit. Um I'm going to be at two resolutions I'm helping with a uh Jeff Branick from Texas on the consortium. We're going to try to speed up the process. Um, with part one, it's like a four-year deal. [clears throat] We're going to try to get it down to two years. That helps the money spend quicker. With the oversight that right now Treasury does, they want to kind of like unload that and we got a resolution to actually take it away from the Treasury and just like put the trust on us like they do with CDBGr regular money that we do all the maintenance to make sure we're following the rules. We're trying to push that one through. that takes a burden off them and and and speeds up that process as well. Um I'm going to need your help on with with the Army Corps of Engineers still with permitting stuff, but um something that just I just was alerted to this past week, the steps to recovery program that we spent $3 million of opioid money and Congressman Barakus did a phenomenal job getting $ 1.5 million. That building has got CO ready to open. So I could take 32 veterans that are homeless right now and put them into these buildings.

Why no one's there?

Exactly. So what what the problem is is the feds have to do their inspection. They may not get it then till September. Well, hate to anyone see the all the rain we had last night. Hurricane season's coming up. I could take 32 veterans out of the woods and put them in this building. I haven't even reached out to Bill Aush yet. just found out u just found out about I I'm going to probably need your help like later today, tomorrow and start pushing this thing forward, but I figured well I'll get you right here right now. It's a it's it should be a real easy thing to get them to go do the inspection. If not, wait on the inspection, but let them house the people right now that are homeless. I mean, they want us all these programs we have for homeless and I get a chance to do it and the fed federal government's want to hold me down 60 more days.

That's a problem with the section 8 vouchers as well. It's this so it's an easy hopefully we can like I say work on this real quick. Um and I'm glad you covered the health benefit thing and four rivers is like another project coming up that we could look at some get some help. We got some great success early but I haven't seen the legs go on. So that that would be a great appropriation coming up. Um and as well just got some permits for internal to Hudson some uh canal restoration we're doing. So we've got our our money but we'd like to get some matching funds with that too. So we'll get with you on that. We just had this this meeting just happened like I think it was Thursday. So,

good stuff coming up.

Um, and I I wanted to say

Representative Luna reached out to me and we uh met

two weeks ago and you just reminded me that she's going to come up and tour because my district now is she's in holiday. So, we're going to take her on a little tour of AMSKills, Metropol Ministries, Hope, uh, Pasco Hope, and um, I'd like to get her up to the Bayare Behavior Health. It's not it's not in her district, but she's very interested in all that kind of stuff.

I think that's excellent. Just familiarizing her more with the new part of her district um, now is really good so that we can when we get ready to submit our projects, she'll be familiar with what we're talking about.

Yeah. Okay,

thank you.

Thank you very much,

Tracy. Um, I just also want to mention uh county administration has met with Representative Luna's staff as well. Uh, had a great meeting with them, so they're they're looking forward to uh helping out in uh representing Pasco County. Um, I just wanted to uh close on the federal uh I know Tracy has brought it up a couple of times. So, we're going to going forward, we're going to have our federal legislative workshop on Tuesday, October 13th at the West Pasco government center in New Richie. Uh, this will be t uh our time to finalize our federal legislative priorities, policy, and funding. Uh, I'll invite our federal legislative delegation members and their representatives to be a part of that uh workshop. It'll be our first one that we've done at the federal level. Uh so going uh forward up until that point, I encourage you to get with staff on any funding initiatives that you all want to look at at the federal level or any policy issues. The um resolutions you uh mentioned, Commissioner Starky, Commissioner Marotta, those will be part of our federal platform. Uh as well as Davis Bacon, there's there's several that we've been discussing throughout the years uh that will all be included in that. So, now I want to take this opportunity to uh invite our state legislative lobby team to come forward and go over the recap of the 2026 legislative session. And fingers crossed we don't have any more special uh sessions before the election, but I'm not going to bet on that. Uh so, Sean Foster with Sunrise Consulting, Mike Moore with the Southern Group, and Sarah Suski with Advocacy Partners. Please go to uh start off the meeting a little fun. I looked over at Sarah and Mike. I said, "I just got a text message. We've got another special session." [laughter] Just a joke. Just a joke. Uh thank you. I'm [clears throat] suffering from some little sinus and headaches, so I got a little raspy voice, but we're going to get through it. Um it was an interesting session. I [clears throat] think every time we come here, we say it was an interesting session, but I think we can all shake our heads. It was one of the most interesting sessions that we've had. We've had in a very long time. Um, we're going to go through it kind of quickly because I know there's some issues that we're concerned about, want to talk about, and then we'll end up going to wrap up a little bit about some of the stuff that passed in and special session. We can go to the uh next page. Yep. Just real quick, just overall, I want to give you an understanding what happened before session and then all the lobbyists will will agree with me. It was really crazy. About three days before session started, they filed about 780 bills, you know. So, here we try to work things through session. You try to go through committee weeks. you try to go through before you even get if you don't have a bill heard before session starts as you know you're already in trouble so you can see we had a very low amount of bills that passed probably not

a bad thing right um but it was a lot of that just stuff was not going through committees we would go to committees even in the first second weeks of session you'd have three four bills on there and you could just see the purpose was really being slowed down the whole session so very low amount you see about everything that happened during special session during redistricting essentially the house came in and said, "We're not going to hear your other two issues on on healthcare and

the other one

AI

the AI bill." Thank you. That the governor said, he said, "We're not going to hear it. We're going to agree with the map." He signed a diet. He went home. He left the Senate with it. And that's how that map got got passed. So, the speaker was pretty adamant about that. Special session E, of course, about uh the state budget and of course the property taxes. And again, we will talk about that as we go through on the next two. I kind of like this next slide. It kind of just breaks down a little bit on some of the changes. I'm sorry about steady that you'll see the governor's proposal. The governor's proposal was actually $2 billion dollars higher than last year's budget at 115. The Senate came in at 115, the House at 113. I always kind of like joke around, what's a couple billion dollars amongst friends? Well, it's a couple special sessions. That's what it it ends up being. So, I I gave you these two numbers because you you hear two different numbers. The governor truly signed 114.6 6 billion budget. That is the budget that passed on through the House and the Senate. When you hear the higher number, the 117, those are considered back of the bill issues. Those are the items that they are bringing back up that some can be spent in 2025 26 and in 2627. But the actual budget that passed afterwards was 114 billion. The 117 is is everything that's added on top of that in the back of the bill. We've had stuff that you're not able to expend in that time span and you asked the legislature to give you another year. This one here is kind of gives a a great explanation. I want you to kind of look at this one on the left first. Our general revenue. So when you talk about 11714 billion budget, the 52 billion is truly that coming from the state. The other 60 billion plus is coming from the federal government as passroughs. That's coming through trust funds. But you can see that their general revenue has gone up by 50% from 2020 to 2021. That's a lot. and where that growth is happening.

Doge them.

You can see over here education is now the largest component with 38%. You can see where it was before. And of course, health and human services. We're kind of seeing a predictions from the revenue estimating conference that the health and human services is going to go up. We have an older generation. We have more people dying in the state of Florida being born every day. We have more people dying in the state of Florida. So, you can see the the amount the age is going up very much. So, I think you'll see that one kind of trigger. That was part of the reasons why they wanted to limit a lot of cuts because they said, "Listen, we're going to have a lot of needs coming ahead uh in the years ahead. The the needs are going to be greater than the income coming in." And we'll talk about that. I'm gonna let Sarah take the next one.

All right. Well, I think Mike was going to take the first one, but wanted to Yeah, that's quite all right. I'll let you go.

It's okay. We're all here to help, right? We're

all right. Well, let's talk about funding for Pasco County. Obviously, we had a really really um great year and so appreciative of our delegation. Our delegation worked very very hard this year on these appropriations. So, we'll start off with the East Pasco Emergency Shelter. So, I had two legislators tell me that this was the hardest they ever worked on appropriations ever in their life. This started off at about a 100 $100,000 placeholder. I got bounced around quite a bit. um it got up in the house to uh just over about a million dollars or so and then thankfully with the help of obviously our delegation and our senate president it got up to $5 million in the sprinkle um throughout that process I think this is important to talk about because there's a lot of people involved in this this took a lot of work from a lot of people so besides representative Maghard and Senator Burgess sponsoring this obviously the Senate President was very involved the speaker of the house was very involved. Chair Schae was very involved in this as as well as chair deigley and then it came down to the wire um where it almost didn't make it through and thankfully for a lot of efforts talking to the governor's office talking to the governor himself and staff Kevin Guthrie got involved as well. Um he had approved this and he had actually had a meeting with the governor the Thursday before he actually signed the budget as well and was very very helpful. So, we're very grateful that this got through. This has been the second year year we've worked on it. And $5 million is a is a is a big a big deal, especially if you look at what got through in this budget for appropriations.

Awesome. And it's good to see everybody. And uh when we got here, the room was packed. I thought everybody was really excited to hear about our legislative updates and what happened during session this year, but it's thinned out a little bit. Um but everything is good. So, um, the the county has had, I think, a really good, thoughtful process for appropriations requests at the state level. Um, and as you can see by what was funded and what you guys have applied for, um, you've had a real focus on things that the state likes to partner with local governments on. So, public safety, emergency response, um, and so these all reflect that. Um the other two uh uh appropriations that were um approved this year are the Rangeland Boulevard um extension that is creating a new evacuation route for the residents of Pasco County multimodal connectivity etc. So, that is a fantastic project that was sponsored by Representative Steele and Chair Hooper um who we are very sad to be losing in the legislature. Um but Pasco County will certainly not be losing him uh going forward. So excited excited for him to um to go back to, you know, his his life um and play a lot of golf hopefully. Um uh the other project that was um also funded is the decontamination truck for the firefighters here. They put forth a lot of effort, multiple trips to Tallahassee and a lot of meetings. And I know this was very important to all of you guys to make sure that our firefighters have the, you know, are protected from carcinogens as quickly as possible once they've saved lives and saved property um within the county. So very grateful to your legislative delegation, to all of your staff who worked very hard putting these um appropriations requests together, and we're very pleased to um that the governor approved these ones. So I'll pass it back.

Thanks. Just just to end, obviously we'll be working closely with your team and yourselves and Ralph and Mike on next year's request. Um and one of the things we have to think about is you have new leadership coming in. You're going to have a new governor. You're going to have a new speaker of the house. You're going to have you're going to have a new Senate President. Thankfully, we have amazing relationships with all the above, whoever that may be. But we know this next Senate President is going to be Senator Boyd and Sam Garrison's going to be the speaker of the house. So, what we have to think about in the meantime, we'll have these conversations with them again. What are their priorities? What are they going to lean towards? Because we want to make sure that we're aligning with what some of their priorities are so things get through. So once we know who the governor is, we'll sit down with the governor and her his or her staff. Um but we will have um some pre meetings here coming up with the Senate President and the next speaker of the house. So just going to go into some of the the policy items. If if you have questions, you can obviously interject anytime or we can do them at the end, whatever whatever you feel. We try to go over some of the bills that have, you know, some policy impacts and obviously anytime you increase F FRS or make adjustments. So I wanted to just go over the brief. It was a big bill. One of the items that came out of there was overall regular class employee costs decreased while cost for the uh other employees classes increased. The drop fund access this was a big thing for folks here for the elected officials uh now at over age 59 and a half without terminating elected office uh will have access to their drop funds. They did not have that before. They will not have access to their retirement. They will have access to their through their drop funds. Uh the other one point here is really with the financial impact that you'll see is the 1.5% impact. Uh but ultimately uh the overall retirement is up to 2.8 when you're talking about the special risk employees uh and their cola as you know that's assessed once a year. So that will have an impact for you all in the future. Next Mike and I are going to share these a little bit.

All right. This first one is so software immunity. We hear that every year. It keeps coming back and back and back. Um it did pass this year, but it got beaten by the governor. Um what that would have done is raise the limits from $200,000, $300,000 per incident of 350 and 500. They were trying to get this up to even 750 to a million. Um we'll be surprised if it comes back again next year because the main sponsor will be back again next year. The governor did veto it. He he stated that he was worried about frivolous lawsuits that that could happen. He's also concerned about the impact it could have on local government. So, we are I know Jeff probably and and David as well as Mike are probably grateful that did that move through this year. Can we keep going or good? Okay. As you can see, we're just got we all work on these issues and the next three are kind of explainable. The DEI prohibition uh the net zero policy uh prohibits any governmental agencies from taking action against supports of net zero. But the next one really here is kind of important too is it mandates an annual 10% reduction exercise and requires posting uh of employee salaries for publicity. So a lot of this want to say anything on this go to the next one.

Well just to go on that local government 1329 there's a couple other yeah that that was huge. It's obviously it's going to have an impact on the county. I think Mike's taking a look at that in Jeff as well. But there's a few other things I think I just wanted to point out because it's going to require counties, municipalities to post their attendant budgets online.

Didn't we already do that?

Well, then it is

5 days before public hearings happen. You may already do that. I'm not sure, but you're required to do that going forward. Um but also one of the big things like like saying this budget exercise mandating that that budget exercise and having it during a workshop and posting that you have this is what the results are and showing how you can reduce your budget by 10%. Um

is this for state and local or just local?

This is um county municipalities and it als it also it also affects [laughter] um no it affects um constitutionals as well. Okay. Not that the next thing will the next item will affect constitutional as well. This is this is something you don't currently do, but it requires counties and municipalities to publish their quarterly compensation summaries online as well. So your your employees what their salaries are are going to have to be published online going forward. Now you can still get access to that. It's public record, but it's doesn't go on the web on the site. And that actually affects constitutions, not just municipalities and county commission. Um, I think that's the most There's some things on the impact fees we can get into offline. Sorry, going to go through these a little bit. Um, allows code enforcement officers to enforce derelict vessels. Anchoring is subject to FD FWC approval. That had not been there before. So, that's giving us some of those rights necessary. Matter of fact, I saw some out there.

There's one in Gul Harbor. It's on fire sitting there.

Uh, the Shimberg study. This is this was really really important. Um the the house wanted to get rid of the Schindberg study at all. Remember the Schindberg study, right? It tells you what you can do with affordable housing.

So it's now gone to three years. What does that mean? Well, it kind of weakens it. Meaning now they can look over three years instead of a 12 month. They kind of saw the next 12 months and and it was going to be a huge difference to them and it was more beneficial if they did the three years. not as beneficial for us uh as counties for the three years on the Shimberg study. So I want to make that kind of clear. Uh 290 real direct prelims local governments from restrictions on gas powered small engines. There were some cities and counties around the states that had done that. And uh the last one, this is an issue too, restricts the use of excess funds from the building department to build a building to house uh building department. In the past we were able to do that. All of these bills that we just mentioned have you have seen on the bottom there have all been approved by the governor.

I'm let you start off in the development one.

That's dumb.

There we go. This is what we do all session. We do it back and forth. What good is this guys?

Sarah, I think you're jumping on one of these coming at the end. Uh 3.99. Another just huge huge bill. Uh I want to talk about four or five items that are on there real quick. Uh you can see the application fees for development and permits orders must relate to direct and re reasonable costs. There was even issues in there about hourly and how we would look at an employee with hourly charges. Uh local governments must allow a school district and charter schools reasonable access to public easements and writeways and interlocal agreements. We have talked about that and seen that in the past. Number three, off-site constructed dwellings prohibits, this is a big one, local governments from restricting the use of off-site constructed re residential dwellings beyond requirements that apply to other types of residential dwellings in the same zoning district. Uh, residential compatibility makes any change relating to residential compatibility, local governments must include factors to assess compatible residential uses. And the last you'll see again this was uh approved by the governor. A local government cannot require additional property be purchased for approval of a compost facility. Yes, that was there.

Hang on number four. I think

I think that was one in Orlando and Orange County that that issue was really big. But

I I have a question on number four.

Go ahead.

Um does that preempt local um HOA documents or

No, it's it's only us. It's only local government. see that in there, right? And that statute would just pertain to local

Oh, I'm sorry. Number three.

Right.

Number three. Does that preempt HOA rules?

I didn't see that either. I could follow Jeffrey. I

tuner. I didn't see that. No.

Normally, they stay away.

HOA preempt a lot. Color of the house, what mulch they put in there, all that that you are not restricted to.

Well, I'm sorry. What did you say? Well, I'm saying HOAs have a lot more flexibility that they can have in their uh documents from telling

Yeah. Like we don't preempt,

right?

Yeah. We don't preempt them either.

No, you don't preempt. I'm just saying they could tell them, you know, what color bark can be in their front yard. So,

all right. Number four, residential compatibility. Is there like a new definition for compatibility?

I will get that. So, Andrew, actually, my Andrew in my office took the lead, but I will find that out for you. It's pretty awful. So, does that deal with zoning or does it deal with land use?

Zoning.

Okay.

But you

So, yeah, you're it it's more to the zoning classific the what local government used to be able to determine as compatibility, they have now said needs to be in your codes. So it's we can we can give you a more detailed analysis of that. It makes it more difficult for you to deny a project on the ba basis of compatible with the next

I think it's maybe for the next meeting we can have a little discussion point on that

items

on on number one. I actually you know I saw some abuses in the state on this. I I know of a city that might be in our county um where I had a friend who was building a house that was very nice house in the $3 million range and they based the build the building permit on the value of the house. So he was paying almost $100,000, you know, for his building permit review.

Crazy, [laughter]

which is kind of crazy.

Crazy. He sued, but he didn't. He ended up having to drop it. Just

All right.

I know.

We can go [snorts] back to that.

Another big one. 803.

Yeah. So, I'll take this one. So, talking more about that off-site [snorts] manufactured homes u must be allowed in zoning area where single family [clears throat] detached homes are allowed. I again, yeah, that's be a little redundant here, but it's how do I put it? Yeah, it's going to be a problem. [laughter] You know, it, you know, for lots of the neighborhoods, um, not just within the county, but within the cities as well. A lot of cities are very, very concerned about that because a lot of the cities, municipalities don't have as many HOAs. They don't have as many CDDs as the county does, but it's still within the county. So, that's turning out to be a really, really big concern. Um, now, you know, I I'll let you listen to your attorney, but there may be ways that you can look at the structures themselves. Um, and there's certain type you might be able to put certain

thresholds on the structures. Jeeoff, I mean,

we I mean, we had talked about the board had talked about in the past um you know, things like [snorts] the requirement for a garage.

Your normal manufactured home is not going to come with a garage. So, that might be a way that you could keep them out of a construction uh what we used to just have as as residential stick built areas. Um Yeah.

Yeah. So, I think it's something obviously the county attorney's office has to discuss. So, let's go to the uniform commercial permit application. The state's going to adopt a uniform commercial permit application to be used statewide for all commercial construction process. So, they're going to be working on that now and I think it's by July I think of next year this is going to be done. So, all municipalities, all counties are going to have to use that going forward. Um, ne next slide. I can see it. So, it's inspection fees. Um, single family home threshold. That's a big one for everybody here. Uh, no permits, new no permits required for single family dwellings if the work is valued at less than $7,500.

That's great.

Now, obviously, when it comes to electrical, plumbing, structural, mechanical, or gas work, obviously those are left out, but going forward, you know, that will have an impact obviously on your on your building department. You will not be able to charge for those items. um hurricane and flood protections. No permit permits are required for the installation of temporary residential hurricanes and flood protection walls or barriers going forward. And inspection fees, um you're going to have to take a close look at that. Um prohibits inspection fees based on the total cost of the project. Fees must be based on actual costs incurred in the agency by the agency to perform an approved inspection required for a permit. Go to the next slide real quick. thresh have a question on

I think so.

I have a question on the inspection fee.

Yeah. Okay. Go back if you would go back.

Go back.

Yeah, you can go back.

Commissioner Starky,

I think we now have a fee for the fire marshall that goes into buildings. Is that right? Every and just curious if that's going to fly with this.

Oh, uh, thank you for the question. The fire fees are separate. They're not considered building permitting fees because it's under the fire administration. We'll talk about that later.

Name and title.

Oh, JP Murphy, director.

What do we charge? Don't they go in businesses annually?

Well, I don't know the answer to that question. That would be left for the chief. I think that started re Okay, here comes the fire chief.

Chairman, wait. Uh Sean or Mike or whoever

on the glazing requirement, does that conflict with the federal rule for windows because of global warming and whatnot? I

I I I don't know what the federal rule is. I mean, I again I know you guys like more of course for the the look of the building and everything else. I Are you asking me is it Are we going more or less?

Less. I think the federal requirement.

I didn't know they had

for glazing.

I'd have to chat you.

I'd be surprised though if they would get through staff

and the attorney house and city attorney's office that they would do something that contradicts what federal polic.

Yeah. That would surprise me. It would be surprised me that we'd be allowed to go less than federal.

Well, who would have thought we'd be talking about glazing in here?

And when

I didn't know we required glaze.

I mean,

the the state just felt we were requiring more glass, but I think the understanding than this talking was going committee because the aesthetics looked better with a lot of the glass that you guys were asking. Somebody

I was just I was just curious. [snorts]

One more thing to hit on this too is the private buyer part of this. So, it specifies the permit fees for commercial construction projects must be reduced by at least 25% when you use a private provider going forward. Um that's for plan building inspection services reduces by at least 50% when a private provider is used for all plan reviews and building inspection services. So that's something else that will have an impact [snorts] this afternoon.

Okay, the fire marshall is going to answer my question just real fast.

I mean the fire chief. Thank you, Mr. Ryan. Fire Chief. I think we charge a flat fee and then depending on square footage, we have an increaser on top of that for reinspections.

Okay. If if someone could email me what it is, I Yes, ma'am. Thanks.

Absolutely.

Okay.

There are no federal

did not

there wasn't for there wasn't for global warming in that whole deal. All right.

Um and so related to those previous two bills. I think there have been a lot of concerns from local governments, you know, the manufactured homes provisions, etc. Um, and I do feel that there are is a a desire of the legislative sponsors to address some concerns next year. So certainly, you know, once we've gone through all of the points of any of this legislation, um certainly we ought to consider putting things on next year's legislative agenda if there's a fix for something that is that is truly concerning. Um and but just moving quickly through the next slide, uh we've got a bunch of bioolids um legislation that was proposed this year. um two bills that passed, one or two bills that were signed by the governor, one that was vetoed. So the first one, Senate Bill 290, um uh limits the land application of bioolids to only class doubleA bioolids. Um and so that is, you know, all of these things are here to help protect the environment. Um the House Bill 1245 was vetoed by the governor and then House Bill 1285 um originated from an issue going on in the panhandle um in a county within the panhandle who spent significant time monetary resources to upgrade their wastewater [snorts] treatment facility um and still had some businesses in the area making applications to land apply by their septage. Um, and you know, I think the county had a desire to protect the environment and and stop that from happening. So, this legislation will create a 30m perimeter around any um uh class B wastewater treatment facility. If um you know, if it has capacity and is close enough, then people should not be land applying their uh bioolid.

Question chair.

And so, yes. Mr. W,

does that go across county lines?

Um, I believe it's with 30 mile radius.

So 30 miles.

Yes.

And it can go over like say Pasco into Hernando. There's not like a flow control component to this.

Let me look into that for you. But I believe that it's a statewide law and the 30 mile. But I I'll confirm that for you, Commissioner. Yes, sir.

Um, and then moving on, data centers. Gosh, you guys are dealing with it right now as we speak. Um, and so there was legislation proposed this year. Um, the initial legislation out of the House of Representatives would have for all intents and purposes banned large-scale data centers within our state. um through a lot of stakeholder input and uh you would be you probably would not be surprised but a lot of other folks would be surprised how many stakeholders are really interested in data centers. Um you know there's an economic impact. There are sound concerns. There are just a multitude of things that people are considering [clears throat] and that I know is is on your agenda later this afternoon. But the legislature in their wisdom um decided to take a more measured approach rather than banning them alto together. Um and they created a framework for data centers within the state of Florida that um they believe and the governor believes will protect consumers and homeowners within the state. So it prohibits utility companies from shifting any of the costs for the electricity um etc to residents in the area um by creating tariffs and uh prohibiting the splitting up of the load and trying to pretend like it's a it's [snorts] a smaller a bunch of smaller customers when we all know that it's a big data center. Um they have also restricted water usage and encouraged the use of reuse water where available. Um and given the water management district, so the governor and DP are very involved in water management districts as well. So I think that's a big backs stop but giving them permitting standards um and and some authority over these facilities. Um, it also gave you guys control over zoning, planning, um, and permitting, which is a huge help. Um, and also,

there's a lot of irony right there. I'm just going to say on the record, there's a lot of irony in SB484. I'll leave it at that.

Indeed. Um, and the legislation also prohibits um, utilities from contracting with foreign companies of concern um, to try and keep some bad actors out of the United States related to data centers which are all over the place. So, um, and with that, I think I will pass it along. We're all we're all going to kind of jump into this. So, we're going to end with this, uh, folks. We're going to be doing some property tax discussion and, uh, talk about it real quick. So, as you know, this was the the big issue that in in the special session. Uh it's going to need 60% approval. I don't have to tell you about about the numbers 150 up to 250. But I but I will give you this because it just came out literally as we were sitting here. The revenue estimated conference just this is the re not league of cities not association of counties in year one. Pasco County will feel feel a $145 million impact. Year five that jumps to 336. Year two 250. Your special districts in year one are 5.9 million. And just the day city alone right here where we're at will have 1.1 million. It doubles almost in year five the 2 million. We're happy to share that. That just came out uh right before we came out. Um I will say there's been a lot of speculation whether this is going to pass or not pass. But let me give you this. Three property tax exemptions have not passed since 2018. In 2018 the voters had an opportunity to increase the 25,000 up to 100. They voted that down. It was at 58%. It had no support. It had no opposition. They also voted two down in 2022. One that would have done law enforcement, teachers, and firefighters. They voted that down. And they also voted one down that would have helped families going through issues with um recovery from a a sinkhole to a hurricane. Remember, they did that one also reducing it. So there are there is some history uh with us voting them down. So trust for local governments of course was kept out in the schools of uh of that resolution. And then the last thing right here, I'll let you go ahead and jump to that last one. Mike,

if if you would go back back to that just for a second.

Yes.

Um, so I I I was reading once

one poll was done

maybe a week or so ago. Yes, sir.

And it was said there was about a 64% chance of passing.

Yeah, I heard.

I then just saw another one from USA Today and that one was a little bit skewed. It had like 3% more Democrats than Republicans. Independents were neutral. um that one showed 54% were going to vote against it.

So there's a huge gap to what's going on.

The polling that I have shown to you all know what a push poll is once they're notified of what the implications are of the parks, the libraries, those situations that impact us every day, uh the voting goes down. So when the push polls are done and they're said, would you still vote for it if you think that your library is going to be restricted or if your parks are going to be restricted or if your fees and other areas are going to go up? that obviously hits it dramatically. There's a couple items with it. There's also a couple lawsuits that are saying the way that it's done right now, saying that new homeowners uh cannot get the exemption for five years is not legal constitutionally. They're also finding the constitutionality of the language on the actual um there because they extended it and also the way that it's said,

but all they have to do is rewrite the language, right? It doesn't kill the

misleading. No, that's an issue.

Yeah.

Right. So Sean, when we were up in Tallahassee, we talked about, you know, the growth that this county has. If we have to build a road, we don't build it for 5 years or 5% that's coming in. You got to build it for a 20-year road. When we built the overpass at 75, we built it way ahead of time to be a lot cheaper than, you know, for 50 $60 million compared to we're going to spend 184 million to 54 because we waited too long. So by being ahead of head of the curve, wastewater plants, you just talked about advanced waste water cost a lot more money. We got to build it. We don't build it for the 5% growth. We got 2% growth. We're coming. We're building it for 20 years down the road. So, we got capacity. And sometimes those surges throw your budget up. Ridge Road. If Army Corps of Engineer was out of the way, we could have that thing done for onetenth the price.

Right. Right.

Um when we're up there, you also mentioned as far as the growth with the government. So, the state government, the slide you showed from 2021,

you saw that

50%. That's the biggest slide out there. What was that growth been? Probably about the same. So if we're so bad,

yeah,

what are they doing? And as they say, they look

proposed by the speaker to reduce your sales tax by a half half a percent, which would have been the first time in the the history for the state of Florida. The speaker offered reducing it by a half a cent. He didn't after it was not accepted by the governor and the senate. He also offered a quarter of a penny and that was not. So he saw that and the reason that they said it, here comes the pun is they said they knew that there was tougher times coming ahead and the needs were outlasting the funding and they couldn't reduce.

Okay. So tougher times coming for them but not for us.

I you can read between the lines there. I'll say that.

All right. Let me just let me just make it one more Commissioner Jagger. So when I look at it, they protected the schools. That's 50% of your tax budget,

right?

They protected fire safety, which is at least 50% of your budget. And now they're going to take the 25% that's left and that's what's going to save everything to cut and eliminate property taxes. Absolutely absurd to me. Uh, Commissioner.

Okay. So, my question is, and I guess we we kind of talked about a little bit, but what is the financial outlook of the state and the second part of it is the governor's grant has now been taken away by the house. So, if property taxes do pass, so what what does that look like? I

I'll do the first one real quick. Um the review conference who just met does not give the best look uh for the state of Florida. The state of Florida does very well because we don't have an income tax. And why do we not have an income tax? Because we have tourism. So, um I I'll say this, the sales tax is maintaining well uh with tourism. The tourism just came down for the first time in 10 years. We had a sm small slight reduction in the state of Florida uh for the tourism. We're also seeing those numbers down a little bit right now. Why? Because part of the economy. Another big factor was the unemployment. The unemployment has ticked up.1% every month since February. So we are at 4.1. We're starting to go to 4.6. They see that continuing to go. They also look at every avenue looking at permits. permits for the state of Florida, maybe not all here in Pasco, but have gone down drastically to about onethird of what they were two years ago statewide. That is developers starting to see uh the need drop. Homes have stopped and one of the things that has maintained and I talked about a little bit earlier in the state of Florida is our growth. Our growth is not what it was back in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 saw a net migration of only 25,000 people coming to the state of Florida. The areas that you are still seeing growth are very very few. We're not there. It is Sumpter and it is is Duval. And what the revenue estimating conference just said is with the population going down because our state of Florida has done extremely well by people coming to Florida. That's where our extra growth is. If the growth comes down, which is what they're predicting, that is going to become a lot more problems with us and the counties with the less growth coming into the state of Florida. It doesn't look good. And they're looking at a 7 to8 billion less money to meet all the needs three years from now for the state of Florida. 7 to8 billion. That that is a huge number. And just just a followup, you know, for local government, we we go to you guys and say, "Hey, we really need this decon truck. Hey, we really need this." And that's with the taxpayers money, right?

So, I just wonder what that looks like if it does pass. How are all these because there's going to be a lot of needy counties.

Well, one of the things you see, you have 27 counties in the state of Florida that call fiscally constrained. That number will go up to 37. We have 67 counties in the state of Florida. 37 of the 67 will not be able to create more than $5 million per millillage that they have in their county. Meaning they can't build their schools. They can't build their county buildings. They can't build the Department of Health in 37 of the 67 counties if this passes.

I heard uh

Right.

But I do want to say on the record, I am all for cutting taxes. We definitely need to cut, but um I just had some questions on if this does pass. So, thank you, Mr. Um yeah, I heard some of those counties will have to merge. Um I also heard when we were at FAC, um people were saying that they had heard from legislators that unless your mill is at 10, don't ask for any help from the state.

I I think some of the most immediate needs are going to be special districts. You guys will have other areas. Special districts do not

because we have

So the number that I just showed you for the special districts in the

county are unbelievable. So they're the ones are going to have a lot of trouble too throughout the state. Fire others

and also what um talked to swift mode when we were at fact is they said all cooperative funding projects are on hold.

One one thing I wrote wrote with Florida tax too. If and I I said this a long time ago if they put a higher sales tax in that panhandle is going to get crushed. Everybody's going to go shop to the north like they do now right you see in Tallahassee. And that that is going to if they do take the sales tax to offset all this, it goes from 6% to 15%. That jump would actually devastate not only the panhandle, but now you go down south and it's going to whack everybody down there. And those counties that are in bad shape now, it's going to get even worse. So this whole thing could be a giant gigantic disaster for the state. So we're going to treat I'm going to keep on getting the word out. I I think it's important since Rouse closed is again just to thank our our legislators and thank our delegation for all their hard work, you know, when it came to appropriations and things this year. You're going to have two new members of the delegation this year. As it was stated earlier, Senator Hooper is or three, I'm sorry, you're right. Three, I forgot about Steel. [laughter] So, you're going to have three because Hulkcoms has um decided to move on and you have um Representative Steel that's decided to move on and then Hooper has retired. So, you're going to have three new members of your delegation coming up. So we will know by November, some earlier than that, who your entire delegation is going to be. So again, we're every one of us is very grateful because so we work hard.

I want to say I want to thank you guys for all the great work you've done. I I love that you guys work together. If you didn't work together as tightly as you did, we wouldn't have got what we got this year. So thank you for all working together.

We actually like each other.

A good thing. [laughter] A good thing. Can I add one one thing onto that is that I want to also thank you guys because this we I say it every year, but this session was was not easy. Last session wasn't easy. Um, you know, they're they're trying to cut the budget every year, but our needs are going up. So, I know you guys fight tooth and nail to the very end. And I know everything you guys put into it. So, thank you very much. and um sometimes your job looks fun and glorious, but I know it's super hard and we appreciate you.

Okay, so I want to I want to stop this. Ralph, if you want to make some comments while I have to do them later. Um I've got Bill Cron in here. He's got one item. We're at past noon time, so I want to do Bill and David Angle real quick.

R77.

Good morning, U board of county commissioners. My name is David Engel. I'm the planning and economic development director for Pasco County. This project is uh part of our economic development programming and they say in in bowling if you get three strikes in a row you get a turkey. Well, this is the turkey around the Zephr Hills airport. This is number three in the uh portfolio that the Pasco Economic Development Council has presented to us. The property uh where this project is going in which is called Confidential Project Wonka for one more minute uh is a 62 acre site. It's located on 6th Avenue near the Valduko property. So, this is number three in the Zephr Hills airport area. We had Valduko, we had Mitec, which is a a roofing system company going in and this will be number three. Uh there'll be a the proposal is to do a 250,000 square foot food processing and distribution facility. It'll generate um 100 direct full-time jobs. Induced and indirect jobs collectively will be 564 jobs. The capital investment is $111 million and uh the incentive proposal is $3.206 million and it's broken down into three concise buckets of incentives. One is the job creation incentive. They have applied for 37 full-time employee jobs with an average wage of approximately $63,000 a year, which is 115% of the county average. uh we have a $3 million uh dollar um advalorum rebate which will be paid out over 10 years. Now over that 10-year period the general fund will be inuring 5.14 million. So it is net positive to the county general fund cash flow and after 10 years uh the incentive is is uh uh completed and then we get the full taxable advantage. The gross county product contribution is $63.2 2 million a year. So, I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Cronin, who's president and CEO of the Pasco Econom Economic Development Council, and he will introduce you to the project. Thank you.

Thank you, David. And uh thank you, Commission. Good morning or good afternoon and happy Tuesday. And I'd be remiss if I didn't say it's another great day here in Pasco County. So, we're going to change the flavor a little bit of the uh conversation. I'm thrilled to introduce to you a company that's not only a global leader in its industry, but it's also multigenerational, family-owned business with deep roots with commitment to quality and excellence. As a matter of fact, the company's first slogan was La Passion Dea Qualete, which is French for passion for quality, and it still serves as their guiding principle still today. So without further ado, I'm happy to share that Monanin Incorporated and Monin Americas doing business as Monan Americas, a Frenchfounded flavoring manufacturer with over 110 years of heritage, has selected one of our Pasco EDC ready site, specifically the Zephr Hills Industrial Park for its next major manufacturing expansion here. Uh they currently have presence in over 150 companies uh countries. Monan is a uh yeah countries. Uh they're the premier flavor choice for coffee houses, food services and operators worldwide. You probably have

we use them in our Starky market.

I was going to say you probably have some syrup in your coffee right now depending on where you went. Um this project's $111 million as mentioned by David earlier today. 250,000 square foot facility that's going to be located on that first ready site that we had back when we first started the ready sites program uh back around uh 2016. So, highly successful program, but I want to highlight that these jobs uh are going to be above the average wage. Uh several of them will be and then also the partnership. Again, this was another one of those projects that had the state, the county, uh county staff, uh Pasco EDC, city of Zephr Hills, and Duke Energy all working together on this. And that is such a great message to other people that want to want to come here. I said it with Boduko and I'll say it again with Monan. It's going to smell great in that area of the county. But um here today to join us uh we have a couple representatives from Monin Incorporated and that is Mr. Greg Greybo who is our CFO for Monen Americas and Stacia Johnston who's representing the CEO tonight. And I'd like to ask them to say a few words.

Okay.

Thank you. Thank you for

I'm Greg Greybo, CFO of Onen. Uh thank you for having us here today. Um we just wanted to reiterate what was already said. Um we love uh we love the site. We look forward to hiring all the people out here and investing in the community. We're excited about where we are. Uh this project is going to help carry us forward for the next 10 to 20 years. All the numbers we just spoke of was just phase one. Um we won't build out the full site um in phase one. So as we continue to grow continue to grow with pass county. The only thing I would add is that we are um our business is growing at such an exponential rate that we are um we need this land and this manufacturing plant in order to continue to grow our business and offer um our product into coffee shops, restaurants, bars, cafes, hotels around all of the Americas, US, Canada, and Latin America. And so this will be a really uh much needed manufacturing plant for our company as we continue to grow. So, thank you for considering

and will you your name for the records?

Oh, sorry. Stacia Johnston. I'm the SVP of strategic planning for Mon Americas.

Very good. Commissioner Stark.

So, um I have toured your facility in Penllis County. Um and um as you know, we have our AMSkills manufacturing training program. You may not know that if you're not from Penllis, but um we've been working with you guys for over 10 years. So, um we are working on expanding our our manufacturing training program to the east side. As a matter of fact, we have a boot camp coming up in August out in Zephr Hills. So, um, we're really glad you're here and we look forward to helping you train your workforce.

You're excited to be here next next August. We'll be in that.

Yeah.

I think I think you ought to take a look at the kumquat here in Pasco County and maybe have a have a unique our counties our counties plant something

make it a flavor and incorporate it into something. I'm just saying.

I agree.

Love it.

Day city is the kumquat capital of the world.

I make I make the decision for the flavor of the year. So, I'll put it in the note. [laughter]

We're going to have to send them a pie.

All right. Commissioner Oak,

I would uh like to welcome you to Pasco County. U I was born live here in Dade City my entire life and um really enjoy my citizens and want the best for them. This is good for our citizens in Pasco County. You are a part of my district and my office is open to you. If you need me, just give me a call.

Okay. Thank you.

Is that leading to a motion?

Yeah. Is that your motion?

Oh, yes. I'll make a motion.

Second.

I'll second it.

All in favor say I.

I.

All right. Unanimously. Welcome to Pasco. Congratulations. [applause] All right. We'll get on for a picture and then we're going to break for lunch. By

by the way, after after the offer,

you want down Yes.

It's clear.